ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

BEGINNER GUIDES

GETTING STARTED: Welcome to our website if you are a visitor or a new subscriber. My name is Jason and I am an Illustrator and Teacher (BFA)(Nerd Alert) My Master's Degree is in Education, specifically in Curriculum and Instruction. I have organized tutorials based on Workflow Units: Building, Editing, and Coloring. LEARNING TARGET (1): Understand the Building Tools and Options. LEARNING TARGET (2): Apply Line Variation along with Live and Expanded Editing Tools. LEARNING TARGET (3): Apply Color, Values, and Gradients using Advanced Coloring Techniques.
"BUILDING" ARTBOARD: I recommend establishing a "Standardized Approach" that you can use for your own artwork. The initial Artboard Size can be changed at any point without ruining your own artwork. LEARNING TARGET: Create a "Building Template" that includes Artboards, Resources, and Template Layers.
RESOURCE IMAGE: If you are a Beginner, I am going to recommend starting from a Resource Image. Give yourself a "Traceable Path" by using a Clean Line Drawing or Traced Photo. LEARNING TARGET: Start with the Resource you intend on using for your artwork (Sketch, Drawing, or Traced Stock Photo).
TEMPLATE LAYER: Have your Drawing, Sketch, or Traced Photo Selected. In your Layers Panel, select the Menu in the Upper-Right Hand Corner. Drop down to Template. This will create 50% Opacity and Lock the Layer. LEARNING TARGET: Create a Template Layer so you can see the Resource Image and new Paths.
RESOURCE IMAGES: If you are a Beginner, I am going to recommend starting from a Resource Image. Give yourself a "Traceable Path" by using a Clean Line Drawing or Traced Stock Photo. LEARNING TARGET: Download Resource Images to use for your artwork and designs.
COLOR SWATCHES: I highly recommend using Adobe Color for your Themes to add to your Library or download .ASE Files to Open. In most Tutorials, we will be applying Flat Colors using Live Paint. LEARNING TARGET: Download or Save Color Themes to use with your own artwork and designs.
BRUSH LIBRARIES: Many of our Tutorials will go through a process of applying and editing our Brush Libraries. Brush Libraries will come as Zipped Folders, Extract All before using in Adobe Illustrator. LEARNING TARGET: Download Brush Libraries to use with your own artwork or designs.
BEGINNER GUIDES: I have organized Beginner Guides by core areas of your Workflow: Building, Editing, and Coloring. LEARNING TARGET (1): Understand the Building Tools and Options. LEARNING TARGET (2): Apply Line Variation along with Live and Expanded Editing Tools. LEARNING TARGET (3): Apply Color, Values, and Gradients using Advanced Coloring Techniques.
BEGINNER: In our Beginner Guides and Tutorials, you will see me give Prompts and Learning Targets. These directions will simplify the process of learning Adobe Illustrator. LEARNING TARGET: Understand the Primary Building Tools and Options in Adobe Illustrator.
ADVANCED: As I am creating my artwork, pay attention to the Sequence of Events, Resources, and Tool Options as it relates to building a "Workflow." LEARNING TARGET: Apply Building, Variation, Editing, and Advanced Color Techniques to your own Artwork.
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PRIMARY BUILDING: I will use Shapes, Pencil, and Pen Tools in Adobe Illustrator as my Primary Building Tools. Notice I have simplified my drawings and sketches to make this step feel like tracing. LEARNING TARGET: Understand the Building Tools in Adobe Illustrator. BEGINNER GUIDE / BEGINNER GUIDE 1 / BEGINNER GUIDE 2 / BEGINNER GUIDE 3
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ADVANCED: As I create my artwork, pay attention to how I align Building Tools to the Design Elements within my drawing or sketch. LEARNING TARGET: For your own artwork, use Shapes, Pen, or Pencil tools to lay down your initial paths and objects. PRIMARY BUILDING TUTORIALS 
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PENCIL TOOL: Many of you are looking to use your Tablet with Adobe Illustrator. I am going to recommend breaking down your current tablet workflow into multiple steps. I do see a lot of mistakes when people try to combine too many steps all at once with their new tablets. 
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ELLIPSE TOOL: A good place to start if you are new to Adobe Illustrator is our Beginner Guide (Shapes). We will be going through Building with Shapes, Align Panel, Pathfinder, and Basic Color Fills. There are Beginner Guides for the Pen Tool and Tablet if you are new to the website or Adobe Illustrator. 
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PEN TOOL: If you are frustrated with the Pen Tool, a simple tip is to break down the process into 2 Steps. The first step is to just apply Anchor Points to the start-curve-end of a line or path. The second step is to adjust the Curves with the Anchor Point Tool or Smooth Curve Button in the Control Panel. 
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BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE 
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BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
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BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Coloring Methods VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED GUIDE
25% OFF (SAVE $36)

