Adobe Illustrator - Tutorial

| TUTORIAL

ON THE CD

ILLUSTRATOR PART 1 OF 3

JAPANESE-STYLE TATTOOS TIME NEEDED

1.5 hours INFO

Derek Lea is an awardwinning illustrator and author. In addition to writing and illustrating, Derek teaches an illustration course at Toronto’s International Academy of Design. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Find out more at www.dereklea.com.

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August 2006

In part one of his new Adobe Illustrator masterclass on digital skin art, Derek Lea reveals the benefits of using template layers and explains the intricacies of creating and working with custom brush strokes The koi fish is one of the most beautiful, popular and recognisable Japanese tattoo symbols. In addition to its natural beauty, it has come to represent advancement and aspiration. Arguably one of the most important aspects of successful tattoo design is the quality of the initial black line work. At the end of it all, when colour and shading are complete, if the line work of the tattoo is not crisp, uniform and sharp, the results will be less than impressive. Illustrator’s brushes are the ideal tool for such a task; they provide flexibility, control, and lend themselves well to a nonlinear workflow. When tracing your initial

sketch, a template layer will give you the opportunity to keep your sketch visible in Outline or Preview mode. This way you can toggle between modes as you work, and have a constant visible guide. In the first part of this three-part series I’ll be showing you step-by-step how to create beautiful outline art, but be sure to check out the next issue so that you can learn how to add colour, work with symbols and master the art of working with clipping masks.

Illustration and tutorial by Derek Lea www.dereklea.com

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Launch Illustrator and then choose File>Place from the menu. Navigate to the koi.jpg file provided on the CD and click the Place button. Once the artwork is placed in your file, adjust the size if necessary by shift-dragging the bounding box corner handle and fit it within the art board.

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In the Layers palette, double-click the layer thumbnail to access the Layer Options box. Enable the template feature by checking the template checkbox. Once you check this box, the dim images option will enable automatically. Enter a value of 30 per cent and click OK. This converts your layer into a template layer that is automatically locked.

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Double-click the brush thumbnail you just clicked in the Brushes palette to access the brush options. With the Preview option enabled, adjust the Angle, Roundness and Diameter until the existing strokes start to take on the desired shape. Click OK and then choose the Apply To Strokes option when prompted to affect the existing strokes.

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Now that you have a muted template to trace, it’s time to begin creating the black outlines. Click the Create New Layer button in the Layers palette to create a new layer. With the new layer targeted, use the Pen tool to draw a couple of curved line segments, using the underlying template as a guide.

Choose Duplicate Brush from the Brushes palette menu to duplicate your brush. This enables you to create an edited version of the brush without affecting existing strokes. Use the Pen tool to draw some more lines and then apply the duplicated brush stroke to them. Once you’ve applied the stroke, edit the Angle, Roundness and Diameter.

EXPANDING When you switch to Outline viewing mode you’ll see all of the paths to which strokes are applied, minus the strokes. This is because the actual strokes are live effects. To convert your strokes to actual objects, choose Object> ExpandAppearance. This will convert your stroke to a vector object, breaking its link with the original, and allowing you to edit it with tools such as the Direct Selection tool.

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Although visible in Outline and Preview mode, it’s a good idea to use no object fill colour when creating the lines for your template layer to avoid distraction when previewing the art. Select both line segments and then click on an oval calligraphic brush in the Brushes palette to add brush strokes.

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Apply the modification to the existing strokes when prompted. Use this method over and over again in order to create lines and then apply modified brush strokes to them. Use certain brushes for areas that share common angles. You can always edit a brush by doubleclicking on it in the Brushes palette and applying the modifications to existing strokes.

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If you find one particular line segment that has a brush stroke you don’t like, there is a way to edit it without affecting all other lines employing the same brush. Simply select the line segment and click on the Options of Selected Object button in the Brushes palette. This enables you to edit a single stroke independently. August 2006

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ILLUSTRATOR

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You can remove an unwanted stroke from any particular line segment by selecting it and then clicking the Remove Brush Stroke button in the Brushes palette. Any stroke can be converted to an object by choosing Object>Expand Appearance from the menu. Once a stroke becomes an object you can edit it via the Direct Selection tool.

