▻ profile picture tutorial

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guess what today is?! my one year anniversary on wattpad (and almost 6 month anniversary of vector graphic making)! these past 12 months have been such a crazy ride, and I've made so many great friends, read so many amazing books, all which have given me the inspiration to write and express my more creative side! this is why i'm bringing you all this tutorial today to show my appreciation of all your support.

i'd also like to credit two amazing people for pulling me in and keeping me in this amazing world of vector graphics!
     justlyd pulled me into this design world with her amazing cover shop, Cover to Cover, and the tutorials that started it all! check her profile out bc she's awesome!
     hennwick has always given me a source of inspiration and someone to talk about vector graphics with, and her graphics never fail to re-inspire me to try harder. (she's also an amazing writer)
many thanks to both these wonderful people & all of you!

so, without further ado, here's a tutorial for how to vector a profile picture! 

so, I take around 1-3 hours to make an average vector graphic. this tutorial is almost an hour long total, and probably the quickest I've worked since I didn't want to make you guys sit through so much. I've managed to filter profile pictures down to a step by step process, which is about as logical as this can get :)

some things you need to begin: 

     - a computer (sorry! pixlr the app won't work)
     - wifi connection unless you use a different program besides pixlr, like photoshop.
     - adobe flash player? (check if your browser is compatible with the pixlr editor website)
     - patience, or as much of it as you can muster
     - a drawing board or mouse (optional, but this helps make things easier!)

if you haven't used pixlr before, I recommend you check out A Beginner's Guide to Pixlr video I made below. if you have, scroll down past the video to start the tutorials (plus in line commentary from moi).

https://youtu.be/PixR0bVXz0s

now we're actually going to start. Vicky's List of Things To Remember:
     - use the sharp brushes! not the fuzzy ones unless you are shading! 
     - the dodge and burn tools are your best buddies for shading easily!
     - remember to label your layers!
     - don't be afraid to use more layers! I promise it makes things easier as long as you know what's what!
     - ADJUSTMENT>COLOR LOOKUP is a great tool for turn a layer or selection into the color range you want.
     - EDIT>SELECT PIXELS keeps me from coloring out of the lines.
     - the pencil tool is testy and will color out of your selection, meaning you have to EDIT>INVERT SELECTION and DELETE to get rid of any out of the lines penciling.

here's part 1! I accidentally deleted the first part of the video, so I had to re-record my vectoring. you'll see a slight difference between color shades in part 1 & 2.

part 1 goes over vectoring the leaf and preliminaries.

Girl With Leaf Vector Tutorial (part 1) 9:06

https://youtu.be/WgnV2vo9F7I

here's part 2 & please excuse my horrible typing skills. I swear i'm faster when I write! 

part 2 consists of color blocking the face, adding the forehead highlight, coloring the eyebrows, painting the eyes, pupils, and lashes, drawing the nose, and starting the lips, teeth, and tongue. it may or may not look like me blotching makeup application :P (if you've got steady hands and have a killer smoky eye, you're probably good at this part :))

Girl With Leaf Vector Tutorial (part 2) 15:01

https://youtu.be/Jvuz8FO2mtc

here's part 3! 

part 3 consists of me finishing the mouth (because i'm horrible at time management), adding the smile lines, adding rosiness to the cheeks, finishing the ears, color blocking the hands and hair, and almost finishing the hair shading. 

Girl With Leaf Vector Tutorial (part 3) 15:01

https://youtu.be/0tEfOc1DOdc

without further ado, part 4!

part 4 is composed of finishing the hair shading, shading the hand, adding fingernails, color blocking and shading her scarf, shading her neck, and color blocking and shading her shirt. 

Girl With Leaf Vector Tutorial (part 4) 14:56

https://youtu.be/awkph1Ppf4g

and last, and definitely least, part 5! I apologize for it's shortness because I have no sense of dividing my time evenly.

part 5 is composed of me adding a gradient as the background and an overlay for more texture, as well as closing statements!

https://youtu.be/Qb-Q1HTapRI

I hope this did a decent job of showing how I made the profile picture! if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or professional inquiries, feel free to contact me!

i'd love to see what you guys make! don't be afraid to tag me if you made anything vector! i'd love to see it <3

thank you again for being the best followers, silent readers, spam commenters, and friends ever! you all are amazing, and thank you so much for being there for me! here's to another great year! xoxo, Vicky ❤