Below is a tutorial I’ve written for creating a fill color for a line drawing in Adobe Illustrator. This is a method to avoid retracing around your line drawing.

I start with my line drawing that I did in Illustrator. Check out the the cartoon tutorial page for different ways to draw in Illustrator.

Next, I make a copy of the outline around the bear. If that outline is made up of several lines or shapes, you’ll want to unite them. You can do that by using the Add to Shape Area button on the Pathfinder palette.

Using the Direct Selection Tool, click on the inner part of the line on your new copy, then hit delete (you may need to hit delete more than once). This deletes the inner part of the line and leaves you with a filled shape.

Your new filled shape will be used as the background color for the bear.

Next, I change the color to the brown color of the bear’s head.

After I’ve change the color, I use the Align Palette to align my new shape underneath my black lines.

That is basically it. You’ve created the fill color shape without having to trace around the object.

If you’d like to see how I finished coloring the bear, you can see those techniques in my snail cartoon tutorial.

Below is a tutorial I’ve written for a cartoon character created in Adobe Illustrator using a Wacom Tablet. This is an alternative method from my other cartoon tutorial in Adobe Illustrator. I bought a Wacom Tablet a while ago, but was never really sold on it. I guess I’m just used to drawing with the mouse.

As usual, I always start with a sketch placed in Illustrator.

Next, I want to set my brush that I’m going to use. I open the brush palette. Go to Window > Brushes to open it. When your palette is open, double click on one of the brush styles along the top.

A dialogue box will pop up. I picked these settings, but feel free to play around with the settings to see what kind of different lines they give you.

Next, I select the Brush Tool from the tool bar, select a stroke color, select my brush from the brush palette and start drawing with the stylus. I like to pick a bright color, so it is easier to see my line while working.

After my lines are drawn, I usually clean them up any lines that overlap or have gaps. I do this by selecting the Direct Select Tool (open arrow) from the tool bar and moving the anchor points of the lines.

Next, I want to turn my lines into shapes. To do this I’m going to use Flatten Transparency. Go to Object > Flatten Transparency.

A dialogue box will appear. Set the Raster/Vector Balance to 100 and click OK. This turns your strokes into shapes.

You’ll want to group your new lines together for easier selection later or you can use the Pathfinder Palette to make them one shape.

Next, I use the Ellipse Tool to draw in all the circles. I like to use the Ellipse Tool instead of drawing the circles with the stylus because the circles are symmetrical.

You’ll notice that a few of the circles are outside the lines. You can your the Knife Tool (located behind the Scissors on the tool bar) to cut off the excess. It works basically like its name suggest. You draw where you want to cut and it splits the shape into two pieces. Delete the piece you don’t need.

Once all my shapes are correct, I change all my lines to black and eliminate my sketch.

Now, it’s time to color. You can color the circles by adding a fill or by using the Offset Path (Object > Path > Offset Path) to create a smaller shape.

For the lines drawn with the stylus, you’ll need to trace around the lines.

Finally, I add in my shadows and highlights. See the snail cartoon tutorial for how to do that. The end result will be a cartoon that can be used for fun, or even on your marketing materials such as when you go to print your own business cards.

In case you didn’t know, IllustrationFriday.com has a weekly topic to illustrate for fun. This week’s topic was Hoard. Here is a squirrel I did in Adobe Illustrator.

There is so much to learn in Adobe Illustrator that it is easy to overlook the simplest things like keyboard shortcuts.

Learning the keyboard shortcuts for a program can save you a lot of time while working. Here is a quick reference for the keyboard shortcuts for the tool bar.

It’s doubtful that you’ll need to memorize them all because there are probably a few tools on the tool bar that you never use. Start with the tools you use the most often.

I started a new blog to promote my Zazzle store.

You can check it out here.

Vector files have a tendency to be overly slick and polished. That doesn’t mean you can’t create something that is a little more sketchy. Below is a sketchy pen style tutorial I’ve written for a cartoon pig created in Adobe Illustrator.

Just a warning before you begin, this tutorial is a little shorter because it skips some steps (using the pathfinder tools and offset paths) that I cover in my other cartoon tutorial, so you may want to check that out first.

I create my lines in the Illustrator using the pen tool and offset paths like in my cartoon snail tutorial.

Next, I create several pen shapes using the pen tool. I plan to use these for shading and details.

I start adding those shapes to my drawing.

I keep adding shapes, drawing new ones, copying shapes using the Option drag and adjusting their anchor points until I get the drawing right.

After my drawing is correct, I fill the shapes with colors.

Next, I draw in my shadow shapes like my cartoon snail tutorial. Also, I use the Offset Path to add color outside some of the lines. Go to Object > Path > Offset Path and choose how much you want to expand the shape. I expanded mine by 2 points, then filled it with the new color.

In case you didn’t know, IllustrationFriday.com has a weekly topic to illustrate for fun. This week’s topic was Forgotten. Here is my forgotten idea.