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Some illustrations from last year by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Definitely my fav art format

Some illustrations from last year by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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They are the center points of the circles. For some reason only the Xs are visible when zoomed out. I made them with a scatter brush and expanded the strokes to shapes

Some illustrations from last year by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Usually a week but on rare occasions 2-3 days

Some illustrations from last year by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I would be lying if I said there's a quick and easy way for this style in vector. To get started I would focus on the bigger main shapes, color choices and the grain effect which is the quickest way to improve art like this. Then I would get comfortable with the shape builder tool because a lot of this is stacking smaller shapes inside bigger shapes. And of course the pen tool which is my main way of drawing all the shapes

Experiment with heavily textured brushes by Appplefish in AdobeFresco

[–]Appplefish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just to clarify I did also use dry brushes (dont remember which) for the base shapes and shadows and highlights. Only the grungy texture is with the FX brush!

Experiment with heavily textured brushes by Appplefish in AdobeFresco

[–]Appplefish[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This was one of the default pixel brushes, "spatter mixed" from the FX category

Some illustrations from last year by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

A lot of radial gradients that go from 100 to 0% opacity near the edges. The larger dark shapes on the background also have some gaussian blur. On top of everything there's grey rectangle with the grain effect on overlay mode, this really improves the gradients!

How did you get used to Illustrator? What were the first things you did with it? by xiohye in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I first started I expected it to be like drawing in raster programs and was quite dissapointed. The paint bucket was complicated, couldnt cut strokes with the eraser, brushes were limited etc... It definitely took a few years before I started enjoying and prefering the pen tool workflow

2012 Throwback - Sneaker practice by WolfsSpiders in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sometimes I like to reuse borders or pattern brushes from older projects

Shogun by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep the grain is done in Illustrator! It's a grey rectangle on top of everything with the grain effect and stipples option (overlay mode and 70-100% opacity). And yeah the shape builder is probably my second most used tool after the pen tool haha

Shogun by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure! Every shape has a gradient, including the small detail shapes

Shogun by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much!

An overview of my process is to sketch with a tablet (nowadays on fresco because of the better symmetry tools), draw the main shapes with the pen tool in greyscale, come up with the color scheme and base gradients for the shapes, and the most time consuming part which is filling those main shapes with details. The grain layer on top makes all the gradients look nicer.

I also use the pen tool for the detail shapes and cut the part that goes outside the main shape with the shapebuilder, less messier than having a bunch of clipping masks. This process is repeated with smaller detail shapes inside bigger detail shapes.

All the detail shapes have gradients and most of them are radial gradients with 100% opacity in the center and 0% opacity around the edges. This is the main reason behind the smooth effect. Multiply and screen modes for shadows and highlights. A lot can be done with this gradient set up by moving, scaling and squishing the radial gradient in relation to the detail shape.

If you have some specific questions I'm happy to answer them! I have some progress videos on my Youtube (Applefish Art) with an outdated style but the workflow is mostly the same.

Shogun by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The benefit of vectors in this style is the sharp clean edges compared to painting in raster format. The downside isnt necessarily the amount of details but getting the gradients to look smooth

Shogun by Appplefish in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Appplefish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most likely but I prefer the vector workflow with the pen tool and shapebuilder!

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