50 Best illustrator tutorials from 2020

November 23rd, 2020
Illustrator

A great blog post we collate together towards the end of each year. The post feature all the very best illustrator tutorials published online throughout the year of 2020. This post a great resource for broadening your illustrator knowledge for free. The roundup includes a great collection of illustrator tutorials from learning how to create illustrations to unique text effect. There’s tutorial suitable for all skills so perfect if you’re a beginner or veteran illustrator user.

This a great blog post to bookmark and share to reference in the future. A great resource improving your illustrator skills and all for free.

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1. Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop tutorial: Make vector art brimming with soul

This tutorial centres some of these lesser known tools and techniques in Adobe Illustrator. You’ll learn how to render convincing shadows and highlights, some best practice approaches to clean line art, the pattern tool, the warp tool, transparency, blur effects and overall adding a little more love to vector artwork than necessary.

2. Create a Simple Power Button in Adobe Illustrator

In the following Power Button vector tutorial, you will learn how to create a simple power button in Adobe Illustrator. In the beginning you will learn how to set up a simple grid and how to create and center a simple rectangle that will make up your background. Next, using basic vector shape building techniques you will learn how to create the circle and the compound path that will make up your power button. Finally, taking full advantage of the Appearance panel, you will learn how to add color, shading, highlights and depth for your shapes.

3. How to Create a Vector Medical Face Mask Mockup in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this “Leafy Face” manipulation in Photoshop. We will go through techniques such as layer blending, layer masks, filter effects, and the use of adjustment layers.

4. Draw a Cute Halloween Witch in Adobe Illustrator

Are you excited to celebrate a magical holiday with pumpkins and fancy costumes? Follow this tutorial to create a lovely cartoon Halloween witch! We’ll be using simple geometric shapes and colourful gradients to make an appealing character in a simple and trendy style.

5. Video: How to Create a Retro Style Badge Design in Illustrator

In today’s Adobe Illustrator tutorial I’m going to show you how to create a retro badge style logo design featuring a simplified vector skull illustration and text elements that follow the circular outline of the badge container. To create the badge logo design, we’ll first start by drawing the vector skull illustration using basic shapes to give the artwork a stylised appearance. I’ll then show you some useful tips for creating Type on a Path effects, which are particularly handy for constructing classic badge layouts like this.

6. How to Create a Vector T-Shirt Mockup Template in Adobe Illustrator

Do you need a T-shirt vector template for your next design project or clothing brand? In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the Mesh Tool in Adobe Illustrator to create a T-shirt mockup vector template!

7. How to Create a Gold Chain Pattern Brush With Illustrator

In this tutorial, I’ll explain how to create a pattern chain link brush in Adobe Illustrator. Creating pattern brushes can save time and is a great technique to add to your design skills. After completing this tutorial, you’ll be able to create a great chain brush to add to your design arsenal. Use this brush to learn how to draw a gold necklace!

8. Halloween Pumpkin Vector Stickers in 30 Mins!

In this Halloween pumpkin vector sticker tutorial we will learn how to create fun Halloween pumpkin sticker, passing all the steps of design, including sketching, coloring and creating shadows and glares. The method described here to create shadows using Blend Tool will keep you away from artifacts that normally occur on objects of complex shape. I hope that this maximum optimizing methods presented here will help you to work more efficiently, that will save plenty time in the future.

9. Snowman

In this new tutorial you will learn how to create a happy snowman character in Adobe Illustrator.

10. How to create character illustration using illustrator

In this tutorial I’ll teach you how to draw a funny insurance agent using just basic shapes and pen tool. Intermediate knowledge of Adobe Illustrator is advised.

11. Use a Pattern Rope Brush to Create a Rope Text Effect in Illustrator

In the following steps, you will learn how to create a pretty simple rope brush in Illustrator and how to use it to create a nice text effect.

12. Create Your Own Realistic Leather Texture!

You’ll learn how to create a seamless leather texture by using the Pencil Tool and Pattern Editing mode. Leather textures and patterns are often used in design, and that’s why creating your own leather texture will be super useful for you in future. I also want to let you know that the technique used in this tutorial would be perfect for creating other types of textures as well.

13. Create Lightsaber Vector in Adobe Illustrator

In today’s tutorial you will create intersecting futuristic lightsaber vector with the help of the blend objects, blending modes, and gradient fills. The tutorial is relatively simple and can be applied to many other Illustrator projects.

14. Create colourful vector character art

This Adobe Illustrator tutorial will teach you how to create a fully digital image from an initial sketch. You will learn how to control vector paths to create smooth angles and view the necessary stages to complete a piece of work in Adobe Illustrator.

15. Create and edit shapes

16. How to create a bubble text effect

In the following steps, you will learn how to create a bubble text design using a bubble letter font in Adobe Illustrator.

17. Turn Drab Text Into an Amazing Design Using This Simple USB Vector Text Effect

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a wire pattern brush and how to use it to create a nice USB vector text effect in Adobe Illustrator.

18. How to create a low poly text effect

In this tutorial, Brazilian designer Breno Bitencourt shows you step-by-step how to create a stylish low-poly portrait in Illustrator and Photoshop.

19. Transform and edit artwork

Learn the basics of transforming and editing artwork in Adobe Illustrator, including resizing artwork, using groups, aligning objects, and more.

20. How to Create a Baby Block Text Effect in Illustrator

At the beginning, you will learn how to create a simple cube using the Illustrator 3D effect, and how to rotate it and adjust its position to get a more clever blocks text effect.

21. 6 Quick Steps to Creating a Fantasy Building Vector Icon

Pop on your imagination cap and get ready to play with basic shapes and building designs in this quick tutorial on creating a fantasy building vector icon!

