In today’s tutorial, we’re going to embark on a creative journey into the land of Minecraft and learn how to create a cute little character using Affinity Designer’s handy Isometric Grid.
So assuming you’re a fan of the game, quickly get a coffee refill and
let’s jump straight into it!
Also, don’t forget you can always expand the
project by heading over to GraphicRiver where you’ll find a great selection of
vector pixel art.
1. How to Set Up a New Project File
Assuming you already have Affinity up and running, let’s set up a New Document by going to File> New (or by using the Control-N keyboard shortcut) which we will adjust as follows:
- Type: Web
- Document Units: Pixels
- Create artboard: checked
- Page Width: 800 px
- Page Height: 600 px
- DPI: 72
2. How to Set Up an Isometric Grid
As soon as we’ve created our document, we’ll want to set up a custom isometric grid, which will provide visual guidance when it comes to drawing the shapes of our character.
Step 1
To do this, simply go to View > Grids and Axis Manager, where we will first enable the Show gridoption, and then uncheck the Use automatic grid one so that we can set up a custom one as follows:
- Grid type: Isometric
- Spacing: 16 px
- Divisions: 4 px
Step 2
Once the grid is all set up, we need to make sure that our shapes are actually snapping to it, so go to View> Snapping Manager (or use the little Magnet icon) where we will make sure it's enabled, and then uncheck all the options except the Snap to grid one.
Normally, we would have the Force pixel alignment option enabled, but due to the angles of the grid’s lines, our shapes will end up having comma-delimited values, which as you know can’t snap to the Pixel Grid.
Step 3
As you can see, the resulting grid is made out of multiple 16 px tall rhombi, which have 4 subdivisions along each of their sides (16 in total), which become clearly visible once you zoom in on them. We are going to rely on them in the process of defining the size of each and every shape, using the outer edges of the rhombus as a Width measuring unit, and its inner vertical height as a Height measuring one.
To keep things simple, I’m going to use some simple annotation where R= one edge/height of the larger rhombus, and a small r= one edge/height of the smaller division.
3. How to Create the Character’s Lower Body
As soon as we’ve created our custom isometric grid, we can start working on the actual character, and we will do so by creating a blank version of its entire body one section at a time.
Step 1
Using the Pen
Tool (P), draw the front section of the legs using a 6 x 4 R shape, which we will color using #596C7B and then position
as seen in the reference image.
Step 2
Add the side section of the legs using a 2 x6 R shape, which we will color using #384C57 and then position
onto the right side of the previous one.
4. How to Create the Character’s Upper Body
Now that we have the main shapes of the legs, we can move up and start working on the upper body, which we will create one shape at a time.
Step 1
Start by creating the torso using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the legs’ front section, which we will position above, making sure
to change its color to #E47145.
Step 2
With the torso in place, we can now start working on the character’s arms and shoulders.
Create the main shape for the left arm using a 2 x6 R rectangle, which we will color using #96693B and then position
next to the torso as seen in the reference image.
Step 3
Add the front section of the right hand using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the one that we’ve just finished working on, which we will position on the opposite side of the torso.
Step 4
Create the side section using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the shape that we’ve just created, which we will horizontally reflect (right click > Transform > Flip Horizontal), and then position on its right side.
Step 5
Add the shoulders and upper section of the torso
using a single shape, which we will color using #E58047 and then position as
seen in the reference image. Once you’re done, make sure you select and group (Control-G) all of the upper body’s
composing shapes together before moving on to the next section.
5. How to Create the Character’s Head
Since at this point we pretty much have all the sections of the character’s body, we can move up and focus on creating the main shapes for its head.
Step 1
Start by drawing the front section using a 4 x 4 R shape, which we will color using #96693B and then position
on the body as seen in the reference image.
Step 2
Add the side section using a copy (Control-C> Control-V) of the shape that we’ve just created, which we will color
using #3E2815 and then position on the right side, making sure to
horizontally reflect it (right click> Transform > Flip Horizontal).
Step 3
Finish off the head by drawing a 4
x 4 R shape which we will color using #6D4A2D and then position on top of
the two rectangles, as seen in the reference image. Once you’re done, select and
group all three shapes together using the Control-G
keyboard shortcut.
Quick tip: at this point, it would be a good idea to start organizing our project by opening up the Layers panel and naming the different sections that we’ve grouped, so that we can more easily target and navigate the body parts of our character.
