Tag Archives: Adobe Illustrator

Blending, shading and the blend tool in Illustrator

As promised, here are some tips on using the blend tool to make gradients in Illustrator. We’ll take the jellybean in the previous post about shading and do this: First off, if you are unfamiliar with the awesomeness of the … Continue reading

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Shading and such in Illustrator

Came across this fantastic post about doing basic shading in Illustrator the other day. If you’re one of those people who laments the flatness of your drawings in Illustrator (like me), it’s a great little read. What I liked most … Continue reading

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Illustrator Brush Basics

In our Mac Lab at Sac City, I used to get all kinds of questions about making and using brushes in Illustrator. I also came across a great scatter brush primer online a little while ago, which reminded me I … Continue reading

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Abstract artwork in Illustrator

Sometimes you just want to practice certain techniques, like shading objects or making swirls. Or maybe you just want to practice your composition skills. Either way, there’s a great article in Vectortuts about making abstract artwork in Adobe Illustrator. I … Continue reading

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Illustrator tip: Stripes and multiple strokes

As a tutor, I used to get asked by a lot of students how to do multiple strokes in Illustrator. Some people used to do it by eye, drawing two shapes of different colors and trying to align them perfectly. … Continue reading

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Little ninjas in Illustrator.

A little while ago, I posted about a tutorial on SpoonGraphics about creating a gang of vector ninjas in Illustrator. I did get around to playing with the tutorial with these results: (OK, so it’s a single ninja, not a … Continue reading

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The cute, the cuddly and the bizarre.

I won’t lie — I’m a fan of cutesy Japanese-style characters. I liked Hello Kitty and My Melody and Kero Kero Keroppi when I was growing up. Heck, I could draw Hello Kitty in my sleep. It’s so simple. (Too … Continue reading

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Illustrator type tricks

It’s a new year and I was feeling the itch to create something. I ran into this dynamic text tutorial on BittBox and since I’m a big fan of type tutorials, decided to give it a whirl. I didn’t use … Continue reading

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