Thursday, September 12, 2013

2013 update

This old blogspot page has been down for 6 years after I moved everything to Illcraft.com and a wordpress based page. I took that page down for a bit this summer to work on it and I didn't think anyone would notice. But, after several requests for the information I thought it would be easier to just put this info back online here.

This blog covers up to Illustrator CS3. I am currently using Illustrator CC after skipping CS4, and working with CS5, and CS6 both of which I adored. There are many new improvements with Illustrator that make my life as a cartoonist a lot easier. But for simplicity sake and those just starting out with the wonderful world of Adobe Illustrator the tutorials contained here are enough to get you started.

I think you should skip all the way to the oldest information on here and read it from there. I tried to cover the basics waaay back there and it's helped many people get a hang of Illustrator. Illy, as it's friends call it, is a tough program to figure out, but with a few tips you'll find it easy to master.

I have worked with Photoshop, and Manga studio, both of which are just brilliant programs, but I don't think anything equals Illustrator for making comics. The clarity of line that comes with a vector based program is just unmatched. I've been working with Illy since 2000 or so and learned on Illustrator 8.0 at a adult education program in LA. I was told then that I would never use a stylus or tablet with Illy because it's all about the mouse.  I am glad I went beyond that training and figured it out for myself.

I hope the lessons here are enough to get you started. Please read the comments sections too because a lot of good stuff is covered there.

Brian Denham
San Antonio
September 12, 2013