Create a Cartoon Skull Sticker Vector in Illustrator

Hey everyone, my name is Tanita and today we will be creating a cartoon skull sticker vector in Adobe Illustrator using various tools like the Shape tool, the Pen tool, and we’ll also get familiar with the pathfinder window. So let’s get started! Difficulty: Beginner/Intermediate Topics Covered: Shape Tools, Pen Tool, Pathfinder Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 – 2 hours Final Image: Cartoon Skull Sticker Vector Here’s what we’ll be making! Step 1: Cartoon Skull Sticker Vector Create a new document. Using the Ellipse Tool (L) draw 5 intersecting circles as shown in the image. The black circle will be the head, the red one – cheek bones and the yellow – teeth. Step 2 Select all five shapes with the Selection Tool (V) and by using the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder) merge them all together by clicking on the Unite icon. Step 3 Set your stroke to round caps and corners in the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke). I also set my stroke weight to 4pt. Step 4 We need to find the exact center of the skull shape so that it would help us place other details of the illustration better. To do this first enable your rulers by pressing the Command/Control + R or by going to View > Rulers > Show Rules. Now select your cartoon skull sticker vector shape to see the top and bottom anchor points. Now simply click and drag a rule from the vertical ruler and place it on top of these anchor points. Now you can turn off the rulers again (Command/Control + R) To switch on and off the guide remember the keyboard combination Command/Control + ; Step 5 Lets draw the eyes. Choose the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw an ellipse where one of the eyes will be. Keep the ellipse selected and choose the Reflect Tool (O). Now press down on the Option/Alt key and click with the reflection cursor directly on the guide we set up previously. A Reflect panel will appear. Set the axis to vertical and click the ‘Copy’ button to copy the eye on the other side of the skull. Now we have two eye holes. Step 6 Next – the nose. Create a new layer for the nose, just to keep it clean. (1.) Draw a circle with the Ellipse Tool (L). (2.) Copy this circle by pressing down on the Option/Alt key and dragging the circle with the Selection Tool (V) and place it next to the first circle. (3.) Now select the Pen Tool (P ) and draw the shape as shown in the image below. (4.) Like in the Step 2, use the Pathfinder panel to merge all three shapes together. When you have the heart shape nose, rotate it “feet up”, scale it down (or up) and place it where it should be (use the guide to locate the center of the skull). Step 7 Now in you layers panel locate the skull shape, select it, copy it (Command/Control + C) and then paste it in back (Command/Control + B). Step 8 Turn off the front skull for a moment and set the back skull (the one we just pasted in back) and set the fill color to black and no stroke. Step 9 Turn back on the top skull with the white fill, but keep the black skull selected. Now go to Object > Path > Offset Path. In my case 10px offset worked well. Then click ‘OK’. Step 10 Now you have a thick black stroke around the cartoon skull sticker vector. Lock the black skull shape for now. Select the eyes and nose and set the fill to black and no stroke. Step 11 It’s time to add some details the the skull. Create a new layer on top of all other layers and by using the Pen Tool start drawing shapes to make the skull less flat and more detailed. Since both sides of our skull are the same, save time by adding details only to one side of the skull. We will reflect them in the next step to the other side. Step 12 Select all of the details you just made and again by using the Reflect Tool (O), hold down the Option/Alt key and click on the guide to plant the refection center. Click “Copy” to reflect the details to the other side. If they do not align for some reason, nudge them in place with the arrow keys. This is how my skull ended up. Step 13 Since it’s a cartoon skull, it might as well have eye-balls so that it could see. Zoom in on the eye holes and use the Ellipse Tool again to draw an eye-ball. Mine will be blue with a black pupil and a white spark. Step 14 Select the eyeball and Option/Alt drag it to the other side to copy it. As you can see I drew a crack as well using the Pen Tool (P ). Step 15 I made a new layer, dragged it below the eye layer and by using the Pen Tool (P )and a light gray color added some dark areas to give the skull a bit more dimension. Step 16 Our cartoon skull sticker vector is done! Now we need some background action! Make a new layer, drag it to the bottom of your layers panel and with the Rectangle Tool (M), make a violet square for the background. Now take the Pen Tool (P ) and create a blob shape in the middle of your violet rectangle just to add some interest to the final piece. Step 17 The only thing left to do is to make the skull into a sticker. Find and select the black skull shape. We will again offset it. Go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Tick the ‘Preview’ to see the offset. For me 20px worked well. Click “OK” when done. Change the color of this new shape to white fill, no stroke. Final Step I wanted to add a shadow effect to the sticker as if one side isn’t glued on the background yet. To do this simply select the white shape we create in the previous step, copy it (Command/Control + C) then paste it in back (Command/Control + B). Without deselection it, change the color of it to the same as the dark violet background and by using the arrow keys on your keyboard, nudge the shadow shape to the left and down a few clicks. Result We are all done and have created a little, cool skull sticker! Hope you liked it and see you next time! Tutorial by Tanita Makena Follow her on Dribbble: dribbble.com/tanita Follow her on Twitter: @SilentTani The post Create a Cartoon Skull Sticker Vector in Illustrator appeared first on Vectips.

