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: 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.
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. BEGINNER: Create a "Building Template" that includes Artboard Size, Resource Images, and Template Layers. ADVANCED: For your own artwork, pick a "Building" Artboard Size you can use for your Website 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 create my artwork, notice I am aligning the Building 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. BEGINNER: Understand the Building Tools and Options in Adobe Illustrator. ADVANCED: Align the Building Tools (Ellipse, Pen, and Curvature Tools) to the Design Elements (Shapes, Lines, and Curves) in your own drawing or sketch.
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
CARTOON BRUSHES: 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. (Updated) Cartoon, Cartoon 2, and Original Cartoon Brush Libraries.
COMIC STRIP BRUSHES: 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. (Updated) Comic Strip, Hand-Painted, Paintbrush, and Fine Liner Brush Libraries.
MASCOT BRUSHES: 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 of a distressed look or ink bleed back in your own Vector Artwork. (Updated) Caffeinated Cartoonist, Rough Ink, and Jittery Hand Brush Libraries.
SAVE BRUSHES: Open All of the Brushes Libraries in Adobe Illustrator. (File - Open). Have your Brushes Panel Open. Under Window - Brushes. In the Brushes Menu, select "Save Brush Library." The Default Save Location is "User Defined." Repeat this step for each Brush Library.
OPEN BRUSHES: Under Window - Select Brushes. In the Brushes Menu, drop down to Open Brush Library. Hover over it and select "Other Library." A Normal Open Dialogue Box will appear to select any Brush Library to use in Illustrator. Almost all Tutorials use this method.
LIVE PAINT BUCKET: As I color my artwork, notice I am using Live Paint to create my Basic Fills or Flat Color Layer. 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 you have completed the coloring step. BEGINNER: Understand how to apply Flat Color using Live Paint Bucket. ADVANCED: For your own artwork, duplicate your Flat Color Layer for Value and Gradient Steps. Separate your Final Line by using the Magic Wand Tool to select your Edited and Expanded Brushes Layer.
ADOBE COLOR: Adobe Color has a beautiful website that is full of Free Color Swatches and Themes. I recommend starting by typing in the Subject Matter using the Explore Tab. You can also use the Extract Theme feature on Adobe Color or Canva 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.
COLOR SWATCHES: 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.
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.
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.
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
