Adobe Illustrator CC Tutorial using Pathfinder
Adobe Illustrator Tutorial for Beginners using Pathfinder.
In this Adobe Illustrator Tutorial for Beginners, we will be using shapes to practice building using the shape tools and the pathfinder panel. Shapes are a great way of building your characters especially as you gain experience with blend, warp, shape builder, and pathfinder to create unique shapes. Shapes are an easy and effective way of building in Illustrator. Use the align panel to align to selection and the artboard to make symmetrical designs. This tutorial will focus on Building Tools, Editing Options, and Basic Coloring Techniques.
ARTBOARDS: File-New. Use a size or ratio that you can use for all of your own artwork. I recommend a 1080px by 1080px artboard for websites and social postings. Many of you will be looking to export your own artwork to Instagram. You can modify the size of the artwork or artboard with the Artboard Tool or Properties Panel.
SKETCH OR TRACED PHOTO: I recommend starting from a Clean Line Drawing or a simple Traced Stock Photo for your artwork and designs. Create a "Traceable Path" to align with the Building Tools in Adobe Illustrator. You can speed up your workflow by using a Quick Sketch when you become more advanced.
TEMPLATES: File -Place in your own Drawing, Sketch, or Traced Stock Photo. Select your Resource Layer. (It will usually be your only layer) In your Layers Panel, select the Menu in the Upper-Right Hand Corner. Drop down to Template. This will create a 50% Opacity and Lockout the Layer. Create a New Layer above to start "Building".
STOCK PHOTOS: As I create my artwork, pay attention to the resources used throughout the workflow. Download Free Stock Photos (Unsplash / Pixabay / Pexels) to use as Drawing, Design, or Color References. BEGINNER: For your own artwork, I recommend starting from a Drawing, Sketch, or Traced Stock Photo. ADVANCED: Gather and organize resources within the same project folder (Stock Photos / Sketches / Thumbnails / Color Swatches).
DRAWING OR TRACED PHOTO: If you are new to Adobe Illustrator, it's best to avoid starting from a blank artboard, a full-color photo, or a super sketchy drawing. BEGINNER: For your own artwork, create a "Traceable Path" to align with the Building Tools in Adobe Illustrator. ADVANCED: Prepare your drawings for Specific Tools (ex. Ellipse, Pen, or Pencil) or Steps in your Workflow (ex. Building, Brushes, or Values).
PRIMARY BUILDING: As I create my artwork, notice I am aligning the Building Tools to the Shapes and Lines within my Sketch or Drawing. Many of you will be using Shape, Pencil, and Pen Tools as your Primary Building Tools. BEGINNER: Understand the Building Tools and Options in Adobe Illustrator. ADVANCED: Align the Building Tools (Ellipse, Pen, and Curvature Tools) to the Design Elements (Shapes, Lines, and Curves) in your own drawing or sketch.
ADOBE COLOR. Adobe Color has a beautiful website for you to download your own Color Swatches and Themes for Free. Think about your own artwork, design, or character. Do you have a starting point? If you have a subject matter, you can Type the Subject directly into Adobe Color to find Color Themes. Another fun place to start is the Trends Tab.
DOWNLOAD SWATCHES. You can save Color Themes for your own artwork and designs. If you have CC, click add to Library. If you don't have CC, look to download the .ASE file to Open Swatch Library in the Color Swatches Menu. If you have a Photo Reference, you can upload your photo to Extract Theme under the Create Tab.
RESOURCE GUIDES: Digital Downloads will come as Zipped Folders. Once you have downloaded and extracted the Resource Folders, they are ready to be used in Adobe Illustrator. Start with our Resource Guides and Illustrator Tutorials to learn how to Apply Brush Libraries, Comic Halftones, and T-Shirt Textures. BRUSHES GUIDE / HALFTONES GUIDE / TEXTURES GUIDE
FILE + PLACE. Place a BMP Texture over your finished vector artwork. Simple File-Place. I recommend scaling the texture to fit over your completed artwork before you export or save. Simply scale the texture file using the Bounding Box or the Properties Panel. You can scale the texture to fit over the asset or the entire artboard.
TRANSPARENCY PANEL. Adjustments to the texture file can be made in the Transparency Panel in Adobe Illustrator. Blend the Pattern toward your Background Color, you can simply click on a Color Swatch to Change the Color of the BMP Texture. Use the Transparency Slider to adjust the opacity for subtle texture overlays.
