# data[].attributes.body
Create a vintage layout http://wegraphics.net/blog/tutorials/creating-a-vintage-typography-layout-in-adobe-illustrator/

# data[].attributes.body
How to create a Gradient Mesh Flower http://www.vectordiary.com/illustrator/gradient-mesh-flower-tutorial/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Gradient Mesh can be a wonderful tool to master but the learning curve can
bring a bit of frustration to the beginner, I myself found it confusing at first
but with a little practice and a simple plan I was able to get around a few
of the tools weaknesses and avoid snapping Wacom pens in anguish.

Control

When I started illustrating with the mesh tool I would always attempt to draw
a large portion of the image and then force the mesh to conform to what I wanted
it to look like. With this technique, what would happen was when I tried to
manipulate the points I would find myself tasked with forcing the mesh to take
the shape of the image I wanted, which meant that I had to spend quite some
effort "sculpting" the mesh itself. When I say sculpting I'm not talking about
the sexy way it was done in that movie Ghost with Patrick Swayze, I'm talking
about the geeky mouse and Wacom push points around sculpting. Doing it this
way is fine if you are patient and skilled/super art geek, but the door is wide
open for issues to crop up later as the more complex a mesh is the harder it
is to work with.

Break It Down

The solution would be to find the inner shape in the image and illustrate them
instead. Then construct the image as a whole from its smaller parts. By working
with the smallest identifiable shape in the image, and applying the mesh to
it, I am fully in control of the meshes behavior. With simple shapes the mesh
will conform to the contour of the shape as long as you start the mesh near
the edge of the vector.

Working The Curves

The key to good control of the fountain pen tool is to have the disipline of
a Jedi master or just take your time and develop the arc bit by bit. First we
will creat one petal so we get the hang of useing the pen tool. You can download
an Adobe Illustrator file Petal.ai or Petal
Outlined.ai of the petal I did or just follow along these steps to create
your own.

Create A Leaf / Walk Through Fire

There is nothing like practice to hone your ability. This process can be like
walking through fire, painfull but nessesary to complete the journey. You can
download an Adobe Illustrator files Leaf.ai and
Leaf Outlined.ai.

Time

Now that we are breaking the image down to simple shapes we find that it takes
longer to get to a point in the illustration where the image is identifiable.
So many little shapes to illustrate and not much time especially when the PS3
is waiting to be played. There is not always an easy way around this but in
this instance because this illustrations parts are similar I was able to get
around it.

Clone It

Fortunately because the petals on this plant are similar I was able to clone
several of them and reuse them. I copy and paste them down changing the shape
and adjusting the color with the adjust color balance control or going into
the mesh and changing the color at the points.

The Big Finish

Keeping it simple is the best strategy I know of so just follow that rule and
you can't go wrong. Be sure to invest I good equipment as well. At the time
I did this illustration I had a VERY good color accurate monitor that was calibrated
regularly by people more knowledgeable than I (I call them Supermen you call
them techies). I don't still have access to such equipment but I have come to
learn with digital art you have to be cognisant of how color shifts from monitor
to monitor and at the final print end.

Well I'm going to finish off the alchemist battle in Prince Of Persia. Good
luck with your projects and I hope this tutorial helps. Cheers :).

[private_basic]
Download Source File
[/private_basic]
[private_premium]
Download Source File
[/private_premium]

Related Articles

See the list of all Illustrator tutorials.
Learn 101 Illustrator tips and techniques for free.

0 Trackbacks

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Illustrator Tutorial: Gradient Mesh Flower | - Illustrator Tutorials & Tips

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gradient Mesh can be a wonderful tool to master but the learning curve can bring a bit of frustration to the beginner, I myself found it confusing at first but with a little practice and a simple plan I was able to get around a few of the tools weaknesses and avoid snapping Wacom pens ...

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.vectordiary.com/illustrator/how-to-draw-a-vector-kiwi-tutorial/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ever wonder how to make a vector kiwi in Adobe Illustrator? Well I did and here is what I came up with. In this tutorial, I will teach you how to do it using illustrator effects like Texturizer, Pointillize, Grain and Film grain. Hope you can learn some new stuff in this tutorial.

Drawing the Kiwi Shape

Open a new document. Set it at any size that you want in RGB mode. The first step is to find some colors to use in this tutorial. For that, we will go to Windows>Adobe Labs>kuler and type the word kiwi in the search box. I found some interesting color scheme that I like and I saved them in my Swatches panel. If you like other colors feel free to use them.

Next, take the Ellipse tool and draw am oval shape like the one below and rotate it a little so that it looks more natural. Fill it with the gradient that you see in the image. Colors are: (224,238,174); (175,212,34); (137,96,58).

Drawing the Kiwi Fruit Pulp

Now we will start creating the fruit pulp. Go to Brushes Panel and click the Brush Libraries menu or go to Windows>Brush Libraries>Artistic>Artistic_Ink and find the brush that you see in the image below.

Go to Object>Transform>Transform Each. Set the Rotate angle at different angles and press copy to get a random look. Repeat this steps until you have a circle of fruit pulp.

You should have something like this. Go to Object>Expand Appearance and ungroup them by pressing Crl+Shift+G/Command+Shift+G. Continue editing the shape until you are happy with the results, like what I did. This will make our kiwi look more natural later on.

Next, we will add some color. Use the colors: (163,126,78), (192,226,33), (224,238,174) for the gradient and fill the shape with a radial gradient as shown below.

Position the shape in the center of our kiwi. Set it to Multiply and lower the Opacity to 33%.

For a more realistic look, we will create 2 more shapes. Copy and paste the shape that we just created and we will apply some effects to it. Go to Effect>Texture>Texturizer and set the values as shown below.

Next, go to Effect>Stylize>Outer Glow and set the values as shown below.

Now, position the shape on top of the first one. Set the mode to multiply and the opacity to 48%.

To give it more depth, copy and paste the first shape again. Make it half the size and position it on top of the others. Set it to multiply and lower the opacity to 40%. You will end up with something like in the image below.

Now, we will make the heart of the kiwi. Just take the pencil and draw a random shape like the one below and fill it with the radial gradient shown. Colors are: (252,246,218) and (119,137,42). Next, apply the Pucker and Bloat effect. This will make the shape blend better in the midlle of the kiwi.

Next, copy and paste in front this shape and fill it with a radial gradient from white to black. Select both shapes, go to Transparency panel and select Make opacity mask from the dropdown menu. You will end up with something like in the image below.

Drawing the Kiwi Seeds

It's time to create the kiwi seeds. Take the Ellipse tool and create 3 oval shapes. I colored them one dark brown, one black and one filled with a radial gradient from black to white for a different look. When you are done, group them together and drag them in the Symbols panel.

Now, select the Symbol Sprayer tool and start spraying the seeds. Also use the Symbol Shifter and the Symbol Sizer to get a more random and natural look. For a more detailed look, group the seeds together. Copy and rotate them a little so they don't overlapp and reduce the opacity to 40%. See the image below.

Drawing the Kiwi Skin

We are done with this part, now let's draw the outside skin of the kiwi and the little "hair" on top. For that, go to the Symbols panel, click and select the Symbol Libraries Menu>Hair and Fur and select some of the brown hair symbols that you like best. I created something like in the image below. Then drag it to the symbols panel so we can use it further. Now take the brush tool and select our symbol. Start brushing the left side of the kiwi with this 'hair'. I made some little segments with this brush so I can twist and modify each one to look more natural. Feel free to arrange them until you it looks natural. I got something like in the image below.

It's time for the outside skin of our kiwi. Take the Ellipse tool and draw a shape of a kiwi and fill it with this color (135,98,57). Now, we will apply some effects on it. Go to Effects>Texture>Grain and set the values shown below.

Go to Effects>Artistic>Film Grain and set the values like below. You will have something like this:

Now, positon this shape in the back of our kiwi and arrange it to look natural. I also added some extra 'hair' on top of it with the symbol that we created earlier and with the method explained earlier. Now, we have something like this as shown below.

But our kiwi seems to be missing something and the work is not done yet. It needs more texture to make it look realistic. Copy and paste in front the pulp shape of the fruit (the green one). I have moved the shape away so that you can see the effect. But you can just paste it in front of the original. Go to Effect>Pixelate>Pointillize and set the values below. Then lower the opacity to 20%.

I decided to add a few water drops. To make them, take the Ellipse tool and create the shape from the image below and fill it with a linear gradient using the colors: (192,226,33), (136,175,14).

Create a second shape smaller than the first one and fill it with a radial gradient using the colors: (224,238,174), (175,212,34).

Place the second shape on top of the first one like in the image below and create 3 more shapes to add more glow to the water drop. Use a white fill on one and fill the other two using the same gradient like the second shape we made previously.

Now, arrange all the shapes as shown below. Lower the opacity for the white shape to 40% and group them all. Also reduce the opacity of the group to 25-35% depending on the size of your kiwi.

