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[How to Draw in Illustrator] [Creating Custom Brushes Part 1] [with Mat Helme]

We now know how to use the Paintbrush Tool, Blob Brush Tool, and Pencil Tool.

Also we know how to manipulate our strokes and paths we created with those tools.

Next let's take a look at creating our very own custom brushes in Illustrator.

With the Custom Brushes file open, as well as the Brushes Panel,

we're ready to get started.

With Illustrator we have the option to create our very own brushes.

As you already know there are 5 types of brushes Illustrator offers:

Calligraphic, Scatter, Art Brush, Bristle, and Pattern.

Let's take a look at creating a custom brush for each type.

To create a new brush we have to have our Brushes Panel open as we already do.

There are 2 ways to create a new brush.

The first way is from the dropdown at the top right.

We can select New Brush, or in the bottom right we have this icon for New Brush.

Now we're given an option to select the 5 different types of brushes.

Now you might notice 2 of them are faded out, and we'll get to those in just a second.

Right now let's just focus on the Calligraphic Brush.

So with that selected let's hit ok.

Now we're given the Calligraphic Brush options.

So we'll simply name it Calligraphic Brush 1.

That's fine. That works for us right now.

Now as you can see below we have these 3 options.

we have angle, roundness, and size.

Also notice the dropdown that says fix.

Just like the Blob Brush, we have the option to keep it fixed or to select random.

Now you'll also see pressure, stylus wheel, tilt, bearing, and rotation.

As of right now you can select these because I have a tablet hooked up.

If you don't have a tablet you won't see these. They'll be faded out.

You'll have the option of fixed and radom.

Random simply lets us set a variation between 2 numbers

just like with the Blob Brush.

Whenever I create a Calligraphic Brush,

I like to get it as close to a calligraphic pen as possible.

Also I like to keep the size around 5 point.

Now you can see we have our new brush located in the Brushes Panel--

Calligraphic Brush 1.

With that selected let's go ahead and create a Stroke.

Right now you can see we have the Fill on, so let's go ahead and turn that off.

You can see we have a nice calligraphic brush here.

I can bump up the size by using the right angle bracket--get a really thick line.

So if I wanted to go back in and say bump up the size on this Calligraphic Brush

that we just created, you simply double-click on the Calligraphic Brush

in the Brushes Panel, and it brings up our options again.

Select preview, and now you can see our brush here.

So if I want to bump the size up,

narrow it down, I can do all that from the settings.

Select ok, and then it will ask me if I want to apply it to the Strokes that are currently

on the canvas, and if I select apply to Strokes then it will apply it to this Stroke.

Let's move on to our next brush, the Scatter Brush.

Now for the Scatter Brush, remember when we created a new brush it was faded out.

That's because we actually need an object to attach to the Scatter Brush.

So let's go ahead and grab the Rectangle Tool and create

a 10 pixel by 10 pixel solid object.

There we go.

So let's zoom in here and make sure it has a Fill.

We'll go ahead and swap the Stroke and Fill.

To create a new Scatter Brush, we can drag it into the Panel

or by selecting the object and then going to Create a New Brush.

So we can select it, drag it in,

Create a Scatter Brush, or with the rectangle selected select New Brush,

and select Scatter Brush, select ok,

and you can see we have a lot more options than the Calligraphic Brush.

Let's go ahead and we'll leave this Scatter Brush 1.

Below that you can see our options for size, spacing, scatter, and rotation.

We are also able to leave them fixed or random.

Below that where it says coloration and then method,

we have a dropdown, and right now it says none.

Now what this does is it will leave the color of that object the same

or as it is default.

When we select the dropdown you can see we have other options:

Tints, tints and shades, and hue shift.

If we ever want to see a visual representation of each type of method,

we can simply select this tips button, and it will show you.

Tints displays the stroke of tints of the Stroke color.

Portions that aren't black become tints of the Stroke color,

and that remains white.

Tints and shades displays the brush color in tints and shades of the Stroke color.

Tints and shades maintains black and white,

and everything between becomes a blend from black and white through the Stroke.

Hue shift uses the key color in the brush artwork.

So let's go ahead and try out our new Scatter Brush.

We'll delete the object that we created,

grab the Paintbrush Tool with the Scatter Brush selected,

let's go ahead and create a path and get rid of the Fill,

and you can see we have this very pixelated line

which is attaching that square to it.

So with our path selected let's double-click on the Scatter Brush 1

that we just created, and let's give it some variation with size, spacing, and scatter

as well as rotation.

So we'll change size to random and make each one of these objects,

which are the rectangles, random sizes.

So let's vary them from 50% to 100%

and then spacing the same.

We'll put that to random and 50% to 100%.

For scatter let's put it back to -285 and then +275 and then rotation -56 degrees

and +75 degrees.

Select ok, apply to Strokes, and you can see our brush looks tremendously different now.

With a Scatter Brush, it's great for creating stuff like leaves on the trees

or say bubbles in water.

Anytime you want to attach an object to a path and display it randomly

or basically have it push away from the path, it's great to use a Scatter Brush.

Now let's create a custom Art Brush.

Just like the Scatter Brush, we need to have an object to apply to the path.

So let's create a scribble with the Pen Tool and resize it to 10 pixels by 10 pixels.

So here's our scribble, and let's resize that down to 10 pixels by 10 pixels.

With that selected, again we can either drag it in or select the New Brush icon

and select Art Brush.

We'll go ahead and leave the default name to Art Brush 1.

