Adobe Illustrator CC Tutorial using Pathfinder
Adobe Illustrator Tutorial for Beginners using Pathfinder.
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. The initial Artboard Size can be changed at any point without ruining your own artwork. LEARNING TARGET: Create a "Building Artboard" you can use for your own Artwork and Social Media Postings (ex. 1080px by 1080px, 300PPI, RGB).
TEMPLATES: File - Place in your Resource Image (Drawing, Sketch, or Traced Photo). Keep 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. LEARNING TARGET: Create a Template Layer using your Resource Image. Create a New Layer above for "Building."
PHOTO REFERENCES: For your own artwork, look for photos to use as drawing, design, or color references. I recommend gathering and organizing images based on the same subject matter for your character or logo designs. LEARNING TARGET (1): For your own artwork, start from a Drawing, Sketch, or Traced Stock Photo.
DRAWING OR TRACED PHOTO: The easiest starting point for Adobe Illustrator is a Clean Line Drawing or Traced Stock Photo. LEARNING TARGET (1): For your artwork, create a "Traceable Path" to align with the Building Tools in Adobe Illustrator. LEARNING TARGET (2): As you become more advanced, prepare your drawings for Specific Tools or Steps in your Workflow (ex. Pen Tool, Blend Tool, Repeat-Mirror, or Values).
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 Tool 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.
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.
RESOURCE GUIDES: Digital Downloads will come as Zipped Folders. Once you have Downloaded and Extracted the Resource Folders, they are ready to be used in Adobe Illustrator. Follow along with our Resource Guides and Tutorials to learn how to Apply Brushes + Halftones + Textures. BRUSHES GUIDE / HALFTONES GUIDE / TEXTURES GUIDE
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.
BEGINNER GUIDES
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Advanced Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Coloring Methods VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
BEGINNER: Understand the Building, Variation, and Coloring Methods using Shapes. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE
BEGINNER: Understand Building, Variation, Editing, and Basic Coloring Methods. VIEW BEGINNER GUIDE