Another cute cartoon character that is fun to draw! Mouse drawings are easy to achieve if you follow these simple steps! One thing that we need to be careful is to make sure that our character doesn't look like a rat.
Rats are usually darker (grey or brown) and the nose is slightly narrower. Ears are also smaller and not necessarily round. Just grab a pencil and a piece of paper and let's move on with the first step!
You need to sketch your mouse on a piece of paper or directly on your computer (if you own a tablet) to begin this drawing lesson. It's ok if your drawing is not perfect or if some lines are missing. This is just a simple template that we will use for our vector version.
Next, convert your drawing into a digital file using a scanner or a simple camera. Once this is done, open your vector application. Create a new layer over the template and add a few dark lines on your character.
Create a third layer (the template and the outlines are the first two layers) and place this one in the middle. Add plain shapes to cover all areas of the mouse that need colors.
Select the gradient tool and add a simple effect using a darker and a lighter color on all plain shapes created previously. We now have basic shadows on our cartoon character.
The result is nice, but it can definitely be better. Create another layer and place it between the outlines and the solid shapes. Add strong shadows using dark shapes and make sure that the color is matching (but still darker) the one from the shape behind each shadow.
Select the transparency tool and partially hide the top part of each shadow created in the previous step. Shadows are still visible, but much softer.
Shadows are nice, but adding reflection is also important to give more volume to the illustration. Duplicate shapes that are closer to the light source (usually the top left of the image) and scale them down a little bit. The pink shape is only there to differentiate this one from another white shape.
Once again, select the transparency tool and partially hide the bottom part of each shape. Your character looks more interesting now ! :)
Changing the color of all outlines is a good idea to complete the drawing lesson. The result is visually more appealing. That's it! Don't hesitate to create more mouse drawings to practice your drawing abilities! Have fun! :)