Next we have width we can leave fixed or random.

Then below that we have brush scale options.

We can either scale it proportionately, stretch to fit stroke length,

stretch between guides, this being the guide down here,

which right now it's pointed down as you can see in the direction.

We can go up, right, or left, and this is just how it's going to place it on the path.

Again we have the colorization, and if we have any questions about

which one to choose we can simply select the tips and see our examples here.

Below that we have options where we can flip along or flip across.

We have overlap options right next to that.

This has to do with the corner folds.

So we can adjust the corner folds to not adjust,

or we can adjust the corner folds to prevent overlaps.

I can show you that in just a second.

Let's take a look at the scaling proportionately

with the right direction.

Let's go ahead and delete our object, select the Brush Tool,

we have no Fill, black Stroke, and we have our new brush selected.

You can see when scaling proportionately it goes across the whole path,

and it's scaled up because it's scaled proportionately.

Now we can stretch to fit as well, and what this will do is it will keep it the same size

and stretch it across the width from left to right because that's the direction we're going.

You can see we can get almost a charcoal effect there.

Then below that we have the option to stretch between guides,

and this will give us a start and endpoint, and we can actually move those.

Then our flip options at the bottom--we're able to flip along which is left to right

and then flip across which is top to bottom.

Let's select ok and apply to Stroke.

Let's zoom in here to get a better look.

Now let's make a path with very hard-angled corners here.

Now you can see with those hard-angled corners when I select overlap,

and I don't adjust the corners and folds, we get that flat top,

but when I adjust it to prevent overlaps, we get that nice sharp angle.

Again we can play around with these settings.

That's how you create a custom Art Brush.

Our next brush is the Bristle Brush.

To create a Bristle Brush, it's the same exact way as creating a Calligraphic Brush.

We simply create a new brush from the Brushes Panel,

select Bristle Brush, select ok,

and remember the Bristle Brush is made to emulate a paintbrush.

So we are given all of these options.

We can change the shape. By default it's at round point.

Then from the dropdown you can see we have all of these options:

Round blunt, round curve, round angle, round fan--this is great for texture buildup--

flat point, flat blunt, flat curve, flat angle, and flat fan.

This is going to be one of those brushes where you're just going to want to

create a brush and really play around with the settings to get it just right

for whatever project you're working on.

So for this example, let's go ahead and create a round fan,

and right now we're at 3 mm.

Let's bump that up just a little bit.

Bristle length--

let's really fan it out here.

Bristle density--let's drop that and get almost a watercolor-type look.

Thickness--let's drop it down to fine.

That's just dropping the size of the bristle itself.

Paint opacity--drop that down a little bit.

Stiffness--this is the actual flexibility of the bristles themselves.

This comes in handy when we're dealing with a tablet because the pen

will act as the actual paintbrush.

Select ok.

That right there is the Bristle Brush.

Again this is great for buildup.

If we want to build up some color here--

and these area all paths. Very cool.

Our last brush is the Pattern Brush.

Let's go ahead and create this very simple 4-dot pattern.

Let's go ahead and drag that into the Brushes Panel.

Select pattern brush, and we'll go ahead and leave the name to Pattern Brush 1.

Next we have scale, so let's go ahead and drop that down just a little bit.

After that we have spacing, and this is the spaces between the patterns.

Let's go ahead and push that up to 20%.

Below that you will see a side tile, outer corner tile, inner corner tile, start tile,

and end tile.

Now each one of these tiles does exactly what the little icon below it says.

So our default tile is the pattern that we just dragged in,

and that would be our side tile.

Then next to that we have our corner tile which displays the corner

of the actual path we create.

It will attach a specific pattern if we choose one for that.

Below that you'll see a list of currently existing patterns in the Swatches Library.

Now right now we don't have any.

We just have the original that we created.

Then on the right you can see we have the flip options,

which are the same flip along which is left to right, flip across which is top to bottom,

fit which is stretch to fit to the path.

We can add space to fit, approximate the path, and then again we have colorization.

Let's go ahead and select ok.

You can see we have our new pattern here.

Let's delete our pattern we created, grab the Paintbrush Tool,

and with no Fill, black Stroke select our Pattern Brush and create a pattern.

Now with those paths selected, let's double-click on the Pattern Brush

select preview, and now we can play around with the options.

So spacing is at 20%. Let's see what it looks like at zero or 100.

You can see it spaces it out along the path.

So the same width of the pattern is placed between the patterns on the path.

Flip along won't look too much different

because our pattern is for the most part symmetrical.

But since we have a little bit of a curve in our path, you can see it adjust just a little bit.

Then for the fit options--fit to stretch--we can add space to fit or approximate path

and again play around with these options.

Let's select ok.

Now for example purposes, let's go ahead and create a triangle with the Polygon Tool.

We'll just hit the down arrow and create a triangle here.

We'll have a solid Fill for it,

and let's go ahead and drag that into our Swatches Panel.

Now we have a new pattern there.

Let's delete that, and with this path selected let's double-click on the Pattern Brush

that we just created.

Now you can see we have a new pattern swatch 2 here.

Now that's the new pattern that we just dropped into the Swatches Panel.

For the side tile we'll go ahead and leave the default,

but for the corner tile let's add this new pattern.

Select ok, apply to strokes.

Now with the Rectangle Tool, with the rectangle selected,

let's select the Pattern Brush we just created,

and you can see in the corners here we have the pattern we just created

and we assigned to the corner tile.

That's how we create a Pattern Brush.