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vector seal

shapes drawing in Adobe Illustrator
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by JuliannaKunstler.com

Drawing and manipulating shapes. Vector seal drawing. Adobe Illustrator assignment. Warp tool and special effects.

Refresh your Illustrator drawing skills.

In this assignment:

  • Shape drawing tools
  • Colors and Color Picker
  • Draw with Pen tool
  • Manage layers in Illustrator
  • Shape order
  • Draw with Blob brush
  • Applying effects
  • Reshape with Warp tool
  • Pathfinder
  • Remove anchor points
  • Edit with Direct Selection tool
  • Gradients
  • Line options
  • Grouping
P.S. You can use any colors you want for this assignment. Have fun!

GALLERY

seal
vector seal

STEPS

background

Adobe Illustrator

Open a new document.

8" x 8"

shape tool

Select Rectangle tool.

Adobe Illustrator

Hold Shift and draw a square.

Choose a light Blue color for the sky.

Adobe Illustrator

Select the square.

Open Align palette.

Choose Align to Artboard.

Center the square.

Adobe Illustrator

Open Layers palette.

Name it "background".

Adobe Illustrator

To create water:

Copy the square (Command/Ctrl C)

Paste in Front )Command/Ctrl F)

Resize as shown.

Double-click on Fill Color Swatch in the Tools panel to open Color Picker.

Select a color slightly darker than the original.

Adobe Illustrator

Save.

Lock the layer.

iceberg

Adobe Illustrator

Create a new layer.

Name it "ice".

pen tool

Choose Pen tool.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Draw an iceberg shape.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Pick a color.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Use Pen tool and draw a lit side of the ice.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Fill it with a lighter color.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Add more shapes.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Add shaded shapes.

foreground

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Draw a floating ice in the foreground.

The shape should have a few sharp points.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

To add a dimension to the ice - add visible sides to the shape.

Light shapes to the lit sides, and darker shapes in the shade.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Select the ice shape.

Object > Arrange > Bring to Front.

Save.

Lock the "ice" layer.

clouds

blob toolClouds are free-forms.

Choose Blob Brush tool.

It paints with shapes.

You can change the brush size as with any other brush - use [ and ] keys.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Create a new layer.

Name it "clouds".

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Use White or any light Blue color.

Start drawing.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Draw as many clouds as you want.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Position the clouds layer between background and ice.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Select all clouds.

Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Check the Preview button.

Adjust the slider to get blur effect.

Save.

Lock the clouds layer.

seal

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Create a new layer.

Name it "seal".

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Zoom in the area for the seal to enjoy :)

ellipse tool

Select Ellipse tool.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Draw a big circle.

You are going to modify it for the seal body.

warp tool

Choose Warp tool.

The cursor will look like a brush tool. The size can be changed by double-clicking on the Warp tool.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

With the circle selected:

Pull one side to form the tail.

Use multiple strokes.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Push in the top part for the back.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Continue pulling and pushing to form the perfect seal.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

To draw a fin - start with a circle.

Change the color to better see the process.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Pull one side with the Warp tool.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Duplicate the fin.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Object > Arrange > Send to back.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Change the color of the front fin to match the rest of the body.

Use Eyedropper tool.

blob tool

Back to Blob brush tool to paint the tail.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Paint the tail shape.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Combine body, front fin, and tail into one shape.

Use Pathfinder palette.

pen tool

To clean up the shape and make it smoother - use Delete Anchor point tool.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Delete all unnecessary points.

direct selection tool

Use Direct Selection tool to further modify the shape.

Adobe Illustrator drawing
gradient

Draw a small circle for the nose.

Choose Gradient fill option in the Tool box.

Then choose Gradient tool.

gradient
Adobe Illustrator drawing

Open Gradient palette.

Choose Radial gradient type.

Reposition the gradient center and modify the gradient size.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Add two more circles for the eye.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Use Pen tool to draw a small curve for the mouth.

Use Stroke palette to adjust stroke weight and ends type {Cap).

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Few more details....

line tool

Use Line Segment tool to add a few strokes.

Each stroke is a separate path. Click and drag.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

Draw the whiskers in any direction.

They can be shorter or longer than the example.

Adobe Illustrator drawing

That's it!

Select the seal. Group all shapes: Object > Group.

Now you can resize it and reposition if needed.

Save.

Done!

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