Working with Illustrator ‘Art’ Brushes: Options and Adjustments
In this tutorial, I’m going to cover several things that effect the way we use Illustrator brushes. Remember, there are 4 types of Illustrator brushes, and this tutorial will be covering “Art” brushes. There are many things that effect the way your brush stroke will take form, and I hope by the end of this tutorial, you have a better idea of what you can tweak to get the results you’re looking for when using your art brushes.
1. Document Size
This one might be a little obvious, but the same stroke size will appear smaller as the document gets bigger.
2. Stroke Weight
Another obvious but necessary mention. The same brush can appear much different by simply changing the stroke size.
3. “Scale Strokes and Effects” Option
In the Transform palette, there is an option to “Scale Strokes and Effects.” When turned on (checked), Illustrator will adjust the Stroke weight as you scale things up and down, often leading to undesirable results.
Scale Strokes and Effects on:
Scale Strokes and Effects off: Illustrator will scale the path itself, but retain your current Stroke Weight.
4. Color Options
Illustrator Art Brushes have individual options that can be set within the brush itself. One of these options is colorization method. To open the art brush options, double click on the brush itself from the “Brushes” palette. Note: You must double click from the original Brushes palette, not one that you loaded. If you don’t see your brush in the Brushes palette, just click on it once from your loaded palette, and it will appear in the Brushes palette.
If you’ve ever downloaded an Illustrator brush, and you weren’t able to change the color, this is why. In order to change the color of your brush strokes, you need to select a colorization method. I recommend “Tints,” as this will allow to simply change it to any color you like, but you’ll just have to play around with it and see what you think works best for you.
5. Proportional or Not Proportional
This one can sometimes save the day if you feel like your brush just isn’t coming out right. The “Proportional” option is another individual brush setting. Just like above, open the brush options by double clicking on your brush from the Brushes palette.
When you enable the “Proportional” option, Illustrator will keep the aspect ratio of the original brush when applying it to your path. Think of it as “Constraining Proportions” when scaling an image. You might notice in the example below what a big difference this option can make, especially apparent on the round end of the stroke below.
There are other brush options that you can play with, but most of the others are more helpful for duplication and flipping the orientation of the brush, more than actually adjusting during application. So there you have it, the 5 things I typically rely on when working with Illustrator “Art” Brushes.
Tags: Illustrator, Illustrator Brushes, Tutorial
Cool, thanks.
very informative! Thanks.
Good to know!
I wish you got more in depth in the other brush types and color modes. I haven’t had time to play with those yet.
Good information.
Even though I’m pretty comfortable with using different brushes – there’s always room for more knowledge. Plus, I always seem to learn something I didn’t know. Excellent tutorial.
Hi Bittbox
Excuse me,
may i link to my blog
thx u
awesome, love this site!
i have learned more about illustrator from your tutorials than anywhere else, even college! thanks so much for these valuable resources. i can’t wait to see what else you come up with. :) keep creating!
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/affect-versus-effect.aspx
Thank you!
[...] Working with Illustrator ‘Art’ Brushes: Options and Adjustments | BittBox In this tutorial, I’m going to be covering “Art” brushes. Many things affect your brush stroke , and I hope by the end of this tutorial, you have a better idea of what you can tweak to get the results you’re looking for when using your art brushes (tags: illustrator brushes howto) [...]
Thanks dawg, good to keep in mind.
thanks
FIRST TIME I’VE VISITED THIS SITE, WISH I FOUND IT YEARS AGO, THANK YOU!
[...] Working with Illustrator ‘Art’ Brushes: Options and Adjustments [...]
Wow, thanks, I always found it irritating that strokes weren’t scalable. Thanks man, you just don’t know how much I needed this.
I’m amazed, Thank you very much.
Greets JSM….<
Hello! thank you for all of this amazing information! Can you please inform me about how to create the intricate scrolling elements that are shown above, the ones that you show as examples? I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you – Iwant “Treaks” – illustrator CS3 -pls
Good informations
Dheia alhourani
Hello! I was wondering if it is possible to vectorizet brushes? For example there is a flower that I want to create but the brushes doesnt make exactly the shape I want. Can I somehow break it down to points and change it myself afterwards? Im quet new to this. Thank you in advance! And THANK you Bittbox for great brushes!!
[...] Working with Illustrator ‘Art’ Brushes: Options and Adjustments Learn more about one of the four types of Illustrator brushes. It’s mostly a post that leads you through some experimentation that will help you understand more about how art brushes work. [...]
thanks alot workiing with illustation
good site ..!!
thank’s for information
[...] http://www.bittbox.com/illustrator/working-with-illustrator-art-brushes-options-and-adjustments/#mor... [...]
When I create a brush and make a spiral using it, I want to get a reflected copy, and by using the object-transpform-reflect, the result is not at all what I wanted- it changes completely.
anybody knows?
Object > Expand Appearance
[...] Working with Illustrator Art Brushes [...]
Thank for this
[...] 7) Working with Illustrator Art Brushes [...]
[...] Working with Illustrator Art Brushes [...]
[...] Click on the picture or here to see the tutorial!!! 0 Comment [...]
[...] 23. Working with Illustrator Art Brushes [...]