Beginner Adobe Illustrator Cartoon 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.
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.”
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.
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.
FREE RESOURCES: As I create my artwork, pay attention to the free resources used throughout the workflow. Download Stock Photos, Color Swatches, and Font Families to use with your own artwork and designs. 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). FREE RESOURCES GUIDE / RESOURCE GUIDES
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). DRAWING GUIDE / GETTING STARTED GUIDE
APPLY: Many of you will be adding our Brush Libraries for Line Variation. Notice that I am finding the ends to see if it will be floating or hitting another line. If it hits another line that signals a darker value to the end should reflect the change in value. (Thicker End).
EXPAND: For your own artwork, duplicate your Live Brushes Layer before Expanding. Expand All. Object - Expand Appearance + Expand. Path Simplify Option: Once the Brushes have been Expanded hit the selection with a Simplify Path (Object - Path - Simplify) to clean up extra Anchor Points.
EDIT: Select All. Select your Shape Builder Tool. Hold down Alt/Option to Delete. Hit all of the overlapping lines to clean up any of the extra lines. You can Turn Off the Highlighting feature in Shape Builder. I recommend zooming in to delete smaller areas.
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR BRUSHES. Brushes are specifically designed for Illustrators and Cartoonists to speed up their workflow. Brushes Libraries allow for Pressure Sensitivity if you are using a Tablet for Inking your Line Variation. Apply with Pen, Pencil, Shapes, or Paintbrush Tools. Brush Libraries include 70 Cartoon, 100 Comic Strip, and 50 Vintage Mascot Brushes.
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR HALFTONES. Halftones and 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 Fills and Pattern Fills.
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR TEXTURES. BMP Textures are extremely easy to use even if you are a beginner to Adobe Illustrator. Simply File-Place the Textures over your finished artwork to use with the Transparency Panel. Use with Opacity Masks for T-Shirt Distressing. BMP Textures include 145 Cracks, 120 Grunge Distressing, 75 Paper, and 77 Paint Splatter Textures.
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.
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.
ADOBE COLOR. Adobe Color has a beautiful website for you to download your own Color Swatches and Themes for Free. Think about your own artwork, design, or character. Do you have a starting point? If you have a subject matter, you can Type the Subject directly into Adobe Color to find Color Themes. Another fun place to start is the Trends Tab.
DOWNLOAD SWATCHES. You can save Color Themes for your own artwork and designs. If you have CC, click add to Library. If you don't have CC, look to download the .ASE file to Open Swatch Library in the Color Swatches Menu. If you have a Photo Reference, you can upload your photo to Extract Theme under the Create Tab.
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