26 Awesome Brush Tutorials for Adobe Illustrator on Tuts+

The brushes in Adobe Illustrator are incredible tools that allow you to create and do a multitude of things. This week we've focused purely on beginner content for those who wish to get a better understanding on brushes. These aren't the only tutorials we have on Tuts+, in fact I'd like to share with you many of our others.

Brushes Week

We posted several tutorials, screen cast and written, to help ease you into mastering Brushes. Check out the ones you may have missed or revisit those handy beginner tutorials.

• How to Make, Use, and Manipulate a Calligraphic Brush in Adobe Illustrator

  The Calligraphic brush in Adobe Illustrator mimics the look and feel of a calligraphy pen nib. Let's take its options for a spin to get everything you can from this brush type.

• How to Make, Use, and Manipulate a Bristle Brush in Adobe Illustrator

  The Bristle Brush in Adobe Illustrator mimics the look and feel of paintbrushes. From acrylic to watercolor to oil, the style of the brush can be customized to a high degree and allows the user to create paint-like vector pieces. Let's take its options for a spin to get everything you can from this brush type.

• Learn More About Art and Scatter Brushes While Drawing Abstract Trees

  In this tutorial I'm going to cover the main features of Art and Scatter Brushes in Adobe Illustrator, how to create and apply them.

• Quick Tip: Create a Mardi Gras Bead Brush in Adobe Illustrator

  You might think a Pattern Brush would be the obvious choice for a beaded necklace, but a Scatter Brush is even better. In this screencast, learn the difference between the two, and see how to create a festive set of Mardi Gras beads.

• A Closer Look at Colorization Methods of Brushes in Illustrator

  When creating custom Art, Pattern or Scatter brushes in Adobe Illustrator, you can choose a Colorization Method for each brush. Understanding colorization is especially important if you plan to share or sell your custom brushes.

• Create a Detailed Snake Pattern Brush in Adobe Illustrator

  In the following steps you will learn how to create a detailed snake pattern brush in Adobe Illustrator.

Brushes: Quick Tips

• A Comprehensive Guide: Illustrator's Paintbrush Tool and Brush Panel

  Illustrator's Paintbrush Tool (B) and Brush Panel are some of it's most powerful tools. With the Paintbrush Tool (B) and Brush Panel you can dress up your vector paths into compelling flourishes, patterns, tapered edges, and more. In this tutorial, I will break down the basics of the Paintbrush Tool and Brush Panel and show you how to create your own brushes.

• Quick Tip: The Blob Brush in Action

  Illustrator's Blob Brush settings can be confusing. Seeing it in action will help you get the most out of this fun, flexible tool. Learn how to make painterly scenes and objects with a few strokes of the Blob Brush and Eraser. You will be surprised by how fun this tool is!

• Quick Tip: Learn How to Create Corner Tiles for Pattern Brushes in Adobe Illustrator

  A Pattern Brush is more than a repeating shape. It can have inner and outer corners, plus starting and ending shapes. In this Quick Tip, see how to deconstruct an exiting Pattern Brush and create your own.

• Quick Tip: Comprehensive Overview of Illustrator's Stroke Panel

  Illustrator's stroke panel got a major overhaul in version CS5. In this video, we break it down for you, section by section. See how to add dashed lines, arrowheads, width profiles and more.

• Quick Tip: Create a Moustache Using Custom Art Brushes

  Learn how to make custom Art brushes in Illustrator, then use them to create a hipster moustache. This is the perfect tutorial for a last minute costume, just print it out on some paper and you're ready to go! Let's get started.

• Quick Tip: How to Create a Simple Paw Print Scatter Brush in Adobe Illustrator

  In the following tutorial I'm going to show you how to create two simple paw print Scatter Brushes in Adobe Illustrator. These are so easy to do and are aimed at beginners. We'll be creating a dog brush and then showing you how to modify it to be a cat brush. So let's get stuck in!

• Quick Tip: Create a Set of Neon Art and Scatter Brushes in Illustrator

  Follow this quick tip and create your own collection of Neon Brushes in Adobe Illustrator. You will create Art Brushes and also Scatter Brushes, different colors and sizes that you can use in your projects. You'll continue to see how you can save a set of brushes for use in the future and examples of some great quick effects you can create with your brushes.

• Quick Tip: Create a Bat Scatter Brush in Adobe Illustrator

  Scatter Brushes are a quick way to get multiple instances of the same shape into your illustration, and apply those shapes randomly. Learn how to create a Scatter Brush from a vector object in Adobe Illustrator, then paint the night sky with a swarm of bats.

Tutorials Ideal for Beginners

Here are some great tutorials to test your new skill on!

