The
simple brush we are going to make can be used for many
basic shapes: tentacles, flames, tribal tattoos, trees...
ummm... spooky monster tongues?
I
will also be showing you how to make some brushes and an
effect or two. I
work on a Mac but this should work for PCs, too. Some menu
items and names may differ.
1. Start
off by creating an elongated triangle
with the pen tool
or the polygon tool. Use black as the fill color, no
outline. Go to the Window menu and choose Show Brushes.
2. With the shape selected, choose New Brush in the Brush
Pallette
options. Choose New Art Brush. In Art Brush Options name
your new brush and set it up as I have. Your new brush should
now appear in the Brush Pallette. Choose it.
3. With
the pen tool, create a curved line. No fill, with a black
stroke. Try to use as few anchor points as possible,
for a smoother transition.
4. Now for the fun stuff! In the menu, go to Object > Expand
Appearance. You should have a center line and an outlined
tentacle shape. Select the center line with the Direct
Selection Tool and delete it.
5. Fill the remaining shape with a linear gradient. I chose
some
oranges. With the Direct
Selection Tool, straighten out the line on the left side.
6. Create
a new Calligraphic Brush. Same steps as used above for
the shape brush, but choose new Calligraphic Brush and
use the settings I've used. You now have something similar to 6A
This
may get a little tricky now... PAY ATTENTION!!
7. Intertwining.
Create a few more shapes as we did above using various lines.
Arrange them in a similar pattern. Open the Pathfinder
Tool Box. Select all the shapes and click on the Divide
tool (7A). In the menu, go to Object > Ungroup.
The Divide action will leave some unwanted negative space
shapes (with no fill and no outline (7B))
that need to be deleted.
(7C) Now
we are going to select certain pieces and regroup them with
the Unite Tool in the Pathfinder toolbox to creat an intertwined
look. You should have something similar to 7D
8. Select
all. In the menu, go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow.
Use the settings I've used or use your own for a different
look.
9. Shaded,
interlaced tentacles... yay! I
added a bunch of circles with different fill colors and
transparencies to give it some texture and threw in some
wackyness to make a cute lil octopus.
Have
Fun! =P
This
was my first attempt at creating a tutorial. If I left
anything out, I appoligize. Hope this helped someone... |
