Beginner Illustrator Tutorial using Pen Tool
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.
APPLY: Match the Brushes to the Line Variation. If you planned out your lines in your own drawing, this step is much easier. Select the Brushes and Line Weight. The easiest method is to find the ends and visually find the other end 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: Moving towards Editing your Brushes. Duplicate Live Brush Layer before Expanding. Expand All. Object - Expand Appearance + Expand. You really only need to Expand the Strokes. 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: Editing using Shape Builder. Select All. Select your Shape Builder Tool. Hold down Alt/Option on your Keyboard 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. If you have busy or detailed areas, I will recommend zooming in to delete smaller areas.
SAVE BRUSHES: Once you have downloaded and extracted the Brush Folders, I recommend Saving Brush Libraries to your "User Defined" by clicking Save Brush Library in the Brushes Menu. Follow along with our Resource Guides to save, apply, and edit Brushes in Adobe Illustrator.
OPEN BRUSHES: Our Adobe Illustrator Brushes have been organized into Brush Libraries for easy application and to maintain consistency with your Line Variation. You can Open Brush Libraries through the “User Defined” or “Other Library” Options in the Brushes Panel in Adobe Illustrator.
DOWNLOAD BRUSHES: Many of you are jumping over from YouTube looking to download our Adobe Illustrator Brushes and Resource Folders. Our (Updated) Adobe Illustrator Brushes will come to you as Zipped Folders. Once you have downloaded and extracted the Folders, the Brushes are ready to be used in Adobe Illustrator. Brush Libraries: Updated Cartoon, Comic Strip, and Vintage Mascot Brushes. DOWNLOAD BRUSHES / DIGITAL DOWNLOADS
70 CARTOON BRUSHES: Adobe Illustrator 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. 70 Cartoon Brushes include Updated Cartoon, Cartoon 2, and Original Cartoon Brush Libraries. DIGITAL DOWNLOAD: CARTOON BRUSHES
100 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. 100 Comic Strip Brushes include Updated Comic Strip, Hand-Painted, Paintbrush, and Fine Liner Brush Libraries. DIGITAL DOWNLOAD: COMIC BRUSHES
50 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. 50 Mascot Brushes includes Updated Caffeinated Cartoonist, Rough Ink, and Jittery Hand Brush Libraries. DIGITAL DOWNLOAD: MASCOT BRUSHES
DOWNLOAD
BRUSHES BUNDLE
DOWNLOAD 200 BRUSHES
20% OFF (SAVE $15)
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