Go to Effects>Stylize>Drop Shadow and set the values as shown below.

Now, we just have to make more copies in different sizes and place them on top of the kiwi. Adjust the opacity for each of the water drops only if necessary. The illustration is done. Here is the final image of our fresh and tasty kiwi.

Hope you have enjoyed reading it and learnt some useful techniques in illustrator.

[private_basic] Download Source File [/private_basic]
[private_premium] Download Source File [/private_premium]

Related Articles

See the list of all Illustrator tutorials.
Learn 101 Illustrator tips and techniques for free.

0 Trackbacks

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Illustrator Tutorial: How to Draw a Vector Kiwi | - Illustrator Tutorials & Tips

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ever wonder how to make a vector kiwi in Adobe Illustrator? Well I did and here is what I came up with. In this tutorial, I will teach you how to do it using illustrator effects like Texturizer, Pointillize, Grain and Film grain. Hope you can learn some new stuff in this tutorial.

# data[].attributes.body
a retro fox

http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-retro-fox-illustration-in-adobe-illustrator--cms-20733

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/adobe-illustrator/design-vector-animal-mascot/

# data[].attributes.body
Geometric Design; Go from the utter basics of drawing the shapes to complex patterns.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Geometric Design for Beginners - Envato Tuts+ Design & Illustration Tutorials

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Join Joumana Medlej in learning geometric design. Go from the utter basics of drawing the shapes to complex patterns with this on-going series. It's the drawing series that absolutely anyone can do!

# data[].attributes.body
How to create a simple seashell in adobe illustrator

http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/quick-tip-create-a-simple-seashell-in-adobe-illustrator--cms-21175

# data[].attributes.body
This banner would be a good way to help our skills with the pen tool and our typing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In this tutorial we are going to create a clean retro-looking badge/burst in Adobe Illustrator. These are great for adding to a website, advertisement, etc to help the text stand out.

Step 1

First off we are going to open up a 1200x1200px document in Adobe Illustrator.

Type out "AWESOME TUTORIALS BY DENIS DESIGNS" in black for now. Change the font so "AWESOME" and "BY DENIS DESIGNS" is in Adelle, and "TUTORIALS" is in League Gothic. "AWESOME", "TUTORIALS", and "BY DENIS DESIGNS" should all be in separate text boxes.

Step 2

Change the font size of "TUTORIALS" to 250pt, "AWESOME" to 60pt, and "BY DENIS DESIGNS" to 35pt. We can always adjust these font sizes later on, but they will work for now.

Step 3

Now we are going to start adding some shapes to our burst. Using the Rectangle Tool (M), draw a box around "TUTORIALS" with a little space around the text. Change the background color to white, the stroke color to black, and move it behind the text with Ctrl+Shift+[

Step 4

Click on Type>Create Outlines, this will make our text into lines and points, which will be easier to deal with. To make sure that our text is lined up in the center of the box, click on the text and the box and go to Window>Align, to bring up the Align palette. Click on Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center.

Step 5

Go to View, and make sure Smart Guides is checked. Now click on the box and drag a horizontal and vertical guide to the center, they should lock into place.

Select the Ellipse tool (L) and while holding Shift and Alt, make a circle starting at the center of the box. Change the color to black, with no stroke.

We also want to make a star/burst that will be a little wider than the circle. Click on the Star tool (under the same button as the Ellipse and Rectangle tool) and before you unclick, we want to make more points. Simply push the up button on your keyboard to add more points. Also to make the depth of the points more shallow, hold down Alt and make the bust smaller.

Step 6

We want to take the inner circle we made and shrink it down a little bit, while holding Shift and Alt. Change the color to none and the stroke to white. Make sure the star burst is behind everything with Ctrl+Shift+[.

Step 7

Take the circle, duplicate it with Copy and Past in Place (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Shrink it down with Shift and Alt. Our text is going to go on this path, so click on the "AWESOME" text, copy and paste onto the path with the Type on a Path tool. Change the color to white. Go to Type>Type On A Path>Type On A Path Options and make sure Align to Path is Center.

Duplicate the "AWESOME" text and paste in "BY DENIS DESIGNS". Now go to Type>Type On A Path>Type On A Path Options and click on Flip and make sure Align to Path is Center.

Hold Shift and rotate the "BY DENIS DESIGNS" text so it is on the bottom, change the color to white.

Step 8

We are going to turn our "TUTORIALS" box into a banner. Click on the box and duplicate it with Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F. Shrink it down horizontally so it overlaps the box a little bit. Hold down Shift and move the box down twice.

Click on the new box and using the Pen Tool click the center of the left side of the box. Hold Shift and move the point in twice.

Step 9

To connect the two boxes we are going to use the pen tool to make a triangle, something like what is below.

Step 10

Select the new box and triangle and group them with Ctrl+G. Move them to the back of everthing with Ctrl+Shift+[. Duplicate the grouped items, and go to Object>Transform>Reflect and bring it over to the other side.

Step 11

We want to soften the edge of our outer burst, so go to Effect>Stylize>Round Corners, and change it to 10px.

Step 12

Duplicate the white stroke circle, and make the new circle a little bit bigger. We are going to change the smaller circle to a dotted line. To do this click on the smaller circle and then go to Window>Stroke. Check Dashed Line option, change the weight to 5 pt, change the Dash to 0, the gap to 12 and check Round Cap.

Step 13

Next we are going to give a retro shadow to our banner, so we are going to start off by making a rectangle starting at the back part of the banner and going just past the edge of the top part. Using the Pen tool, add a point to the middle of the right side of the rectangle and delete the top and bottom points to make a triangle.

Step 14

Hold shift and rotate it 90 degrees so the point is facing up. Go to Window>Brushes, and click on New Brush. Click on New Brush Pattern and then OK. Change the Colorization Method to Hue Shift and click OK.

Step 15

Draw a line from the top to the bottom of the back part of the banner. Click on our new brush in the Brush Palette. Make sure the points are sticking out and using Ctrl+[ move the shadow behind the top part of the banner. Go to Object>Expand Appearance.

Duplicate the Shadow, flip it 180 degrees and move it to the other side of the banner.

Step 16

As some final touches we are going to add some star accents. Click on the start tool, and use the up and down arrows to make the star have five points. Shrink down the star and put one on each side of the original star. Duplicate those stars and move them to the bottom as well.

To make sure our stars are in the middle of the burst, select the entire burst/banner (except the starts) and group with Ctrl+G. Now click on all the stars and group them. Click on the burst/banner and the stars, then in your Align palette (Window>Align) click on Horizontal Align Center.

Step 17

We are now going to arc the banner. Select all the elements of the banner group them with Ctrl+G. Go to Effect>Warp>Arc. Change the Bend to 10%. Go to Object>Expand Appearance.

Also click on the burst and go to Object Expand Appearance. Click on all the text and go to Type>Create Outlines. This will make all our effects and type into line and points, and make them easier to work with.

Step 18

To thicken up the some of the lines on the banner as well as the white circle, we are going to change the stroke to 5 pt.

Step 19

Now we can go in and start coloring our burst. I am going to use a retro semi-patriotic red (#C22D3E), white (#FEF0D9) and blue (#0A2f37) color scheme.

Step 20

Finally I want to make "TUTORIALS" stand out a little more, so I am going to add a 10 pt blue stroke around the text. Next I am going to duplicate "TUTORIAL", make it my white color, remove the blue stroke and move it to the left 3 spaces and up 3.

Final

Remember to make the image your own. Use any kind of color combinations, take away the dotted lines or stars, change the text, fonts, whatever.

http://www.braindumps.com/PW0-105.htm
http://www.test-king.com/exams/600-199.htm
http://www.actualtests.com/exam-1z0-027.htm
http://www.certkiller.com/exam-117-300.htm
http://www.medaille.edu/
http://www.cisco.com/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Create a clean retro badge in Adobe Illustrator

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this tutorial we are going to create a clean retro-looking badge/burst in Adobe Illustrator. These are great for adding to a website, advertisement, etc to help the text stand out. First off we are going to open up a 1200x1200px document in Adobe Illustrator.

# data[].attributes.body
How to create realistic vector bubbles

http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-realistic-vector-bubbles--vector-3417

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
His Majesty the Bubble! In this tutorial we will learn how to create realistic colorful bubbles. We'll cover numerous techniques and build this illustrations step by step. Set aside a couple hours for this one!

Republished Tutorial

Every few weeks, we revisit some of our reader's favorite posts from throughout the history of the site. This tutorial was first published in March of 2010.

Step 1

Open up a new document. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a rectangle. Set the fill to a solid dark blue color, without a stroke. Rename the layer to "BG" and lock it. It's more convenient to start the artwork by creating the background, otherwise transparent bubbles will not be visible on a white background. We will adjust background colors in the following steps.

Step 2

Create a new layer and name it "Bubbles." Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and create a black circle.