Quick Tip: Quickly Navigate Artboards Posted: 07 Aug 2015 03:52 PM PDT I use multiple Artboards on my Illustrator documents consistently and don’t know how I could work without them. I use them for versioning, multiple concepts, logo variations and more. If you’re like me, sometimes navigating multiple Artboards on a document can get cumbersome. Luckily, there is a keyboard shortcut! Quickly Navigate Artboards On your keyboard, press Shift-Page Up and Shift-Page Down to navigate from one artboard to the next. Other Handy Artboard Tips Quick Tip: Selecting All Artwork In An Active Artboard Quick Tip: Guides In Multiple Artboards Awesome Multiple Artboard Scripts for Illustrator CS4

Save the Date! Create an Elegant Invitation Vector Design

Create an elegant, custom save the date invitation perfect for wedding-related materials, tea parties, and more. We’ll create fanciful flowers from simple polygons, handdrawn details, and customize simple type to get this design worthy of a greeting card. Tutorial Details: Save the Date Inviation Program: Adobe Illustrator CS6 – CC 2014 Difficulty: Intermediate Topics Covered: Polygons, Live Corners, and Transformation Effects Estimated Completion Time: 25 Minutes Final Image: Save the Date Invitation Step 1: Save the Date Invitation Let’s start with a simple octagon created with the Polygon Tool. Go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Pucker & Bloat and apply a bloating effect of 46%. Step 2 Continue playing with polygons, circles, rectangles, and more and applying pucker or bloating effects to them. The amount of petals a flower has will be determined by number of sides or anchor points on the objects’ path. Step 3 You can also change how a flower looks by applying multiple bloat or pucker effects in the Appearance panel. Step 4 For the leaves, draw a small circle with the Ellipse Tool and use the Direct Selection Tool to pull out the top anchor point upward. Adjust the Live Corners of the shape so the end is slightly rounded. Rotate the leaf shape as you see fit. Step 5 Next you’ll have to figure out your color palette. Bright, pastel, neon, or jewel tones all work well for wedding-style invitations. My final version will be more toned down than this, but 4-6 colors usually does the trick (unless you’re using a limited palette for screen-printing, in which case you’ll have to use fewer colors). Step 6 Use the Pen Tool to draw a curved stem shape. Set the stroke weight to something thick, like 4-6 pts (the weight will depend on the size of your objects). You can expand the stroke under Object. Copy and Paste the leaf shapes around the stem. Scale and Rotate as you see fit. Step 7 Gather some of the flowers around the leaves and stem. Draw circles in the centers of the flowers. These will be some of the fun flowers featured in our Save the Date vector. Step 8 Using either the Paintbrush Tool or the Blob Brush Tool, draw small circles, stems, leaves, and swirls around the flowers, leaves, and stems. The idea is you’re creating corner pieces for the invitation design. If you do draw these additional doodles with the Paintbrush Tool, remember to Expand the strokes under Object so they remain the size you want them to be if rescaled or sent to a printer. Step 9 My Artboard is a square of about 6 inches in size. Collect your flowers, stems, leaves, and doodles around the corners of the Save the Date artboard. Overlap some pieces and remember to allow some of the design to be cut off when clipped to the Artboard once the document is saved as a jpeg later. Step 10 Fill in all four corners with your elegant flowery elements. Step 11 I opted for a secondary color palette to create a more trendy Save the Date. You can, of course, create several color palettes and flower designs for a whole set of invitations. Step 12 Use the Type Tool to write out “Save the Date” in the script font of your choice. Expand your text to outlines and use the Blob Brush Tool to add some flourishes to the letters where you see fit. alternatively, you may want to hand draw your text or use an elegant script font. Step 13 Repeat with whatever names your Save the Date invitation needs or even placeholder text if you’re creating a design for micro stock. Remember to Expand all strokes and type, especially if you’re designing for vector stock or planning on sending content to a printer. This ensures that your design will display as intended no matter who opens the file or how it’s been printed. Conclusion: Save the Date Invitation Add in a date or additional invitation information (location, RSVP info, and more) in a crisp sans-serif. Elegant, simple invitations, letter-heads, and greeting cards are easy to create with a handful of polygons and some simple effects in Adobe Illustrator. Share your design in the comment section below and tweet out this tutorial link to followers after you’ve used the tutorial! Author: Mary Winkler

Four Quick Ways To Create Your Own Abstract Background Vector!

