Adding a touch of blood to an illustration can instantly make an image seem more sinister. I've added blood to a couple of pages of Green Corner, as well as the 2008 Hallowe'en special.

Creating blood in Illustrator is very simple.

For the base:

1. Set your fill colour to: C 0/ M 100/ Y 60/ K 60 and transparency mode to multiply.
   
2. Use the pencil tool (N) to draw a path with sguiggly pieces that look like they're dripping off. It's okay to be a little messy with this, it's an organic shape.
3. Use the smooth tool to get rid of any sharp edges that you don't want. (option/alt while pencil is active)

For the highlights:

1. Set the fill colour to C 20 / M 70 / Y 100 / K 10 and the transparency mode to hard light.
2. Use the pencil and/or pen tool to draw your highlights. Be conservative with these, you don't want it to be too shiny. You just need enough to add depth.

And this is what it looks like (click to enlarge):

I hope you enjoyed this tip! Please feel free to leave a comment.

Labels: tips, tutorial, vector

Fog can be used in an illustration to enhance a spooky mood and chilly atmosphere or simply as an effect to draw attention to the focal point.

My last two Hallowe'en specials for Green Corner have used fog, but each illustration has a very different mood.

The Red Riding Hood illustration has a subtly chilly, spooky atmosphere. The somewhat deserted path, the blood on the axe in Barudo's hand, and the fog draping across the feet of the characters help reiterate the theme. The image is meant to be a little spooky, but not frightening.

In the Pop Idol illustration, the tone is much lighter, vibrant, and cheerful. Here, the fog is used as a stage effect to enhance the theme of a 1980's inspired pop singer performing on a stage. With this image, the intent was to emphasize the fun and escapism that dressing in costume can bring.


It's very easy to create fog in Illustrator using the feather effect.

My settings for fog:

• Fill with 10% grey, reduce opacity to 40%.
• To soften the edges, use Effect > Stylize > Feather.
  
  Depending on the size of the paths you create, you may need to adjust the feather radius, but I generally use around 0.2" and find that softens the edges just enough. Remember to make your path larger than you want the fog to appear, as the feather makes the fill appear smaller.

You can also experiment with different colours, to suit your colour scheme and the mood of your image. This tip can also be adapted for creating wispy clouds.

Note: the feather effect does involve rasterization, but it will scale more smoothly than a regular raster image and output based on the document raster effects settings.


Look out for another Hallowe'en-related tip soon! Hope you enjoyed this one!

Labels: tips, tutorial, vector

This tutorial requires the use of two tools in Illustrator:

• the flare tool (located under the rectangle and ellipse tools)
  
  
• the spiral tool (located under the line segment tool)
  
  

The end result of the tutorial will be to create a fireball that can be used as an effect in vector artwork. Below is an example of how this technique can be incorporated into a figure drawing. The image is from page 12 of Green Corner.

Colour values are listed in CMYK in percentages (in the format of #/#/#/#). This tutorial is mostly a list of the settings I used for this effect. The tools are pretty simple to use and only need modifications to suit this purpose.

The Flare:

1. The full size of this flare is 3.0084 inches. The bottom most part of the flare has a pale yellow stroke (5/20/50/0) of 3.171 pt. Opacity: 10% screen. Feather: 0.03 inches.
   
2. Moving up a level, this part of the flare is a circle with a radial gradient for a fill. Opacity: 15% overlay. Feather: 0.1 inches. Th gradient is composed of two swatches: a rich black (0/100/100/100) at 0% and 100%, plus a brownish red (29/80/90/25) placed at 73% on the gradient slider. The midpoint remains at the default position of 50%.
   
3. Another radial gradient, this one with opacity at 50% overlay. Feather: 0.1 inches. Colours and placements on the gradient bar are as follows: white at 15% (with the next midpoint diamond at 40%), a dark rose (27/69/50/28) located at 45% on the slider (next midpoint at 40%), rich black (0/100/100/100) at 85% on the slider (next midpoint at 70%), orange red (14/80/90/0) located at 90% (next midpoint at 25%), and rich black (0/100/100/100) at 100% on the slider.
   
4. Moving up a level, to a slightly smaller circle filled with a gradient. Opacity: 100% difference. Feather: 0.1 inches. Gradient stops are white at 15%, midpoint at 35%, and black at 100%.
   

The spirals:

The brush style used for these is "dry brush 10" from the "Artistic_Paintbrush" brush library. The feather effects are more noticeable with these thick strokes, and help to soften the edges to seem more like flames and less like flat ink.

1. The bottom most spiral is a group, with chunks missing from the original spiral. Opacity: 40% hard light. Feather: 0.05 inches. Stroke is 0.75 pt and coloured orange (0/80/100/0).
   
