For a while, it seemed liked every client wanted grungy graphics. This might sound familiar, “I like it, but can we grunge it up more”. Don’t get me wrong, having some grunge can create a great deal of depth to a design or illustration, but there can be to much of a good thing. This is the technique I use because it is quick and consistent, making it easy to scum up any design or illustration.
Actions are a set of commands or a series of events that you can record and playback in the Actions panel. Actions are great for complex or repetitive tasks. I use the Actions all the time, especially when working with icon sets or buttons, like in the previous tutorial. If you are familiar at all with the Actions panel in Photoshop, you will have no problem with the Actions in Illustrator.
In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a simple diamond icon in Adobe Illustrator. Using thin strokes and basic stroke properties, you will learn how to add a subtle glowing effect for the edges of your diamond and then how to easily color or recolor your diamond icon.
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a realistic Wacom Bamboo Tablet in Adobe Illustrator. You will find out how to add shadows and highlights to your Wacom Tablet using different Blending Modes, how to use the Round Any Corner Script and finally, how to create a nice textured background. Let’s begin! Continue reading
This is part 2 of a three-part video tutorial series “How to Draw a Vector Cartoon Illustration”
In case you missed it, in part 1, we explored How to Create a Custom Brush in Illustrator. In this tutorial, we’ll use our custom vector brush to illustrate and show you live drawing and inking techniques to use for creating cartoon vector illustrations. So are you ready to have some fun? Check it out and stay tuned for the final piece of this series as we bring our character to life with color and gradient techniques.
With Halloween right around the corner, you may be looking to add a dark side to your designs, and the following tutorial will get you started down that gory path. In it, you’ll learn how to create a simple hatchet illustration in Adobe Illustrator using the grid and the snap to grip feature, along with basic tools, effect and vector shape building techniques. Next using basic blending techniques and taking full advantage of the Appearance panel, you will learn how to add colors and highlights for your hatchet. Finally, you’ll learn how to create simple blood drips and how to add subtle shading for your hatchet.
In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a 3D text effect in Adobe Illustrator using only a piece of text. For starters you will learn how to create a dark, textured background and how to easily center it. Moving on, using a simple piece of text, taking full advantage of the Appearance panel and cleverly adjusting some of Illustrator’s basic effects, you will learn how to create this bold, 3D text effect.
