What is a Hackergotchi? Basically, a hackergotchi is a small thumbnail that a blog writer uses as a quick way to identify himself with his readership. Here’s a simple guide to creating your own hackergotchi from a simple photo, in this guide we’ll be using Adobe Illustrator, if you don’t have it, you can pick up a trial version from Adobe’s home page.

In this guide we will be using a few standard illustrator tools: Live Paint, Paint brush, Eyedropper tool. We will also be using these effects: Drop shadow and Gaussian blur. In later articles I'm going to look at other common illustrator techniques.

So, let’s get started!

I am going to be using a small thumbnail image of the late, great Bruce Lee. Generally speaking, using a low resolution image such as this one isn’t advised, as it makes working up close with it more difficult and results in a lower detail thumbnail, however under the given circumstances a better alternative picture could not be found. If anyone can find a much higher res picture, I just might convert that one as well!

The first thing you want to do when creating your new illustrator file is the size of the image, a typical thumbnail is 128x128 pixels. You can select these options when creating a new file in illustrator.

Now you’ll want to import the picture you wish to use as a backdrop. To do so click on File and then select Place; this will open up a browser window where you can select the picture you want to trace. Place it on your canvas and lock it in place by selecting the picture and pressing Ctrl + 2. Alternatively you could simply select Object then Lock and then choose Selection. Locking an object in place means you cannot move it or accidently alter it. Since we are using this picture to trace, it makes sense to lock it in place.

Now Zoom in, to do so click on the Window menu and select Navigator. A small window pops up that allows you to easily zoom in and out and select any area of the image you wish to edit, one of the more commonly used windows that you should familiarize yourself with when using Illustrator.

Screen1

We’re going to begin tracing the outline of the face by using the paintbrush tool. The Paintbrush tool is very versatile and lets you create a wide variety of strokes thanks to the large selection of brushes and settings you can adjust.

Here’s an outline I’ve quickly traced of the picture in red so you can see it easily.

The goal is to trace the basic outline of the face and try to capture the major details, eyes, nose, ears, etc. You should use a thinner stroke for the finer details (facial features), and a thicker stroke for hair and the bigger outlines.

Once you’ve completed a trace, unlock the picture and slide it out to get a look at your outline.

Now it’s time for color. For this I’m going to use the Live Paint tool. There’s a small guide on how to use the live paint tool in illustrator when you use it for the first time. Here’s our frame after I’ve altered the color of the outline from red to black. I’ve started creative Live Paint traces and am coloring them in using the Eyedropper Tool.

The same principle of live paint areas can be applied to the face and hair.

Now we’ll be adding some shading to the face to give it a little depth. Bring the original photo back and place it on top of your drawing. Create black shapes in shaded areas and white shapes in highly lit areas. Select all the pieces and add a blur effect. The blur I used is a standard Gaussian blur.

Once that’s done, add a drop shadow from the Effect-Stylize-Drop Shadow option. And voila, your final icon is done!

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