You can make your own custom illustrations using online tools like Canva, Visme, and Picrew. These tools will help you make beautiful images using only the web browser on your computer, so you don’t need to download any software to make an illustration. Whether you’re making something special for your business or just want to create something fun with your kids, making custom illustrations is easy and fun! Here’s how to get started making your own custom illustrations online today!
Things you need
A clean picture of your character. If you want, you can use existing pictures of people or animals as references, but I’d recommend using at least one good, full-body shot (front and back) from multiple angles. You’ll also need some art supplies—good drawing paper (any kind will do), some pencils, pens, paints and brushes.
Step 1 – Rough sketch
This is where it all begins. To make a custom illustration, you’ll need some input from your client. It could be any idea or theme they want to see represented in an illustration—as long as it can fit within an existing niche.
Step 2 – Find your focal point
Have a focal point, like an eye or mouth that makes your character unique. This way, you know exactly where your character’s attention is directed. For example, eyes are great for emphasis because they’re so expressive. If your focal point isn’t a facial feature (maybe it’s something like what your character is holding), then make sure to have several focal points scattered around your illustration so people can find them easily.
Step 3 – Color palette
It’s important to choose colors that complement one another. Complementary colors are those that are opposite one another on the color wheel: red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple. For example, green complements purple in a palette of forest greens with warm accents of gold or peach.
Step 4 – Linear
Linear is one of my favorite parts of illustrating because it gets messy and I get to use my hands! I think that’s what most illustrators love about linear. There’s so much room for expression. You can make hard lines, loose lines, fast lines, or slow ones—it’s really all up to you!
Step 5 – Final touches
Put your illustration in context. Who is it for? What is it supposed to accomplish? What will make people want to read it, share it, or engage with it on social media?
Tutorial Summary & Learnings
Many tutorials are available where you can learn how to create your own character and then turn that into an illustration in Adobe Photoshop. Each time you draw, take notes on what worked and what didn’t. This way, you’ll learn which techniques are more difficult or more time-consuming than others. As you become more experienced with drawing, these types of tutorials will teach you valuable lessons about how to draw faster, better, and more easily.