• How to Create a Vector Dream Catcher with Brushes in Adobe Illustrator

  Recently while browsing Tuts+, I came across a tutorial on creating a Hoop Inspiration Board. I thought it was pretty cool and stored it in the back of my mind for things I'd love to create. Who'd have thought it would inspire a vector tutorial! In today's tutorial I'm going to show you how to create your own vector dream catcher in Adobe Illustrator using brushes!

• Create a Detailed, Festive Christmas Wreath in Adobe Illustrator

  Have you already started to prepare for Christmas? In this tutorial we will learn how to create a festive and glittering Christmas wreath with the help of self-made brushes in Adobe Illustrator. Let's get started!

• Create CS5 Width Profile Brushes in any Version of Adobe Illustrator CS!

  Adobe Illustrator CS5 has a new option within the Stroke window known as "Width Profile". This tutorial shows how you can create brushes and use them in any version of Adobe Illustrator CS. You will also learn how to create, save and use your new brushes!

• How to Include a Gradient Within a Brush in Adobe Illustrator

  Ever wanted to create a custom brush but then you're presented with a pop up saying that you can't do it because... you've got a gradient in there! Ugh. After all those detailed elements you've created, a gradient is getting in the way. You could however replace the gradient with a blend and clipping mask (after the brush, as clipping masks can't be used inside of a brush), but aha... there is another way!

• How to Utilize the Pattern Tool to Create a Pattern Brush in Illustrator CS6

  One of my favorite new tools with Adobe Illustrator CS6 is the Pattern Tool. It's great for creating complex seamless patterns in real time and gives you so many options. However it's not so easy to create a Pattern Brush. Today's Quick Tip tutorial is a bit of an experimental one, showing you how you can use the Pattern Tool to help in the creation of a Pattern Brush.

• How to Create a Set of Multi-Use, Blend Brushes in Adobe Illustrator

  In this tutorial you'll learn everything there is to know about the Blend Brushes in Adobe Illustrator. These brushes with soft edges, are used often for adding highlights, shades or details, are a real treasure for your designs. Here you will learn how to create some of the most used Art and Scatter Blend Brushes. Let's begin!

• How to Illustrate Dynamic Hair Using Adobe Illustrator's Paintbrush Tool

  This tutorial will show you how to create a dynamic hairstyle from a reference image. You will use the Paintbrush Tool, basic skin shading and transparent gradients.

• Create Quick, Psychedelic Mushrooms With the Blob Brush Tool

  Turn on your black lights, fire up your lava lamps, and break out the fuzzy posters because these vibrant mushrooms are glowing! It's time to play with some blur effects and the Blob Brush Tool (Shift -B) to get these fantastic fungi dancing on your artboard in Adobe Illustrator.

Fancy a Bit More of a Challenge?

Once you've mastered the basics and have tried some of our beginner tutorials, kick it up a notch and try some of these more challenging projects.

• Create a Jellyfish with Brushes in Adobe Illustrator CS5

  In today's tutorial, I'm going to show you how to create a stylized jellyfish using blends and brushes within Adobe Illustrator CS5. Being as I'm not an expert on the anatomy of a jellyfish, please forgive my lack of terminology on naming the parts correctly. This jellyfish is just a sparkling critter from the deep sea depths! So let's get right into it.

• Create a Large Face, Cat Illustration from Stock in Adobe Illustrator

  When the trend of having t-shirts of large faces of animals, merged into the canvas started, I was going through all the t-shirt design sites to find the perfect one for me. So inspired by that trend, I'd like to show you how to create your own design, from a stock image, in Adobe Illustrator.

• Create a Sparkling, Glitter Portrait From Stock in Adobe Illustrator

  In today's tutorial I'm going to show you how to create a sparkling portrait. I'll show you how to create your own skintone palette, render flawless skin, create hair from brushes and of course... add a good handful of glitter, all in Adobe Illustrator. There's no blurs, meshes or raster effects in this tutorial, it's 100% vector and 100% fabulous! So let's get on with it.

• How to Create a Painted Vector Effect in Adobe Illustrator

  In this tutorial we are going to take a look at using the Paintbrush Tool and its options to achieve a painted effect with vector in Adobe Illustrator. I will be using it on one of my characters and we will focus on her only, not the background. What is nice about this technique is that you can apply it on anything and it is quite simple. So even if you aren't that advanced yet, you should have no difficulty using the Paintbrush Tool in this manner.

Conclusion

We hope this article helped clarify the Brushes and give you ideas on how to use it in your future projects! Happy creating and don't forget to follow us over on Twitter and Facebook!