What You’ll Learn in This Vector Sunflower Tutorial
- How to create a sunflower vector illustration
- How to draw a sunflower in Illustrator
- How to create a cute girl character in Illustrator
- How to use Warp Effects
- How to move anchor points
- How to use the Pathfinder panel
1. How to Create the Girl’s Head in Adobe IllustratorÂ
Step 1
After you’ve opened Adobe Illustrator, create a new document (File > New). Enter 850 px Width and Height in the new dialogue window and press OK. This will be your new artboard.
Now, let’s start to create the face. Use the Ellipse Tool (L) to draw an ellipse (fill color R=237, G=178, B=152). While keeping it selected, go to Effect > Warp > Inflate and, in the new dialogue window, enter the options you see below. Then press OK. This will be the girl’s head.
Expand this shape (Object > Expand Appearance).
Step 2
Using the Selection Tool (V), rotate the head shape a bit to the left.Â
Change the fill color to R=94, G=77, B=66, as we will be creating the eyes next. Again, using the Ellipse Tool (L) and while holding down the Shift key (to create an even circle), create a tiny circle.
To create the other eye, select the one you just created and hold down the Alt key. While holding this key, move the existing eye to the right. You’ll notice that you just created a copy of the original.
Step 3
Let’s make the eyebrow. Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a thin horizontal oval (fill color R=255, G=245, B=217). Then take the Direct Selection Tool (A), select by dragging the top and bottom anchor points of the oval, and slide them up. This will be the eyebrow.
Step 4
Place the eyebrow over on the left eye. Feel free to rotate it however you want—just don’t make her angry by rotating too much to the middle! Create another eyebrow by dragging the first one while holding the Alt key to the right. Now you have two eyebrows.
After that, create a third copy of the eyebrow, change its fill color to R=226, G=158, B=131, and place it where the nose should be. Now it is the girl’s nose.
Step 5
To draw the mouth, draw a new horizontal ellipse (fill color R=216, G=120, B=102). Select this new ellipse, and sharpen the left and right anchor points by clicking on them using the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C).Â
Now, your ellipse should have two sharp ends. Using the Direct Selection Tool (A), select those sharp anchor points and drag them upwards.
Create a white copy of this shape in front: select the red shape and press Control-C, Control-F. The black stroke you see in the image below is just for better visibility; you don’t need it.Â
Lastly, take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move the upper anchor point of the white shape down and the lower anchor point up. See how easily you made a smiling mouth?
Important: group the whole mouth (right-click > Group) so you can move it easily.
Place the mouth in the appropriate place.
Step 6
Create a copy of the girl’s head, and place it behind the face (Control-C, Control-B). Make this copy bigger and change its fill color to R=255, G=245, B=217. It’s the back of the girl’s hair.
Using the same light yellow fill color, create three ellipses in front of the head. They are the front of the girl’s hair. Remember, the black stroke is just for better visibility; you don’t need it.
Step 7
Continue to create the back of the hair by adding a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool (M). While keeping it selected, transform the rectangle with the Flag effect: go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Enter the options you see below on the left. Press OK.
After that, you need to add another effect. Go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. If a new pop-up window asks you if you want to apply a new effect over the previous one, press Apply. Enter the options you see below on the right. Press OK.
Expand this shape (Object > Expand Appearance).
Step 8
Place the hair behind the girl’s head (Control-X, Control-B). If you see some weird or unusual spaces on the hair, cover them with an ellipse.
Step 9
Let’s add a green headband to match the sunflower’s leaves.Â
First, create a green circle (fill color R=196, G=196, B=128). Then, drag it down while keeping the Shift and Alt keys pressed. Shift will move the circle straight, and Alt will create a copy.Â
Change the bottom copy to any color so you can see how thick or thin you want the headband to be. The upper green crescent shape in the image below will be the headband.Â
While keeping these two circles selected, press the Minus Front button on the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder). We will end up with a crescent shape.Â
Place the green headband on the girl’s head. Rotate it slightly to the left, following the tilt of the head.
Step 10
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), add a rectangle to create the neck. It should be the same fill color as the face. To take the face fill color, just click on the face and then continue creating the neck.
While keeping the rectangle selected, go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. In the new dialogue window, enter the options you see in the image below. Press OK.Â
Expand this shape (Object > Expand Appearance).
Place the neck under the girl’s head.
2. How to Create the Girl’s Body
Step 1
In this step, we will create the girl’s body. Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a green rectangle. It will be a dress. The green color should be the same as the headband.
To modify this shape, we’ll use the Bulge effect (Effect > Warp > Bulge) with the options shown below. It is important to expand this shape (Object > Expand Appearance).