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Draw a number of line segments for the contours of the waves and certain areas of the koi and use this art brush to add strokes that taper at both ends. Delete the object you used to create the brush in the first place and, if you think your brush strokes are too wide, double-click the brush thumbnail and decrease the width.

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Use these methods to create nice calligraphic brush strokes on lines where required in the image. Edit the brushes and line segments and convert strokes to outlines to get the desired result. In many instances, calligraphic brushes simply won’t cut it. To address this, draw a solid black shape like the one shown here.

EDITING GROUPS If you select a number of line segments that employ strokes created by the same brush, you can edit the strokes of the selected segments together, without affecting all other line segments that have the same stroke applied to them. Simply select your desired line segments and click the Options of Selected Object button in the Strokes palette. Here you can edit the selected brush strokes together, without affecting your original brush at all.

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With the shape selected, click on the New Brush button in the Brushes palette. Choose New Art Brush as your brush type when you’re prompted. When the Art Brush options appear, leave them set at their defaults and click OK. Draw a curved line segment and then click on your new art brush thumbnail to apply it.

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Create one final shape that is similar to the last art brush shape, but only taper one end. Again, create a new art brush from this shape and use it to trace the fins and add lines into the tail area. Remember, you can edit single strokes via the Options of Selected Object button and flip the stroke as required.

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DOWNLOAD

ILLUSTRATOR PART 2 OF 3

WORK WITH PERSPECTIVE TIME NEEDED

1.5 hours INFO

Derek Lea is an illustrator and author. In addition to writing, illustrating, and harbouring ambitions of becoming a tattoo artist, Derek teaches an illustration course at Toronto’s International Academy of Design. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Find out more at www.dereklea.com.

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Summer 2006

In part two of his Illustrator masterclass, Derek Lea explains how symbol usage, feather effects and clipping masks can be used to add texture, colour and perspective to your tattoo-style illustration When you begin to examine traditional Japanese art, you’ll notice, in a variety of instances and uses, a differentiation between the dimensional qualities of subject matter and its pattern fills. Subject matter is often rendered in a somewhat proper perspective, adhering to the rules of 3D, yet patterned areas within the same image are often flat and two-dimensional, giving the artwork a unique appearance overall. It is this distinct style that you’ll focus on here, in part two of our Illustrator masterclass. Last time around, you created the line work of the illustration using Illustrator’s brush features. This time,

you’ll make full use of Illustrator’s symbols features. This will enable you to use instances of a group of objects over and over, replicating the scales of the fish and giving the pattern a 2D appearance. Feather effects enable you to add slight shading between the scales. And with the help of clipping masks you can fit the new pattern neatly within the desired shape. This will prepare you for part three of this tutorial, where you’ll explore Blending Modes and the layering of coloured objects to complete the design. Illustration and tutorial by Derek Lea www.dereklea.com

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If you have a saved file from part one, go ahead and open it and gather all of your stroke objects into a single layer. Otherwise, open up the CD file entitled koi.ai. Create a new layer, name it, and drag it between the Brush Strokes layer and the Template layer in the Layers palette.

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Use the Ellipse tool to draw a series of perfect circles on your new layer, each one a little smaller than the one before. Assign each circle a fill and stroke colour from within the Colour palette. Here I’ve used reds, blacks, oranges and yellows, but feel free to experiment with colour. Select all of the circles you have created.

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In the Align palette, select the horizontal and vertical centre alignment options to create a bull’s eye from your circles. Now, select the central black shape and choose Effect>Stylize>Feather from the menu. Enable the preview option and specify a radius that visibly softens the edge. Don’t worry about pixellated appearances – the effect is smooth, this is just the preview.

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Ultimately, you’ll want the scales near the head to be on top of all of the other scales. Select individual symbols that you wish to tuck beneath others and either drag them down in the Layers palette or select Object>Arrange>SendToBack/ SendBackward to move the symbols beneath others.

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Select all of the circles and ensure that the Symbols palette is visible. Drag the selected circles into the Symbols palette to store them as a single symbol. Now delete the selected group of circles from your art board. Click on the new symbol thumbnail in the Symbols palette and drag it on to the art board.

