Beginner Adobe Illustrator Tutorial using Shapes
Adobe Illustrator Tutorial for Beginners
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: 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.
PRIMARY BUILDING: Many of you will be deciding between the Pen and Pencil Tools as your Primary Building Tool in Adobe Illustrator. A Quick Assessment of your own sketch, drawing, or traced photo to look for: Obvious Shapes (Ellipse), Corners (Anchor Point), and Curves. Resource Progression: Prep your Drawings for the Building Tools.
SELECTION TOOLS: In Adobe Illustrator you will have 3 Selection Tools to be aware of: Selection, Direct Selection Tool, and Deselect. I want you to pay attention to the Deselect (Selection Tool + click on Empty Artboard). After applying or finishing a step, build up a routine to hit Selection Tool (V) and click your artboard.
APPLYING PATHS: Find the Building Tool that works the best with your sketch or that is the easiest to use based on the materials that you have (Tablet). When applying “Paths” the easiest thing is to trace your drawing or sketch (Pencil Tool). It will give you an easy frame of reference as it relates to each stroke.
“LIVE” EDITING: I recommend the Scissor Tool to cut Paths as an easy “Live Path” Editing Tool. Please note that the Eraser Tool will be for “Expanded Editing.” Another solution is under Object - Path - Simplify. This can get rid of some of the extra Anchor Points as you are applying with the Pencil Tool.
Pathfinder Tips
Pathfinder Minus Front
1. Have 2 overlapping shapes selected. One shape will be in the front and this is the cut away shape. (I colored this one garbage green since it will be trashed after we click minus front). (Use fills only)
Shape Builder (alt/option) Delete
2. Have 2 overlapping shapes selected and click the Shape Builder tool. Hold down alt/option and click on areas you wish to be deleted. Wait for the shape to grey out. (Use fills only)
Pathfinder Unite
3. Have 2 or more overlapping shapes selected and click on the pathfinder unite button. The 2 shapes will merge together. (Use fills only)
Shape Builder- Combine Shapes
4. Have 2 or more shapes selected and then click on the shape builder tool. Click, Hold and drag across the shapes you wish to combine. Do NOT hold down alt/option.
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.
DOWNLOAD TEXTURES. Our Adobe Illustrator BMP Textures will come to you as a Zipped Folder on Teachable. Once you have downloaded and Extracted the Folder, the Textures are ready to be used in Adobe Illustrator. BMP Textures: 145 Cracks, 120 Grunge Distressing, 75 Paper, and 77 Paint Splatter Textures.
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.
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