22. How To Create a Retro Cereal Box Design with a Mascot Character

In the video tutorial, Its going to take you through the process of creating a mascot character to go within a retro cereal box design, using a mixture of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

23. Get Organized and Create Your Own Folder Vector Icon!

In the following tutorial you will learn how to create a detailed folder vector icon in Adobe Illustrator.

24. How to Create a Vintage Brush to Add Texture in Illustrator

Add a vintage style to your illustrations by learning how to create vintage texture brushes in Adobe Illustrator.

25. How to Create a Floppy Disk Icon in Adobe Illustrator

In today’s tutorial, we’re going retro and learning how to create a floppy disk icon, using some of the basic shapes and tools you already work with on a daily basis.

26. Retro Text Effect with Concentric Stripes

how to create a retro text effect with colourful concentric stripes. Illustrator’s Offset Path command produces the basic effect, but we will eliminate the tedious process of adding each outline individually with the help of an Action, so you will be able to fill an entire poster with this retro stripe effect within seconds.

27. Create a Grungy Web Badge

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a grungy web badge in Adobe Illustrator. For starters you will learn how to setup a simple grid and how to easily center the starting shapes using the Align panel. Next, taking full advantage of the Appearance panel and using some basic masking and vector shape building techniques, you will learn how to create the two main shapes.

28. Create low-poly art in Photoshop

Using Photoshop to create low-poly art, here Damien Vignaux (aka Elroy) shows you how he created an artwork for his band, The Escapists – a techno act comprised of Damien and Leonizer records boss Léonard De Léonard. The artwork appears on the cover of The Escapists’ EP, Les Ailes du Courage (Wings of Courage), as well as on flyers for their live shows.

29. Yum! Draw Delicious Breakfast Icons in Adobe Illustrator

You’ll be using the most handy tools of Adobe Illustrator while working with simple geometric shapes and doing a bit of a freehand drawing with the Pencil Tool. You don’t even need a drawing tablet for this one.

30. Change color and strokes

Learn the basics of working with colors in Adobe Illustrator, including how to change color, create swatches, recolor artwork, and more.

31. How to Use an SVG Color Font to Create a Logo Design in Illustrator

In the following steps, you will learn how to create a circle logo design for a tailor using an SVG font in Adobe Illustrator.

32. How to Create a Mountain Landscape in Flat Style in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a natural mountain landscape in flat design using the most basic shapes and tools of Adobe Illustrator.

33. Create a Casio Watch in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a realistic watch using simple tools and techniques like the Align, Pathfinder, Clipping Mask, etc. in Adobe Illustrator. You will also learn how to use gradients and some simple effects to create an awesome 3D look.

34. Illustrator vector tutorial: Superboy character

In this new tutorial you will learn how to create a super boy character in Adobe Illustrator.

35. How to Create a Font in Adobe Illustrator

If you’re a designer or illustrator who’s comfortable creating glyphs in Adobe Illustrator, this tutorial is right up your alley! You’ll learn how to create your own font in Illustrator by planning out a letter set, go over ways to refine the font design, and prepare files for use in a font-making program, all from the comfort of Adobe Illustrator.

36. Illustrator vector tutorial: Pizza text effect

In this new tutorial you will learn how to create a delicious pizza text effect in Adobe Illustrator.

37. How to Create Halftone Effects in Adobe Illustrator

Halftones are dots of varying sizes and spacing, put together to simulate a tone or gradient. Though it is a method connected to print, the aesthetics of it have made it popular to use even for digital content.

38. Draw a Summer Coconut Cocktail in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial you’ll be creating a summer composition with tropical coconut cocktail in a trendy outlined flat style! Let’s learn how to work with the most useful tools of Adobe Illustrator to be able to modify basic geometric shapes and create vibrant illustrations for web-design, t-shirt prints, apparel design and many more!

39. How to Create a Retro Chrome Text Effect in Adobe Illustrator

In the following steps you will learn how to create a retro chrome text effect in Adobe Illustrator.

40. Draw a Tropical Summer Seamless Pattern in Adobe Illustrator

In this warm and sunny tutorial we will design an elegant summer pattern. We’ll be manipulating with the most useful tools of Adobe Illustrator and learn how to draw seamless textures with tropical vibes. Are you ready?

41. How to Curve Text in Illustrator

If you want to learn how to curve text in Illustrator, in this short tutorial I’ll show you how to do it in practice using two different methods. One is simple and quick, and the other is more powerful.

42. How to Create a Magician’s Hat in Adobe Illustrator

Follow this tutorial and learn how to draw a Magic Hat in Adobe Illustrator. The tutorial is composed of two main parts, creating the hat and creating the head of the rabbit. You will start from basic shapes, complex gradients and with a few distortion techniques that involve the Direct Selection Tool, Roughen and Transform effects you will easily create the shapes that you need. The Align and the Pathfinder options also play an important role in this tutorial.

43. Illustrator vector tutorial: Summer text effect

In this new tutorial you will learn how to create a summer inspired text effect in Adobe Illustrator.

44. Create A Water Texture Vector!

It is starting to warm up oustide, so it is only fitting we create a wading water texture vector, like in a pool. It is a relatively quick and easy technique using Illustrator’s Effects, Simplify, Offset Path and some bright colors.

45. Isometric City Illustration in Adobe Illustrator

how you can add colourful shapes to represent the windows, without having to worry about getting the angles right.

46. How to Create a Colourful Geometric Pattern in Illustrator

Making geometric patterns in Adobe Illustrator is always a fun creative project. You can follow the same basic technique each time but experiment with different shapes and colours to create endless pattern styles. Follow along with today’s Adobe Illustrator tutorial to create a colourful geometric pattern based on a series of triangle shapes. I’ll show you how developing a simple rule to follow can transform a basic pattern into a much more complex layout with less repetition.