Create a Japanese Cherry Blossom Scene

Hey everyone! Today we will be creating a nice Japanese style cherry blossom scene in Adobe Illustrator using the Blob brush, Eraser and the Ellipse tool. So let’s get started! Final Image Below you can see the final image for this project. Project Details Program Adobe Illustrator CS4 + Difficulty Beginners / Intermediate Topics Covered Blob Brush, Eraser, Ellipse Tool Estimated Completion Time 1.5 – 2 hours Step 1 Create a new document 600×600 pixels wide and click OK Step 2 We will be starting with the cherry blossom tree branch. First set your fill color to black and no stroke. Choose the Blob Brush tool (Shift + B), double click on the tool to open up the Blob Brush Tool Option panel. Here you have a lot of controls to play with. For me the values in the image below worked well. I am using a pen tablet for this project so next to the Size value I chose ‘Pressure’, because Blob brush can respond to the amount of pressure I put on the pen while drawing. Of course you can use your mouse for this, in that case leave it to ‘Fixed’. Step 3 Click “OK” and start drawing the tree branch shape. At this stage it doesn’t have to look perfect, just try to create the approximate shape you want it to be. Because the Blob Brush is an intuitive tool, you do not have to use any Pathfinder operations to join different objects, or in this case, paths. Every time you overlap one path with another, the Blob Brush tool merges those paths automatically, creating a single shape. Step 4 Now that we have the approximate shape of the branch, we need to make it more natural and “tree-like”. To do this, we will use the modest Eraser. Choose the Eraser (Shift + E), double click on it to modify the size of the eraser. Again since I’m working with a pen tablet, I set the size to ‘Pressure’, if you are working with a mouse, leave it to ‘Fixed’ and click “OK”. Step 5 Now let’s make this blob shape into a natural looking tree branch. Simply start tracing the sides of your tree shape with the eraser. Take your time in this step, use short strokes to make the shape look more natural, change the size of your eraser if needed. If you erase too much simply switch back to the Blob Brush (Shift + B) to fill the shape in again. Step 6 This is how my tree branch looked before I used the Eraser and after. I erased quite a lot to make the branch thinner and more fragile looking. Of course your tree branch won’t look the same as mine, but that’s the beauty of these two tools. Together they let you create unique shapes. Wasn’t hard right?! Step 7 Our branch is ready. Now we have to make the cherry blossoms. Create a new layer for the blossoms. Now select the Ellipse tool (L) and draw an oval (1.). With the Direct Selection Tool (A) select the anchor points on each side of the oval and move them a few clicks upward using your arrow keys (2.) Finally select the Convert Anchor Point Tool (click and hold the Pen tool to reveal it or use the Shift + C keyboard shortcut.) With the Convert Anchor Point Tool simply click the top and bottom anchor points to convert them from smooth to corner (3.). This shape we just made will be the cherry blossom petal. Step 8 Now we will rotate and duplicate the petal to make a flower blossom. Select the petal which the Selection Tool (V), now choose the Rotate Tool (R) and with the Rotate tool active Option/Alt click on the base of the petal to place the rotation centre there. The rotate panel will pop up. Set the angle to 72˚ (360˚/ 5petals =72˚) and click ‘Copy’ to copy and rotate the shape at the same time. Step 9 Without deselecting the new shape, hit Command + D three times to repeat the last operation and you will create a flower. Step 10 The blossom is almost done. All we need is to draw the “eye” of the flower. For this we will use the good old Blob brush again. Set the size to something small (in my case 1pt) I didn’t worry too much about any details, I just drew in few strokes and dots in the center of the flower because we will reduce the size of the blossom to plant on the branch and the small details will not be visible anyway. When you are done, select all the petals and the center of the flower and group it (Command + G) to make it easier to handle in the next step. Step 11 Now the fun part – we need to make out tree branch blossom. Take your blossom, and plant it on the branch. With the Selection tool (V) active Option/Alt drag the flower from one place to other to copy it. Rotate it and change the size of the flowers to make the branch look more interesting! I ended up using three size variations for my tree. Step 12 To add more interest to the composition, select one of your flowers (the smallest one), go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the blur radius to 1.2 and fit “OK”. Distribute these blurry flowers here and there as if they are flying around in the wind. Step 13 Some flowers of mine don’t have anything to hold on to. So now we can add a bit of detail to the tree, like smaller, thiner branches. Lock your flower layer so that you wouldn’t accidentally erase parts of the flowers. Go back to your black tree branch layer and using the Blob Brush (Shift + B) and Eraser (Shift + E) lets draw in small branches. In my case, I set the Blob Brush to 5pt size and Eraser to 3pt size, the rest of the settings stayed the same as previously. Step 14 This is how my cherry blossom branch turned out. Step 15 The only thing that is left is the background. Lets make a simple Japanese inspired scene. Lock both the flower and tree layers. Make a new layer for the background. I used the Blob brush for this job as well. Set the size to something big, like 80pt and start coloring in the background. Step 16 I built up my background with creme-colored paths. To achieve this, color in one path with the Blob Brush, then lock this path so that is can’t be modified, change the color of the brush and color in the next path and so on. Step 17 Add a sun in the background using the Ellipse tool (L). At the moment it’s hard to see, but we will fix that in the next step. Step 18 We are almost done, the last thing is to add a nice texture. I used this canvas texture by John Kelly, you can download it here. Place the texture in Illustrator (File > Place). Position it between the tree and the background. (1.) Select the Rectangle tool (M), make sure both the fill and stroke is empty. Draw a 600×600 pixels wide rectangle (the same size as your artboard)(2.) Now select both the canvas texture and the invisible rectangle you just drew and right-click your mouse and choose “Make Clipping Mask”. That way you can mask away the unwanted pieces of the texture. (4.) Step 19 Set the textured background to Multiply and 30%. Final Step As a final touch I drew a black stroke around my artwork using the Rectangle tool (L), so that the artwork your look as if in a black frame and that’s it. Now you have a nice Japanese inspired cherry blossom scene made in Illustrator! Hope you enjoyed it, till next time!