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED GUIDE
25% OFF (SAVE $36)
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VARIATION + EDITING: I will apply Brush Libraries for my Line Variation. Notice I am using Expanded Editing Tools to clean up my Paths before moving on to the Coloring Step. LEARNING TARGET: Understand and Apply Live and Expanded Editing Tools in Adobe Illustrator. BEGINNER GUIDE 4 / BEGINNER GUIDE 5 / BEGINNER GUIDE 6 / BEGINNER GUIDE 7
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ADVANCED: As I create my artwork, pay attention to duplicating layers as I move from Expanded Editing to Advanced Coloring Techniques. LEARNING TARGET: For your own artwork, use Brush Libraries and Expanded Editing Tools to clean up your finalized linework and value layer. LINE VARIATION AND EDITING TUTORIALS 
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LIVE EDITING: While you are building in Adobe Illustrator, you can use the “Live” Editing Tools to Cut and Edit Paths. Some of the basic tools will be the Scissor Tool, Path Eraser, or Shape Builder. I do recommend going long with your initial Paths.
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial pug
VARIATION: Many of you will be applying our Brush Libraries. To Open Brushes, open the Brushes Panel. Click on Open Brush Library. Scroll down to “Other Library.” Select one of the Brush Libraries to apply. If you saved Brushes, you can Open from “User Defined.”
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EXPANDED EDITING: After completing the Line Variation, I will recommend keeping the “Live” Layer from future Editing. Duplicate and Lock Out. We will be Expanding this New Layer to use with Shape Builder for Fast Editing. Hold down Alt/Option while Editing.
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BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Coloring Methods using Shapes. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
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BEGINNER: Understand the Building and Coloring Methods using Shapes. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
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BEGINNER: Understand the Building and Coloring Methods using Shapes. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED GUIDE
25% OFF (SAVE $36)

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED GUIDE
25% OFF (SAVE $36)
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BASIC COLORING: I will use Live Paint to create my Basic Fills or Flat Color Layer. Notice the steps to select and create a Live Paint Group. LEARNING TARGET: Understand Basic to Advanced Coloring Techniques in Adobe Illustrator. BEGINNER GUIDE 8 / BEGINNER GUIDE 9 / BEGINNER GUIDE 10 / BEGINNER GUIDE 11
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ADVANCED: As I color my artwork, pay attention to the ordering of flat color, value, and gradient layers. LEARNING TARGET: For your own artwork, use the Live Paint Bucket, Knife Tool, and Gradients to apply Advanced Coloring Techniques. ADVANCED COLORING TUTORIALS 
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COLOR SWATCHES: Use Color Swatches from your Library or save them from Adobe Color as an .ASE File. Open Swatch Library from the “Other Library” Option. Most Color Themes will use Hues as the Base Color. We will be using Live Paint to create our Basic Fills or Flat Color Layer.
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial pug
LIVE PAINT: Coloring will be extremely easy using Live Paint Bucket. The goal of Live Paint is to create Shapes that we can color using Fills. Once you have completed the Live Paint Group, it is important to Expand and Upgroup. We will leverage these shapes for our Values and Gradients.
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial pug
KNIFE TOOL: After using Live Paint, Expand and Ungroup. Use a Duplicated Flat Color Layer for your Value Layers. The Knife Tool will cut Shapes. I recommend cutting out all of the shapes first before deleting them. You can use this technique for Highlights, Shadows, or Cast Shadows.
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BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
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BEGINNER: Understand Building, Variation, Editing, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
Image
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED GUIDE
25% OFF (SAVE $36)