2. The second spiral is intact. Opacity: 60% multiply. Feather: 0.1 inches. Stroke: 1 pt, maroon (0/91/100/51).
   
3. The third spiral appears intact, but has been cut into four pieces for a more pleasing line quality. Opacity: 80% multiply. Feather: 0.1 inches. Stroke: 1 pt, warm yellow (10/40/100/0).
   
4. Again, this spiral appears to be intact, but is actually cut into four segments. Opacity: 100% multiply. Feather: 0.07 inches. Stroke: 0.656 pt, light brown (25/45/70/5).
   
   
5. A smaller spiral that appears to be intact, this time in three segments. Opacity: 40% hard light. Feather: 0.04 inches. Stroke: 0.374 pt, warm yellow (10/40/100/0).
   

The following image is what the fireball looks like assembled, on a background. Transparency modes, opacity, stroke thickness for the spirals, and colours will need adjusting depending on the background being used. It's important to create some contrast between the fire ball and the surroundings, or the effect won't be as strong. Also, don't forget that when placed in a scene, the fire ball is a light source and will affect the placement of shadows and highlights on the surroundings.

Labels: illustrator, tips, tutorial, vector

This tutorial covers the process of creating a fantasy pinup illustration with Illustrator CS3. This tutorial uses Live Paint, so you will need CS2 or above to follow. If you need an alternative method for a legacy version of Illustrator, please download my Creating Comics with Illustrator tutorial which includes instructions for that.

Only an abridged version is shown here. You can read the full tutorial on Vectortuts+ here.

Downloads for Following Along:

• My brushes (Illustrator CS3, contained in a zip archive)
• Swatches for this file (Illustrator CS3, contained in a zip archive)

Highlight #1

When setting up a new document, I like to start with a layer named after the character (in this case, "Suko"), with these sublayers:

• g – for character-specific guides (optional)
• d – for top details and line work
• sh – for shading and shine details that will be filled paths
• c – for colour and shading with Live Paint

Feel free to use longer names that make more sense to you. You should also create a template layer at this point for your foundation drawing. I dim mine to 60% and set to unprintable (I delete the template later). Position the template image on the artboard and lock your template layer. My pencil sketch is available here, if you'd like to take a look.

Highlight #2

With the d layer active, start drawing with one of the calligraphic brushes with a black stroke set to 0.05 pt. Using a small stroke weight allows for a more delicate line. The brushes are angled to give subtle line variation.

It's easiest to start by drawing simpler lines first and leave the finer details such as facial features until later. I use the pen tool for drawing most lines. Use your pencil sketch as a guide, but don't be afraid to make corrections if you feel a line will look better if adjusted. Switch between the two brushes as necessary, if you find a line to be too thin or thick in a certain place.

Here's what the linework looks like when it's mostly done:

Highlight #3

Continue adding more details to your line work. Then, to make sure that the facial features are correct, unlock and show everything on all layers and sublayers. Rotate everything 90 degrees clockwise with the black selection tool (V) while holding down the Shift key. Adjust the facial features as needed, but ignore how the brush styles look altered. Use outline view (Command + Y) to see the paths without styles if that helps you while adjusting. I changed Suko's expression at this point to a slight smile. When you're happy with the changes, rotate everything back to the original position.

Highlight #4

When the line work is done, select and copy all of the paths on your d layer. Then lock all the layers you are not using and activate the c layer. Make sure that "paste remembers layers" is off.

Paste the copied line work on the c layer and delete any compound paths. Then, select everything on the c layer and convert to a Live Paint group by pressing Command + Option + X. You may receive a warning about brush styles being discarded. This is why the line work is on a separate layer.

Once you have your Live Paint group, hide your other layers. Use the direct selection tool (A) to select any superfluous paths that you won't need for Live Paint and delete them.

Select your Live Paint group and set the fill and stroke to none. Press X then / to do this quickly. Make the d layer visible again, but make sure only the c layer is unlocked. Now you can use the Live Paint bucket (K) to fill in your flat colours.

The image below shows partial flat colours and the gradient applied to the belt buckle (which I made as a compound path).

Highlight #5

Now we can move on to shading. Lock your Live Paint group and choose a bright colour that you are not colouring with. I usually use pink. Make sure you have no brush selected and set your stroke to 0.25 pt. You need to see the lines, but you don't want them too thick as you need to make sure the shaping is correct.

Draw outlines for the areas where you will add your shading. Some areas are easier to create shading outlines for by copying existing paths, ignore those for now. If you shaded your sketch well, use outline view to use your sketch as a guide. When you're done outlining, use the magic wand tool (Y) to select all the paths. Send them to the back of the layer by pressing Command + Shift + [. Unlock the Live Paint group and drag your selected paths into it via the layers palette.

When done correctly, you will see only your Live Paint group in the layer, but your paths will still be selected, as in the image below.