Step 3

Create a gray shape using the Pen Tool (P) as shown below. Copy and paste in front the black circle. Now select the copy of the black circle and gray shape, then click Intersect from the pathfinder palette. Now click Expand. The current colors of the elements do not play the role for now, but we'll adjust them in the following steps.

Step 4

Use the Pen Tool (P) to create the shape of light glare on the bubble. Work carefully over the beauty of the lines, the final result depends on your efforts here.

Step 5

Create a new shape and make an intersection as shown in Step 3. For better convenience fill the shapes with different colors, leave some of them only with a stroke and do not fill them.

Add new elements of the bubble. In the process of work you can also switch fill modes from the solid fill to the stroke fill; it will help us not to get lost in the number of objects lying on top of each other.

Step 6

At first create bigger elements; the sequence of sub layers can be changed during the process of working.

Try to keep your lines look perfect, while outlining the shape of a sphere. Study carefully how to create the elements in the shape of an umbrella. Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and create a circle. Take the Scissors Tool (C) and cut a circle into two pieces.

Remove the upper segment of the circle. Now join together the points of the cross-section using the Pen Tool (P). Add five anchor points to the even part of the segment. Move down some anchor points using the Direct Selection Tool (A), as shown below.

Convert the bottom anchor points from corner to smooth.

Step 7

So, we have fourteen objects, all objects with strokes of different colors are shown on the picture below.

Step 8

Get down to working on the objects. Make the sub layer with a black circle invisible by clicking the eye icon in the Layers palette, and lock it. We will need this circle to create the smaller elements of the bubble. Select the first element and fill it with the linear black to white gradient. Change the Blend Mode and Opacity from the Transparency palette as shown below.

Use the same technique working with the other elements of the bubble.

Step 9

We will use the Gradient Mesh to work with the other elements of the bubble. While working with a large number of elements that are superimposed on each other, you should always lock some of the sub layers. It would be even better if all the neighboring sub layers were locked, except for the one being edited. Note that to select the object you only have to click the Target in the appropriate sub layer from the Layers palette.

Fill the shape with a solid black color, take the Mesh Tool (U) and add one point to the bottom side of the shape. Change the color to white for this point. Change the Blend Mode and Opacity for the edited object and apply the settings shown below. The object may be edited only when they are selected entirely; use the Selection Tool (V) for it.

All the objects containing the Mesh Gradient are shown below. The Blending Mode for the objects are all set to Screen, while the opacities are different.

Step 10

Let's get down to the smaller details. The technique of creating these additional shapes is all the same. There are fifteen of them, you do not have to copy me, just defer to your own artistic taste when adding detail to the bubble. Pay attention to where the light is coming form to add more detail.

Step 11

The soap-bubble is ready. Delete the sub layer with the black circle; we do not need it any more. Group all the elements of the bubble.

Step 12

Copy, paste, scale, and place the bubbles as shown in the picture below.

Step 13

Create the star-like glares on the bubble. Create a new layer and name it "Stars." Create a triangle using the Pen Tool (P) and fill it with a black to white linear gradient. Now set the Blend Mode and Opacity from the Transparency palette as shown.

Step 14

Keep the shape selected, go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform, and apply the settings as shown. Now go to Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 15

Select a star and go to Object > Transform > Rotate... 45 degrees and hit Copy.

Step 16

Keep it selected, press Command + Shift and scale the object using the Selection Tool (V). Group all elements of the star.

Step 17

Copy, paste, scale and place the stars as shown below. Some of the stars have to be rotated, so that they could look more realistically. It's time to get down to the background.

Take the Mesh Tool (U) and create the Mesh Gradient as shown below. Paint the central points in different hues of blue color. The linear gradient may be used, but the Mesh gradient reproduces better background adjustability. Try to avoid light colors, because bubbles can get lost.

Step 18

Now create color spots. Create a new layer above the "BG" layer and name it "Spot." Take the Pen Tool (P) and create a new shape, then fill it with a linear gradient as shown.

Step 19

Keeping the selection, go to Effect > Blur > Radial Blur, and apply the settings shown.

Step 20

Keeping the selection, change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge with 50% Opacity.

Step 21

Create some light spots using the same technique.

Conclusion

The final image is down below. Have fun creating your own bubbles. If you want to master this tutorial you'll need to experiment with color, spots, and shapes. Good luck!

Subscribe to the Vectortuts+ RSS Feed to stay up to date with the latest vector tutorials and articles.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
His Majesty the Bubble! In this tutorial we will learn how to create realistic colorful bubbles. We'll cover numerous techniques and build this illustrations step by step. Set aside a couple hours for this one! Republished Tutorial Every few weeks, we revisit some of our reader's favorite posts from throughout the history of the site.

# data[].attributes.body
Choose three Pokemon and draw them. not trace, draw from scratch.

# data[].attributes.body
Create a post box illustration

http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-post-box-illustration-in-adobe-illustrator--cms-23339

# data[].attributes.body
Create typography

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Preview

Click on the preview image below to see the final product in full scale.

Tutorial Resources

Step 1: Working away from the computer

To create our folded text, we first want to see in real-life how folded strips of paper would look. This technique lets us reduce the amount of guessing we have to make and gives us a reference point. These tutorials can give you the skills you need to design media for your site so you won't have to pay a web designer to do them!

So first, take a piece of regular 8.5" x 11" paper and cut it into strips using scissors or a box cutter.

Start folding the strips to the letters that we want. I'm folding all the letters at roughly 90 o angles except for the letter "N" (which we need the angle on).

Now we can see exactly how the folds will look for the letters we're using.

Step 2: Setting up the document

Now that we have a general idea of how the fold on our paper strips should look, we're going to go into Photoshop and create a new 1200 x 600px document.

Write out "DESIGN" and a smaller "INSTRUCT" below it using the Horizontal Type Tool (T), something like I have done below. I'm using Futura Bold for my font because it has a retro look to it. If you don't have Futura, try using any wide, bold font that gives us room to work with.

We're going to use this as our type's base for sizing and width guides while making our folds.

Step 3: Adding color

Next, we're going to change the color of our text. First, the "DESIGN" text is going to be a different color for each letter. Your colors don't have to be the exact colors that I'm suggesting below, but I'm trying to go for a wide variety of colors that I think will translate into some nice retro colors.

The letters and their corresponding hexadecimal color values are as follows:

D: #00AEB7 (blue)

E: #FF9900 (orange)

S: #BA0000 (red)

I: #01AD4E (green)

G: #FEDE58 (light yellow)

N: #FF99AB (pink)

Also, we're going to change the "INSTRUCT" text to a brown color (#3B2601). If you aren't sure of what colors to use, try using a to mix them up!

Step 4: Guiding the "D"

Lets start off by working on the "D". Let's make a new Photoshop group (Layer > New > Group). We'll name this group, "D".

Next, create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) within the "D" group.

We're going to lay out some Photoshop guides to help us with the shaping our "D" letter. We want a guide on the top, bottom, left-right and the inside-left side of the "D".

Step 5: Creating the template

Since all the strips of paper are the same width, we need to make sure the lines of the "D" (and the rest of our letters) are the same width. We're going to do this by first clicking on the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) in the Tools Panel to activate the tool.

While holding down Shift to make a perfect square, click and drag a square selection starting from the top left of the "D" towards the inside guide.

Create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and fill it (Edit > Fill) with black (#000000) so that we can easily see it (the color doesn't matter because this square is just for helping us shape our text).

This will be our template to make sure everything is the same size. We'll be moving this square template throughout the creation process with the Move Tool (V).

Step 6: Adding more guides to the "D"

Now that we have the template, we can drag down a guide so that it's on the bottom of the box we just made.

Click and drag the box down to the bottom guide and place a guide on the top of the box.

Also, using the Move Tool (V), move the box to the right and put a guide on the left side of that box. What we're making with the guides is a hole in the middle, while making sure all the lines are the same width.

Step 7: Subtracting from the "D"

Now that we have our first letter all mapped out, we can start editing it. In the Layers Panel, click on the "D" layer we made in Step 4 to make it our active layer. Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), make a box around the outer guides so it covers the letter. Afterwards, fill it with the same blue as our "D" (#00AEB7).

Before we subtract the middle part, we want to right-click on the "DESIGN" text and choose Layer > Rasterize > Type. This will make it so we can delete areas from the original text-we can't do this if it's still a text layer.

Create a selection using the inner guides, click on the "D" layer in the Layers Panel, and then press the Delete key to remove the area beneath the selection.

We can also completely delete the "D" from the original base text layer because we don't need it anymore.

Now you should have a box with a white hole in the middle.

Step 8: Shaping the "D"

Now we're going to chop off the corners on the right side to start to give us a "D" shape, similar to how our real-life reference looks.

Using the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L), click on the intersection of the top and inner right guide. Then click on the intersection of the inner top and outer right guide. Finally, close the path by the clicking around so you get that top right corner selected and then hit Delete to take away the section under our selection.

Now we're going to do the same thing with the bottom right corner.

