Illustration for Beginners

[Blue Eye]

Honestly, I think the single biggest hurdle you need to get over with Illustrator is the Pen Tool (at least that's what I found)....

You probably have a good amount of experience with that from Photoshop already. Almost everything I do in Illustrator starts and ends with it.

That tool was the thing I struggled most with when I started learning Illustrator. Now I cant come to terms with the Gradient Mesh Tool AT ALL! :/

[spottypenguin]

Honestly, I think the single biggest hurdle you need to get over with Illustrator is the Pen Tool (at least that's what I found).... /

Exactly what i was about to say

Have a look at this tut about the Pen Tool YouTube - Illustrator tools a beginner should master - Pen tool

but it is worth looking through Youtube about all the tools. Good luck :icon_thumbup:

[offthewallcreative]

This one's my favourite: Illustrator & Vector Tutorials - LearnAI.com

By trying out these specific ideas I gained confidence and now use Illustrator more than Photoshop.

Hope this helps....

[byronc]

meh i have both illustrator and a new graphics tablet and have never used illustrator. Better get to it..:icon_yucky:

[bigdave]

If you can still buy them, the 'Easy Steps' books are really useful! Ive got one for illustrator CS, illustrator CS2, Photoshop CS, Indesign CS2, Quark Express 5 & Dreamweaver 8. Think I learned more from them, than I did from my tutors at college.

[VLAHAKISA]

I agree, that pen tool is a b***ch :D I still don't know how to use it properly after 10 years :O

Amanda

[bigdave]

Since buying a tablet I've been moving away from the pen tool and towards brush and pencil. Just seems so much more intuitive and if you need to close a path there's always cmd J.