Infographic — The Psychology of Color: A Color Guide For Designers - You The Designer

Color is an essential factor to the world of graphic design and advertising. Not only that it brings in depth and emphasis to a design but it also gives the feel and the mood of a design. Graphic design is not just only about making beautiful layouts and fantastic designs but it is also about connecting to the people who we are targeting at. In fact, one can consider it as a part of psychology because designers are tasked to understand and connect with people through designs. One tool that we designers use to connect with people is color. Color gives an array of emotional and visual cues. Apart from that it sets the tone and attracts people’s attention towards the design. While learning color theory is important for us graphic designers, it is also a great measure to understand what the meaning of different colors.  One good insight about color is from American stage director, Vincent Minnelli and he said: “I use colors to bring fine points of story and character.” Today we are going to feature this awesome infographic about the Psychology of Color. A Color Guide For Designers infographic by linchpinseo.

“A Game of Clones” – Star Wars and Game of Thrones Mashup Wallpapers

Season 3 of Game of Thrones just ended with a bang. The last season made another impact to avid fans through major twists and turns that happened over Westeros. And in honor of the season finale, designer Andrew Spear of My Little Geek  has designed a series of wallpapers called “A Game of Clones” – which combined Game of Thrones family mottos with Star Wars characters. Spear did a great job in pairing the House mottos to the best Star Wars character that best represent them. Check out the wallpapers below or visit their website to download them in HD.

Create a Cartoon Skull Sticker in Illustrator

---

Hey everyone! Today we will be creating a cute cartoon skull sticker in Adobe Illustrator CS6 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 Here’s what we’ll be making! Step 1 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 skull 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 skull. 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 The skull 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!