Step 9: Adding imperfections

Since these letters have a folded look, we're going to give them some slight imperfections by making the ends of the folded strip of paper overlap past the letter.

Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), make a square within the top two guides and out past the left side of the "D". Fill the selection (Edit > Fill) with the blue color (#00AEB7).

Move the marquee selection down to the bottom two guides and fill that area with the blue color (#00AEB7) as well.

Step 10: Adding guides to the "E"

We're going to work on the shadows and finishing elements later on, so lets move on to the other letters next. Create a new group (Layer > New > Group), call it "E" and create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) within that group.

Now we're going to use the square template that we created for the "D" to make sure our letter has a consistent width.

Since we created the guides for the "D", we notice already that the top and bottom arms of the "E" aren't quite tall enough. We can also assume that the middle part of it also has the same problem. We should fix those issues.

Bring in our square template and put it in the center of the middle arm. Put a guide on the top and bottom of the template.

Also make guides on the left and right sides of the "E", as well as where the middle arm ends.

Step 11: Filling out the "E"

Click on that layer we created in the "E" group. Use the same orange color (#FF9900) as the "E" to fill in the areas so the arms are the same as the stem of the "E".

Step 12: Shaping the "E"

Bring our template to the top left of the "E" letter and make a guide on the right side of it so that it follows the inside of the stem. Just like in Step 8, we're going to chop off the corners of the "E" from the original text layer.

We're also going to make the middle stem extend out the same way we did in Step 9.

Step 13: Creating the "S"

Create a new layer group called "S" and a new layer inside that group.

We're going to base off the letter "S" with our existing letter "E". First, select the area from the top guide to the edge of the left side of the "S" to the very bottom guide, at the right edge of the "S", and then fill it with the red color (#BA0000).

We want all the letters to be the same height so that's why we're cutting off the top and bottom edges of the "S".

Step 14: Roughing out the "S"

Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), select the two areas between the guides that goes in between the arms of the "E", and then press the Delete key to remove the area beneath your selection. This should give us three horizontal bars with the same width as the "E".

Step 15: Shaping the "S"

Put the template on the top left corner of the "S" shape and then place a guide on its right side. Move the black square template to the bottom right and put a guide on its left.

Now using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to select the area, fill the empty area on the top left and the bottom right with red (#BA0000).

Step 16: Rounding out the "S"

Toggle off the visibility of the original text layer from our view to make this next process easier.

We want to get rid of some of these corners, just like with our "D" and "E". The two ends don't get their corners chopped off because they don't fold.

The "S" looks kind of funny right now, but it'll look fine later on once we start applying shadows on it.

Delete the "S" from the original base text layer if you want, because we no longer need it.

Step 17: No change to the "I"

The "I" will stay as-is since there aren't any folds to it.

Step 18: Creating the basic shape of the "G"

Make a new group for "G", and-you know the drill by now-a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) inside it. Just like with the "S", we're going to select the area from the top to bottom guides and the left to right edges of the "G".

Once selected, fill it with our yellow color (#FEDE58).

Now, let's put a guide on the left and right sides of the box.

Step 19: Shaping the "G"

This will start out similar to the "D". First, put the square template on the top left and put a guide on the right side of it.

Next, put the template on the bottom right and put a guide on its left side. Select the area that the guides make inside the box, and then delete it from the box and the original text.

Step 20: Finishing off the "G" shape

To make our letter into a "G", we're going to move our square template so the top of it is resting on the top of the inner circle. Create a guide on the bottom of the template to help us.

Now, using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), select the area that starts at the top of the inner circle to the guide we just made so we can get rid of the top right side of the box.

Step 21: Rounding off the "G"

Now we want to get rid of all the right-angle corners of our letter (as shown below). Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) to make the selection, and just press the Delete key to clear the area below the selected area.

Step 22: Reduce the width of "G"

Our "G" is a little too wide for our design. To fix that, get the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and select the right half of our letter.

With the appropriate area selected, click on the Move Tool (V) on the Tools Panel, hold down Shift, and move the selected area to the left.

Step 23: Creating the basic shape for the "N"

For our letter "N", let's create a new group and also a new layer inside the group. Create a box around the original "N" and fill it with our pink color (#FF99AB).

Move our square template with the Move Tool (V), placing it at the top left corner of the letter. Also place a guide on the left and right to make our selections easier and more accurate.

Move the square template to the right corner, and also place guides on the left and right sides.

Now select the middle part with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and delete it.

Step 24: Adding the crossbar

Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) again, we're going to create a box around the right stem of the "N" and duplicate the selection into a new layer by pressing Ctrl/Cmd + J.

Take the stem we duplicated and then use the Free Transform command (Ctrl/Cmd + T) to angle it so that it turns into the crossbar of our "N".

With a little experimentation, the top left corner should line up with the left corner of the left stem and the bottom left corner should line up with the bottom left corner of the right stem.

Select the part of the crossbar that goes above the top guide with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and delete it.

Step 25: Finishing off the "N"

If you look at the actual fold of the letter "N" in our reference photo, you'll notice that the folds at the top and bottom aren't completely horizontal. We're going to create these angles by moving the square template to the top left.

Use the Free Transform command (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and move a guide on the horizontal middle transform control. What we're doing is making a guide at the halfway mark of the template. Do this for the bottom right corner.

With the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L), delete the corners using the guides we just made as the side points.

Step 26: Cleaning up the text

Right now, you should probably have something that looks pretty messy. Let's clean up the type by deleting the extra elements we don't need in the original text.

We also want to get the letter "E" on one layer. Click on the original text layer in the Layers Panel while holding down Ctrl/Cmd. Then with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), hold down Alt/Option to create a square selection around the "I" to subtract it from the current selection.

Now hold down Shift + Ctrl/Cmd and click on the rest of the "E" in the "E" group. Click on the "E" layer in the "E" group and fill the selected area with our orange color (#FF9900).

Step 27: Creating the folds on the "D"

Now we can start creating the folds for the letter "D". To create the folds, we're going to use our guides as well our real-life model for reference.

The horizontal pieces are the ones on top for the "D", so the two vertical pieces are going to have shadows on them.

To create the shadows, select the area in the middle with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and make a gradient with the Black to Transparent gradient preset using the Gradient Tool (G).

Play around with this until you get something that looks good. If you don't like the gradient you made, just press Ctrl/Cmd + Z to undo it, and then try again. Try not to start the gradient right at the edge, but try not to make it too subtle and understated either.

To get rid of the excess gradient, Ctrl/Cmd + click on the "D" layer, go to Select > Inverse (Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + I) to invert your selection, and hit the Delete key to get rid of the selected area.

Step 28: Creating the folds on the "E"

With our "E" letter, the vertical stem is going to be the top piece with the three arms getting the shadows (exactly like our real-life reference).

Step 29: Creating the folds on the "S"

For the "S", the curved parts are going to be the ones on the top, with the rest shaded.

Step 30: No folds on the "I"

Our letter "I" is pretty boring - there aren't any shading that needs to be done for the "I".

Step 31: Creating the folds on the "G"

For the "G", the two vertical lines are going to be on top, so the horizontal ones are going to have the shadows.

Step 32: Creating the folds on the "N"

For the "N", the left stem is going to be under the crossbar and the crossbar is going to be under the right stem.

Step 33: Overlaying the shadows

Now we're going to change the blending mode of all the shadow layers to Overlay except for the right fold on the "N", which will be changed to Soft Light.

Step 34: Desaturating the backside of the "D"

The folds look pretty good now, but we want to define the front and back a little bit more by dulling down the color that would be the back of the paper to give the letters some depth.

Select the pieces that would have been folded under with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and open up the Hue/Saturation image adjustment command (Ctrl/Cmd + U).

Note: To make multiple disjointed selections like the image below, hold down the Shift key (this should put a small "+" on your mouse cursor, indicating that it's the correct mode).

Change the Saturation to -40 and the Lightness to +20. We're using the Lightness option in the Hue/Saturation because it washes out the colors, which is what we want.

Step 35: Desaturate the rest of the letters

Apply the Hue/Saturation from Step 34 to the rest of the letters.

Step 36: Add a Satin layer style

Click on the "D" layer and go to Layer > Layer Style > Satin. This will give the text a little bit of a shine and highlight the middle areas of the text.

Apply this to the rest of the letters as well. A shortcut would be to right-click on the "D" layer, choose Copy Layer Style, select the other layers, right-click on them, and then pick Paste Layer Style from the contextual menu that appears.

Step 37: Adding a Gradient Map

We're going to add some effects to our text and image. First off, we're going to go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map.

Click on the yellow to red gradient preset and also choose the Reverse option.

Drop the opacity of the Gradient Map adjustment layer down to about 15%. This should be your topmost layer. This will give our entire piece a yellowish, aged look.

Step 38: Adding a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer

We're also going to drop the brightness of our work. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation.

Step 39: Give the text an uneven look

Now we're going to give our text a little bit of an uneven, natural look. First, make sure the foreground and background colors are black and white (press D to reset your colors).

