Pattern Brushes Made Easy - Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

Jacquelin Vanderwood  September 15, 2003 1 To make brushes let us first throw all of the existing brushes in the default brush box away by putting them into the trashcan. 2 Next do the same procedure under Swatches. Now we can start fresh and clean.   3 As you should know, gradients are not allowed under new brushes so toss that idea aside when creating new ones. To begin, what I want you to do is create four rectangles with the Rectangle Tool (Control+M). Color them as they are shown below.   4 Then press Control+A to select all of them. Now hold the Shift key down and with the Selection Tool highlighted, reduce the size of the rectangles. Drag it onto the Swatches palette.   5 Rotate it and drag it again onto the Swatches palette.   6 Create a circle. Copy by pressing Control+C. Press Control+F to paste in front. Change it's color and and select both circles, then reduce their size. Drag it onto the Swatches palette.    7 Reduce it one more time and change the center circle color. Drag it onto the Swatches palette.   8 Here is what you should have currently.   9 Double-click on each swatch and name it appropriately.   10 Select the vertical bar and under the brushes arrow select New Brush.   11 Highlight New Pattern Brush.   12 Name the brush.   13 Click on each brush square and select the appropriate swatch. Remember to look at the little diagrams below each swatch square to determine in which direction the pattern will run.   14 Set the brush up as I have it below. You're done with it.   15 I've applied the new brush to a star shape here.   16 Here is the brush applied to a circle, a square, and an octagon.   17 Here's some modern art. I created text, then converted it to outlines and applied the new brush. You have become an instant modern artist. Below that is a brush made with three different elements to create another type of brush. The possibilities are endless. JUST REMEMBER: Put all your initial artwork into the Swatches palette first!!!     Copyright 2003, Jacquelin Vanderwood, All Rights Reserved