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Continue to add symbols all along the body of the fish, using the template layer as a rough guideline. As you move from left to right, each new row of symbols will need to be tucked beneath the previous row so that, as you approach the end of the tail, the last row resides beneath all the others.

SYMBOL LIBRARIES

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Lock the Brush Strokes and Template layers so that you don’t accidentally add symbols to them. Continue to add instances of your symbol on to the targeted layer. You can either drag instances out from the Symbols palette or Alt/Option-drag an existing instance to copy it. Resize symbol instances when and if necessary.

When you’ve created a group of symbols that you wish to save, simply select Save Symbol Library from the Symbols palette menu. You can then save your symbol library as a separate file that can be loaded via the OpenSymbol Library>OtherLibrary menu command in the Symbols palette menu. The symbols used here are included on this issue’s CD in a file called symbols.ai. Load this library, or create symbols of your own.

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Drag a symbol instance on to the art board away from the fish for the moment. Click on the Break Link to Symbol Button in the Symbols palette to convert the instance into a group of editable objects once again, breaking its link to the original symbol. Alter the Fill and Stroke colour of the individual circles. Summer 2006

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ILLUSTRATOR ARRANGE SHORTCUTS It is usually quicker to use a keyboard shortcut rather than returning to the menu each time. This proves true when creating a scale pattern from your symbols – you’ll find yourself placing them beneath others as you work. To send a selected symbol backwards, or behind the previous symbol, type Control/ Command+[. And to send a symbol to the back, behind all the symbols on that layer, type Control/ Command+Shift+[.

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Select all of the circles and drag them into the Symbols palette as a group, creating another new symbol. Delete the currently selected group of objects from the art board. Now, select a few symbol instances on the body of the fish that you wish to replace with your new symbol.

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With the symbol instances selected on the art board, select the New Symbol thumbnail (the one with the altered colour) in the Symbols palette. Click on the Replace Symbol button at the bottom of the Symbols palette. This will change the selected instances of the original symbol to instances of the new symbol.

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This is an excellent way to add a bit of variety into the colour of the fish without actually altering the carefully positioned scale pattern. Go ahead and select some more symbol instances here and there, repeating the same procedure to change them into instances of the newer symbol, adding further variety to the colour of the scales.

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Select the Pen tool. Specify an empty fill so that when you draw your shape it will not obscure the underlying reference artwork. Use the Pen tool to carefully trace the outline of the fish, creating a closed shape that does not stray outside the boundary set by the artwork on the Brush Strokes layer.

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Ensure that the new closed shape resides above all the symbol instances within the current layer in the Layers palette. Click on the round button at the right of the Layer thumbnail to target all of the layer’s contents. Finally, choose Object>ClippingMask>Make from the menu to clip the entire layer to the desired shape.

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DOWNLOAD

ILLUSTRATOR PART 3 OF 3

EXPERT COLOUR TIME NEEDED

4.5 hours INFO

Derek Lea is an awardwinning illustrator and author. In addition to writing, illustrating, and harbouring ambitions of becoming a tattoo artist, Derek teaches an illustration course at Toronto’s International Academy of Design. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Find out more about his work by going to www.dereklea.com.

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September 2006

In the final part of his three-part Illustrator masterclass on creating Japanese-style digital skin art, Derek Lea explains how you can use the application’s features to add stunning colour to your artwork The final stage when creating tattoo art is the addition of colour. Not only are areas filled with solid colours, but highlights and shadows are also added, giving your finished image added interest and a sense of dimension. Illustrator’s Layer function enables you to carefully build up custom objects of solid colour. Positioning the coloured object layers beneath the black brush stroke layers stops the colour from overlapping the outlines. You can work faster, because the overlapping brush strokes will hide minor imperfections. By altering the transparency values of individual objects it’s possible to create

highlight and shadow effects that aren’t too strong or out of place. Varying Blending Modes also enables you to affect underlying object colours in a variety of different ways. For example, where a blue shape overlaps the tail of the fish, you can alter only the colour while preserving the existing shading. If you’ve been following this series, feel free to use the file you created last issue as your starting point. However, if you’re new to the series, we’ve provided one on the disc to get you started. Illustration and tutorial by Derek Lea www.dereklea.com

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Start by turning your attention to the Layers palette. Disable the visibility of the existing Template layer. You can enable it from time to time for reference if you like, but for now leave it off. Lock the Outlines and Scale Texture layers. Create a new layer and place it above the Template layer.

