In this Awesome^★ Photoshop tutorial, i’m going to show you how to illustrate a cute pencil icon. Altough the pencil is short, the tutorial is not, so get your self a big cup of coffee.

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Here is the Final Image
Before we start lets see the final image we’ll create through out this tutorial. You can download the layered PSD document here.

Begin with a Hexagon
Let’s start by creating a new document that is 900 pixels wide and 900 pixels high at a Resolution of 300 pixels/inch using RGB Color Mode. We’ll start drawing the hexagonal top part of the pencil. Then we’ll give it a perspective look and we’ll draw other parts accordingly. Now get the Polygon Tool, set Sides to 6, set Drawing Mode to Shape Layers. Set Foreground Color to #ddb377. Draw a hexagon like the one below, name the Shape Layer "Top".

Let’s Scale’n'Skew
Hit Command+T and set Horizontal Scale to 40% and apply. Then go to Edit > Transform Path > Skew. Set Vertical Skew to 25 degrees and apply.

Get Some Guides
Now drag some guides and place like in the below image. These guides will be of great use drawing other parts of the pencil later.

Draw One Side
Get the Rectangular Marquee Tool and make a selection like in the below image. Create a new layer above the Background and name it "Body Middle". Fill the selection with color #cc8844. Get one vertical guide and snap it to the right edge of the selection. Then drag one more guide from the top ruler and snap it to the center of the selection. Now, we’ll add two lines to decorate our pencil. Make a rectangular selection, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, set Lightness to 80. Make another but thinner selection, Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation again, this time set Lightness to -80. Hit Command+D to deselect.

Draw One Side Some More
Get the Elliptical Marquee Tool and holding down the Alt key, make an elliptical selection like in the below image and fill it with color #cc8844. Deselect by hitting Command+D.

Draw Other Side
Duplicate the "Body Middle" layer and name the duplicate "Body Top". Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and set Lightness to -40. Get the Move Tool and drag the layer just above the "Body Middle". Hit Command+T and scale it down until the upper edge snaps to the guide and apply. Now go to Edit > Transform > Skew, skew it until it perfectly fits to the upper right side of the hexagon.

Draw Another Side
We’ll do the same for the bottom part of the pencil. Duplicate the "Body Middle" layer again and name the duplicate "Body Bottom ". Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and set Saturation to +40, and Lightness to +30. Get the Move Tool and drag the layer just below the "Body Middle". Hit Command+T and scale it down until the lower edge snaps to the guide and apply. Now go to Edit > Transform > Skew, skew it until it perfectly fits to the lower right side of the hexagon.

Arrange the Layers
Go to Layers Palette, select all Body layers and merge them by hitting Command+E. Name the merged layer "Body".

Create the Cone
Go to Layers Palette and select "Top" layer. Snap a horizontal guide to center of the hexagon. This guide line shows us where the tip of the pencil should be. Now create a new layer named "Cone" below the "Body" layer, get the Polygonal Lasso Tool and make a selection similar to the one in the image below. Fill the selection with Pastel Yellow Orange [#fdc689]. Apply a Gradient Overlay and use these settings: Blend Mode => Multiply, Opacity => 85%, Gradient => Black, White, Angle => -90 and Sclae => 60%.

Create the Tip
Get the Elliptical Marquee Tool and make a selection as in the below image. Go to Select > Inverse. Now get the Rectangular Marquee Tool, holding down the Alt + Shift make a selection as shown below. Now we have selected the tip of the pencil.