Create a new layer by pressing Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N, and then go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Make sure the layer is just below the Gradient Map and the Hue Saturation layers.

Change the blend mode of this new layer to Overlay and the drop the Opacity down to 50%.

Step 40: Adding a background texture

Let's open up the paper texture included in the Resources listing in Photoshop.

Alternatively, use a paper texture of your own, or look around the Freebies section of Design Instruct for textures that you might want to use instead.

Go to Image > Image Rotation > 90 o CCW so that the binding of the texture is at the bottom of the canvas.

Go to Image > Image Size and change the width to 1200px to make the texture the same width as our main canvas.

With the texture prepped, copy and paste it into our retro folded paper Photoshop canvas.

Change the blend mode of the texture's layer to Overlay and then open up the Levels image adjustment dialog window (Ctrl/Cmd + L). Change the option values so that they are similar to what I have below-these settings will make the texture stand out more.

Step 41: Adjusting the texture

Open up the Hue/Saturation dialog window and drop the Saturation to -40. Also, drop the opacity of this layer to about 50%. This will make the color of the texture more subtle.

Step 42: Adding a second texture

Duplicate the paper texture with Ctrl/Cmd + J and move it down the layer stack below all the letters.

Change the blend mode to Multiply and drop the opacity to 20%.

Step 43: Adding a vignette

For artistic effect and to draw the eyes of the viewer towards the center of our piece, we're going to darken the edges of the canvas, creating a faux vignette. Click on the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) on the Tools Panel, and in the options bar, change the Feather to 50px. Click and drag a box around the entire canvas (or press Ctrl/Cmd + A).

Go to Select > Inverse and fill the inverted selection with black (#000000). This should fill just the edges.

Change the blending mode of the vignette layer to Overlay.

Step 44: Alternate texture

You can also play around with additional textures. I'm going to keep the background with the same paper texture. I'm going to hide the paper texture that was above the text.

Next, I'm going to bring in this other texture (also included in the Resources listing above) to give the image a dirtier, grungier look. Play around with different textures to create something that's all your own.

Step 45: Final adjustment

I moved the letters around a little bit to get the kerning to be a little more even. You can do this more accurately with Photoshop's Ruler Tool (I), but eyeballing it is fine-perfect spacing isn't important because we want the text to have an imperfect, hand-made feel to it.

Tutorial Summary

In this Photoshop tutorial, I showed you how to create an interesting folded paper typography. First, we created a real-life model of our text, which I hope shows you the value of having a reference before firing up your favorite graphics editor and creating artwork digitally. These skills are great to have at all levels of web design! A college could use these skills for their university's web design or teach it to their students! It's very valuable to learn these design skills!

We used simple Photoshop techniques such as selecting areas manually using the Photoshop's Lasso and Marquee tools. To make our selections more accurate and our letters more uniform, we created a square template and used a copious amount of Photoshop guides. To finish up the piece, we applied some basic adjustment layers to give our product a retro, faded look.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I look forward to seeing your own versions in the Design Instruct Flickr group pool.

Download Source Files

Tags: expensive, expensive keywords, pay per click advertising, ppc

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creating Retro Folded Typography Using Photoshop

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Click on the preview image below to see the final product in full scale. To create our folded text, we first want to see in real-life how folded strips of paper would look. This technique lets us reduce the amount of guessing we have to make and gives us a reference point.

# data[].attributes.body
This Halloween themed house tutorial will teach the class new techniques and tricks in illustrator.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What You'll Be Creating

Halloween is a bewitching holiday that always brings us a lot of fun with its spooky, mysterious atmosphere! Join me in this tutorial to create a whimsical scene featuring a haunted house on a hill in Adobe Illustrator. We'll use the Pencil Tool, Gradient Tool, Blending Modes, and our boundless imagination. Sharpen your digital pencils and let's get started!

1. Start from Scratch and Form Your Color Palette

Step 1

I usually start creating my artwork by making a rough sketch. When the sketch is ready, create a New Document of a comfortable size in Adobe Illustrator and set it to RGB Color Mode.

File > Place your sketch in the document and click twice on the layer in Layers panel to call out the Layer Options menu. Check the Template box, thus locking the layer and dimming the image.

Step 2

Go on and form a color palette, which will help us to create a proper mystical mood for our artwork. Start by creating two small, even squares, one above the other, using the Rectangle Tool (M). Fill the upper square with dark-blue color and the lower one with pink color.

Select both squares and go to Object > Blend > Make or use the Blend Tool (W) to create a group of squares. You can change the Blend Options in Object > Blend > Blend Options and set the Spacing to Specified Distance of 60 px.

Createa second Blend Group, using yellow and dark-orange colors, and then Object > Expand both groups.

Select the dark-purple palette that we've just made and click the New Color Group button (a folder icon) in the Swatches panel,creating a group of swatches. Do the same moves with the yellow-orange palette.

Let's make our drawing process more fluid and comfortable. Place our Sketch Layer on top of the Layers panel and set the Blending Mode of the sketch image to Multiply (you will have to Unlock the layer for a while by clicking the lock icon). Use the lower layer for drawing, so that your sketch remains visible on top of all other objects.

2. Outline the Basic Shapes of Your Sketch With the Pencil Tool

Step 1

Let's tweak and tune our digital pencil! Click twice on the Pencil Tool (N) icon in the Tools panel and set the Fidelity and Smoothness values to 2 in the pop-up Pencil Tool Options window. Tick the Fill new pencil strokes and the Edit selected paths checkboxes. Leave all other options as default.

Select the second-darkest color of our palette and freehand the silhouette of the haunted house, following the lines of the sketch.

Step 2

Create a rectangle for the background, using the Rectangle Tool (M), and Send to Back (Shift-Control-[). Fill the background with the radial gradient, applying the yellow and lilac tones of our palette. Move the center point of the gradient up and to the left, using the Gradient Tool (G) to create the proper environmental light for our future composition.

Proceed by outlining the quirky hill and filling it with linear gradient from dark blue to a lighter purple, creating a strong contrast with the background.

Draw out another hill behind the first one. Make it slightly lighter to create a feeling that it is far away, thus emphasizing the perspective.

Add a few tree silhouettes: a creepy crooked tree with bare branches in the foreground and a group of fir trees on the right-hand side of our haunted house. The scene is starting to look more interesting and eerie.

Let's add the brightest, most eye-catching element of our composition-the whimsy moon! A crescent moon, to be more exact. Trace its silhouette with the Pencil Tool (N), making as many bumps and dimples as you can. Add some fancy details, such as a piece of a moon stone levitating between the tips of the crescent, and some small drop-shapes to create the effect of a dripping surface.

Move on and add a few cloud silhouettes, partially covering the moon to make the image more intricate. Use the second brightest color from our blue-purple palette.

Continue adding clouds and making the picture more detailed. Put some of the clouds on top and hide the others behind the moon by Sending them to Back (Shift-Control-[).

Now for the fun part! Take the Pencil Tool (N), set the Fill color to None and the Stroke color to the brightest yellow. Scribble around the moon with a circular movement of your hand, creating a rough, sketchy effect.

3. Fill the Basic Elements of Your Artwork With Details

Step 1

Let's make the moon more realistic and dimensional. Pencil a shape inside the crescent, following its lower part, but making it a bit smaller. Fill the newly created element with linear gradient from bright yellow (the same as the crescent color) to darker yellow, so that it blends nicely with the main shape.

Add another shape for the upper part of our crescent and fill it with linear gradient from yellow to black. Switch the Blending Mode to Screen, making the moon slick and shiny.

Add a small, elliptical shape, forming a dimple. Switch to Multiply Blending Mode and fill the shape with linear gradient from yellow to white, creating a shadow and the impression of deepness.

Duplicate the created dimple and place it on the other side of the crescent, adding more holes. Make the dimple embossed by placing a bright, thin stripe in Screen Blending Mode along the edge of the hole.

Copy the shape that we created earlier in the lower part of our crescent and fill it with a darker tint of yellow. Go to Effect > Stylize > Feather and apply a gentle blurring effect with 30 px Radius value.

Finally, our crescent looks like a sugar candy and attracts the viewer's attention with its smooth shapes! Let's move on and decorate other elements of our artwork in the same shiny style.

First of all, we need to add some details to each cloud. This process might seem a bit tedious, but if you're keen on freehand drawing, you will enjoy watching your picture get fleshed out. Draw the swirls and twirls on each bulge of the cloud-lighter for the highlights and darker for the shadows.

Step 7

Fill the darker shape with linear gradient, one end of which has the same color as the cloud, while the other end is slightly darker. As for the highlight shapes, use the Screen Blending Mode and a linear gradient with bright-orange color on one end and black on the other.

Rotate the gradients using the Gradient Tool (G) so that they blend seamlessly with the basic cloud shape.

Add smaller reflections to intensify the moonlight, creating a glossy effect on the bulgy parts of the cloud.

