Question Can you tell me how to create custom brushes in Illustrator please?

José Marcum, US

Answer Chris replies

I create all my work in Adobe Illustrator. I love the accuracy the Pen tool gives you, and the fact there are so many options available to use within the program, such as the Path Finder and Blend tools, that enable you to create clean, precise artwork.

I like my line work to have a more natural look, and as a result I would dip in and out of Photoshop so I could use my Wacom tablet to create pressure-sensitive line work. I would then bring the drawing into Illustrator and redraw it. This was obviously quite time consuming, and also because Illustrator is a vector program, I felt my line work became too ‘perfect’ and I lost the natural feeling to my drawing.

So I started creating my own brushes. I created lots of varying brush strokes and turned them into brushes. This now meant that I had the precise control of drawing with the Pen tool, but I could also give my line work a more natural, handdrawn appearance.

IFX Q&A - Caption White IFX Q&A - Caption White IFX Q&A - Caption White IFX Q&A - Caption White IFX Q&A - Caption White IFX Q&A - Caption White IFX Q&A - Caption White By setting up your own brushes you can give your work a much more dynamic look, and...