TUTORIALS: Our Adobe Illustrator Tutorials will focus on the core areas of your workflow: building, editing, and coloring. LEARNING TARGET (1): Understand the Building Tools and Options. LEARNING TARGET (2): Understand Line Variation along with Live and Expanded Editing Tools. LEARNING TARGET (3): Understand Color, Values, and Gradients using Advanced Coloring Techniques.
BEGINNER: If you are new, it is important to understand the Tool Options and Settings in Adobe Illustrator. I will follow an easy process for creating vector artwork. LEARNING TARGET: Understand how to apply Building, Variation, Editing, and Advanced Color Techniques.
ADVANCED: As I am creating my artwork, pay attention to the resources being used throughout the Workflow. LEARNING TARGET: Apply Color Swatches, Brush Libraries, Comic Halftones, and BMP Textures to your own Artwork.
STOCK PHOTOS: As I create my artwork, pay attention to the resources used throughout the workflow. Download Free Stock Photos (Unsplash) 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).
ARTBOARDS: I will recommend a (1080px by 1080px, 300PPI, RGB) as your Initial or Base Artboard Size. The Initial Artboard Size can be changed at any point without ruining your own artwork. Use the Properties Panel to Scale Artwork and Artboards. LEARNING TARGET (1): Create a "Building Template" that includes Artboard Size, Resource Images, and Template Layers. LEARNING TARGET (2): Pick a "Building" Artboard Size you can use for your own Artwork and Social Media Postings. Example: Instagram uses 1080px as its base size to modify for Landscape, Square, or Portrait.
GENERAL PREFERENCES: All of our initial preferences are designed to gain more control over what you are clicking on. The more you can zoom in and see your anchors and handles the better. You can adjust the size of your Anchors and Handles under Selection and Anchor Display. Under your General Settings, make sure that Disable Auto Add/Delete is Selected.
SELECTION TOOLS: The Direct Selection Tool can grab and adjust the Anchors, Handles, and Paths. It is worth having your Smart Guides Path Labels Turned On so you know what the tool is selecting before dragging. The Selection Tool will move and select objects. I like using the Bounding Box for my Transform Tools, Turn On under View. I recommend this for Quick Scaling.
PRIMARY BUILDING: As I am creating my artwork, notice I am aligning the 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. LEARNING TARGET (1): Understand the Building Tools and Options in Adobe Illustrator. LEARNING TARGET (2): Align the Building Tools (Ellipse, Pen, and Curvature Tools) to the Design Elements (Shapes, Lines, and Curves) in your artwork. BEGINNER GUIDES / ILLUSTRATOR TUTORIALS / RESOURCE GUIDES
PRIMARY BUILDING TOOLS: Many of you will be bouncing from the Ellipse Tool for Shapes and the Pen or Pencil Tool for your Linework. Once you know the Primary Building Tools you can start prepping your sketches and drawings directly for Adobe Illustrator. CHECKLIST: For your own artwork, use the most obvious Primary Building Tool to lay down your initial paths and objects.
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS: Many of you are jumping over from YouTube looking to download our Adobe Illustrator Brushes and Resource Folders. Once you have downloaded and extracted the folders, Digital Downloads are ready to use in Adobe Illustrator. Start with our Resource Guides, Illustrator Tutorials, or YouTube Playlists to understand how to apply resources in Adobe Illustrator. BRUSH LIBRARIES / COMIC HALFTONES / T-SHIRT TEXTURES / RESOURCE BUNDLE
200 ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR BRUSHES. Brush Libraries are specifically designed for Illustrators and Cartoonists to speed up their workflow. Brush Libraries are compatible with Adobe Illustrator CC through CS. Mac or PC. Brush Libraries include 70 Cartoon, 100 Comic Strip, and 50 Vintage Mascot Brushes.
70 ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR HALFTONES. Halftone Patterns Fills are designed for easy application even if you are new to Adobe Illustrator. Halftone Fills behave the same as a Color Swatch so you can apply them quickly using the Blob Brush, Live Paint, or Basic Fills. Halftones include 70 Comic Strip Halftone Pattern Fills.
400 ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR BMP TEXTURES. BMP Textures are extremely easy to use even if you are a beginner to Adobe Illustrator. Use BMP Textures along with Opacity Masks in the Transparency Panel for T-Shirt Distressing. BMP Textures include 145 Cracks, 120 Grunge, 75 Paper, and 77 Paint Textures.
ADOBE COLOR: I highly recommend using Adobe Color for Free Color Swatches. You can add Themes to your Library or download ASE Files. I recommend starting by typing in the Subject Matter using the Explore Tab. You can also use the Extract Theme feature on Adobe Color to create a Color Theme based on your own Photo Reference. Add the Color Themes to your Library (CC) or download them as ASE files.
EXTRACT THEME: When looking for Stock Photos for your artwork, look for Images you can use as Color References. You can upload your Photo to create a New Theme by using the Extract Theme Tab. Save to your Library or download it as an ASE File. Add the Color Themes to your Library (CC) or download them as ASE files.
SAVING + OPENING: If you have a CC Account, simply click Add to Library from Adobe Color. If you don't have a CC Account, download Color Swatches from Adobe Color as an ASE File. Open Swatch Libraries from the “Other Library” Option. If you added to your Library (CC). Open from the Library Panel. LEARNING TARGET (1): Save or Download Free Color Swatches for your own artwork and designs. LEARNING TARGET (2): Open through the Swatches Panel or Library.
ADD THEME TO SWATCHES: If you saved swatches to your Library, Right-click to select "Add Theme to Swatches." LEARNING TARGET (2): Open through the Swatches Panel or Library.
LIVE PAINT BUCKET: We will be using Live Paint to create our Basic Fills or Flat Color Layer before moving on to Values and Gradients. Select what you want to color. Object - Live Paint - Make. Click to dump color just like in Adobe Photoshop with the Live Paint Bucket Tool. Remember to Expand and Ungroup when completed with the Coloring Step. LEARNING TARGET (1): Apply Flat Color using Live Paint Bucket.
TROUBLESHOOTING: Have your artwork selected before clicking on Live Paint - Make (or Live Paint Bucket).
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. LEARNING TARGET: Use the Knife Tool to create shapes to use as Values.
TROUBLESHOOTING: Before you move on to Values, Expand and Ungroup the "Live Paint Group." Many people will skip this step. An easy visual to look for is the "Expand Button" in the Control Panel.
KNIFE TOOL: Before cutting and deleting, duplicate out your Flat Color Layer. You will notice in my layers that I have separated the Brushes and Flat Color Layers. Select your Layer before using the Knife Tool. TROUBLESHOOTING: Cut through the Shapes. Go extra long if you need to be sure. If you miss by 1 pixel the Knife Tool will not work or delete the shape. Make all cuts before deleting out shapes.
GRADIENTS: Use the Gradient Tool to create Highlight or Shadow Layers. Notice that I have been duplicating the Flat Color Layer from the previous Live Paint Step. LEARNING TARGET: Create Highlights by using Transparent Gradients. LEARNING TARGET (2): Apply Color, Values, and Gradients using Advanced Coloring Techniques to your artwork or designs.
DUPLICATE FLAT COLOR: I recommend applying gradients to a duplicated Flat Color Layer. Test out compound paths for gradients on larger areas or keep shapes separate to apply individual gradients to each shape. BUILDING TUTORIALS / VARIATION + EDITING TUTORIALS / ADVANCED COLORING TUTORIALS
BEGINNER GUIDES
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
BEGINNER: Understand Building, Variation, Editing, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
