coyleart

Illustrator 2 chat

My intermediate online Illustrator class, Illustrator 2 is open for registration! The class runs June 3- 23, 2011 on ReneePearson.com. If you are curious about Illustrator 2, you can watch the recorded chat we did last week, or attend the chat we have coming up June 1st, and I'll be there to answer your questions on ReneeTV at 9pm EDT.

In this three week online class we work toward a new goal each week: starting with Gradients, then Repeat Patterns and we wind up with Live Trace. Along the way, we take in many Illustrator techniques that will serve you well in any type of art you're creating. We work with the Appearance Panel, the Transform Panel, Masking, Layers, working with image files in Illustrator and working between Photoshop and Illustrator with Vector Smart Objects.

If you are ready to take your Illustrator skills to the next level, this is the class for you!

Free Illustrator book previews

If you are searching for just the right book to buy for Adobe Illustrator, or any other graphics software you're learning, check out Safari Books Online. They offer a free 10 day trial, that allows you to browse the pages of many great software titles online, so you can find the book that's right for you.

I'm partial to Mordy Golding's Real World Adobe Illustrator series, and I have always loved the Visual Quickstart guides, I just bought the latest one for Photoshop. If you haven't yet upgraded to CS5, don't despair, there are plenty of titles you can browse for the earlier versions of Illustrator too. Happy shopping!

The Illustrator shape builder for open paths

Trimming the excess from a row of ragged stroked lines used to be a challenge in Illustrator. The Scissors tool is inefficient, forcing you to cut one path at a time. The eraser tool is better and can be made more precise when paired with the shift key to constrain the angle you drag in, but even that solution is lacking. And finally, the Pathfinder doesn't deal with open paths (open ended strokes). Shape Builder to the rescue! Below is a quick tutorial to demonstrate one more reason to love the Illustrator CS5 Shape Builder tool:

First, Select both the lines and the shape you want to trim them to.

Get the Shape Builder Tool, the keyboard shortcut is shift + m.

Hold down option/alt, you'll see a minus sign appear next to the Shape Builder cursor.  Trim by dragging over the excess lines in one motion. Done!

You'll find more tips on this blog by clicking on the Adobe Illustrator category. Thanks for stopping by!

Laura Coyle

Live Illustrator chat tonight, 5/18

Tonight, Wednesday May 18, 2011 at 9:00pm EDT US, I'll be chatting live about my Illustrator 2 class on ReneeTV. We'll talk about the class and all things vector. Illustrator 2 will be running from June 3rd through the 23rd, and covers gradients, transparency, patterns, masking and more. Join us in the chatroom! 

Adobe Illustrator tablet tutorial

 

Watch my new video tutorial for a quick overview on how you can practice your Wacom tablet skills in Adobe Illustrator! The files you need to complete this fun exercise are available free for download on Wacom's PenScrappers site.

 
Once completed, you'll have your own decorative flower and umbrella elements. Export the designs from Illustrator as transparent png files to use on your blog or in a Photoshop project. So have fun with your tablet!

And check out my other informative Illustrator tutorials on my Coyleart YouTube Channel.

Wacom Essentials for Adobe Illustrator

Thursday May 19th at 11am PDT, Wacom is hosting a free webinar discussing tablet use with Adobe Illustrator. Even if you can't attend, follow the link to sign up and you'll receive a link you can use to watch the archived webinar at your convenience.

Mac OSX tips

A bunch of helpful tips for using Mac OSX at the Huffington Post.

Tech savvy art licensing

If you are an artist or illustrator in the art licensing business, I have a hot tip for you! Bookmark this blog: Joan Beiriger on Art Licensing.

Every time I visit this artist's blog, I learn something of value. Joan Beiriger shares great, in-depth information about everything from Photoshop tips, to marketing yourself at trade shows. I especially love her lengthy post on how her iPad 2 fits neatly into her art licensing lifestyle.