Beginner Illustrator Pen Tool Tutorial
This Adobe Illustrator Tutorial will be a part of our Resource and Beginner Guides to help you create a workflow for your artwork. LEARNING TARGET (1): Select a Primary Building Tool that best matches your own artwork or is the easiest to use (Pen, Pencil, or Shape Tools). LEARNING TARGET (2): If you are new, pay attention to the order and sequence of events that I apply to my artwork. I will be adding Brushes to my Line Work then going through Expanded Editing, Color Fills, and Apply Values. LEARNING TARGET (Adv): Prep your own drawings and sketches for your Primary Building Tool or Line Variation Step.
ARTBOARDS: I recommend establishing a "Building Artboard" that you can use for your own artwork (ex. 1080px by 1080px). The initial Artboard Size can be changed at any point without ruining your own artwork.
RESOURCES: I will be using the Building Tools to apply a "Path" to my drawing or sketch. If you are new, I recommend starting from a Clean Line Drawing. Start from a Drawing, Sketch, or Traced Photo Reference.
TEMPLATES: Have your Resource Layer Selected. In your Layers Panel, select the Menu in the Upper-Right Hand Corner. Drop down to Template. This will create a 50% Opacity and Lock the Layer.
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 using Pencil and Pen Tools.
APPLYING BRUSHES: Many of you have already downloaded 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.”
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.
SAVE LIBRARIES: Once you have downloaded and extracted the Brushes Folders, I recommend Saving Brush Libraries to your "User Defined" by clicking Save Brush Library in the Brushes Menu. Follow along with our Resource Guides to save, apply, and edit Brushes in Adobe Illustrator.
OPEN BRUSHES: Our 200 Adobe Illustrator Brushes have been organized into Brush Libraries for easy application and to maintain consistency with your Line Variation. You can Open Brush Libraries through the “User Defined” or “Other Library” Options in the Brushes Panel in Adobe Illustrator.
DOWNLOAD BRUSHES. Our 200 Adobe Illustrator Brushes will come to you as Zipped Folders on Teachable. Once you have Downloaded and Extracted the Folder, the Brushes are ready to be used in Adobe Illustrator (CC-CS). Brush Libraries: 70 Cartoon, 100 Comic Strip, and 50 Vintage Mascot Brushes.
70 CARTOON BRUSHES: 70 Adobe Illustrator Cartoon Brushes are my go-to brushes for Professional Logos, Cartoons, Mascots, and Branding. Use Cartoon Illustrator Brushes with the Pen, Pencil or Paint Brush Tools to Apply different Line Variation to your Vector Artwork. (includes Updated Cartoon, Cartoon 2, and Original Cartoon Brush Libraries.)
100 COMIC STRIP BRUSHES: 100 Hand Painted + Comic Strip Brushes to get a lived in feel back into your Vector Art. Comic Strips and Hand Painted are painted based on some of my favorite artists and cartoonists. These brushes are designed to look ready for the Sunday Paper. (includes Updated Comic Strip, Hand-Painted, Paintbrush, and Fine Liner Brush Libraries.)
50 MASCOT BRUSHES: 50 Jittery Hand, Caffeinated Cartoonist + Rough Ink Brushes to Mimic Paper Bleed and Caffeine. Designed to be a little less stiff with your vector art. Use these Brush Libraries to get more distressed look or ink bleed back in your Vector Artwork. (includes Updated Caffeinated Cartoonist, Rough Ink, and Jittery Hand Brush Libraries.)
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ILLUSTRATOR BRUSHES
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.
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.
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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