Place the dress under and behind the girl’s neck (Control-X, Control-B).
Step 2
Let’s create sleeves now. Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a green ellipse on the left side of the dress. Holding the Alt key and dragging the green ellipse to the right will get you a copy of the sleeve. Now, place it on the right side of the girl’s dress.Â
Change the fill color to R=226, G=225, B=183. Create a light green circle. To create an even circle, hold the Shift key while drawing. Place the light green circle on the left green ellipse.Â
Create a copy of the light green circle and place it on the right green ellipse. We want to make it look as if the girl’s sleeves are rolled up.
Step 3
Next, we will create arms. Click on the girl’s face to get its fill color. Make this fill color a stroke color by clicking on the Swap Fill and Stroke (Shift-X) button on the left panel. After that, go to the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke) and make the stroke Weight very big, around 30 pixels. On the same panel, click on the Round Cap button in the Cap section.Â
Using the Arc Tool, draw the girl’s right arm. Then, on the Stroke panel, make the stroke Weight thinner (around 10 pixels) and draw her thumb using the Line Segment Tool ().
Now, we will create the girl’s left arm. If you click on her right arm, you will get the same stroke Weight. Use that to draw her left arm.
Click on her right thumb so that you’ll have the same stroke Weight. Use that to draw the girl’s left thumb. Her arms are now finished.
Step 4
Now, we want to decorate the girl’s dress. Set the same fill color as the hair, and draw a tiny circle. Place it on the bottom of the dress.
Then, put this circle behind the dress so that later it will look like lace.
While holding the Shift and Alt keys, move the tiny yellow circle to the right. Make sure that they overlap a bit.
After that, press Control-D a few times: this key combination repeats your last move. Stop pressing when you have a row of tiny circles.
3. How to Create the Girl’s Legs
Step 1
Now we want to create the first leg. Draw a long rectangle under the girl’s dress—the fill color is the same as her face. While keeping the rectangle selected, go to Effect > Warp > Flag and, in the new dialogue window, enter the options you see below. Then press OK.
Expand the shape.
Step 2
To create a shoe, we need to use the Rounded Rectangle Tool. Create a rounded rectangle with the fill color R=206, G=152, B=56. If you’re not happy with how round the corners are, you can adjust them by switching on the Corner Widget (View > Show Corner Widget) and dragging the tiny circles of the rounded rectangle in or out.
Then, create any color rectangle that overlaps the yellow rounded rectangle: we want to cut off the bottom part. Select both shapes and hit the Minus Front button on the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder).
After you have just the upper part, use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the top-right anchor point and move it a bit to the right. That’s the basic shape of the shoe.
Step 3
Change the fill color to the same as the face, and draw an ellipse. It should overlap the basic shoe shape on top.
After that, create a rectangle of any color and make it overlap this ellipse because we want to cut the upper part of the ellipse. Select the ellipse and rectangle (but not the yellow basic shoe shape!) and press Minus Front on the Pathfinder panel.Â
To create the sole, change the fill color to R=94, G=77, B=66, and draw a long brown rounded rectangle on the bottom of the basic shoe shape. Do you see a shoe now?
Place this shoe on the girl’s leg.
Step 4
Now that you have one leg, you just need to create a copy of it to get the second leg.Â
Make the second leg darker. In the image below, you can see these darker fill colors.
4. How to Make a Sunflower in Illustrator
Step 1
Finally, we will draw a sunflower in Illustrator. First, we want to create a pattern for our vector sunflower. Make sure the fill color is R=73, G=57, B=48, and draw a tiny square. Hold Shift to create an even square.Â
Using the Selection Tool (V), rotate 45 degrees while holding Shift to create a diamond shape.
Move this diamond shape to the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), and it will automatically create a base for the future sunflower pattern.
Step 2
Change the fill color to R=94, G=77, B=66, and draw an even circle.Â
Create a copy of it in front (Control-C, Control-F). Go to the Swatches panel and choose the diamond you placed here before. Now you should have a diamond-shaped pattern.Â
So, in total, you have two circles: one brown solid color and one with a pattern on top. This is the middle part of the sunflower vector illustration. Group it.
Step 3
After that, we will create a petal for our sunflower vector illustration. Draw a small vertical ellipse (fill color R=229, G=182, B=90). Using the Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C), click on the top and bottom anchor points of this ellipse to make them sharp.Â
Now, you have a yellow ellipse that has sharp top and bottom anchor points. Create a copy of this ellipse and set it aside—we’ll use it later.
Keep the yellow ellipse selected, and go to Effect > Warp > Shell Lower. In the new dialogue window, enter the options you see below, and press OK. Expand the shape. This is the base shape for the petal.
