Ultimate Inking and Coloring Tutorial for Adobe Illustrator (short version)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 มี.ค. 2012
- The Fastest, Easiest Method to Ink and Color in Adobe Illustrator.
Please read the video description below before posting questions.
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See the tutorial on my blog: www.claytowne.com/beats-diggin...
Or download the companion Illustrator editable PDF file: www.claytowne.com/beats-diggin...
The brush I used is embedded in the file.
The brush I used is this Hair Brush by ChewedKandi. You'll need a DeviantArt account to download it. Download here: chewedkandi.deviantart.com/art...
Screenshot of brush settings used screencast.com/t/cVCuDIlyyUh
About Those "Lines" You See When You Use this Method:
If you are referring to the microscopic lines where they intersect, or where you cut with the knife, that's an illusion. Zoom in to 6400%. They never get bigger. They don't print that way either. I've been using this technique for years and my stuff has always printed perfectly on posters, trade show pop ups, t-shirts, postcards - everything really - without issues. If they really bother you Try Export/Tiff. That gives a clean export. So will Save For Web/PNG ( Art Optimized -Supersampling) or JPG. In the Web save box you can change the pixel dimensions to any size you want so you can save some pretty huge, print quality images.
Tech Specs for people who are into this stuff:
I use a Wacom Intuos 4 medium size tablet for all drawing. If you are a serious artist you MUST have a tablet. At the very least get a Wacom Bamboo. They're like $50. I'm running a custom rig that I built myself back in 2009. It's a Windows 7 64 bit box with a Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard. It's got 12 GB Corsair DDR3 RAM, a Pentium i7 920 CPU, a Nvida GeForce GTX 280 graphic card, six WD Caviar Black 1TB drives in a RAID 1 configuration. My OS and programs are on one RAID array, and the other two RAID arrays hold my files. I also have two RAID 1 external drives for additional backups. Rounding out the system is a Corsair XT 750 power supply, two 1000 watt UPS backups, a USB 3 PCI Express card, an eSATA PCI express card (I ran out of SATA ports with so many hard drives) a HD Pro Logitec webcam and a pair of DVD burners.
There are a lot of excellent ink and color tutorials on the web, so what is different about this tutorial?
1. Real time. Unlike those speed drawing tutorials that blow your mind but teach you nothing, this one is a true speed drawing tutorial as it's in real time. No cuts and no sped up sections to hide the true time it takes.
2. Learn a practical but unorthodox technique for speeding up your inking and coloring in Illustrator.
3. Vector. In the print industry vector rules the roost so those Photoshop inking tutorials aren't very helpful for someone who's primary concern is clean reproduction in all mediums including brochures, t-shirts, posters, trade show booths, video and packaging.
This method is not the most sophisticated but it gets the job done quick and it looks great. I also discovered one of its key components by accident.
It's great for poster art, cartoon characters, comic book art or any place you need a classic ink and color look - and need it fast - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
I was one who commented when this channel was so new. Now it's on a million views.
Years later, this one's still a classic.
Funny how it worked out like that. Such an anomaly.
I took a simple course in college that taught the basics of Illustrator and Photoshop. I learned a lot of useful tips and tricks for photo manipulation and how to build simple graphics for social media. I've always drawn in photoshop because I never understood how to shade and colour in illustrator. I mostly painted, but I have tried my hand at making vectors because I know the usefulness of it and the absolute uselessness of a drawing in photoshop if I painted too small. This tutorial even though its 8 years old has helped my shading skills so much. I appreciate that you explained everything you were doing as you did it and why you do it that way. Instead of other tutorials where there long stretches of silence and little explanation. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
You're very welcome!
I've just started picking up illustrator, and this tutorial is incredibly useful. A practical demonstration always helps me advance more quickly as an artist, thanks for sharing your process.
Great tutorial! I have not painted on illustrator in about two years and this was an excellent video to watch to get me back in the groove. Great tips too with the expanding again before painting. Thanks again!
Finally some useful video which actually helped me. I was searching for videos for recent versions of Adobe but none of em actually told the basic thing of how to paint in Illustrator ( never would I've thought that painting could be such a hard thing to figure out ), all they did was do things from here and there and never getting to the point. I was hesitant to watch a 6-7 yrs old video because it may be outdated... but I'm glad I watched it... it helped me a lot.
