35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes

In my opinion, one of the most underused features of Illustrator is the creation of custom brushes. You can literally make ANY shape into an Illustrator brush to get all kinds of cool effects. I put together a set of 35 abstract brushes for you to play with. The example below was made only with the brushes I provided in the set, and I only used 3 shapes: Mostly circles, a couple starbursts, and a spiral or two. Every bitt of detail in the example is created from the brush strokes alone, on different sized shapes/stroke sizes. (I also played around with blending modes of certain shapes. Download the source file below.)

35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes

Click Here to view the Full Size Example Image

No, I wasn’t kidding when I said that all of the detail above was made from brushes, and brushes alone. Here is what the “wireframe” of the example file looks like:

35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes

Download the Brushes:

Here is a Screenshot of some of the brushes in this set.

35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes

Includes: – AI Brush Library(1)

Installation:

Even though it has an .ai extension, the file you downloaded is an “Illustrator Brush Library,” not an actual Illustrator file. You will not be able to open the file in Illustrator.

1. Unzip the File.

2. Copy or move the file to your Illustrator > Presets > Brushes folder.

3. Restart Illustrator If it was open during installation.

Loading the Brushes:

1. Open Illustrator and make sure the Brushes Palette is open. (Window > Brushes)

2. Click on the little arrow in the upper right of the rushes palette and got to “Open Brush Library,” then click on “BB_abstract” to load the brushes.

35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes

3. Start drawing and go nuts!

Download the Example Source File:

In order for you to view the example file properly in Illustrator, you must have the brushes installed.(above)

Includes: – AI (2) EPS (1) SVG (1) PNG (1)

Brushes Source Shapes:

This file contains the shapes I made the brushes from. This would be for those of you who don’t have Illustrator, but want to try and make your own brushes from another program. (e.g. InkScape)

Includes: – AI (2) EPS (1) SVG (1)

Tips for exploring this on your own:

I can’t stress enough how much blending modes can effect your design. I urge you to try new blending modes when overlapping your shapes. You can get some really nice effects, and it’s super simple.

35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 7:50 pm and is filed under Freebies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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152 Responses to “35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes”

  1. This is fantastic. I really like designs which are abstract, so this is perfect for me :D

    Thanks…

  2. Once again you have provided inspiration. I will make up some brushes and pass them back to you.
    DougO

  3. Hurrah.

    Good illustrator brushes are hard to come by

  4. These are great, thanks! People .. don’t brush these aside .. download them! :D

  5. Great work! Thanks for your generous contribution!

  6. you should blog a step by step on how to go about making custom brushes and saving them and then provide a uplink so that all registered users can share and swap cool brushes, just an idea.

  7. Whoa, this is waaaay Cool! Great Job, man.

  8. I agree with DBdesignCo. I use custom brushes consistently in my illustrations and brand identity work, and they’re an easy way to get really striking results. For those among your readership who don’t know how to create them, it would be a valuable tutorial. And, for those of us who do know how, new tips are always welcome!

    Great work as usual, keep it up!

  9. sweet!

  10. I will post a tutorial on making custom brushes, etc, soon. Thanks

    ~BittBox

  11. [...] 35 Abstract Brushes [...]

  12. thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. i appreciate it a great deal and your site is my favorite as i am new designer. i like your style and it’s great to have a place to come where there are useful tips and inspiration.

    please, do post a tutorial on making brushes. can’t wait to see that one.

  13. CrystalShip

    Thanks for this!
    You’re a great source of inspiration!

  14. This is great. Also so note that Lynda.com is going to have in-the-box training for CS3. Pretty cool!

  15. I can’t friggin wait to get my hands on CS3. Especially because I run Intel. It will be nice to see what improvements are in store for us.

    ~BittBox

  16. Wow, its amazing! I have never thought that it would be so easy to make such fantastic graphics!

    thank you, i love your site!

  17. Bittbox, hey. Awesome stuff. How do you recommend that we use these?

    I mean, in pictures and regular photographs?

    PS- can u do some cool logo tutorials?

    :)

    LC

  18. Nice one bro and yeah I’d like to see some logo tutorials too.:)

  19. [...] site bittbox.com publicou um pacote com 35 brushes (pinc?is) para o Adobe Illustrator? gratuitos. O pacote ? [...]

  20. Logo tutorial in the queue…

    ~BittBox

  21. this might be a stupid question….but i can’t seem to load these brushes in Illustrator 10….does any one know how to make it work….?

  22. How did you make the multiple lines that twist and converge? I tried the warp and 3D filter, but I’m stuck, but also very close to figuring it out. Any help would be great.

  23. @Nate

    I learned that (easy) trick from this tutorial:
    http://www.ndesign-studio.com/resources/tutorials/abstract-background/

    ~BittBox

  24. Wow. Your blog is awesome. Thanks for all of the inspiration and files.

  25. Thanks. These are greeaaat for someone who is so new to Illustrator.

  26. Thank you 4 your fine work and supporting us designers out there :-)

  27. Thanks a lot! Think, i can use your work in my work ;)

  28. [...] site bittbox.com publicou um pacote com 35 brushes (pinc?is) para o Adobe Illustrator gratuitos. O pacote ? [...]

