29 June 2007

I can't draw but I want to draw people faces (with Inkscape)

As probably my loyal readers are used to, I write tutorials at a very low level, suitable for beginners. In the same note, today I'll talk about how to draw people faces (or hackergotchis) with Inkscape even if you don't know how to draw.
Something like this:

inkscape tutorial hackergotchi

The basics: import a photo in Inkscape and using the calligraphic tool draw on top of it and then fill with colors and add highlights and shadows.
Sound interesting? Read more.

At some point I had the idea to make it a screencast, but the video would be long and in need for some editing. PiTiVi is far from usable and Avidemux2 can't work with Ogg, so I'm back to HTML, which is good, a HTML page is better indexed in search engines compared with a video :p

 This tutorial has also a Romanian translation.

23 comments:

  1. Excelent! Keep up the good work

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for this tutorial.
    I was kinda annoyed with my photo hackergotchi, so I'll give inscape a try :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. How about Istanbul for a screencast.

    ReplyDelete
  4. stavrosg, consider this a challenge, give it a try and show it to the world :D

    fernando, yes Istanbul is very good to capture the screencast, but this particular one is long and repetitive, so the movie will need a little editing - delete a few parts, to not bore the viewer.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i said it on inkscapeforum.com, but ill say it again...

    thanks nicu! this tut is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for your words!
    I was not very sure about publishing this, it is very basic. Long but basic and obvious.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Awesome work Nicu! Great tutorials. Hopefully I'll get mine done soon and replace my Simpsons blog avatar.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks Nicu, I'm able to trace my photo :) .

    ReplyDelete
  9. gosh! I have no ideia that there's was a name for do this stuff, such a world! Great blog man, I bacame your reader now! peace!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for this tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi, I will like make a Portuguese version of this tutorial, for te Brazilian Inkscape comunity! Okay?!

    =]

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sure, feel free to translate it under CC-BY-SA

    ReplyDelete
  13. Okay my friend, here is the link of the portuguese translation:

    http://relsiramone.blogspot.com/2008/05/vetorizando-um-rosto-com-o-inkscape.html

    See you!!

    Hugs!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. i'm very like Inkscape, wonderful FOSS.... thanks for all....this's my first time in graphic,
    Very good Tutor !!!! Thanks NICU !!!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozonsilampari/2662940709/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nice one.


    http://tinyurl.com/toonkrish

    ^ Here's mine using Gimp.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very clear, informative tutorial and a big help to people new to Inkscape and vector drawing (like me).

    Thanks very much!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks ! It's nice to be able to find a helpful tut on the net. I'm somewhat new to using Inkscape. Also having problems understanding it.

    I used Photoimpact 8 before this ! Photshop CS2 does make the vector I seek ! So this will have to do ?! Thanks again

    ReplyDelete
  18. I think the same could have been achieved with the use of bezier curve. Well the sketching is not a pen, but editing those nodes are really a tough job.

    So, why don't u show the alternative of Bezier Curve, that could be a nice tutorial and easy too for many of us, working with paths.

    cheers

    ReplyDelete
  19. @Samundra: indeed, you can do the same using Beziers and then converting them to path, I did something like thins in another tutorial for drawing RPG buildings.

    ReplyDelete
  20. here i have made one
    http://arkarjun.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/my-guru-2/

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am writing this 17 years after your tutorial was published on Inkscape because your tutorial is helpful for someone who is just now learning about Inkscape and everything it is capable of. I am 70+ years old and I did not think your tutorial was too long or obvious. I am thankful that you provided step-by-step instructions, along with pictures, that show the process clearly. At my age I don't retain as easily in my memory. I can use your tutorial to go back to and refresh my memory in what to do next. Thank you again. I will be looking at more of your tutorials. ❤
    P.S. I am not able to sign in unfortunately. I wish I could so I would know if you read my comment, I guess I have to create a blog in order to do that. ??

    ReplyDelete