Illustration Info
Illustrator Beginner’s Series
Some of the readers on this site wanted tutorials that covered more of the basics, so I’ve created a series of tutorials for people just starting out in Illustrator. I probably won’t cover everything, so it might be worthwhile to get a good book on Illustrator, or even paying for an online graphic design degree (an expensive option) to cover ALL of the basics. I focused the series on the skills needed to complete one Illustration. It starts with placing your sketch, moves through the different tools on the Toolbar and goes all the way through to the finished illustration. Feel free to let me know what’s missing or what you’d like to see.
Illustrator Beginner’s Series 1: Layers & Placing Images
Illustrator Beginner’s Series 2: Pen Tool Basics
Illustrator Beginner’s Series 3: Tracing with the Pen Tool
Illustrator Beginner’s Series 4: Symmetrical Objects
Illustrator Beginner’s Series 5: Using the Ellipse Tool
Illustrator Beginner’s Series 6: Creating Symmetrical Curves
Illustrator Beginner’s Series 7: Turning Lines Into Shapes
Illustrator Beginner’s Series 8: Using Offset Paths for Dynamic Lines
I’m still working on the series, so new tutorials will be added here periodically.
This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2011 Cory Thoman. This post contains affiliate links. Please read the About & Policies for more information.
i am a beginner and its my first day to use illustrator but with your beginner’s series i think i can learn so thank you.
hi, do you have a PDF of your tutorial? i don’t have stable internet connection that’s why i prefer PDF tut to be downloaded and work offline? thanks in advance, please notify me at my email ^_^ thank you much
I don’t have a pdf version. You could probably try taking screenshots of the tutorials for offline use.
Cory,
Thanks for your tutorials, they have been helpful. I have not been able to figure out 2 things. How to crop a pic that I have brought in to illustrator, and how to draw a “dotted” line. I am (obviously) a beginner.
You can crop a picture by drawing a box in the shape of the crop, then going to Object > Clipping Mask > Make. You’ll need to have both objects selected.
For a dashed line, you can add effects to a Stroke in the Stroke palette (Window > Stroke). Click on the check box that says Dashed Line.
Thanks a lot for thi tutorial….
This is great for a beginner. Maybe for your next series, you can go down each tool and explain how each one works, such as the mesh tool or the blend tool and how it can be use.
Thanks for the tutorial havent gotten started yet but it seems to be pretty similar to photoshop am i correct in assuming this?
Thanks in advance
Thank you so much for taking some time for doing these tutorials. They’re really helpful, simple to follow and easy to learn. Congrats! And thank you, again
this is very nice tutorial. nice work. very simple to learn
Fantastic tutorials – simple and clear! Thanks a lot!!
thanks so much… good for beginner
Just wanted to say thanks heaps for these tutorials. I knew nothing of Illustrator before and this has given me a good foundation. Cheers
So appreciated that you make this. It is really help to learn illustrator as a very beginner.