Thanks a lot mate... you are just awesome!
This video still rocks in 2018.
Thanks! I'm really lucky that this basic illustrator functionality has not changed in years which is kept this video very relevant.
That's INSANE! haha That's better than any illustration I've ever done, and in only 8 minutes :) Plus you were explaining the whole time. Great work and thank you so much for this tutorial! Good luck with everything!
+Pavlin “3DxPOD” Dimitrov Thanks!
My thoughts exactly. I wish I could like this video multiple times hehe
I want to cry at how awesome and effective this tutorial is! Thank you so much for uploading this!!!
seriously the best tutorial i've ever come across in the graphic design/illustration world... you're awesome!
Wow, you make it look so easy! Thanks so much for the video. It really helped me. Needed to do a Logo for school and didn't know how to colour the thing. :) I'll check your other videos out.
Instruction Steps!
1. Draw!
2. Select All
3. Group
4. Duplicate
5. Profit!!! ~ Just kidding.
6. Object > Expand Appearance
7. Object > Live Paint > Make
8. Object > Live Paint > Expand
9. Tweak & clean lineart.
10. Object > Live Paint > Make
11. Paint & Save!
Bingo!
thank you
Thank you
Clay Butler when I save the image it has white lines all over it? Can you help me!
@@nicklasgustavsson1722 Please read the video description for ideas on that issue.
Thanks Clay for this real time speed drawing, the information is original, professional, and extremely helpful for not only newbies, but advanced artists like myself that are bogged down with having to zoom in and adjust tons of anchor points once the lines are laid. You literally just gave me a raise and eliminated a dreaded task. I can't thank you enough man.
:)
You can explain so good, slowly and detailed that everyone understands and can repeat it. Thank you!
Thanks! I just try to explain things the way I like things explained.
Such a very short and nice tutorial!
That's truly the best Tutorial on Illustrator inking on TH-cam. All others are awkward and time wasting, with a lot of headache.
perfect tutor
Thanks. I just like to explain things the way I would like them to be explained to me.
Right! Intuitive, straight to the point, and very helpful tools and methods!
I really liked the video. The quick and dirty crossing of the lines and your unique way of using the paint application was fascinating.
+Cheryl Ellis Thanks. It really helps speed things up and keep you lose. When I get fussy I'll use the pen tool and get really specific with anchors and handles and make everything just so. But for many projects, that's overkill. Brush strokes and live paint does the job perfectly.
Speaking as a long-time artist still familiarizing myself with the Illustrator workflow, this tutorial was a life-saver. Thank you very much; keep doing more!
Thank you so much!!! I've beem looking for this for ages! hahahaha
Finally some useful tutorial for inking and coloring! :)
Subscribed! You're wesome
Sayaka Sawanoguchi You're welcome. That's partly my inspiration for making the video. It's a super useful shortcut I stumbled upon by accident . Since I couldn't find a single reference about it on the web I decided I'd provide the reference. Judging by the number of views and likes, I assume many others are having the same "ah-ha" moment I had when I stumbled upon this solution.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! SAVED MY LIFE
+ALSA You're welcome.
Thank you !!!!!!!!!!
I had difficulties in filling the colors as the brush not completed , the best tutorial I attended.
You can adjust the gap settings on the live paint tool so it will still fill in areas that aren't completely closed. Object> Live Paint> Gap Options
I appreciate this. I love ink drawing but it's a chore to clean brushes and I only used Illustrator a few times a long time ago and never liked it compared to Photoshop because the drawing and painting were much more intuitive. I am finally looking at Illustrator again and with the help of tutorials like your's it's starting to make more sense and I'm excited about the possibilities. Thanks!
PLEASE READ THE VIDEO DESCRIPTION BEFORE POSTING QUESTIONS.
CONTAINS LINKS TO DOWNLOAD THE BRUSH AND MASTER FILE IN THIS TUTORIAL!
I'm one of the featured artists in Walter Foster's new book Art of Cartooning & Illustration. All of my illustrations, that are in the book, were done using this inking and coloring method. No lie! I really do use this technique all the time.
www.quartoknows.com/books/9781633226203/The-Little-Book-of-Cartooning-Illustration.html
awesome!! great tuts!
