How to Make a Custom Stretchy Brush in Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

Ever wondered how to create a 'stretchy brush' in Adobe Illustrator? Join Esther Nariyoshi, a top teacher on Skillshare, as she breaks down the steps to transform a simple illustration into a dynamic, stretchy brush. Plus, learn to craft a cute pencil illustration from scratch!

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Hello there! I'm Esther Nariyoshi, an illustrator, designer, and one of the top teachers on Skillshare. You might know me from my quick snack series where I break down Adobe Illustrator techniques into bite-sized, easily digestible episodes for designers and illustrators of all skill levels. Today, I'm excited to share with you a tutorial on how to turn a simple illustration into a stretchy brush. Let's dive in!

What's a Stretchy Brush?

Firstly, if you're wondering what I mean by a "stretchy brush," imagine drawing a simple line in Illustrator. Now, when you apply one of these stretchy brushes to that line, it extends or compresses a specific part of your illustration (the "belly") while keeping the beginning and end (the "head" and "tail") of the illustration intact. It's a neat trick that can be super useful in various design situations.

Transforming a Pencil Illustration into a Stretchy Brush:

Prepare Your Illustration: For this tutorial, I'll be using a cute pencil illustration. But don't worry if you haven't designed one yet. I'll show you how to create that later on!
Accessing the Brushes Panel: First, select your pencil illustration. If you can't see the Brushes panel, navigate to Window > Brushes to make it visible.
Creating a New Brush: Within the Brushes panel, you'll spot a little plus icon. Click on it and select 'Art Brush'. This is the magic setting that lets us define the stretchy aspect of our brush.
Defining the Stretchy Area: A crucial step here is to 'Stretch Between Guides'. This tells Illustrator which part of your illustration can be stretched and which parts remain static. Adjust the guides to set the middle section (the "belly" of your pencil) as the stretchable area.
Color Settings: While you can set the colorization method to 'Hue Shift' if you plan to change the pencil's color later, I typically set it to 'None'.
Test Out Your Brush: Once done, draw a path on your artboard using any tool (I'm partial to the pencil tool). Apply your newly created brush to this path. If everything's set up right, the middle part of your pencil should stretch, while the ends remain unchanged.

Crafting the Pencil Illustration from Scratch:

Not all of us have a handy pencil illustration lying around. So, if you're starting from scratch, here's a quick rundown:

Start with Basic Shapes: Use the rectangle tool (M on your keyboard) to create the pencil's body. Clone these rectangles (holding the Option key while dragging is your friend here).
Add Details: Create the metal eraser holder and eraser using more rectangles. For the pencil's point, a triangle (polygon tool) works wonders. Remember to play with colors and adjust sizes as needed!
Final Touches: Add the pencil's lead using the ellipse tool. Align, adjust, and tweak until you're happy with your cute pencil design!

Wrapping Up:

Turning simple illustrations into stretchy brushes in Adobe Illustrator can add a dynamic touch to your designs. It's versatile, and fun, and once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless.

If you're hungry for more Illustrator tips and tricks, do check out my other episodes in this series. And hey, if you find these tutorials helpful, I've got a bunch more on Skillshare. Click here for a free trial of my Skillshare classes. Until next time, happy designing!