Hi everyone, it's Willow. :) Making chararts may seem difficult, but they're actually quite simple. Here's my tutorial on how to create one.
First of all, open GIMP, Pixlr, or whatever other image editor you have in hand. Make sure to get the blank you need from the PCA page as well. Once you've got your blank, your editing program, and your skills, you're all set to go!
1. Use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill in the blank with your desired color.
2. Take the Burn Tool on 50 and shade the entire image.
3. Take the Dodge Tool on 50 and highlight the middle of the body three times, the head twice, the front legs once, and the tail twice.
4. Take the Blur Tool on 20 and blur the center highlight. When doing this, make sure to zoom up really close so then you can make sure you don't blur the line art. Click the highlight, then "pull" your mouse across. This technique helps make blurring easier.
5. Zoom up really, really close, enough so that you can see the pixels that make up the line art, and take the Brush Tool on 1 and color the eyes. Just start at the very left of the eye and click once, and for the remainder of the space, just color it in. In total, you should only need four clicks to fill in both of the eyes.
And then, you're finished! ^_^
You do the exact same thing with kits, apprentices, and leaders (use warrior blanks for the deputy and medicine cat) except these minor changes:
Kits: Only dodge the middle body three times, no where else. No eye color needs to be added, and you don't have to use the Burn Tool at all.
Apprentices: Go through the process like you would on a warrior, only don't dodge the front legs. No eye color needs to be added.
Leaders: Same as a warrior. The eye color adding is pretty much similar.
Keep these tips in mind, and you'll become an awesome artist! --Willow heart 20:59, December 14, 2010 (UTC)