I like illustrating characters, icons, and other highly representative illustrations. I do this kind of work the majority of time in Illustrator,  so it’s nice to break out and create my own abstract background vector. Abstract backgrounds are easy to create in Illustrator with a couple of simple techniques. Using Gradient Meshes, Steps Blends and Opacity Masks you can quickly create an abstract background. Notes: 4 Ways to an Abstract Background Vector This tutorial was created with Illustrator CS3. Keyboard shortcuts are displayed in orange. ⌘ is displayed for the Command key (mac), with the Ctrl key being the Windows equivalent (not displayed). Abstract Background Vector with Gradient Meshes This is the technique that I find to produce the quickest results but has great potential for exploration. First, draw a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (m). I start with a deep violet for the color, but use any color you like. Next, go Object > Create Gradient Mesh to bring up the Gradient Mesh dialog. In the dialog, change Rows to 10 and Columns to 1. Press Ok, and now the rectangle has ten rows separated by 11 Mesh Points on the left and right side of the rectangle. With the Direct Selection Tool (a) you can grab and drag these Mesh Points. Start with the second Mesh Point from the top left. Hold shift, and drag the point up right below the first Mesh Point. When you moved the left Mesh Point, the connected right Mesh Point did not move, creating a curve. Next, do the same for all the other Mesh Points on the left side except the bottom one. Now,  You should have something similar the picture below With all these Mesh Points created, we can start added some different colors. With the Direct Selection Tool (a) select the third Mesh Point from the bottom on the right side of the rectangle. With the Mesh Point selected, change the color in the Color Panel. I like using a lighter version of the background color, but again, use whatever color you want. Next, I skip the next Mesh Point above and select the following one. Change the color, and repeat until you filled all the mesh points. This is the most basic example of using Gradient Meshes. If you want to add more Mesh Points, use the Gradient Mesh Tool (u). With this tool you can add Mesh Points anywhere on the artwork or on any non-compound objects. In the example below, I used the Gradient Mesh Tool (u) and added points on the left side of the rectangle, changed the color, added a point in the middle of one of the lines, and changed that color. You can easily get lost in moving Mesh Points and changing  colors in Gradient Meshes. Play around and see what you get! Abstract Background Vector with Step Blends Step Blends are another quick way to create an abstract background vector.  You might have used Gradient Blends previously  but maybe not Step Blends. Again, start out with a rectangle, but this time make it a Linear Gradient (>). For the gradient I will use a dark and light green and adjust the gradient with the Gradient Tool (g), so the dark part of the gradient is at the bottom of the rectangle. Next, use the Pen Tool (p) to draw a couple of lines. Draw the first line as a simple Bézier curve. Use the  Pen Tool (p) to draw the second line, but this time,vary the curves in the line. Select both lines and go Object > Blend > Make (⌘ alt/option b) to create a blend. Next go back to Object > Blend Options to bring up the Blend Options dialog. Pick Specified Steps under the Spacing drop-down menu. Depending on how your lines are spaced, pick a number that looks the best. It is a good idea to click Preview so you can see how it will look before you press Ok. You can always go back and change the number of steps if you don’t like how it looks. Just go back to Object > Blend Options to bring up the Blend Options dialog. Combine more Step Blends to create different and more abstract background vector results. This is a fun place to experiment with transparencies and different colors. Abstract Background Vector with Opacity Masks In a previous tutorial Quick Reflections I talked about using Opacity Masks to create reflections. At the bottom of the tutorial I gave an example of experimenting with Opacity Masks. Next, I will talk about creating abstracts with Opacity Masks like in the experiment of the Quick Reflections tutorial. First draw a shape with your tool of choice. I drew a shape quickly with the Pen Tool (p). Next, go Effect > Distort and Transform > Transform to bring up the Transform Effect dialog. Below are the settings I used, but feel free to tweak the setting depending on your shape and how it looks. Scale Horizontal = 75% Vertical = 75% Move Horizontal =.25 in Vertical = -0.5 in Rotate Angle = 45 degrees Copies 5 copies 9-Point Proxy (the box with nine points above the Random checkbox) Check the middle right checkbox on the 9-Point Proxy The rest of the options can stay the same and press Ok.  You can always go back and edit the effect.  In the Appearance Panel, you will see Transform in the list when the transformed shape is selected.  If you double click Transform, it will bring up the Transform Effect dialog with the current settings, which you can edit. Once you have the effect the way you like, go Object > Expand Appearance. If you don't expand the effect, the next time you try to rotate it, you might get some undesired results. With the shape still selected, create a Radial Gradient from the Gradient Panel. Keep the swatches of the gradient the default Black and White and take off the stroke if there is one. Next, draw a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (m) that encompasses the transformed shapes. Take off the stroke, fill it with a color and send the rectangle to the back (⌘ shift ] ). Next, select the rectangle and transformed shapes and select Make Opacity Mask from the pop-up menu of the Transparency Panel. Now you have some abstract art! You can stop here if you like or you can take it further.  Copy (c) , Paste In Front (f), scale and rotate the artwork to get some different results. In the example below I created an abstract background vector with a green color, changed the abstract to white, copied and scaled, and rotated a copies of the abstract. If you want to further edit the Opacity Mask refer to the Quick Reflection tutorial. Abstract Background Vector with Combining Combine some of the techniques to get different results. Abstracts are the perfect place to experiment because it is abstract!