VectorTutsPlus.com recently posted a community project of making a custom paper toy.  This looked like lots of fun so I decided to make one too.

The character I chose to make is Sherlock (from the new BBC mini series).  Sherlock is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who is also in the upcoming Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy movie, based on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: A George Smiley Novel and next year’s The Hobbit.

If you haven’t watched the BBC Sherlock, I highly recommend it! It’s three 90 minute episodes and is set in modern London.  Sherlock is a “consulting detective” and uses all sorts of modern technology to solve crimes.  He even has his own website: The Science of Deduction. You can buy Sherlock: Season One on DVD or Blu-Ray now, and the next season will be airing in 2012 in the UK.

 

So to get started on the paper toy, I looked at several reference photos of Benedict, and did a couple of sketches to get warmed up:

 

 

I printed out the blank template so I could sketch on it as well.

 

Since I needed different planes in the toy to match up, I decided to do something really simple, just the Sherlock figure, no props.

To get the face just right, I copied this reference photo into Illustrator and dimmed it to 50% transparency to trace the face on top of it.

Reference photo from Aithine.org, which has a large collection of Sherlock BBC movie stills.

I then did the final toy design in Illustrator, mainly using the Brush tool.

I printed it out on nice cardstock and followed the cutting and folding directions.

Now it was ready for a mini photoshoot against a modern London backdrop:

This project was a lot of fun.  Definitely check out the new Sherlock: Season One if you haven’t seen it yet!