Manliness

Manliness

INTRODUCTION

Gender differences have been ridiculed, redefined and rather diminished over the years. Yet, isn’t the problem of gender polarity just a matter of perspective? Create a simple illustration highlighting the attributes of masculinity.

The Pen Tool, the Text Tool, Shape Tools and other features of Pixelmator are used in this tutorial.

RESOURCES
 
PXM File

STEP 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. The image size used in this tutorial is 1000×650 pixels. Then, use the Paint Bucket Tool (N) to fill the “Background Layer” with blue (color code – #70c9b5).

Next, drag the image of the man onto the Pixelmator canvas and rename the new layer to “Man”. Choose Edit > Transform and resize the picture to 85% of the original size. Use the Move Tool (V) to position the image as in the example.

STEP 2

Now let’s turn this photograph into an illustration. First, select the Pen Tool in the Tools Palette. Click somewhere on the outline of the man’s face to create the first point of a custom shape. Then, create more points until the whole face is selected. To close the shape click the first point once more. Use the image below as a reference. Then, rename the “Shape” layer to “Face”.

STEP 3

Now, select the Fill option in the Tools Options bars. Then, click the color box and choose a skin tone color (color code – #f5b28c). Next, smoothen the selection. Make sure that the Pen Tool is selected and control-click the shape. Choose Smooth Path from the shortcut menu. Repeat this action 3 times or until you are completely satisfied with the smoothness of the shape. For now, hide the “Face” layer by deselecting it’s checkbox in the Layers Palette.

STEP 4

Next, select the Pen Tool again. Then, choose Draw New Shape in the Tools Options Bar. Create a new shape that covers the hair area of the model. Follow instructions from step 2 and 3 to create the shape and smoothen it’s corners. Then, fill the shape with brown (color code – #804532) and name the shape layer “Hair”. The result should look similar to the image below. Finally, hide the “Hair” layer by deselecting it’s checkbox in the Layers Palette.

STEP 5

Create a new shape in the form of the man’s neck. Don’t smoothen the path of this shape and use a slightly darker color (color code – #e89b79) to fill the shape. Then, rename the new layer to “Neck” and position it below “Hair” and “Face” layers in the Layers Palette. Finally, hide the “Neck” layer.

STEP 6

Highlight some features of the man’s face by adding shadows. Select the Pen Tool and create a shape in the form of the shadow in the ear. Then, create a new shape that’s the same form as the side-shadow of the nose. Smoothen the paths of the new shapes and fill them with a bit darker skin tone color (color code – #f19c73). The result should look similar to the image below. Finally, rename the new layers to “Shadow” and “Nose” accordingly and hide them.

STEP 7

Next, add a line to highlight the contours of the model’s nose. The technique used in this step is slightly different than previous steps. Select the Pen Tool and create the first point of the line near the man’s left eyebrow. Then, create additional points along the outline of the nose, but this time make the path smooth whilst drawing it. When creating a new point, do not release your mouse right after you click, but rather drag the mouse pointer until handles appear near the current point. The longer the handles, the bigger the curvature in the line that connects the points. Once you reach the bottom of the nose, control-click the path and choose Finish Drawing from the shortcut menu.

STEP 8

Now, add shapes in the form of eyebrows. Use the same technique as in step 7. First, select the Pen Tool and click somewhere on the outline of the eyebrow to create a new shape. Then, create additional points until the shape covers the eyebrow. Try to create a smooth path without sharp corners. Then, choose Add to Shape in the Tools Options Bar and cover the other eyebrow with an additional shape. Use a brown color (color code – #5a0000) to fill the shape and rename it to “Eyebrow”.

Next, choose Draw New Shape in the Tools Options Bar. Use the same technique as in step 2 to create a shape that covers the man’s upper lip and looks like a mustache. Use the image below as a reference. Then, control-click the shape and choose Smooth Path from the shortcut menu. Repeat this action 3 times or until the shape is smooth enough. Fill the shape with a brown color (color code – #5a0000) and rename the layer to “Mustache”.

STEP 9

Now, delete the “Man” layer as it will no longer be used and unhide all the hidden layers. Next, select the Type Tool (T) and choose League Gothic as the font. Set font size to 110 and color to blue (color code – #488c8e). Write the world “Manliness” in uppercase letters and use the Move Tool (V) to position it as in the example.

Next, duplicate the text layer and change the new layer’s font color to white. Position the copy below the original layer in the Layers Palette. Then, select the Move Tool (V) and use the arrow keys in your keyboard to move the “Manliness copy” layer 3 pixels down and to the right. Finally, set the “Manliness copy” layer’s Blending to Overlay and reduce the Opacity to 30%.

STEP 10

Repeat the actions from step 9 to create a new text layer with the words “is in the”. This time use lower case letters and adjust the spacing between words as needed. Don’t forget to create a white colored duplicate layer. The result should look similar to the image below.

STEP 11

Now, download the Pacifico font from the resources section and import it into your Font Book. Then, select the Type Tool (T) and choose the Pacifico font. Set font size to 130 px and create a new text layer with the word “details”. Follow instructions from step 9 to create a copy of the layer and position it accordingly. Use the image below as a reference.

STEP 12

Next, select the Rectangle Shape Tool and set the fill color to blue (color code – #488c8e). Create a new rectangle shape just above the text. Then, choose Edit > Transform and rotate the shape by 45 degrees. Use the Move Tool (V) to position the shape as in the image below.

STEP 13

Now, select the Line Shape Tool. Select the Stroke option in the Tools Options Bar and set the size to 2 px. Select blue (color code – #488c8e) as the color and add three lines on both sides of the rectangle. Use the image below as a reference on positioning and size. Finally, select the rectangle and all the line shape layers and control-click them. Choose Group from the shortcut menu.

STEP 14

Duplicate the group with the shape layers and position it below the original group in the Layers Palette. Change the stroke and the fill colors of the shapes in the “Group copy” group to white. Then, select the Move Tool (V)  and use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the contents of the new  group 1 pixel down and to the right. Then, set the “Group copy” group’s Blending to Overlay and reduce the Opacity to 30%.

Finally, duplicate the two groups and use the Move Tool (V) to position the copies below the text. Use the image below as a reference.

STEP 15

As a final step, let’s add some texture to the overall composition. Drag the photograph of the old paper onto the Pixelmator canvas and rename the new layer to “Texture”. Then, set the “Texture” layer’s Blending to Soft Light and reduce the Opacity to 70%.

CONCLUSION

Congratulations, you’re done! Pixelmator makes it easy to transform real-life images into minimalistic illustrations. Remember to keep it simple and most important have fun!