Hey, Ive ran into a problem. For the past two days whenever i try to use the knife tool so i can add shadows and highlights. My illustrator slows down dramatically and gets stuck on the progress bar until i stop the progress. Any idea on how i can fix this? Ive tried simple things like deleting files and uninstalling programs and cleaning up my computer for better performance and its worked for everything except this issue. Its even gotten to the point where everything will start to crash with illustrator claiming i dont have enough RAM to run operations yet ive barely even scratch the surface of my computers RAM. Help if able.
BMOFilms
I wish I had some advice on this one. Using the knife tool is not a processing intensive task, nor a heavy user of ram, so I don't know why that is causing problem. However, you didn't post your specs so I can't really know.
***** Check out the video description. It has all sorts of info including the file used in this lesson and links to resources.
Tanzil khan
Read the video description please.
"That's a horrible eye. Even for a tutorial that's unacceptable." I shit my pants when you said that.
I am often intimated by Tutorials, I'm glad I clicked on yours. You made it quick, easy and very informative. Will save me so much time down the road. Thanks!
Great video for anyone trying to understand Illustrator. I haven't applied anything you said just yet but I am totally encouraged. Will definitely do a follow along tomorrow. You ROCK!
Clay, amazing work for an 8 minute video, your skill is on another level. I have a quick question, When I use the knife in my drawing it leaves a faint grey line almost like pixel blur or tearing. Any idea why this is happening?
Matthew Meijer Read the video description for my thoughts on that and different exporting options. Some people see them, some don't. I've never seen them print that way. I think it's a screen rendering fluke. Zoom in to 1600%. You'll see they don't get any bigger. Because they aren't really there.
"This tut goes hard"...love it. Every time I read this line I keep seeing Snoop Dog saying it.
Great tutorial Clay! Just started experimenting more with digital art and your tutorials are the bomb! Just letting you know that we are still watching them and if you wanted to make any more that would be amazing... Cheers!
This is so brilliant - you just expanded the possibilities of Illustrator so much for me! I would have hated drawing all those highlights and shadows as separate paths, but this method is so quick and easy - awesome.
+devosadvocate Yeah, it really takes a load off and lets you draw more freely.
My Knife tool doesnt make the slice, or atleast I cant see it. Any help?
GOOGLE
help?
I trace Sneakers and color them using the pen tool (it takes forever) would this technique work better?
+Bay FromVA For the coloring part, most definitlely
Clay Butler ok Thanks A lot
I've seen many methods for shading, but this is by far the quickest and most effective!
Thank you so much! I've had illustrator for about a week now. I learned how to navigate through it pretty quickly, but coloring stuff was killing me. The explaining is done well and steady, and the things you forgot to say where added in as annotations. Couldn't have found a better tutorial.
"They are no longer edible strokes". lol
Hands down the best Illustrator tutorial there is, thanks for keeping it short and to-the-point.
Thanks!
Great stuff Clay! Your tutorials have been super helpful for me, and is a great technique for speeding up workflow. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! :)
Thanks for making such clear and helpful tutorials!!!!! You are truly an illustrator MASTER. THANKS THANKS THANKS. keep up the good work
old but gold. best tutorial on youtube! thank you! you're like the only one who explained about the live paint option rather than just doing it.
You're welcome. It's amazing this tutorial is still relevant. All the techniques work just like they did seven years ago!
Excellent video, Clay! I work mostly in Photoshop but have come back many times to this "cut to the chase" tutorial when I have a vector job. Thank you!
Thanks David!
You just made my first animation project go so much smoother. I have been crying every time I just want to fill in something a drew and nothing was happening. All hope was lost but I have found the light, you have shown me the way. Thank you. Thank you.
Yeah!
I think you've changed my graphic design life! I was always using photoshop to shade, frustrated because I couldn't accomplish shading in illustrator. Your technique makes so much sense and you demonstrated it eloquently. Thanks!
Awesome. Photoshop is cool but the fact that it's not vector is a deal killer for me most of the time. I need graphics that are infinitely scalable.
Thank you! This tutorial was brief and to the point. I'll start using this method from this point.
I've watched this video back in 2013. I have now switched to using the blob brush tool so I can do more detail/sophisticated shading (plus I don't have to worry about closed line art) but this video has always been helpful to me years later because it really taught me the fundamental techniques of coloring in Illustrator.