Press / to change the stroke to none if you haven't already. Deselect the paths and fill with your shading colours. Make adjustments as needed if there are gaps between paths that prevent you from filling.

When the bulk of the shading is completed for Live Paint, move to your sh layer to start adding extra details. I like to add a shaded accent to the eyes (alternatively, the accent can be lighter than the iris), and add small shading paths for the lips and the nose. You can also add shiny details to the skin and clothing. Use shiny accents on the skin minimally, you usually don't want you character to look like they have greasy skin.

The Final Image from the Tutorial:

This is only an abridged version of the tutorial. You can read the full tutorial on Vectortuts+ here.

Relevant Links:
The final illustration of Suko with a tiled background was shown in an earlier post (which includes links to the line work and sketch).

"Suko with a Rose" (with the tiled background) is available on RedBubble as prints.


Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Labels: illustrator, tutorial, vector

Click the image to see a larger version. I have moved the separate pieces apart to show the divisions.

A friend asked me recently what the difference is between the knife and scissors tools. You'll notice in the image above that the knife tends to cut on a squiggly path. It also creates closed shapes, which isn't always what you want when modifying a shape.

Personally, I prefer the scissors tool (C). You can cut anywhere on the path to get exactly the line that you want. For closed shapes, you get more control by using the pathfinder palette with overlapping shapes.

Hope you found this tip useful! If you have an Illustrator question feel free to ask. Or, if you have a suggestion for a tip, feel free to let me know.

Labels: illustrator, tips, tutorial

This mini tutorial gives instructions on how to make multi-part dialogue balloons for cartooning. You may like to download a copy of my angled brushes before using this technique. The brushes are free to use. Please to not redistribute or sell them. If you need an older version, just let me know.

Download the Illustrator CS3 brushes (contained in a zip archive)

1. Create ellipses and centre them behind each section of text. Draw the tail, allowing the open end to slightly overlap the last balloon in the series.
   
2. Draw a path to use as a connecting point between the balloons that don’t touch with the 135˚ angled brush with a stroke of 0.25 pt.
   
   
3. With the path selected, choose “expand appearance” from the “object” menu. Delete the central path by selecting it in the layers palette and pressing delete. Select the remaining path and apply the 135˚ brush. Making sure the path is still selected, click with the eyedropper in one of the balloons to select the same fill and stroke settings. Now the path matches the balloons.
   
   
4. Select the balloons and the connector path. Make sure that the text and tail are not selected. Click on “add to shape area” in the pathfinder palette.
   
   
5. Don’t click on “expand” in the pathfinder palette. This allows you to adjust the shapes after connecting, if necessary. Only expand when you’re sure you don’t want to edit the shape further.
   

Hope you enjoyed this tip! I'm going to be posting more like this in the future.

Labels: illustrator, tips, tutorial

I usually don't post this frequently, but I wanted to mention that my tutorial for creating comics with Illustrator is being promoted over on Vectortuts.

Vectortuts is a vector tutorial blog that I regularly read and recommend to anyone who wants to find some quality Illustrator tutorials online. Everyone has different techniques, and there's always an opportunity to learn something new to help you be more efficient. The article is called 20 Challenging Illustrator Tutorials on DeviantArt, and my tutorial is listed at #10.

This is the same tutorial that was featured on Dani Jones's blog a while back, when I won second place in her Art and Learning contest.

I will be posting more Illustrator tips and tricks here in the future. If there's anything you've seen in the pages of Green Corner that you'd like to ask about; please do!

Labels: tips, tutorial

My tutorial for creating comic pages with Adobe Illustrator is available in PDF format here (948 KB). The tutorial is geared toward the novice user, but more experienced users may find some interesting techniques as well.

Please let me know if you have any questions about items not answered in the tutorial.

Edit: The location of the PDF has changed. Please only link to this post when promoting this tutorial. Direct links to the PDF are not permitted.

Labels: comics, green corner, illustrator, tutorial

Here's a simple tip for allowing people with Adobe Reader to be able to save form data in a PDF form or comment directly on a PDF.

1. Open your PDF (e.g. file.pdf) in Acrobat Professional 8.
2. Select "enable usage rights in Adobe Reader" from the "Advanced" menu.
3. Save the Reader-enabled copy with a new file name or you will overwrite your original PDF. (e.g. file-re.pdf)
   

There you go, now you have a Reader-enabled PDF.

This works great for forms you want to be submitted via e-mail or proofs you want your clients to comment on directly. Suggest Reader-enabled forms to your clients who are environmentally conscious, as electronic forms save paper.

Alternatively, if you are a client working with a graphic designer and you'd like to be able to save and e-mail PDF forms or comment on PDFs, ask your graphic designer for a Reader enabled PDF.

Labels: acrobat, adobe, reader, tips, tutorial