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In the Colour palette, create a light blue fill colour and set the Stroke to None. Now use the Pen tool to begin drawing some closed objects on the new layer to represent water. Select some of the closed objects you’ve drawn and then alter the colour slightly in the Colour palette to create a different shade of blue.

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Create objects with the Pen tool to fill in areas of the water and background with colour. Select some objects and use the sliders in the Colour palette to change the selected objects to a grey colour. Create some more objects using this colour, and with them selected, direct your attention to the Transparency palette.

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Create a couple of fin shapes on this layer as well as a tail and the large fin on the back. Draw closed shapes on top of these larger shapes over and over again on this layer to add detail. Create new colours to fill these shapes as necessary until you’re satisfied with the level of colour and detail.

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Once in the Transparency palette, reduce the opacity of the selected objects, making them appear lighter against the white background. Now, create a darker blue colour and draw shadow-shaped objects over some of the watery areas on this layer. Use different grey and blue fill colours while drawing the shapes to achieve a convincing watery background effect.

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You can reduce the Opacity of objects in the Transparency palette if they’re too opaque. Lock the current layer and unlock the Scale Texture layer in the Layers palette. With the Scale layer targeted, draw an orange shape to create a shadow and change the Blending Mode to Multiply.

LOCKING LAYERS

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Don’t worry if your shapes stray over the fin and head areas of the fish – you’ll cover them soon enough. When you’re finished, lock the layer and then create a new layer on top of it in the Layers palette. Create an orange fill colour and use it while drawing the closed shape of the head.

Locking layers that are not in use is a good habit to get into when creating complicated artwork in Illustrator. A layer can be locked by clicking on the Edit column in the Layers palette. A lock will appear in the column to indicate that the layer is locked. To unlock it, simply click on the lock and it will disappear. Locking inactive layers is a way of ensuring that you don’t accidentally modify their contents while you’re working.

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Don’t worry if this shape starts to overlap the water – you’ll get a chance to remedy that later. Draw a couple more of these shadow shapes on other portions of the scale within the Scale Texture layer. Next, draw some highlight shapes using a light yellow fill colour and reduce their Opacity in the Transparency palette. September 2006

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ILLUSTRATOR STAYING ORGANISED Building up different components of your illustration in a series of layers is an excellent way to stay organised and it will also enable you to perform edits with ease later on. Sometimes, your layered Illustrator files can get complicated and difficult to navigate as they grow larger and larger. It’s good practice to name your individual layers so you can remember what’s what later on. Simply double-click a layer or sub-layer thumbnail in the Layers palette to rename it.

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Again, worry not if any shape strays over the waves or background. Select these new shapes on the Scale Texture layer and drag them beneath the clipping object within that layer in the Layers palette. This will clip them using the clipping object on that layer. Lock the Scale layer and create a new layer above it.

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Create a dark blue shape on this layer that covers the area where water washes over the fish, as indicated by the original black outlines. In the Transparency palette, switch the Blending Mode of this new shape to Colour, so that only the colour of the underlying shapes is altered, leaving the Saturation and Luminosity untouched.

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Lock the current layer and then create a new layer. Drag the new layer down in the Layers palette so that it resides above the Template layer only. Use the Pen tool, with a grey fill colour, to draw a cloud shape on the new layer as defined by the brush stroke.

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Draw an ellipse and position it over the bottom of the new shape. Select both and click on the Subtract button in the Pathfinder palette. Repeat at will to alter the shape. Also use the Add button to create cloud shapes from spheres. Alter the colour and positioning of your new cloud shapes within the layer.

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Finally, create a layer under the Brush Strokes layer and use it to add details and shading to the artwork overall. Use Pathfinder options and the Pen tool to create objects and vary the Colour, Transparency and Blending Modes as necessary. Create one final layer at the top of the stack and add some highlight objects to the area that overlaps the tail.