Chinese New Year Greeting Art
This speed art video shows a Chinese New Year greeting character being drawn in Adobe Illustrator, designed for a greeting card. It was made with the Pen Tool and basic shapes and is a quick, cheerful piece rather than a detailed illustration.
The artwork
The character is a stylised lion dance head: a red and white face with big yellow eyes, a wide grin, a green nose, and a mane of white fur and gold trim. It holds a red banner with the greeting “新年快乐” (Happy New Year) in gold. Everything sits on a flat yellow background, so the red, white and gold read clearly even at small sizes, which is what you want on a card.
What to look for
The face is built from symmetrical shapes, so half is drawn and mirrored. Note how the small details, such as the fur tufts and the pattern on the brow, are added last and kept simple. This kind of festive illustration works well for cards, social posts and stickers.
There is no voiceover in this video. The full step-by-step version was made for members.
Links from the video
- Full tutorial for members: https://bit.ly/3lR3INj
- Premium tutorials on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3fEEvD4
- Premium tutorials on Udemy: http://bit.ly/2Cqmcgo
- Step-by-step tutorials playlist: http://bit.ly/31EXG6G
