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I'm fairly new to the pen tool and using Illustrator CS4, so I tried just making this umbreon using another image as a template:

(you have to look a bit closer to see the subtle change in the blacks)
All comments welcome, and yes this isn't just an image off the internet!
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Very sharp and choppy at some places. The black should be dark grey, never use absolute black. It's still pretty good for a first attempt however.
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ok thanks. What is the best way to get smooth edges?
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The image doesn't work...
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Narkyness · #3ok thanks. What is the best way to get smooth edges?
By not using illustrator.
Illustrator is a vector program. Try using a raster program like Photoshop. You can also use Gimp or you can try aviary.com.
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Narkyness · #3ok thanks. What is the best way to get smooth edges?
practice, just try to keep the number of lines to a minimum and use the pen tool in a fluid manner.
Replying to #5
or you could learn what you're talking about first. using photoshop will result in a non-scalable image with either choppy or blurry lines depended if you check anti-aliased or not.
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Replying to #6
I know what I'm talking about. I'm not sure if I know what "smooth edges" are anymore though.
As I said, There's a difference between raster and vector drawing programs.
Also, "using the pen tool in a fluid matter" isn't exactly the solution here. The curves needed to draw it were fairly simple and couldn't have been any more fluid.
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Replying to #7
smooth as in round, rather than the opposite of sharp.
then surely you must realise that because of it's nature, a vector based program will produce smoother lines than photoshop.
i think "using the pen tool in a fluid matter" is a valid point, some of the lines look very square and pointy.
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It's not that bad, I'm using photoshop 7.
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Saving in .png will help. Jpegs aren't very good with vectors, I must admit.