Create a copy of this shape and set it aside—we’ll use it later for the sunflower leaf.
Step 4
Remember that copy of the yellow ellipse with sharp corners that you set aside? Change its fill color to R=211, G=159, B=66. Â
Now, let’s combine the two shapes to create a petal for our sunflower vector art. Take the base petal shape and place the yellow ellipse with the sharp anchor points over it. The whole petal is now done. You can group it for your convenience.Â
Step 5
Put the petal on top of the middle part of the vector sunflower.
After that, we want to create many copies in a radial motion around the middle part. To do this, select the petal and take the Rotate Tool (R). While holding Alt, click exactly in the middle of the middle part of the vector sunflower, and right after that, press Enter.Â
A new Rotate dialogue window will pop up, where you need to enter Angle 15 degrees and press Copy. You will notice that a new petal is created close to the previous one. Then keep pressing Control-D to repeat your last movement, and you will notice how more and more petals appear. Stop pressing Control-D when you’ve filled the entire circle.Â
Adjust the sizes of the middle part or the petals if you need to. Group the petals for your convenience.
Step 6
To make the sunflower vector art look more natural, let’s create another circle of petals behind it. To do this, select all the petals without the middle part of sunflower, and create a copy behind.
Make the copy bigger and darker. You can see the colors to use in the image below.Â
Using the Selection Tool (V), rotate the back petals a little so that they’ll be more visible. Group the whole vector sunflower so that you can move it easily later.
Step 7
Remember the base shape for the petal that you set aside? We’ll use it now to create a leaf for the vector sunflower. Start by using the Selection Tool (V) to stretch it horizontally. Then change its fill color to R=147, G=160, B=95.Â
Let’s make a stalk for the sunflower leaf. Make sure the leaf is not selected. Press the Swap Fill and Stroke (Shift-X) button, and change the stroke color to R=115, G=130, B=75. Using the Line Segment Tool (/), draw the stalk of the leaf. On the Stroke panel, you can adjust the stroke Weight. Also, in the Cap section, make sure you selected Round Cap.
Step 8
Now that you have your sunflower vector illustration and leaves, place them around the girl’s head however you want.
Step 9
Using the same stroke color and stroke Weight, draw big stalks of the vector sunflower using the Arc Tool. Be sure they stay behind the girl’s arms.
Step 10
Now let’s add a background to our illustration. Create a square by using the Rectangle Tool (M). Click on the artboard and enter 850 x 850 px. Press OK and make its fill color R=252, G=228, B=180.
Place the background behind the girl with the vector sunflowers.
Congratulations!
You just did a very good job! Congratulations to those who followed this tutorial with me. You’ve learned how to draw a sunflower in Illustrator and how to create a cute girl character.
See you in my next tutorial!Â
Recommended Resources From Envato Elements
Here are some recommended resources from Envato Elements to add to your illustration. It’s a subscription-based marketplace where you can get unlimited downloads. If you’re looking for a sunflower vector illustration, you can find many beautiful graphics there. It’s the perfect place to get endless creative assets.Â
1. Sunflowers Clipart (PNG, PSD)Â
Download versatile designs with transparent backgrounds, perfect for cards, stickers, invitations, and posters. Seamlessly integrate them with any material for creative projects.
2. Sun Flower Nature Vector Element (EPS, AI)
This illustration would be perfect for a variety of projects with a vintage touch, such as logos and branding.
3. Hand-Painted Watercolor Duck and Sunflower (PNG)
Download these hand-drawn ducks and sunflowers, available as PNG files. They’re ideal for adding a unique, artistic touch to any project, and these designs seamlessly blend with various backgrounds.
4. Â Festa Junina Design Illustration (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PDF, SVG, AFDESIGN)
How about this vibrant vector design illustration of Brazil’s Festa Junina, featuring a sunflower, colorful lantern, corn, and guitar? It’s perfect for capturing the festive spirit in posters, flyers, and digital content. This design will add a bright and lively touch to any celebration-themed project.
5. Decorative Flower 3D Icon (AI, SVG, PNG, EPS)
The Decorative Flower 3D Icon set includes 15 ready-made 3D file objects, perfect for enhancing websites, mobile apps, and more. Use these 3D assets to add an artistic three-dimensional flair to your digital designs.
If You Want to Learn More, Take a Look at These Tutorials
If you’re eager to expand your knowledge, consider exploring the tutorials available on Envato Elements. This platform offers an extensive collection of resources, providing ample opportunity for learning and growth. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced creator, you’ll find tutorials that cater to various skill levels and interests, all designed to enhance your abilities and inspire your creative projects.