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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: As I am creating my artwork, pay attention to the free resources used throughout the workflow. Download Free Stock Photos (Unsplash / Pixabay / Pexels) 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.
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.
DOWNLOAD BRUSHES: Adobe Illustrator Brushes will come to you as Zipped Folders on Teachable. Once you have downloaded and extracted the folders, Brushes are ready to be used in Adobe Illustrator. Brush Libraries: 70 Cartoon, 100 Comic Strip, and 50 Vintage Mascot Brushes.
70 CARTOON BRUSHES: Adobe Illustrator Cartoon Brushes are my go-to 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 includes Updated Cartoon, Cartoon 2, and Original Cartoon Brush Libraries. DIGITAL DOWNLOAD: CARTOON BRUSHES
100 COMIC STRIP BRUSHES: Hand Painted and 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 includes 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
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.
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.
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.
70 COMIC 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. Simply Paint in Halftones into your own Illustrations and Comics. Compatible with Mac or PC. Adobe Illustrator CC - CS. DIGITAL DOWNLOAD: COMIC HALFTONES
OPEN HALFTONES: Pattern Fills and Halftones are Adobe Illustrator Files. You can simply open them or Double Click from the Folder. The goal is to Open + Copy + Paste the Swatches into the Working Artboard. The Pattern Fills (Swatches) will automatically populate into your Swatches once you Copy - Paste. Resize Patterns using the Scale Tool.
BLOB BRUSH: We will be using the Pattern Fills with the Blob Brush and your Tablet or Mouse. Double Click on the Blob Brush to Open the Options. Select Keep Selected and Merge with Selection. Both ON or Both OFF will be OK. Paint in Pattern Fills just like a coloring book with the Blob Brush. You can switch Halftones by clicking on a new Pattern Fill.