Adobe Illustrator Tutorial for Beginners: How to Color

Adobe Illustrator Tutorial for Beginners: How to Color

In this tutorial, we will explore different techniques to color your artwork in Adobe Illustrator. We begin with our line work, expand it, clean it up, and unite it. Once the line work is in place, we can start adding colors, shadows, and gradients. The final result will be a polished and colorful piece of art.

Preparing Your Line Work

1. Duplicating and Locking Layers:

   • Duplicate the layer containing your line work.
   • Set the duplicate layer's color to the darkest brown instead of black.
   • Lock this layer as it will serve as a reference for your flat colors.

2. Naming the Layers:

   • Name the duplicated layer appropriately, such as "Flat Color".

Using Live Paint and Shape Builder Tools

1. Live Paint:

   • Select your line work.
   • Go to Object > Live Paint > Make to convert it to a Live Paint group.
   • Use the K key to activate the Live Paint Bucket.
   • Click on the shapes to fill them with colors. Live Paint will create shapes in the exact way you want.

2. Applying Colors with Live Paint:

   • Choose your desired colors and fill in different parts.
   • For example, you might choose dark for certain areas and a lighter off-white for others.
   • Live Paint does a lot of heavy lifting and minimizes the need for the Pathfinder tool initially.

Handling Open and Closed Shapes

1. Fixing Open Shapes:

   • If your drawing style includes open shapes, Live Paint may not work effectively.
   • Use the Blob Brush tool (Shift + B) to close gaps and make the shapes closed.

2. Combining Methods:

   • Use the Blob Brush for areas that need manual correction.
   • Use Live Paint Bucket for quick and precise coloring of closed areas.

Expanding and Ungrouping

1. Expansion:

   • After coloring with Live Paint, expand the artwork (Object > Expand).
   • The expanded shapes will have small bounding boxes indicating individual segments.

2. Ungrouping:

   • Ungroup the expanded shapes multiple times (usually three) to separate them into individual components.
   • Use the Magic Wand tool (Y) to select similar colors and unite them using the Pathfinder tool.

Managing Stray Shapes

1. Cleaning Up:
   • Use the Pathfinder's Unite function to combine and clean up any loose or stray shapes.
   • Ensure there are no unwanted artifacts by hovering over the artwork.

Coloring Techniques

1. Blob Brush Coloring:

   • Use the Blob Brush for a more hands-on, organic coloring experience.
   • Keep the line work layer locked and above the coloring layer for a neat and polished look.

2. Live Paint Coloring:

   • If your artwork consists of closed shapes, Live Paint offers a faster way to apply flat colors.
   • Save your work frequently to avoid losing any progress.

Moving Forward

After mastering flat colors, you can proceed to more advanced techniques like adding shadows and gradients. These will be covered in the next tutorials.

Save your work, and see you in the next tutorial for adding shadows and gradients to your artwork.

Keywords

• Adobe Illustrator
• Live Paint
• Shape Builder
• Blob Brush
• Coloring
• Line Work
• Path Finder
• Flat Color

FAQs

Q: What is the purpose of duplicating and locking the line work layer? A: Duplicating and locking the line work layer serves as a reference while adding flat colors. It helps to keep your line work uncluttered and prevents accidental changes.

Q: How do I fix open shapes in my artwork? A: Use the Blob Brush tool to manually close gaps in open shapes. This makes the Live Paint tool more effective for coloring.

Q: What is the advantage of using Live Paint over the Blob Brush? A: Live Paint quickly fills closed shapes with color and minimizes the need for the Pathfinder tool. It's efficient for artworks with well-defined edges.

Q: Why should I expand and ungroup my Live Paint artwork? A: Expanding and ungrouping separates shapes into individual components, allowing for easier editing and cleanup of any stray shapes.

Q: How do I unite similar colors in my artwork? A: Use the Magic Wand tool to select similar colors and the Pathfinder tool to unite them, ensuring a tidy and cohesive look.