- In this movie, I'll show you the basics of drawing with a Curvature tool, which is very different than anything that we've seen so far. I'm going to start things off like usual, by going up to the File menu and choosing New from Template. And then I'll find that center guides template that I created, oh, so long ago now, and I'll go ahead and click on the New button, in order to create a blank document. Now notice for starters that the Curvature tool is located between the traditional Pen tool and the Time tool in the single-column toolbox. And also notice that it has a keyboard shortcut of Shift + ~ tilde being that key, once again, in the upper left corner of an American keyboard.
And that's a pretty easy shortcut to remember, because after all, the tilde character looks like that wiggly line coming out of the Curvature tool's icon. And once I select the tool, there's literally a tilde coming out of the cursor. We're also seeing an asterisks next to the cursor, and that tells us that we're about to begin a new path outline. And you do so just by clicking with the tool at which point you create an anchor point. Now notice that we're not seeing any kind of line coming out of that first point, but we know that we're now in path creation mode, because we're no longer seeing an asterisks next to the cursor.
Now I'll go ahead and click a second time with the tool, at which point you'll not only create an anchor point, but you'll initially see a straight segment between the two anchor points. That is to say, until you begin moving your cursor, at which time everything begins to bend. And so we're not only bending the segment that we just drew, we also see a preview of the next segment that we're about to create. And this is known as the Rubber Band function inside of Illustrator because, after all, the segments are bending like rubber bands.
Now I'll go ahead and click again down at the bottom of the screen to create a third point. And now notice as I move my cursor, that all three of my segments are bending. That is to say, the first two that I drew as well as the next one that I'm about to draw. And that's because there's a kind of co-dependency between the anchor points when you're working with the curve tool. Alright now I'll go ahead and click to create a fourth point over here on the right side of the screen. At which point things begin to settle down a little bit. Notice that the segment I just drew continues to bend as I move my cursor.
But the first two segments have more or less settled down. Alright now I'll go ahead and hover over the first anchor point, at which time I will see a little circle next to my cursor telling me that I'm about to close this path outline. And then if I move my cursor away, I once again see the asterisks, which tells me that if I click, I will begin a new path outline. Now the interesting thing about the Curvature tool is that it's not only a path creation tool, but it's also a path editing tool analogous to the arrow tools.
So for example, let's say I want to add another anchor point to this path outline. Then I can just go ahead and hover over one of the segments, at which point I'll see a little plus sign next to the cursor, which shows me that if I click I will create a new anchor point at that location and I will modify the curvature of the neighboring segments. Notice that things flattened out just a little bit. Now if I want to I could go ahead and drag that segment to a different location. So you can see, once again, Curvature tool not just a path creation tool, but also a path editing tool.
Alright now go ahead and create an anchor point on the upper right segment, and I want you to see as I drag it down, not only does it move, but its neighboring segments move as well. Again, demonstrating the co-dependent relationship of all of the anchor points as you add them and drag them around. Alright now just to polish things off here, I'm going to click on the Fill icon, the very first swatch up here in the Control Panel, and change the fill to none. And then I'm going to take the line weight up to, let's say, six points like so.
And so you can see, unlike when using, say, the Shape Builder tool, I can modify the fill and stroke attributes on the fly as I work with the Curvature tool. And that is a very basic introduction to how you draw with a Curvature tool here inside Illustrator.
Author
Updated
8/10/2016Released
9/23/2015Start watching to learn how to create multipage documents with artboards; how to draw anything you can imagine with the Pen, Pencil, and Curvature tools; and how to start adding color to your artwork with swatches. Deke also covers drawing shapes, adjusting strokes, formatting text, and painting digitally, with or without a tablet. Each chapter should leave you with a new set of skills—and a sense of accomplishment.
And as Creative Cloud evolves, so will we. Check back every time Illustrator updates for new movies, new feature reviews, and new ways to work.