  29. “You make me so very happy. I’m so glad you came into my life….”
    Singing this song to you at the top of my lungs. WOW! What a website. I was so thrilled to come across your amazing site, especially these illustrator brushes, the swooshes and the abstracts, what an amazing treat. You are my hero. I can’t wait to play with them. Thank you so much for your generosity, inspiration and creativity. You rock!!!

  30. Dude, creating custom brushes and applying them as you have shown has opened up a whole new world to my design capabilities!! you rock!

  31. Thanks All,

    Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all positive feedback and compliments. I will keep the doing what I’m doing. Glad to help!

    ~BittBox

  32. yo thanks for every thing yoooooooooooohoooooooooo ppl at bittboxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

  33. Asmodeus Dark

    Saved my life in finals.

  34. OneBoredSenpai

    Thanks for not only giving us resources but also telling us how to go about doing it- I love how easy Adobe makes it.

    Can’t get too complex, though- then it looks like someone heaved on my desktop.

  35. [...] die Bittbox bietet Vektorzubeh?r. Zum Beispiel 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes mit deren Hilfe sich dann Dinge wie dies erstellen [...]

  36. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  37. The brushes seems to be working for everyone else. I just get an error which says it does not recognize the file and can not import it.
    Why would that be?
    Illustrator CS2
    Windows XP

  38. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  39. @roman

    I can’t think of any reasons why it wouldn’t work. Have you tried re-downloading the file?

    ~Bitt

  40. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  41. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  42. I too have had no success loading the brushes into illustrator. I use v.10 on Windows XP and wonder if your brushes are intended only for the MacIntosh or some other platform issue which suppresses the brushes from importing. On v.10 also, the menu for importing these brushes is not located on the palette as your tutorial describes so I also wonder if there may be a version issue.

  43. Thanks, for this brushes. Great work

  44. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  45. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  46. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  47. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  48. [...] Bittbox ofrece graficos vectoriales para dise?adores profesionales: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  49. [...] *15*. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  50. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  51. yeah me too it wouldnt work..
    i used also illustrator 10…
    windows XP..

    can you help us bittbox?

    RJ ++
    Philippines

  52. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  53. nnnnnnnnnnn

  54. adamThegreat

    Great stuff, I’m working creating my own brushes (since I wouldn’t want to just take your stuff and use it for my own work… wouldn’t really be mine now would it?). I’d like to know more about the actual creation of the brushes.

  55. Thanks you so much…………. ^_^

  56. thanks for every thing wonder ful ppl at bittboxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
    thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
    thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
    thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

  57. Great stuff!!!!Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  58. Daniel Monroy

    chido mi hermano saludos desde mexico y mil gracias por dar herramientas a estos aprendices de artistas

  59. Wow, really amazing. Thank you once again!

    Mik A.

  60. Thanks mate!

  61. Great Brushes congrats! Thank you.

  62. hi, i am a student studying graphic designs. really love ur web and ur wonderful brushes. it help me lots. i am really inspire to create wonderful works like u =) keep rocking the design world! Thanks for the brushes, its great =)

  63. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  64. wow, I just used your brushes to whip up an awesome t-shirt project in about 5 minutes. Thank you so much.

  65. thank you so much, its a real joyfull experience trying these Brushes!

    cheers
    heike

  66. [...] aici am descarcat un set super interesant de brushes pentru Illustrator. Nu am sa dau link catre [...]

  67. How do I get the brushes to change color? When I change the color using the swatches it just changes the color of the actual line or shape, but not of the brush. I’m using illustrator CS3. Thanks!

  68. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  69. Well, I like your stuff! I’m from South America, my work is some dark and funny (it´s rare mixing) if you have time, please visit my gallery on…

    http://www.iggiart.blogspot.com

  70. thank you for responding to my email inquiry. I hope i can use the info you forwarded to me….have a great day!…deb

  71. These are AMAZING! Did you make the brushes using illustrator?

  72. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  73. OMG….i love u.

  74. i love you

  75. A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!.. :) Thanks a ton…

  76. so very useful. and so kind to allow them to be used free. thank you

  77. Hi the article is brilliant… its really amazing to know some tools in illustrator which were undiscovered by a beginner like me.. its really fantastic… i had one question though… the artwork created in illustrator looks a bit dull when used in photoshop to create final artwork. is there any way to polish the vector graphics created in illustrator , in photoshop ? thanks in advance for the help

  78. [...] 14. Bittbox ?????????? ??????? ??? ????????????????? ??????? 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  79. Thank you.

    totemoyakunitachimasu.

  80. Thanks Man, Nice Of You

  81. yo ! thank you very much for your help ……
    it helped me a lot

  82. tenx so much bro!!

  83. This is GOLD! Thank you soo much! i love you dude!

  84. Hey, I’m designing some promo material for a grassroots organization, and this is completely new to me — is it okay for me to use the “example” image as a graphic on a brochure? It’s for local distribution in Waterloo, and I just want to make sure I’m not stealing an image…it’s labeled as free. Can you let me know please? Thanks so much!