Step 9

Work more on the other clouds, paying attention to their colors: make those lower clouds darker than the upper ones, as if they are hidden in the lowlands and don't reflect as much light from the moon.

Continue adding luminance to the upper part of our composition.

Draw those tiny swirls and paw-like shapes with the Pencil Tool (N) with a flowing movement of your hand.

The colors of the overtones should match the environment lighting. In fact, the lower clouds should have a cool, bluish highlight, while the clouds that are closer to the moon keep their warm, yellow-orange tones.

Let's take a look at the overall composition to ensure that we haven't missed anything.

Use the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M) to fix the parts of the clouds that are overlapping with the hill, or simply press Control-[ to rearrange the objects, moving the cloud under the hill.

Step 12

Edit the color of the trees in the same way, making their lower edge blend with the ground.

Add a path leading to the haunted house. Make its lower part much wider to emphasize the perspective and to show that the house is located far away from the viewer.

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create thin stripes and combine them into a group of planks, forming a supporting structure for the house.

Let's create an illusion of a bright light coming through the windows of the house, adding a touch of mystery. Our sketch already contains some windows, so we just need to outline them. For this step I use the Pen Tool (P) to create a half-ellipse shape, but you can use the Pencil Tool (N) if you prefer, or just erase a part of an ellipse to create the same window aperture as you see on the screenshot below.

Fill the created shape with dark-blue linear gradient and add a smaller copy of the same shape above, filling it with linear gradient from pale-orange to dark-orange.

Duplicate the dark shape and select its upper anchor point with the Direct Selection Tool (A). Drag the anchor point down to put the shape flat on the ground.

Adjust the gradients, creating a sense of light pouring on the ground out of the open window (or it is more likely to be a front door).

Use the Reflect Tool (O) to mirror the created element over the Vertical Axis. Make several copies of the reflected window and place them on the opposite wall, decreasing their size.

Create multiple copies of the windows and put them in the appropriate places.

Move on and form the left side wall by adding a curved rectangle shape. Fill the shape with a gentle lilac-white linear gradient and switch it to Multiply Blending Mode, thus creating a shadow and making the house dimensional.

Render the roof of the house in the same way as the wall.

Add a sharp, zigzagged shape above the roof. Select both objects and use the Minus Front function in Pathfinder to form some cracks.

Work over the other parts of the house in the same way, rendering shadows and creating a realistic look.

4. Add a Touch of Magic

Step 1

To create a mysterious, Halloween atmosphere in our image, we're going to add some minor details. Individually, they'll barely be noticeable at first glance, but they'll all come together to create the effect we're looking for. Let's add some of these tiny elements here and there to make our artwork more intricate.

First of all, add more light to the windows, by adding a conelike shape and filling it with a bright gradient in Screen Blending Mode.

Now let's make a small but very important element, which produces a subtle, magical effect-the sparkle! Sparkles always create a feeling of something mysterious and supernatural.

Making a sparkle is quite simple: create two even circles and fill them with radial gradients as shown on the screenshot below. Use yellow-black gradient with a small center for one circle and orange-black gradient with a larger center for the other.

Put one circle above the other and switch them to Screen Blending Mode. The black color will become transparent, creating a warm glow. Magic indeed!

Spread the sparkles in front of a doorway as if they are flying out of the house.

Decorate several more windows using the same technique. However, avoid adding sparkles to all of the windows so as not to overload the picture with small details, because they create "noise" which can be very distracting for the viewers.

Our picture is almost complete! Let's add some interesting elements, which will attract more attention and enliven the composition. We need some characters suitable for a Halloween theme. As you remember, we already have a naked tree in the foreground, so let's add a bat hanging upside-down on one of the branches.

Draw a whimsy curved shape using the Pencil Tool (N) to depict the left part of a bat's silhouette. Reflect the shape over the Vertical Axis and combine the halves, forming a single silhouette. Add a darker shape above, forming a wing, wrapped around our bat. Add two red eyes, making them sharp-pointed to create an evil look.

Let's fit our bat on the tree. Make it darker, if needed, to emphasize the contrast between the character and the background.

Use one of the sparkles that we created a few steps ago and put it over the bat's eye, making it glow bright red.

Draw out a scribbled shape, imitating the tree bark. Use the same filling gradient as we have on the walls of the house, switching to Multiply Blending Mode.

We have the last move left! Let's add brightness to our image, making it more vivid and saturated. Make a big rectangle, covering the whole Artboard, and fill it with radial gradient, consisting of orange, pink and dark-purple colors, as shown on the screenshot.

Switch the Blending Mode to Overlay and decrease the Opacity to 30%. This simple method gives our image a bright, candy-like look! Now the colors look much better.

Create another rectangle the same size as our Artboard and put it above all other elements by clicking Shift-Control-]. Select everything (Control-A) and right‑click to call a pop-up menu. Make Clipping Mask to hide the pieces outside the Artboard.

Yay! Our Creepy House on the Hill is Finished!

Congratulations! You've just finished building a mysterious Halloween scene and should be proud of yourself. I hope you've enjoyed following these guidelines and found some useful tips and tricks for your future work. Happy Halloween, folks!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Create a Mysterious Halloween Scene in Adobe Illustrator

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Halloween is a bewitching holiday that always brings us a lot of fun with its spooky, mysterious atmosphere! Join me in this tutorial to create a whimsical scene featuring a haunted house on a hill in Adobe Illustrator. We'll use the Pencil Tool, Gradient Tool, Blending Modes, and our boundless imagination.

# data[].attributes.body
draw a image from scratch or get a drawin image from the internet,take a picture of it from a upper angle and trace the lines from the image,and add color to it

# data[].attributes.body
Create an Inspirational Vector Political Poster. http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/create-an-inspirational-vector-political-poster--vector-17

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This tutorial is inspired by Sheppard Fairey's famous political poster series for the Obama campaign in the US. We'll be showing you how to create this style of design. We'll start with basic image editing techniques in Adobe Photoshop to get our guide layers setup, and then we'll jump into Adobe Illustrator. You don't need any fancy equipment to do this. I used an older mouse that still has the rubber ball.

Editor's Note: Vectortuts+ does not endorse any particular political belief in the publishing of this tutorial. Rather, this tutorial is focused on demonstrating a workflow for creating this interesting aesthetic effect.

Looking for a Shortcut?

Tip: If you're looking for a shortcut, you can create the poster effect quickly and simply with the Advance Iconic Posterization Action. You just choose the options you want, click to start the Photoshop Action, and end up with a result like this:

Posterization effect created using the Advance Iconic Posterization Action

Or you could hire a talented illustrator on Envato Studio to create a unique vector illustration for you.

Customized Vector Portrait on Envato Studio

If you want to go through the whole process yourself, on the other hand, read on for step-by-step instructions.

1. Crop and Modify Your Stock Image

Step 1

For this effect it is best to have a portrait style picture, preferably of a subject that appears to be thinking, or looking off into the distance. I used this photo from iStockphoto.

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Now we're going to create our guide layers for use in Illustrator. Start by duplicating your posterized layer, and name this new layer "Pattern Guide." Then go to Image > Adjustments > Threshold. We're going to slide our Point until we get something similar to below. We want it fairly dark, but still with a small amount of detail. Also, when using Threshold, it is best to use the Peaks that you see.

Step 5

Save this newly created layer as "patternguide.psd," or something similar, as you'll need it for Illustrator.

Step 6

We need to repeat Step 4 and Step 5 three more times. Each time apply a lower threshold, and save each new layer. Below are the settings I used, again notice the peaks.

2. Setup Your Document and Palettes

Step 1

Before we start to outline our layers, we need to create the horizontal blue line pattern. To do this create a new Illustrator document. Give it a Height and Width of 4px. Then create a rectangle filled with our light blue color (#4F919F), and cover the top half of the canvas.

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Here is the color palette we'll be using for this tutorial. There are four colors and a pattern. We'll be using a mix of beige and light blue colors.

3. Create Your Portrait

Step 1

Step 2

We're going to start with our darkest guide layer, this will be our pattern layer. We're going to outline the layer using the Pen Tool (P). So to start we're going to go to File > Place and select our first reference layer into Illustrator. If you've been following verbatim, this file to place is called "patternguide.psd".

Step 3

Let's stop for a moment and discuss the proper use of the Pen Tool (P) in Illustrator. This is one area where Illustrator handedly trumps Photoshop, but only if you use it correctly.

For any curve you basically have three clicks; two are anchor points, and the other is your curve point. You place your curve point at the highest point of your curve. You place the anchors at where the curve starts and ends.

One click is all that is needed when you are creating a curve. You can then change the curve points to curves after you have done the entire shape. To convert them use the Direct Selection Tool (A) and click on the Convert Selected Anchor Points to Smooth icon.

Step 4

Before we can outline our first layer, we need to load our pattern into the Swatches Library. To do this select Other Library from the Swatches Library menu in the Swatches panel.

