Today we will create an abstract colorful illustration. This technique can be applied to any shape, no hand drawing skills are required – just a bit of imagination. This tutorial can be completed by both beginners and advanced, all steps are explained in detail.

Difficulty: Intermediate - Advanced

Completion time: 45 min - 1 hour

Tools: Illustrator CS3

Resources:

- Floral Vector Pack 54

 

Final product

 

 

STEP 1

Go to File > New... and create a 600x600 px document in RGB at 72 dpi.

 

 

 

STEP 2


Grab the Ellipse Tool (L), click-drag on the canvas and hold ALT+SHIFT keys to draw a circle. Make sure it has only Fill and no Stroke.

 

STEP 3

Grab the Selection Tool (V), select the circle, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it to back (CTRL+B). Hold ALT+SHIFT keys and click-drag one of its bounding box corners and make it larger. 



STEP 4

Change the Fill color, any color will do. Then go to Window > Pathfinder, select both circles and hit the “Merge” button. Grab the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the inner circle and hit Delete.




STEP 5

Grab the Selection Tool (V), hold ALT key and click drag the remaining shape a bit to the right. Hold SHIFT key to make an orthogonal placement of the copy. 

 



STEP 6

Place the second shape like below. Try making an alignment close to perfection.



STEP 7

Select the second circle. Now grab the Eraser Tool (SHIFT+E), hold ALT key and click-drag a rectangle similar to the image below. This will erase half of the circle.

 

 

STEP 8

Repeat STEP 7, but for the right half of the circle.

 

 


Do the same for the first circle.

 

 

STEP 9

Grab the Selection Tool (V), select both shapes, select a light gray for the Fill color and click the “Merge” button in the Pathfinder window (Window > Pathfinder).

 

 

STEP 10

Grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a shape like the one below. Make sure it has only Fill and no Stroke.

 

 

 

STEP 11

Now grab the Selection Tool (V) and ALT+click-drag some copies of this shape. To reflect it, press CTRL+SHIFT+T. Try making an arrangement similar to mine or create your own. This tutorial taps into creativity and less into technique, so feel free to experiment.

 

 

STEP 12

Create more copies of the “bent teardrop” and place them over the shape created in STEPS 2-9. Change each shape’s color, so you can easily select them later. Feel free to play around with Transparency, to see easier the overlapping shapes.

 

 

STEP 13

Select the first shape created, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it to front (CTRL+F). Make it the front object (press CTRL+SHIFT+] ). Remove its Fill. Select all the “bent teardrops” covering the shape (click-drag a selection rectangle) and SHIFT+click on the shape to remove it from the selection. Right-click > Make Clipping Mask. Also grab the Eraser Tool (SHIFT+E) and erase the right end of the shape.

 

 

STEP 14

Now we will create a series of gradients that we will use to fill these shapes with. This part also taps into your creativity and taste for choosing colors, so feel free to use different tones if you like.
Go to Window > Gradient to open the Gradient window. Double-click on the Fill color and pick a vibrant midtone green. Hit OK, then click-drag it on the left side of the Gradient bar.

 

 

STEP 15

Repeat STEP 14, but pick a dark green color and click-drag it on the right side of  the gradient bar.

 

 

 STEP 16

Go to Window > Swatches to open the Swatches palette. Then click-drag the created gradient into the Swatches palette.

 

 

STEP 17

Create more gradients for different colors: orange, blue, red, brown and purple.

 

 

STEP 18

Now the real fun begins! Select each shape and click on a gradient. Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and click-drag in any direction inside the selected shape to change the gradient’s direction. Go wild with it!

 

 

STEP 19

Double-click on the shape where we created the layer mask to enter Isolation Mode and change colors for those shapes too, like in STEP 18.



 

STEP 20

For each shape, set Transparency to Multiply and play around with Opacities. When you’re done, double-click outside the artwork to exit Isolation Mode.

 

 

STEP 21

Grab the Ellipse Tool (L), hold SHIFT key and draw some small circles of different colors in a light tone. Draw them near our current artwork, so we can select them. Select all, then go to Object > Group (CTRL+G). In the Transparency window (Window > Transparency), set blending mode to Overlay.

 

 

STEP 22

Now we will create some lens flares. Create a white-to-black gradient like in STEPS 15-16 and set it to Radial. Grab the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw a few circles. Hold SHIFT key to draw a perfect one. Then apply the gradient Created in STEP 21 to these circles.

 

 

 

STEP 23

Select all these circles and set Tansparency to Screen. You can also use Hard Light.

 

 

STEP 24

Grab the Selection Tool (V), create copies of the circles created in STEP 21 and apply some gradients to them. Make them smaller. You can create these like in STEPS 1-2.

 

 



STEP 25

Grab the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw a large circle. In the Gradient window (Window > Gradient), create a dark blue to white gradient in Radial mode. Then select the circle and click the gradient. Grab the Selection Tool (V) and shrink the vertical size of the circle.

 


 

STEP 26

Place this shape like below and press CTRL+SHIFT+[  to send it to back.

 

 

STEP 27

Now for a nice background. Grab the RectangleTool (M) and create a large rectangle. We need a lot of negative space to make our design look good. Send it to back (CTRL+SHIFT+[ ). With it selected, apply a white to light gray Radial gradient.

 

 

STEP 28

The text is it’s only generic, type your own line. Grab the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and click drag a rectantle where you want your text. I used the Ubuntu font from dafont.com.

 

 

STEP 29

For the background, I added some nice, faded swirlies I made. You can get similar flowers from our Floral Vector Pack 54.
Simply copy them, set Transparency to Overlay and Opacity to about 40%.

 

 


Done!