  85. mega cool

    thanks

  86. My Solution to Downloading the Brushes::: I found that it worked if I saved the file first and then unzipped it, than if I just tried to open the file immediately from the download prompt. Try that!

  87. THANKS ALOT…. :)

  88. Great Brushes, Thanks for the “wireframe”

  89. On unzipping the first file it gave me an error. can u post another link please

  90. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes – Bittbox [...]

  91. Thanks for great brush.

  92. help me for illustrator
    send me brush and symbol
    i am designer in iran
    my name : mehdi meamarnezhad
    my company is NOZHAN
    http://www.102030.com

  93. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  94. BARRY BRANDON

    Thanks for the cool brush work.

  95. Good designing For Good Brushes

  96. Yee, thanks a lot for the great brushes, really love it.

  97. [...] 15. Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  98. thanks! nice work

  99. Will these brushes work in photoshop elements 7? If so, how do I download them into it. Thanks

  100. [...] trovarli anche qui 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes | BittBox e qui free template calendar 2009 illustrator|Design Inspiration and [...]

  101. thanks, just starting out with cs3 tutorials and what comes in the box is limiting (CS3 that is) – will play and have some fun but first need to learn just how to load them correctly so that they appear in the normal brush palette (ended up in another so double clicked each one 4 now lol)

  102. Thanks, thats a great brushset you made.
    :-)

  103. please provide me latest brush shade effect

  104. please provide me to latest brush shade effect

  105. thanks thanks thanks!!!!

  106. Pinkmartian

    These are AWESOME!!! Thank you!

  107. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes – Bittbox [...]

  108. mine wont install :( it keeps telling me its an unknown format and the styles cannot be imported. Any suggestions? Im using CS3.

  109. ??? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ??????

  110. Thaks for you 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes GOODs :)

  111. A thousand thankyous, these are superb. Thanks to all the artists who created them.

  112. hey, I think the brushes look great! But I don’t know how to download them, do I need Mac for it?

  113. and what’s an illustrator?

    (i’m using cs3 on windows vista)

  114. [...] illustrator brushes [...]

  115. ??~

  116. I am kind of amazed you are giving such quality design tools away for free. I guess from where you’re at, it’s neither here nor there for you…

    Thank you

  117. [...] 14-35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes 35 free and beautiful Illustrator brushes here in a wide variety of abstract shapes. You can also download the source files to create your own brushes in Illustrator or other graphics programs. [...]

  118. THESE ARE ABSOLUTELY FANTSTIC… Instant Backgound patterns… Thanks very much

  119. very good pack! :D

    i used the hair pack, and is great!

  120. [...] you would expect. This tutorial was requested by many of my readers after I posted this Free set of 35 Abstract Illustrator Brushes. The possibilities are endless as far as brush making goes in illustrator, but I wanted to get you [...]

  121. [...] 14. Bittbox offers vector graphics for professional design: e.g. 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes. [...]

  122. [...] 35 Brushes Abstractos [...]

  123. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  124. Gracias por las brushes estan muy buenos!! ?

  125. Here there are some free resources for Photoshop:

    http://salmo69.blogspot.com/search/label/Photoshop

    Bye! :)

  126. P0tAtO SouPPP

    I cant figure out where to find the Illustrations.. the path…

    Does it work for Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0? :\

  127. @P0tAtO SouPPP,

    No These are for Illustrator only :(

    Jay

  128. Thanks!

  129. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  130. thanx for design

  131. thank you very much ^^,

  132. Thank you for sharing this. We can use it in our designs. Nice collections of brushes

  133. matin patwary

    as self searching for free brushes
    finally I got from your side….Thks a lot…

  134. Thanks ,fantastic .

  135. sathya narayanan

    this is the main thing I want

  136. GOD DAMN NIGGERS EATIN ALL THE FRIED CHICKEN

  137. Urmom gobblescock

    IF UR READING THIS YOU GOBBLE COCK

  138. Its just great I love greatness SOOO great :DD:

  139. Billy Mayes

    I use the neverscrub and flush three times… BITCH!

  140. Wow. You are so kind.

  141. i wonder why stuff like this is kept free..
    i mean hats off to you people for contributing stuff like this..
    love you guys..cheers..
    amey..

  142. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  143. These are great. As a new user of Illustrator I am just floored by all it can do and all there is to learn. Your site is a big help and inspiration. I can’t wait to try to make some of my own brushed. Thanks and Happy New Year!

  144. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  145. Thanks your sharing~

    let me to slove art question

  146. [...] 35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes [...]

  147. [...] ancora di più con i pennelli di Illustrator ti segnaliamo questo sito dal quale puoi scaricarti 35 pennelli astratti completamente gratuiti. Buona [...]

  148. hatur nuhun… (thank…)

  149. matur sembah nuwun

  150. Crazy stuff, I can’t wait to give this a try. I am making a new logo for my site and this will be awesome!

    MusicGlyphs.com

  151. hi i am chetan i need graphic related brushes.

  152. [...] 35 ??????????? ?????? ??? ???????????? [...]

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