Thanks buddy!
effortlessly good! thanks man, you've helped loads already. i've learnt more from this than i have my whole degree so far!!
You're a genius, thank you so much for this tutorial! I subscribed. I want to draw comics by penciling on paper, then snapping a photo of each comic page and uploading it to my laptop, cropping it in Photoshop, then inking, coloring, and doing the lettering all in Illustrator. This tutorial really helped me.
I have been fighting with coloring some icons that I have made for a project and your video just solved all of my problems! Thank you so very much!!
Awesome Possum!
You are absolutely delightful. I have learnt so much just by watching this. Thank you for the pdf file which I used to follow you. And yes I will donate for sure as I think it is only fair to contribute to this absolutely fantastic tutorial. So thank you!
Dude you're like a wizard! I just got into drawing with illustrator and I must say, I really needed that tweak where i don't hafta sit there for hours erasing my line-throughs :D
Please don't ever remove this video. I come back to it every time I'm working on a project. You save my ass from hours of frustration constantly. Thank you. - C
Don't worry. This video is not going anywhere.
Clay! Your video is very very helpful and informative, it shows the depth of your skills in AI. I have been watching this single video over and over to absorb all the info, and i will search to find your other videos. Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome!
Awesome! You not only clearly and simply show how to do it, but take the fear out of making a mistake, which may be the most valuable part of this lesson.
I'm no expert yet but I know when it's time to clean up the lines where you overshoot, you can hit Q and custom-select lines together and delete them, instead of having to delete one at a time.
That's one of the fun parts about this method is that it frees you up. You don't have to be so anal all the time. And yes I know you can select multiple lines at once and delete them but in my tutorials I like to show the most basic way to do things without keyboard shortcuts because that can be confusing.
I've been using this method for a few weeks. Its the best one for me so far. Just back to say thanks.
Glad it's working for you.
I still use this all the time when I need to get cartoon/pop art done quickly. In fact I just used it last week for some tutorials I'm doing for a major art book publisher about character design.
I would like to thank you for the video. You just helped me with my illustrations. I ask you not to stop creating essential materials like this. I'm Brazilian and you saved my arts.
You're welcome
this video just blew my mind on how many tips there are and how easy this looked
You made the things so much easy !!! Thank you from Brazil!
Such a great tutorial. Easy to follow and straight to the point!
Thanks!
Thanks a lot for this helpful tutorial video. I easily found answers of my questions related with colorig in Adobe Illustrator.
God, I've been trying to do this kinda stuff on photoshop for ages but this morning I got illustrator and everything seems so much easier for me. Your tutorials and tips are really helpful
This was exact tutorial I was looking for a long time, thanx so much, improved my drawing techniques like million times
+Vašek 'itzNukeey' Killer!
Dude you shredded my work time in half! I had no idea it was this simple, thanks a lot!
You're welcome. Yes, it does speed things up. Frees up your line work too.
One of the best inking/drawing tutorials out there. thanks my dude
Thanks!
That was ridiculously good, both drawing and tutorial, much thanks!
Excellent work Clay. Thanks for showing your time-saving techniques.
Excellent, this also works v to select artwork, CTRL+alt+x then shift+L and delete individual lines (hold shift to delete multiple lines).
I came here specifically for what happened just after the 5:00 mark. EXCELLENT PIECE! This is quality work I hope you're still out there killing it in the graphic design world. Well done.
This looks like a logo that could or maybe even was in the old Blitz the League games for custom sports teams.
Great tutorial Clay. Looking forward to more. Thank you for sharing.
I am a complete noob and this has given me the courage to give it a try.
I just subscribed to your vids.
using these tools in a new way (to me) like this is just blowing my mind! great video.
This was super helpful - thanks so much! Being someone who worked with Photoshop for 15 years and having to learn Illustrator for vector illustrations was a small nightmare but your tutorial helped smooth out my transition so much.
+Meryx Valentine (Nekophilliac) You're going to love Illustrator once you wrap your brain around it. Photoshop feels so clunky to me know. I use it as little as possible and only what it was intended for (natural painting, raster image manipulation and web design)
Just want you to know that this video has helped me alot with my drawings. I'm still pretty amataur but at least now I have half an idea of what I'm doing. Thank you heaps!
Awesome!
