I don’t often use symbols in Illustrator because I don’t generally make repeating shapes. The control over an element is also very limited when you use a symbol and control is often a huge component for me, but then again if you want chaos… its off to symbols and symbol sprayer!
It is so difficult to make something random, without unconsciously making a pattern and that’s where symbols come in.
A few months ago I saw some photorealistic vector images and I thought to myself – that’s cool! I don’t know why someone would do such a thing, but it amazed me that it was possible.
Please realize, this is far from a beginner guide and if you have only a little experience in vector drawing applications, sorry, then this article is not for you. I won’t go over every detail—there are steps that simply won’t be mentioned—so it’s not a complete step-by-step guide.
If you don’t have a graphics tablet (like a Wacom), then it’s going to take you twice as long to accomplish drawing these kinds of images. A mouse just isn’t precise nor fast enough.
You need to be fully competent with the Pen tool and have a complete understanding of using anchor points and anchor handles.
Got that? Ok, let’s get going!
Making a pattern in Illustrator is an excellent tutorial for beginners. Not only does it help you gain some familiarity with the Illustrator tools, patterns can also be applied across all kinds of different projects, including posters, websites and flyers. Today everyone can find a large numbers of patterns on the web, even pattern generators, but making your own pattern has a certain sense of satisfaction and of course, you get some great practice in with Illustrator.
There are a few approaches to making your own pattern.
1. Find some vector images, play around and make something you like.
2. Some fonts come with ornaments that can be useful. dafont.com is one resource if you don’t have professional fonts that include ornaments.
3. Drawing it yourself.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to do it yourself.
Photo: Free by PsychoRatDog
I just wanted to share some of the ways I work with Illustrator, some have been useful, some didn’t produce much, but people “tick” differently, so heres a couple of ideas.
by Esben Thomsen
You can guest write for Creative Curio, too!
Dingbats
Font dingbats can be an excellent source for finding vector artwork. Here are […]
Some of you may know that I’m not a traditionally educated designer or Web developer; I learned everything from the Web and it has so far taken about a year and half to master Illustrator to such a degree that I can teach others. I’m not a particularly good designer and I can’t present 40 pages of illustrations on Flickr that is a Bible for other designers, but knowing the tools of your trade guards against sleepless nights wondering “How do I make a grungy brush with flower patterns…?”
This is a guest post by Esben Thomsen. I’m always looking for guest authors for Creative Curio!
Some time ago I saw Alec’s beautiful wallpaper artwork (shown above) on Flickr.com. He has a big crush on Minion Pro—who doesn’t like stressed o’s? Another awesome feature of Minion Pro, is how many glyphs come with that typeface.
I noticed […]
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Hi, my name is LaurenMarie and welcome to Creative Curio, a place to learn, discuss and explore the realm of graphic design. You can learn more about me and Creative Curio on the About page.
