The Pen tool is a tool that needs patience, and a lot of practice until you really master it. Though this tool is really essential if you want to be able to draw anything, and don't want to be dependent on shape tools. Back in 2007, I wrote
an article about it and provided people with an Illustrator document. This was a great success, and so today I thought of giving this document an update, including a few different exercises…
I'm a very big fan of the music by independent artist
Jaidene Veda. Listening to her always makes me feel good, and brings me in the right mood. Her beautiful sensual voice and music style gives me such
inspiration.
We came into contact with each other after I linked to some of her music via my
Twitter account. We talked and after a while the idea started to grow to do a little collaboration. Always nice when you get to work with somebody you admire. Eventually I decided to create this cover illustration in celebration of her
"Pisces Pendulum" Anniversary RMX/LP. The illustration is based on a photo she used for one of her
"Pisces Pendulum" releases.
As promised in my last Illustrator post, on
how to create a geometrical shape, the follow-up tutorial that will explain how I created the cog wheel in my usual step-by-step approach.
As some of you might know, I really love cycling. Due to my love to this sport I've become a bit of a bicycle addict. While browsing the web I came across this
magnificent vintage exemplar. While admiring its beauty I was fascinated by the geometrical shape inside the front chain ring. My brain started to spin, thinking about how to create such shape…
Hope you are ready for another Illustrator tutorial. The idea for today's post was sparked by a conversation between
Dan Rubin &
Jason Santa Maria about a design for a tattoo for the new shop from
Swissmiss called
Tattly™, Designy Temporary Tattoos.
These tattoos are on sale now on Fab.com for the next 2 days btw. The tattoo I'll be talking about is
the diaphragm found in cameras .
We can achieve amazing results if we experiment with a cocktail mix of simple geometry, great colors and a bit of math. If we add a few cool transparency modes to the mix we can get some rather spectacular results. Today's article is completely inspired by Mr. Spirograph himself
Andy Gilmore. His work is stunning and very inspirational. He does his magic starting from simple shapes, and ends up with a remarkable complex composition. I e-mailed Andy to ask permission if I could write a tutorial inspired on
one of his creations. Andy replied that it is always interesting to see how someone else approaches the creation process. Let's get started…
My school days a long gone. I'm talking pre-internet times here, and actually also pre Photoshop and Illustrator times. A lot of things were done the old-fashion way, and desktop publishing was still in its very early stages. Even though a lot has changed today, there are many things I learned that still have their value today. Basic principles that stay the same, whether it's digitally or analogue…
As some of you might already know, music plays an important role in my daily life. Being able to listen to the music I love while I'm designing gives me such an inspiration boost. Today I'm dedicating a wallpaper design to a brand new song of one of my favorite artists. The lyrics of this song inspired me to create this…
Like with any software, if you work in it for many years you develop certain habits and working methods. Sometimes because of this you tend to make the mistake to overlook, or simply neglect some of the new features, not realizing that certain actions can be done in less steps. To give you an example, the Eraser Tool in Illustrator is a tool I never used much, and so because of this, and because of this I never paid much attention to it. Big mistake! Here is why…
Not sure about you, but I have this habit of using shortcuts all the time when I work in Illustrator (or in Photoshop). I thought it could be interesting to share some of those, and then ask the question what your typical methods are or shortcuts you can't live without.