STUNNING tutorial man. This is such an important skill to learn and you explained it perfectly thank you very much
Glad you found it useful.
Super nice for you to share the technique clearly, much appreciated!
Ruby Cheung You're welcome.
Wow. For months I've been trying to figure out exactly what you're doing. Thank you so much you just saved me another few months I'm sure
You can always ask and a link to the master file is in the video description.
Man, that thing with live paint, to clean overlaping strokes. It's exactly what i've been looking for since I started using illustratot. I'm an amateur and never quite got that. I'm so glad I found this simple trick. Thank you. It fits my style perfectly an will be very helpful and make my work that much easier. I'd only wish you made more of those tutorials because you're quite good at it. But I undersant this is a one-of spare-time thingy. Nice of you to share the tips. Thanks.
Genius! You just solved a huge issue I had with colouring. Thanks!
You're welcome!
Thank you. I finally get it!!! And yes, i've been stupid so far, but this has help me see the light... and the right use of some tools. So thanks again.
Dude, I've been meaning to come here and thank you for making this. You have no idea how much I learned and used this method. I wish I could shake your hand, seriously. Thank you, very much... 6 years later. I'm a bad person
Hey, better late than never. Thanks!
Very handy. I just followed it entirely and found it very helpful. Thank you!
Incredible tutorial! Great technique. Thank you
I noticed that too. It's actually the clear smooth protective plastic surface I taped to my Wacom because I didn't like the paper like resistance on the Intuous 4. It heightens the sound of my pen. My nib is also worn out to so it has a bit of back and forth play that makes a clicking sound.
After a few years... Pandemic brought us back on our past hobbies.. and there we go, Clay... It's been a while! Thank you!
You're welcome!
This is absolutely brilliant.
Loved the tutorial!
Thank you so much
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, it is appreciated.
Good Tut Mr.Butler; kept nice and simple. The outcome looks great too.
This was so incredibly clear and useful, thank you so much, it's so easy to get lost on Illustrator! I'm a complete newcomer, but learned so much form this, thank you for the great tutorial, the clouds have lifted
You're welcome.
I really hope you read this message, because of you and this video you have made, I advanced to another level. All I can do I be grateful. Thank you !
Finally, in 2021 I found the tutorial which is super easy ... I think most people still don't know this technique in 2021.... hats off you sir
Thanks. I think it's pretty easy as well to understand. I actually just used this this week on an illustration. It went so fast.
Great tute man, really appreciate all the detail in explanation. Very down to earth and practical. Thanks and keep it up!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Even with the sound OFF (it's late) I was FINALLY able to figure out how to use Live Paint! Looking forward to checking out more of your tuts when I can put the sound on. ;-)
New to all this but always wanted to get into digital art. Your explanation is awesome, thanks so much.
You're welcome.
Hi Clay you made this tutorial 6-7 years ago and all i can say is its a master piece i just learnt how to colour in one tutorial if by any chance you see this please make more tutorials thank you.
Thanks a bunch Nichole!
You are a gentlemen and a scholar. Thank you so much. I spend so much time tweaking my lines to be all neat. Your expand trick is awesome.
Thanks Brad. I'm glad it's working for you.
This is one of my favorite tutorials of all time. Thank you so much!
Thanks!
Wish I could upvote this more than once. So helpful. Thanks very much.
Thanks!
You are nothing short of a genius.
oh my god, I've used illustrator for I don't know, 15-16 years, and I'm a graphic designer, and never used this tool! Amazing. Though I don't consider myself an illustrator, I never use the live paint and slicing tool..! I feel like I just got an epiphany! Great tut!
thank you so freakin much!!! loved the straightfoward tutorial
Man,you are sooo talented. When looking to your video everything seems so easy,but it's damn hard. Good job!
AMAZING tutorial, still super useful even 8 years later! This was really helpful, thank you so much
I got super lucky. This quirk has stayed the same in every version of Illustrator.
@@claybutler Thats because you worked with a very effective technique as my mentor said go for effective tecchniques
Could you tell me if you used a a pressured brush or fixed
@@hozefabarwaniwala5755 The brush ( which you can download by following the link in the description) has a natural taper on both ends. My tablet is always set to respond to pressure but I don't remember if this particular brush is pressure sensitive.
Thanks for this! I'm new to Illustrator and this helps a ton.