In this Adobe Illustrator CC Wacom Tablet tutorial we will be going through how to use the pencil tool. This will be another option to your tablet workflow that is extremely user friendly since we are turning up are smoothing very high. We will be practicing joining paths to maintain our sharp corners in this easy to follow tutorial.

The pencil tool is one of the easier tools to use and master with the tablet. It comes with a lot of other tools in the sub menu to help you out, but the main settings are enough with smoothing and keep selected on.

We will be keep selected turned on so we can join paths that are next to each other, especially corners. Just note that you can still join paths in the same manner but you just have to select them first to get the join icon by your pencil.

The keep sected is great for joining and corners but it does come with its issues if you don’t want paths to join. So a little trouble shooting is zoom in enouth to see the start and finish of each stroke. I also go long with strokes to avoid unnecessary joining and to allow for line variation later.

You will have more control over the placement and width of each of your lines using the Cartoon Brushes. The process will be a combination of using the Brushes to get down the initial thickness and stroke width. The second step will be modifying the placement of the variation using the so we can edit later. This 2-Step Process allows for more control over your Line Variation compared to using your Tablet with Pressure.

Open the Swatch Window. On the bottom left hand corner you will see the Open Swatch Libraries icon. At the bottom of the drop-down menu you will see Open Other Library. Go to our resource folder in the Color Palettes folder to Open ASE files. The ASE files have been created to make your life easier while going through the Tutorials. Once you open the Library- click on the folder icon next to the swatches to move them from the library to the swatches.

One of the easiest and fastest ways of filling in your color is through Live Paint. Live Paint is a part of the Shape Builder Tools which builds the shapes in the exact shape you need it without having to use pathfinder. Once you are in Live Paint just point and click to create new shapes. Remember to Expand and Ungroup before moving to the next steps.

The Knife Tool is straight forward and easy to use if you are looking for some fast highlights and shadows. Select the shape you want to cut and slice all the way through the shape with the knife tool. Remember to Deselect before trying to recolor the new shape.

Try adding on multiple layers of highlights and shadows using gradients and transparency. I recommend having different layers for each type of color and value. Flat Color, Gradients, Values (Cast Shadows) and Highlights. Remember you can change the opacity of each layer.