Draw a Cute Glossy Star via 3 Easy Steps in Photoshop

Posted on June 15th, 2009 under Drawing, it has 27 Comments and 13,612 Views so far.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to draw this Cute Glossy Star via 3 Easy Steps in Photoshop, which you can use for a wide range of decorative purposes. The aim of this tutorial to introduce you the Polygon Tool and the settings associated to it, plus the method you can use for adding glossy effect to certain element.

Along the way, we will be using the Polygon Tool to draw the star, and use some simple layer blending effect to add the shining, glossy effect to it. I will also use the Pen Tool and dynamic brush settings for the final effect. The effect is easy to achieve and very practical. Have a try!

Here is preview of the final effect for this tutorial: (Click to enlarge)

Alternative coloured version:

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document size 800 * 800 px and use the gradient tool to fill the background layer as shown below:

1 grad fill

Select the Polygon Tool by left-click the Shape Tool symbol from the toolbox and hold, as shown below:

polygon tool

You will notice a series of shape tool options appearing across the top, apply the following settings:

Sides: 5

Radius: 10px

Indent Sides By: 50%

1 polygon tool 3

Make sure to tick “Smooth Corners” and “Star” option.

Draw a star on top of the background layer as shown below: (You can press Ctrl + T to free-tranform it if you like)

1 draw

Rename this layer as “Star”.

Step 2

On the “Star” layer, apply the following layer blending options:

Drop Shadow

2 drop sha

Inner Shadow

2 inner sha

Outer Glow

2 out glower

Inner Glow

2 inner glow

Bevel and Emboss

2 bevel

Contour

2 contour

And you will have the followin effect on the star layer:

2 effect

Step 3

Now we can add some decoration on the star so it doesn’t look too boring. To do this, we can simply create a new layer below the “Star” layer, use the Pen Tool to draw a working path like this:

3 path

Hint: Try holding down “Shift” key while dragging the anchor points.

Then grab a 18px, 0% hardness brush, select the Pen Tool and right-click on the path and choose “storke path”:

3 stroke path

Apply the following settings:

3 brush

And you will see the following effect:

3 after stro

Duplicate this working path layer a few times, rotate, scale and distort the duplicated layer using the Free Transform tool (Ctrl + T). Here is my effect so far:

3 lines

Once you’re happy with the result, you can merge those duplicated abstract line layers together, then duplicate some more layers based on the merged layers, result as shown below: (rotate, resize if necessary)

3 effect 2

And we can add some dots around the star for the final touch-ups. To do this, grab a 9px, soft round brush and press “F5″ or go to Window > Brushes to bring up the brush window, apply the following dynamic settings:

Shape Dynamics

3 shape dyn

Scattering

3 scatter

Other Dynamics

3 other dyn

Make sure to check “Airbrush” and “Smoothing” options, too.

Once the brush is made, create a new layer under the “star” layer and paint those dots in random areas as below:

3 effect 3

OK, that’s it for this tutorial! You can of course add some of your own texture or filter effect and see what the end results are! Remember to always keep your own creativity!

Here is an alternative version I have:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial, drop me a comment if you have any question, I will try my best to help you out.

Cheers and have a nice day!

Jaline Says:
Wonderful, thank you very much. I don’t know why, but the Alternative version does not show up….
Thanks again
farlakes Says:
heehee!Nice tut!
keeping it simple in Photoshop is very difficult for a lot of peeps!
Once again,simplicity makes perfect!
axvitor Says:
very good!
Geoffrey Gordon Says:
Excellent Tutorial, can you post a tutorial on how to make your own character, symbol, or person?
psaddict Says:
Nice!

Added to http://www.psaddict.com
James Says:
@Jaline: that should be fixed now :) thanks for pointing it out
evan Says:
thanks..
nice and easy..
joyoge designers' bookmark Says:
nice glossy effect thanks for the tut..
Andres Says:
I need help with the Pencil tool :(
Nym Says:
nice tut! little cute star ^^
bmthdenver Says:
how do i find the brush presets?
kle Says:
nice tutorial! I learned a lot
Tanya Says:
Lovely, thank you very much!
yumi Says:
woot really nice web xD easy for me to understand
James Says:
@bmthdenver: good point :) you can press “F5″ or go to Window > Brushes to bring up the brush window.

I will add this info to the tutorial for everyone else too.
GuruShare Says:
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purwasila Says:
good job.. simpel design
Carlos Alberto Says:
Parabens pelo tutorial , realmente além de bonito está bem detalhado
Kaoru Says:
I have followed all the “Step 2″ instructions in the order they came, and my “gloss” is not like the one that appears in your image. It just glows a bit in below the north side and more like a stain, not like a gloss… Why could this be??
Kaoru Says:
Besides, the part where you say:

“Then grab a 18px, 0% hardness brush, select the Pen Tool and right-click on the path and choose “storke path”:”

I do that exactly and instead of getting a nice line, I just have a thick dotted trace, nothing alike what you say.

I think this tutorial is pretty good and gives a lot of tips, but there are things that don’t result in what they should. Maybe steps are missing? Or maybe it needs more detail?
hitesh Says:
nice one i got the same effects to and very simple god dam you are so simple
angel Says:
it is really nice and like it
bashir Says:
wonderfull i like it .i thought it is a best one
Sarah Says:
Thanks for a great tutorial. My 10yr. old son and I both did it. Here is what I came up with. http://losingsarah.deviantart.com/art/Wish-Me-Spoiled-154409747

Again,
Thanks