How to draw lady bug in Adobe Illustrator

Dgraphic-ink. Lady bug is an icon to woman. In my country, some TV programs use this lady bug in their show. It is usually to be watched by woman also. Like gossip or whatever that actually i do not like. But this creature, i and my cousin like to play with it when we were a kid. Because it is small and cute with it is spots.

Today, i have just draw a lady bug in Adobe Illustrator. Actually it is very simple. Just drag and drag then we have a nice lady bug. You can make it in your own style if you prefer. But now we will practice mine in 15 minutes. So let's get started.

First thing first, as usual, we will look our lady bug. So this is it..

It is very simple, isn't it?

Creating the body

How did i create it?. It is only using Ellipse tool. The body look round, so i shaped it from looking the real lady bug.

Use ellipse tool, then make a single egg shape.
And we will add a gradient mesh on the edge. To do that you need to know a basic knowledge about how to use the gradient mesh tool. It is here. (i am sorry it is in my Native but you can use the translator).

As you know that every single click into object using gradient mesh tool it will devide the object into horizontal and vertical part. So use the gradient tool (U), now click at the very middle of the ellipse we have made before.
To color it, use select editor tool (A). And click exactly at the point shown. Then you can go to color panel. You know what to do next.

Creating the neck

I do not know what is this part name. So i call it just the neck. But believe me, there are no lady bug with neck in the world.

Use ellipse tool (L), Then click-drag. Shape as you look at the picture above. We made 2 shape.
Then place the little one under the big one. You can unite them by using pathfinder>unite.

When i see the real lady bug, i notice that it has white part on the 'neck'. So to make it, i do not want to shape it with the pen. Use the rectangle (M).
Then with select editor tool (A) you can drag the point at bottom into the middle part of the rectangle.
Rotate it 22 degree. Go to Object>transorm>rotate>22
Duplicate it in reflection. Go to Object>transorm>reflect>vertical>copy.
We need it look round at the top. So for step 5 : Select the black neck. Copy it to back CTRL+C, CTRL+B. Then hold shift and select/click the rectangle. Go to pathfinder>intersect. Now you know how to do the same to the duplicated rectangle. Right?
Do not forget, the color is white.

Your image should look like that. Wait! You may where is the high-light comes from now. Hm yes, i will answer.

Make an egg shape. For the color it is R=94, G=94 B=94. Put it at the back of the white part. CTRL+[

Creating body spots

Again, we only use ellips tool to create the spots. But not with the stroke.

Use ellipse tool. Make 3 shape of perfect cirlce. To do that, you need to hold shift when dragging.
Now, With line segment tool (\). We will devide the lady bug's body into two parts, left and right. You know how to do it. My srtoke at this picture is 2 pt weight. And i expand it on Object>Expand>Stroke. So that it will be scaled as the body. If you not expand it, when you want to scale the lady bug, you have to set the weight again. Wasting time, is not it?

Now i want it looks same as the neck. It has a high-light then the body will.
For the color i choose R=211, G=41, B=36

Creating the eyes and Head

I know that it will be simple. So we will create the eyes and head together.

Use Ellipse tool.
For the eyes, make one perfect circle. And do not forget to give it a high-light. My high-light color is R=73, G=73, B=73.

Again. Use Ellipse tool and start make an egg. The color should be R=211, G=184, B141.
You know how to use mesh gradient tool?. Then same as the body. Click at the center. With select editor. Select the point you have just made, and then color it R=221, G197, B=156.

Before we start to make the 'sungut'. In java, sungut is the name of insect's sensor .

First we must know how the line arc tool works.

Just look at the picture below. The line arc tool is work when we do click, hold it for a moment, then direct it to wherever we want. The green circle is when i do click and the line is my direction (hold). It ends at the red circle.

Now that you know how it works. Then make one.
Give the stroke weight 4 pt.
If you prefer a round edge. You can access the stroke panel. And change from Butt-cap to round-cap. Do not forget to expand it. Object>Expand>Stroke.
Use Ellipse too. Make an egg again. Put it like the image bellow. Then go to pathfinder>unite.
Duplicate it in reflection. You know how?.
Make sure that you put all the parts like i have done. Then Select all (CTRL+A), then group it (CTRL+G).

Creating Background and Shadow

Lady bug is usually just do nothing on a flower or a leaf. But i can not to make it so we will just create a simple background.

Create a rectangle with rectangle tools (M). Make sure it is perfect rectangle, to do so you need to hold shift when dragging. I Like it to be green, R=109, G=60, B=2
Then with mesh tool (U), click exactly on the center of the rectangle. It will make the rectangle divide into four part which each part you can change the color.

Use select editor tool (A). Click the point at the center we have made before. Then go to color panel. Make it lighter, R=132 G=184 B=5.

May be you will ask, why the color of 2 rectangle above are different from below?. Well, It is because i use photoshop to make the screeshot for you. Some people do not know how to use the mesh tool.

The background is ready, but we still need one thing. Shadow.

Make a 104 x 122 pixle of a circle. Then make it blur, Go to Effect>blur>Gaussian blur. And give it 5. For the color it is R=155 G=162 B=6
Put it at the back of our lady bug.

Group they all. And copy it in scale. You can make it a little smaller.
Put all these lady bugs on the green ground. That is it. We have done.

If you follow those steps above correctly, i am sure you will get exactly same result as mine. I hope you enjoy this tutorial. And do not forget to have a look at other tutorial : How to create a simple turtle character in Adobe Illustrator