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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: 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 in Adobe Illustrator. ADVANCED: I recommend gathering and organizing resources within the same project folder (Stock Photos / Sketches / Thumbnails / Color Swatches).
DRAWING TEMPLATE: I have created a Drawing Template of 2160px by 1080px in Adobe Photoshop. This will allow me to Export my Drawing or Sketch from Layers at 1080px by 1080px. I have created a Frame of 1080px by 1080px. File - Place in your Photo Reference. You can add Adjustment Layers to assist your drawings and sketches. DIGITAL: Create a New Document 2160px by 1080px. PAPER: For those of you using Paper Methods, download any Free Scanning App on your phone to digitize your paper sketches and drawings.
DRAWING OR TRACED PHOTO: If you are a beginner to Adobe Illustrator I would try to avoid starting from a Blank Artboard, Full-Color Photo, or 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.
TEMPLATE LAYER: File-Place in your Resource Image (Traced Stock Photo, Drawing, or Sketch). Scale to Fit Artboard Size. In your Layers Panel, select the Menu in the Upper-Right Hand Corner. Drop down to Template. This will create a 50% Opacity and Lockout the Layer. Create a New Layer above to start working in Adobe Illustrator. LEARNING TARGET (1): Create a Template Layer. Add a new Layer above for "Building."
PRIMARY BUILDING: As I create my artwork, I notice I am aligning the tools with the shapes and lines within my sketch or drawing. Many of you will use Shape, Pencil, and Pen Tools as your Primary Building Tools. LEARNING TARGET (1): Understand the Building Tools 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.
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. I recommend Saving Brush Libraries to your "User Defined" by clicking Save Brush Library in the Brushes Menu. If you are new to Adobe Illustrator, we will be going through how to apply Brushes and edit using Shape Builder. DOWNLOAD BRUSH LIBRARIES
COMIC HALFTONES. Just Copy-Paste Halftones into a Working Artboard. Halftones will automatically populate the Swatches Panel. If you are new to Adobe Illustrator, we will go through how to apply Halftones using the Blob Brush and Fills. DOWNLOAD COMIC HALFTONES
T-SHIRT TEXTURES. File - Place the Textures over your finished and grouped artwork to use with Opacity Masks for T-Shirt Distressing. If you are new to Adobe Illustrator, we will be going through how to use the Transparency Panel and Opacity Masks. DOWNLOAD T-SHIRT TEXTURES
SAVING BRUSHES: Open All of the Brushes Libraries in Adobe Illustrator. (File - Open). Have your Brushes Panel Open. Under Window - Brushes. Click on Each Illustrator Document and Open the Brushes Menu in the Brushes Panel. Scroll down to Click on Save Brush Library. Default Location = User Defined. I recommend Saving Brush Libraries to your "User Defined" for Quick Access. BRUSHES GUIDE / HALFTONES GUIDE / TEXTURES GUIDE
OPENING 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 of our step-by-step tutorials on YouTube use this method. Go through with our Brushes Guides to save, apply, and edit Brushes in Adobe Illustrator.
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.
COLOR SWATCHES: Download Free Color Swatches (Adobe Color) to use with your own artwork and designs. 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.
SAVING + OPENING: If you saved 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. Most Color Themes will use Hues as the Base Color. In the Beginner Tutorials, will be using Live Paint to create our Basic Fills or Flat Color Layer. LEARNING TARGET (1): Save or Download 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.
