Textural Vector Illustrations
Building on the theme of my last post, I decided to try out a new technique combining textural elements with gradients in Adobe Illustrator. The wood grain element and grainy Popsicle texture are auto-traces of a couple of scanned images, whereas the Popsicle’s shading is achieved with Illustrator’s gradient mesh tool, a powerful way to add a dose of realism to your artwork.
I also incorporated transparency and ink effects to mimic glazing techniques often used in oil and water color paintings. The resulting illustration is somewhat complex and would likely need to be converted to a different file format for printing. But I think the visual effect is interesting, and I plan to explore simplified combinations of textures and gradients in some upcoming illustrations. And as always, if you have any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to comment!
Tags: Adobe Illustrator, Illustration, tools
“Textural vector illustrations” is exactly what I’ve been working on too! I love the clean lines, but they can get a little cold, flat and machine-made if you don’t add some warmth through textures, and thoughtful use of color. This is great. Nicely done.
Thanks! I have a few more illustrations like this in the works. I’m curious to see what other cool tools or techniques I discover while developing them.