In the following steps you will learn how to create a detailed water pistol illustration in Adobe Illustrator.
For starters you will learn how to setup a simple grid and how to create the main body shape along with the trigger and the handle using basic tools and effects and some gradients.
Next, using a bunch of new shapes, the live corners feature, some simple effects and basic masking techniques you will learn how to create the pipe, the nozzle and the water container. Finally, you will learn how to add subtle shading and highlights using basic blending techniques and a simple Drop Shadow effect.
1. Create a New Document and Set Up a Grid
Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 600 in the width and height boxes then click on the Advanced button. Select RGB, Screen (72ppi) and make sure that the Align New Objects to Pixel Grid box is unchecked before you click OK. Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid).
For starters you will need a grid every 5px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides > Grid, enter 5 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid, it will ease your work and keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control-“ keyboard shortcut. You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Do not forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels fromEdit > Preferences > Units > General. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Roosevelt Graphics 