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED GUIDE
25% OFF (SAVE $36)
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial ice cream
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE 
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial ice cream
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial posicle
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial duck
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial duck
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial ice cream
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial ice cream
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial ice cream
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial ice cream
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial whale
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial ice cream
BEGINNER: Understand Building, Variation, Editing, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
beginner adobe illustrator tutorial pug
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
I appreciate your videos. I have been an illustrator user for years and have my own ways of doing things. It's great to see other ways of using tools and learning tricks I didn't know were available! It's also good to see you doing the same thing as me in other instances, confirming I'm on the right track!Andy Zenz
Awesome tutorial! I don't think I've picked up something so easily from someone who knows what they are doing. I managed to draw my first vector art and it was a joy! Great work keep it up!blitz145
Thank you loads! Compared to other tutorials, yours are just really well-explained and easy-to-follow. Can totally see that you've got a passion for what you're doing and that's just wonderful! 🙂 Keep it up, you're doing an amazing job. Yulia Kachurova
Love your video thanks so much. you blow Lynda.com out of the water!!!!Steve Yensel
Brilliant video. So much great info packed in here. I'm just getting started drawing cartoons with my Wacom tablet, and this was a huge help. Thumbs up and thanks!Dorian Staten
Wow Thanks Jason...was really struggling with making images with basic shapes. Your tutorial is helping me out!!Kishor Rajani
thanks a lot you are really one of my favorites, I like the steps you give us, and I'm so thankful for that effort you do for helping us :)Wessam Lotfi
Keep up the good work Jason. I’ve been doing Lynda.com tutorials for a few months now and I got more out of your videos than what I’ve received at Lynda. Keep it up and Thank You!!bobby jacobs • 1 year ago
These tutorials are amazing. Just started using illustrator and really glad I found your channel. The only videos that explain everything step by stepAida Stan
You are definitely one of the best teachers I've found dealing with start to finish creative process. Great work!!!Jasen Fisher
Thank you so much man, I loved the way you explain this, I spent days looking for a good tutorial vid, thanks a lot, gonna keep watching your videos!!!Karel Marccenaro
Awesome tutorial! I don't think I've picked up something so easily from someone who knows what they are doing. I managed to draw my first vector art and it was a joy! Great work keep it up!blitz145
Thank you loads! Compared to other tutorials, yours are just really well-explained and easy-to-follow. Can totally see that you've got a passion for what you're doing and that's just wonderful! 🙂 Keep it up, you're doing an amazing job. Yulia Kachurova
Love your video thanks so much. you blow Lynda.com out of the water!!!!Steve Yensel
Brilliant video. So much great info packed in here. I'm just getting started drawing cartoons with my Wacom tablet, and this was a huge help. Thumbs up and thanks!Dorian Staten
Keep up the good work Jason. I’ve been doing Lynda.com tutorials for a few months now and I got more out of your videos than what I’ve received at Lynda. Keep it up and Thank You!!bobby jacobs • 1 year ago
These tutorials are amazing. Just started using illustrator and really glad I found your channel. The only videos that explain everything step by stepAida Stan
You are definitely one of the best teachers I've found dealing with start to finish creative process. Great work!!!Jasen Fisher
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED GUIDE
25% OFF (SAVE $36)

GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED GUIDE
25% OFF (SAVE $36)
I appreciate your videos. I have been an illustrator user for years and have my own ways of doing things. It's great to see other ways of using tools and learning tricks I didn't know were available! It's also good to see you doing the same thing as me in other instances, confirming I'm on the right track!Andy Zenz
Awesome tutorial! I don't think I've picked up something so easily from someone who knows what they are doing. I managed to draw my first vector art and it was a joy! Great work keep it up!blitz145
Thank you loads! Compared to other tutorials, yours are just really well-explained and easy-to-follow. Can totally see that you've got a passion for what you're doing and that's just wonderful! 🙂 Keep it up, you're doing an amazing job. Yulia Kachurova
Love your video thanks so much. you blow Lynda.com out of the water!!!!Steve Yensel
Brilliant video. So much great info packed in here. I'm just getting started drawing cartoons with my Wacom tablet, and this was a huge help. Thumbs up and thanks!Dorian Staten
Wow Thanks Jason...was really struggling with making images with basic shapes. Your tutorial is helping me out!!Kishor Rajani
thanks a lot you are really one of my favorites, I like the steps you give us, and I'm so thankful for that effort you do for helping us :)Wessam Lotfi
Keep up the good work Jason. I’ve been doing Lynda.com tutorials for a few months now and I got more out of your videos than what I’ve received at Lynda. Keep it up and Thank You!!bobby jacobs • 1 year ago
These tutorials are amazing. Just started using illustrator and really glad I found your channel. The only videos that explain everything step by stepAida Stan
You are definitely one of the best teachers I've found dealing with start to finish creative process. Great work!!!Jasen Fisher
Thank you so much man, I loved the way you explain this, I spent days looking for a good tutorial vid, thanks a lot, gonna keep watching your videos!!!Karel Marccenaro
Awesome tutorial! I don't think I've picked up something so easily from someone who knows what they are doing. I managed to draw my first vector art and it was a joy! Great work keep it up!blitz145
Thank you loads! Compared to other tutorials, yours are just really well-explained and easy-to-follow. Can totally see that you've got a passion for what you're doing and that's just wonderful! 🙂 Keep it up, you're doing an amazing job. Yulia Kachurova
Love your video thanks so much. you blow Lynda.com out of the water!!!!Steve Yensel
Brilliant video. So much great info packed in here. I'm just getting started drawing cartoons with my Wacom tablet, and this was a huge help. Thumbs up and thanks!Dorian Staten
Keep up the good work Jason. I’ve been doing Lynda.com tutorials for a few months now and I got more out of your videos than what I’ve received at Lynda. Keep it up and Thank You!!bobby jacobs • 1 year ago
These tutorials are amazing. Just started using illustrator and really glad I found your channel. The only videos that explain everything step by stepAida Stan
You are definitely one of the best teachers I've found dealing with start to finish creative process. Great work!!!Jasen Fisher