Vector Art

This workbook turns the Vector Art course into reps you can keep. You will drill the Pen tool, build artwork from primitives, shade with mesh and cel layers, and ship a portrait, a scene, and a print-ready merch file. Work each section in order, save your swatch sets and components as you go, and use the included templates to track palettes, ink limits, and export specs so every later piece stays consistent and sellable.

Train accurate Pen-tool curves and prove you can describe shapes with the fewest, best-placed anchors.

Create a 1920 by 1080 px file. On a locked layer at 30 percent opacity, place a reference sheet with a straight run, an S-curve, a row of scallops, and a closed loop. Trace each on a layer above using only the Pen tool. Then switch to the Direct Selection tool and delete every anchor that is not at a curve extreme. Repeat the full set three times and keep your fastest clean attempt.

Pick one organic shape, for example a leaf or a speech bubble. Draw it three times: once with the standard Pen tool, once with the Curvature Pen, and once freehand with the Pencil followed by Object, Path, Simplify. Compare anchor counts and edit-ability.

Fill this in for one shape you traced so you can repeat your reasoning on future art.

Build artwork from primitives and combine it precisely with Shape Builder, Pathfinder, and the Align panel.

Choose a simple subject (a mug, a fox, a camera). Before drawing, list the primitives it breaks down into. Then build it using only rectangles, ellipses, polygons, and minimal Pen work, combining parts with Shape Builder or Pathfinder. Keep it geometric and symmetric.

Take a face or object built from one base shape plus an overlapping shadow shape. Select both and use Pathfinder Divide, then recolor the resulting slices to create a hard-edged two-tone shade. Note how Divide differs from Trim and from a live Compound Shape.

Plan one piece before building it so you rely on construction, not endless outlining.

Lock a reusable palette and practice both full gradient mesh and fast cel-shading for volume.

Create five global swatches (dominant, secondary, accent, light neutral, dark neutral). For each, make three tints for shading. Apply them to a small illustration, then edit one global swatch and confirm every object using it updates. Save the set as a Swatch Library.

Render one rounded object (an apple, a balloon, a bottle) two ways. First use a gradient mesh of about 4 by 4 with one highlight and one shadow point. Then recreate similar volume on a copy using only a freeform gradient plus Multiply shadow and Screen highlight shapes. Keep a flat backup before meshing.

Record how you shaded one piece so you can justify the method next time.

Finish a portrait and a scene, then prepare correct, bleed-safe files for apparel, stickers, and posters.

Place a portrait photo on a locked, dimmed layer. Reduce it to highlight, midtone, core shadow, and accent shapes using the Pen tool. Build features as separate small shapes and clip all shading inside the skin silhouette. Pull reference opacity down as you go to judge your shapes alone.

Build a scene in named background, midground, and foreground layers around one hero subject. Apply a single consistent light direction, use overlap and scale for depth, and add a low-opacity atmospheric overlay to distant layers. Drive the eye to one focal point with your highest contrast and most saturated accent.

Complete one row of facts per deliverable before you export or send to a printer.