Step 5

Okay, so back to outlining our first layer. Create New Layer below the file you just placed into Illustrator. This layer will hold our outline. We place it below because it is easier to see what we're outlining that way.

Now we grab our Pen Tool (P), give it a stroke of null, and a fill of our pattern. Then start outlining all the black areas with the Pen Tool (P). The key is to average it out, don't follow too closely to the guide layer. Just roughly outline, and don't worry about our curves, as we'll fix that after we create our outline.

Note: This is the most tedious part of the process.

Step 6

You might have noticed that there are portions in the middle that are lighter that we just went right over with outlines. Well we're going to fix that by outlining those using the same process. Fill those with our beige color, as shown below. We'll do this on a new layer just above the pattern layer. After you've done that, you should have something similar to the following.

Step 7

Now we smooth out the shapes we just created. We want most of our points to be smooth, but I find it looks better if you leave a few the way they are. View the effect below from smoothing both the pattern and beige layer.

Note: I made this image out of order and the pattern was wrong, don't worry about the color difference.

Step 8

Now we just do this same thing for each layer. Roughly outlining it, then outlining the highlights with the color immediately below it, and then smoothing out our outlines. The next layer should have solid light blue, followed by red, and then finally our dark blue.

Step 9

Okay, you should have something like the following. The tedious part is over. Now to make it look like a poster. First we'll put a beige filled rectangle below all these layers, this will serve as our background.

Step 10

Now we'll need to put our red and light blue halves in. We're going to do this just above the beige rectangle layer. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to place the two rectangles.

Step 11

Our poster is looking pretty good. Let's create the space needed to add the inspiring text at the bottom. You'll probably have to enlarge your canvas area. To do this go to File > Document Setup. I added 300px onto mine.

Step 12

Now extend you beige rectangle so that it covers the new length of your canvas. Then create a new rectangle filled with our dark blue color. It should be a quarter the size of main subject.

Step 13

Time to add our inspiring word. We'll use light blue for the font color, and we want to change the text settings so that the word fills most of the dark blue rectangle. To change the spacing between the characters, use the Character panel. This is available to us when we are using the Text Tool (T). I used the font "Myriad Pro".

Step 14

Step 15

Now we're going to clean up the edges of our poster. Cover the layers that we grouped in a rectangle of any color. Then use the Pathfinder panel, and select Subtract Shape From Area.

Awesome Work! You're Now Finished!

Way to go, we're done! We managed to create a really awesome effect without needing a whole lot of artistic ability. We also learned how to efficiently use the Pen Tool, and a nice way to use Photoshop and Illustrator in tandem. This is my first tutorial, so I'm sure there will be questions. Feel free to ask in the comments, and I'll try and answer as quickly as I can. Thanks!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Create an Inspirational Vector Political Poster

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This tutorial is inspired by Sheppard Fairey's famous political poster series for the Obama campaign in the US. We'll be showing you how to create this style of design. We'll start with basic image editing techniques in Adobe Photoshop to get our guide layers setup, and then we'll jump into Adobe Illustrator.

# data[].attributes.body
This is a portrait tutorial that could take a few class periods to make and execute correctly especially if we make self-portraits

http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tracing-a-vector-face-from-a-reference-photo--vector-3217

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A few times a each month we revisit some of our reader's favorite posts from throughout the history of Vectortuts+. This tutorial by Jesse Hora was first published on October 20th 2009.
There are numerous ways that you could approach using a reference photo in illustration, an obvious option being to 'trace' the photo. Since there are so many microscopic details in a photograph you have to make numerous decisions on how you want the image to look in the end. Do you want it to look photorealistic? Or more stylized? Comic book-esque? Cartoon-like?

All of these decisions will result in the look and style of your final image, and your work as a whole. As a commercial designer/illustrator, the style and look of your work will make or break you. This tutorial will cover these decisions as we create an illustration from a reference photo.

Premium Option

If you're looking for a quick way to trace a photo and create a vector, try the Vector Tracing Photoshop Action on Envato Market. It lets you quickly and easily trace a photo into vector form and apply a range of effects.

Introduction

Some people may think it's so easy to trace a photo, and that this tutorial is useless. I think it is extremely important to know how to do even the simplest things well. I have seen too many people try to trace a photo for an illustration and the end product is less than desirable to say the least.

The basic idea of this tutorial is to showcase how using the the process of tracing the basic shapes and contours of a photograph, as opposed to using predominately vector lines with strokes, as many beginning illustrators do, will result in a desirable, realistic yet stylized image.

Starting with a great photo is obviously a huge benefit to this style of illustration. Luckily, Kyle LaMere of ISR was able to supply me with a really nice photo from his ' Visitors' Series. Thank you Kyle.

Final Image Preview

Below is the final image we will be working towards. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.

Tutorial Details

Program: Adobe Illustrator

Difficulty: Beginner

Estimated Completion Time: 2 hours

Step 1A

Open the source photo. In this case I'm using an image of myself and it's available to Plus members. You can of course substitute your own image.

Step 1B

Lock the photo and make a new layer on top.

Step 2A

Start by tracing the outline of the glasses.

Step 2B

If you notice there are so many different shapes, shades, and highlights that make up the glasses, specifically within the interior shapes of the lens and frame, so you have to make a decision on how detailed/complex you want to make the image. Since this tutorials purpose is not an extreme photo-realism look, I will keep it relatively simple.

Step 2C

Be sure to stay consistent on which shapes/shades you are following. Trace both the interior and exterior shape of the frames.

Step 2D

Select both the interior and exterior shapes, choose the Subtract From Shape Area option in the Pathfinder palette, while holding Option to expand to one shape. Now you have one shape that makes up the base glasses.

Step 2E

Trace the bright (white) highlights on the glasses. Change them from a red stroke to white fill.

Step 2F

In addition to the highlights also trace the secondary highlights on the glasses and change them to a lighter red (#F47471).

Step 2G

Even though they are clear we'll need to describe the lens and the nose pieces. You may have to finesse the shapes a bit, drawing them so they look right as opposed to sticking straight to the photo because the shapes are not well defined. Change them to a light gray (#EFE6E8).

Step 2H

That's it for the glasses, switch the stoke to a fill (#EF4136).

Step 3A

Now trace the white shape of the eye. In order to get the shapes to align perfectly, select the top point of the eye shape, copy and paste a duplicate point on top. Add new anchor points using the Add Anchor Points Tool (+) where the pupil comes down from under the eyelash. Delete the extra end points and continue to draw the pupil using the top duplicated points. This is a very simple, yet useful tip that will help keep the shapes aligned and organized.

Step 3B

Simply use the process described above to get the black shape of the pupil as well as the white highlight shape. Color them as they are in the photo, black, white and light blue/gray (#72A8B2).

Step 4A

The eye lashes and shades that describe the upper and lower eyelids are so thin and subtle, they need to be exaggerated a bit. Trace them, and change them to a dark brown (#603913).

Step 4B

Do the same to the other eye.

Step 5

Tracing the eyebrows will be tedious, but if you take the time to really get into the detail, they can look phenomenal. Change them to the dark brown of the other facial features. Here is a peak at how its coming along.

Step 6

The nose can be a huge pain in the butt to get it to look natural. Do the simple line-work, tracing just the edges of the nose and cheeks. Change it to the same dark brown as the other facial features.

Step 7

The key to drawing the mouth is to not outline the entire mouth with the dark line-work like a clown. Draw the shape of the pink-ish part of the lips, and change it to a light pink (#FDE4E3). Then do the thin linework around the mouth, using only small shade shapes where needed.

Step 8

Once the mouth is established, finishing the smile with teeth is fairly easy. You don't need to draw every tooth, you just put in a few shadows that hint at the teeth. Fill these teeth shadow shapes with a light cream (#E2D7D3) color. Draw a large white shape behind all of the shadows.

Step 9A

Vector hair could be a tutorial all on its own, it could have numerous layers of highlights and shadows, but I prefer to leave it simply flat with the contour of the shape describing the form instead of highlights. Now go around the outside of the hair form, tracing some of the big hair spikes. You can get fairly free form and deviate from the photo, as long as the shapes you are drawing reference hair. Be sure to include inside shapes which you will exclude using the pathfinder palette (step 2D).

Step 9B

Once you have one shape, with lots of little pieces nocked out using the pathfinder palette, change the hair shape to a fill of a dark brown color used previously.

Step 10A

Put in the dimple and chin shapes and some linework in the ear.

Step 10B

We're almost there, time to bring it all together. Trace the basic shape of the face and fill it with a skin tone, which is a slightly orange (#F5DFD5) tinged color. Also apply a 1pt stroke with the same dark brown color used throughout, and place this shape under the hair shape layer.

Step 11A

If you want a floating head you can stop there, but if you want a place for the head to rest simply trace the neck shape and apply the same colors and stroke as the face.