6. Adding Details to the Character’s Head
Now that we have the blank version of our character, we can begin adding details to it, and we will do so from the head down.
Step 1
Draw the mouth using a 4 x 2 r shape,
which we will color using #BD9169 and then position towards the lower edge of
the head’s front section, as seen in the reference image.
Step 2
Create the left eye using two 2 x
4 r shapes (one colored using #FFFFFF and one using #3E2815), which we will
group (Control-G) and then position
on the upper-left section of the mouth, at a distance of just 1 r from its top edge.
Step 3
Add the right eye using a copy of the one that we’ve just grouped, which we will position on the opposite side of the mouth, making sure to flip their colors.
Step 4
With both eyes in place, we can quickly draw the hair segment (#4C341E)
using the reference image as our main guide. Take your time, and once you’re
done, move on to the next step.
Step 5
Finish detailing the current section by adding the little golden
earring using a 1 x 2 r shape, which
we will color using #E19B4F and then position on the side section of the
head, aligning it to the lower eye line. Once you’re done, select and group all
of the head’s details together (Control-G)
before moving on to the next section.
7. Adding Details to the Character’s Upper Body
Now that we’ve finished working on the head, we can shift our focus over to the character’s body, where we will gradually start adding details to it.
Step 1
Create the front section of the left sleeve using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the arm’s
main shape, which we will then adjust by first changing its color to #E47145 and then cutting its height in half.
Step 2
Add the front section of the right sleeve using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the one that we’ve just finished working on, which we will position on the opposite side of the torso.
Step 3
Draw the lower section of the sleeve using the reference image as your main guide, making sure to select and group (Control-G) the two shapes together once you’re done.
Step 4
Create the lower section of the right sleeve using the same process used for the left one, making sure to select and group the resulting shape and the front section together using the Control-G keyboard shortcut.
Step 5
Create the right sleeve’s side section using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the arm,
which we will adjust by first setting its color to #C0512A and then shortening
its height from 6 R to 4 R.
Step 6
Add the neck cutout using the reference image as your main guide, making
sure to color the resulting shape using #96693B.
Step 7
Separate the front section of the head from the neck using an 8 x 2 r block, which we will color using #784A27
and position onto the cutout.
Step 8
With the Fill color set to #4C341E,
draw the front hair segments using the reference image as your main guide. Take
your time, and once you’re done, move on to the next step.
Step 9
Add the shoulder hair segments using #4C341E for the front section and#3E2815 for the top one, making sure to select and group the two together
afterwards using the Control-G
keyboard shortcut.
Step 10
Draw the belt using a 16 x 2 r shape,
which we color using #343E4C and then position at a distance of 2 r from the bottom edge of the shirt’s
front section.
Step 11
Add the shirt’s bottom front details using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the ones that we’ve just created for the sleeves, which we will position as seen in the reference image.
Step 12
Finish the detailing process of the current part of the
illustration by adding the side section of the shirt’s bottom, which we will
color using #C0512A. Once you’re done, create individual groups (Control-G) of the different sections,
positioning them within the main shapes with the help of the Layers panel.
8. Adding Details to the Character’s Lower Body
Now that we’ve finished adding the different details to the upper body, we can shift our focus towards the legs and gradually add details to those as well.
Step 1
Start by creating the side section of the boot,
using a copy (Control-C > Control-V)
of the underlying leg, which we will adjust by first setting its color to #152028 and then shortening its Height to
just 14 r.
Step 2
With the color set to #343E4C, draw the main
shape for the front section of the right foot’s boot using the reference image
as your main guide.
Step 3
Finish detailing the legs, and with them the illustration itself, by adding the left boot using a copy (Control-C> Control-V) of the one that we’ve just finished working on, which we will position on the left side of the legs. Once you’re done, select and group all of the details together using the Control-G keyboard shortcut, before hitting that save button.
9. A Little Touching Up
At this point, you may have noticed that some of our character’s neighboring shapes ended up having little white gaps between them, which has to do with the way the software handles aliasing, which is a problem that the people at Serif are aware of.
The official method of fixing this annoying issue is to add duplicates of the shapes where this happens, which I’ve tested out and seems to work. It’s not a perfect method, but it’s all we have until we get a software update.
Great Job!
There you have it, fellow Minecraft lovers, a cute little character created using Affinity’s powerful isometric grid.
As always, I hope you’ve managed to follow each and every step and most importantly learned something new and useful along the way.
That being said, if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments section and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!