- Opening, creating, saving, and closing documents
- Working with artboards
- Zooming and panning
- Drawing lines, arcs, grids, and spirals
- Drawing shapes
- Creating compound paths
- Working in RGB vs. CMYK color modes
- Creating and applying swatches
- Adjusting the line weight of strokes
- Formatting text
- Building custom paths with the Shape Builder and Join tools
- Freeform drawing with the Pencil
- Painting and erasing artwork
- Painting with a tablet
- Drawing with the Curvature tool
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
Q: This course was updated on 02/24/2016. What changed?
A: We added five new videos and updated eight others, to keep up with the latest version of Illustrator CC.
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Deke's Techniques
with Deke McClelland155h 55m Intermediate
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Introduction
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Welcome to One-on-One4m 20s
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1. Working with Documents
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Creating a new document5m 2s
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Modifying your new document5m 59s
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Saving your changes7m 46s
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2. Working with Artboards
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Using the Artboard tool8m 51s
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Undo, Redo, and Revert3m 16s
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Artboard tips and tricks4m 46s
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Autoarranging artboards6m 41s
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Artboards and rulers7m 26s
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3. Getting Around
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Zooming in and out5m 59s
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Cycling between screen modes6m 38s
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4. Drawing Lines
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Now, we draw44s
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Creating center guides7m 13s
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Drawing straight lines5m 10s
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Duplicating and extending6m 15s
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Using the Move command5m 19s
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Joining your line segments5m 23s
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Using the Arc tool6m 45s
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Using the Polar Grid tool3m 29s
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Using the Spiral tool7m 31s
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5. Drawing Shapes
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Using the Ellipse tool7m 45s
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Live ellipses and pies4m 44s
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Drawing two perfect circles8m 22s
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Creating compound paths7m 1s
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Using the Rectangle tool5m 39s
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Using the crazy Flare tool6m 19s
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6. Color and Swatches
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How color works1m 7s
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Working with global swatches5m 43s
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7. Strokes, Dashes, and Arrows
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Adjusting the line weight4m 42s
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Caps, joins, and miter limit6m 25s
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Dashes and arrowheads7m 24s
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Variable-width strokes5m 58s
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Combining multiple strokes4m 18s
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8. Creating and Formatting Text
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Text at its best1m 2s
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Setting up page margins6m 25s
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Placing and flowing text5m 34s
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Formatting display text5m 47s
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Formatting body copy5m 59s
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Creating a drop cap3m 39s
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Resolving widows and orphans4m 49s
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Redefining a paragraph style6m 48s
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Creating type on a path6m 3s
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9. Building Custom Paths
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Join and the Shape Builder1m 12s
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Using the Join command6m 26s
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Using the Join tool4m 16s
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Creating an inset reflection6m 32s
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10. Using the Pencil Tool
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Creating a tracing template3m 28s
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11. Painting and Erasing
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The best tools for painting1m 27s
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Introducing the Eraser tool6m 56s
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Merging selected paths4m 58s
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Releasing compound paths6m 7s
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Erasing and smoothing lumps6m 13s
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12. Using the Curvature Tool
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Drawing one point at a time1m 46s
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Curvature tool curiosities4m 32s
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Creating quick smooth shapes6m 29s
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13. Using the Pen Tool
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Creating corner points6m 44s
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How smooth points work6m 51s
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Drawing smooth points7m 55s
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Creating cusp points6m 34s
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Using the Anchor Point tool5m 32s
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Drawing perspective edges5m 48s
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Drawing a few distress marks10m 1s
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A preview of round corners9m 26s
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14. Drawing with Round Corners
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Making corners smooth1m 7s
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The round corner widget3m 44s
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Rounding off corner points4m 54s
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Changing the corner type3m 37s
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Rounding characters of type6m 15s
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Decorating an iPhone screen6m 37s
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Reshaping rounded paths9m 40s
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15. Making Screen Graphics
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Pixel grid "gotchas"5m 5s
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Saving an 8-bit graphic6m 32s
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Saving a JPEG image5m 10s
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Assigning a copyright3m 10s
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Using the Asset Export panel4m 42s
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Conclusion
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Until next time1m 50s
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Video: Drawing with the Curvature tool