Step 11B

Add a simple shade shape to the neck and choose a shade of brown that is close to the skin color (#C49A6B), so that it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. Send this shape to the back (Shift + Command + Minus key).

Step 12

Add a few shapes and lines to describe the shoulders and shirts.

Step 13

After looking at the image, I notice that the coke bottle glasses effect is going on with the eyes. Select all the shapes that form the eyes, and enlarge them just a bit.

Step 14

Just for composition, add a light blue (#C2E6EA) background to the illustration.

Final Image

Thats it! Very basic, but learn to do it well and it can be a very useful illustration style. The final image is below. You can view the larger version here.

Subscribe to the Vectortuts+ RSS Feed to stay up to date with the latest vector tutorials and articles.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tracing a Vector Face From a Reference Photo

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A few times a each month we revisit some of our reader's favorite posts from throughout the history of Vectortuts+. This tutorial by Jesse Hora was first published on October 20th 2009. There are numerous ways that you could approach using a reference photo in illustration, an obvious option being to 'trace' the photo.

# data[].attributes.body
Creating an Adorable Strawberry Tiger in Illustator.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What You'll Be Creating

Are you a fan of tigers as much as I am? If so, you might have heard of the rare and appropriately named Golden Tabby Tiger, also known as a Strawberry Tiger. In this tutorial we'll go through the step-by-step process to make our own cute little bundle of golden fur.

1. Create Base Elements From Your Sketch

Step 1

I've cleaned up the line quality in Adobe Photoshop and now we can start our project. I'm working in Adobe Illustrator at a size of 11 x 8.5 inches for this specific composition.

I like to keep my layers as neat as I can, and labeling them as you go is a good practice. Doing so makes it easier not only for you as the artist, but also for clients, printers, and any other contributors who may need to have access to this file. I've labeled the first layer "Sketch" and locked the layer to make sure that I won't accidentally move or delete the sketch.

Step 2

Once our Sketch layer is locked, we can proceed to make another layer which we can call "Tiger" for the time being. We can now start choosing our colors for the body of our tiger. I'm a big fan of Radial Gradients and usually use two or three colors. We'll use two bright oranges, as well as a pure white for our strawberry fur.

Step 3

Using our trusty Pen Tool (P), we'll lay out our figure using the sketch as a template. If you're not following it exactly, it's not that big of a deal. If you look closely, you'll see bits of black peeking through from behind his orange tail. I'm getting the same effect, but there is a bit of give to the design. Remember to have fun with this.

Step 4

With our body ready, we can now pay more attention to the head. You may have to adjust the width of your Radial Gradient to get your colors to spread where you'd like them, but this doesn't take much time. As with the body, I'm following my sketch just enough to make a readable shape.

Step 5

a

Once my markings have been layered, I can go in and use my Feather effect at 0.2 in to smooth away the edges. We're looking for a soft blend of color.

2. Forming the Facial Features

Step 1

Once the main face colors are complete, we can now overlay our features. I like to start with the largest pieces first, and work my way in. I'll form the nose first and the mouth second. I've gone with a soft pink, since this is a cute rendering of a tiger. It's meant to look less intimidating and more juvenile in nature.

Step 2

Step 3

Follow along the Sketch lines and create your own stripes. Adjust your stripe gradient as needed.

Step 4

Once you're happy with your stripes, you can go in and add a few fur marks using the same color scheme.

Step 5

Next, we'll add a highlight color to the bridge of the nose. We're using another light orange and golden yellow to create a warm glow.

Step 6

Using our golden highlight color, we'll work it across the forehead as well. This color is a bit too sharp and needs to be toned down.

Using a Feather Effect of 0.1 in gives us a blended tone that smoothly interacts with the rest of the fur.

Step 7

Once we are finished adding to the ears and the rest of the hair on top of his head, we're left with a bright and cheery feel.

Step 8

At this point in our project, we can add whisker marks to his face. I like to create one side, make a Group (Control-G), and then duplicate that group to make the other side of the whiskers.

After making both sets of whisker marks, we have a very well rounded little feline. He's coming along nicely, so we should be okay to start the eyes.

Step 1

Since we have the initial eyes made, we can make a duplicate of the shapes and make them a 1 pt Stroke line smaller.

Step 2

I've taken the Eyedropper Tool (I) to sample the nose color, but I won't be stopping here. If you'd like pink eyes that's entirely your preference, but for this little tiger I've chosen other colors.

Step 3

I'm going with a lovely dark navy blue and a periwinkle for the first step. Since we're working with orange, the best way to complement it would be a nice blue.

Step 4

We'll add a few reflection marks to the eyes to add a source of wonder to our little tiger. Although this looks pretty good as it is, I think we can achieve a bit more depth by adding one final layer to them.

Step 5

Using a periwinkle and a cotton blue, we'll add just a little more dimension to our tiger eyes.

4. Adding Whiskers and Body Stripes

Step 1

Our little tiger needs whiskers. We can accomplish this by making several pure white Stroke lines with a weight of 1 pt. Group (Control-G) these and bring the Transparency down to 40%.

Step 2

Next, we'll render our tiger's body stripes. We'll be creating these with the same color scheme as the face.

Step 3

Right around the tips of the ears of our tiger's head, we can add a little white. It's an important little detail that you'll find on most tigers.

5. Adding Dimples to the Nose

Step 1

We'll go back to the nose and add texture to it. Using a series of Ellipses (L), we'll make enough to cover the entire front.

Step 2

Step 3

Duplicate the front of the nose and create a Clipping Mask (Control-7) to tailor our texture to the right specifications.

Step 1

We're making good progress, so we can now give a bit more attention to his body. We only have his main orange coloring, but we need to apply a white stomach as well.

Step 2

Using a solid butter cream coloring, we'll cover the lower half of his body. We'll finish up this look by using the Feather Tool to smooth and blend into this orange fur.

Step 3

As we did with the face, we'll add highlights to his back to give us a warm glow. It also gives us that added bump to our composition.

Step 4

Using the same coloring that we've used around our tiger's mouth, we'll start to detail the fur around his chest. We won't need much since he's done in a less than realistic style.

Step 5

Your tiger's chest fur will look something like this. Though it is done simply, it still reads well.

Step 6

Adding more fur to the cheeks will give him a cuddly appeal. Just as we did with the whiskers, we'll do one side at a time, duplicating one to match the other.

Step 7

At this point, we're now ready to add a cute little row of teeth to our little tiger's mouth. He's not very vicious or mean, so they're rounded to reiterate that he's a sweet juvenile tiger.

Our body is not complete without feet to match. I'm using the same butter cream to create the base, and the shading is done using the chest colors.

Step 9

Once the paws are ready, we can add claws to top them off. I'm using a pure white solid with a 1 pt Stroke line.

7. Adding a Defining Stroke

Step 1

Our little tiger is now ready for the next step. We've almost completed him, but there's just one thing we need to add, a full body Stroke line.

Step 2

This step might get a little tricky if you're not paying attention to your layers. You'll need to make a duplicate of the entire tiger and take out any pieces that are linked to Clipping Masks. These you will need to delete so that they will not interfere with the rest of your piece.

Also, make sure your whiskers are turned into Fills. You can do this by selecting the whiskers and clicking on Object > Expand and clicking the Stroke box. After doing so, change all of your duplicate layer to a new color. This is a precaution so that you won't accidentally create hundreds of gradient layers in the next step.

Step 3

Step 4

Once your Stroke has been created, it will look like this against your tiger.

8. Adding Foreground and Background Elements

Step 1

After finishing your tiger, you can now add foreground and background elements. I've decided to use a butter cream and forest green to make most of these.

Step 2

We can form little sprouts of grass at his feet, which we can decorate later with flowers.

Step 3

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create your background color. It's a muted color that doesn't take away from the intensity of our tiger.

Step 1

Our next step is to create the bamboo for our background. Start with a single shoot, and create layers.

Step 2

We can now add leaves and leave stems to our towering bamboo shoots. Do this throughout your shoots in various places.

Step 3

Group (Control-G) your bamboo or Unite them however you please. This is your little space, so add or take away as many shoots as you'd like.

Step 4

Adjust your colors so that you can apply it almost as camouflage to your background rectangle. You can always play with this coloring to suit your own needs.

Step 5

Our little tiger is almost complete, but we'll add a few flowers to decorate the grass at his feet. This of course something you can decide not to add if flowers aren't your thing.

10. Making Flowers

Using the forest green and pure white to create small flowers, we'll disperse them around until we're happy with the overall look.

And Voila! Your Ferocious Little Tiger is Complete!

Congratulations, you've done a great job on creating a fun and ridiculously cute tiger. I hope it was at least informative, and that you can apply these ideas to your own projects in the future!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creating an Adorable Strawberry Tiger in Adobe Illustrator

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are you a fan of tigers as much as I am? If so, you might have heard of the rare and appropriately named Golden Tabby Tiger, also known as a Strawberry Tiger. In this tutorial we'll go through the step-by-step process to make our own cute little bundle of golden fur.