.Want to produce illustrations with more impact? Download these 5 FREE brushes to refine your digital line drawings in Illustrator.Lines can be as elegant as they are rudimentary or as complex as they are simple. They lead the eye as much as they support the subject matter.As one of the elements of visual art, along with shape and composition, etc., the line is also a versatile tool that can be used on its own to create beautifully minimal designs. Just glance at the wave of minimalist logos from the past few years. Most of it is flat line work. So, if that’s where you wanted to move away from, you’re in the right place.Download these five FREE brushes and make your lines something special to stand out from the flat-line strokes.
These brushes have character and variation to jazz up 2-D lines. By downloading these free brushes, you agree not to resell or redistribute these assets.Downloading and Using the Brushes Load the BrushesTo load these brushes in Illustrator, open the Brushes window under the Window menu. In the hamburger menu in the upper right corner, go to the bottom, Open Brush Library, then Other Library.Then navigate to your download and choose the file Shutterstock Line Brushes.ai to open them in your file. A new window will open with the new brushes. As you select them for use, they will also appear in the regular Brushes window.To use a brush, simply create a path, a shape, or any vector object.
Click a brush in the window, then use colors and Stroke attributes to fine tune it. Hover over each brush to see the name. Stroke Window in IllustratorAll of these brushes can be used to create your line vector, or added after it’s created. Use the Brush tool, Pen tool, Pencil, Shapes, or any method you want to make the vectors, then experiment with different brushes and settings. Or, choose a brush first and freehand draw with it.Familiarizing yourself with the functions of the Stroke window in Illustrator will give you the foundational skills to control and shape your lines in vector form.
Here’s a quick breakdown of some controls that make big changes to these brushes:. Weight: use this in increments under 1 pt to get better detail. Corner: choose the middle button for rounded corners if the lines go askew at a corner. Profile: use a choice from this drop-down menu to vary the thickness of the stroke.Find it in the main menu at the top of the screen, Windows Stroke.Free Brushes SketchyFirst, we’re working on a computer or a tablet, using vector points or very clean pixels. It is pretty hard to get an authentic hand-sketched look.
However, if style is all about confidence in a vibe you don’t necessarily have to try to pass it off as a facsimile or something it’s not. Turn a slick vector illustration sketchy and expressive.Image viaThis brush will give your strokes a sketchy, choppy look like pencil or charcoal on rough paper. There are brushes installed in Illustrator called “charcoal” but they don’t have much depth. This gives you a fuzzy edge and more randomized features. Detail Expressive WireUse the Expressive Wire brush on a continuous-line drawing to create a more organic feel, rather than the single-point size of the basic Illustrator stroke. This brush was designed to vary in thickness at random points to create elegantly pulsing curves around your shapes.
Image viaUse these It may seem subtle at first, but it adds just enough life to a boring outline to find its voice. Choppy WireThis brush takes the wavy paths of the Expressive Wire brush and adds grungy outer crust. For when hard geometry needs a shot of street cred, or when you need to scum up a line that flows too perfectly, this subtle shot of distortion does just the trick. Image via Letter ScrawlLines and strokes can be used to create letters. But you can use texture and gesticulating accents to say so much more than the words.
With this brush you get the sassy penmanship of someone scrawling a band name on their notebook in class. Perfect for making zine stuff or a show flyer on the computer.Add the brush to strokes on shapes and backgrounds to complete a punk-y, scrawled notebook look, to trick up a too-clean illustration. Spray Fuzz Texture BrushHere’s a curveball — though this is a texture, use it on a stroke and vary the stroke weight to add a spray painted look to edges and shapes. When used with a mask you easily can make it look stenciled. Mix it with line work and any of the brushes above to really grunge up a design. Add color to create a spray-glow effect for neon cactuses.Image viaStroke weight plays a big role here.
The individual dots will react but the dot groupings will also. You can go into the Brush Details and adjust the sizing too. Just make sure Preview is checked so you can see the changes, as any variables outside the Brush menu will play along making the results unpredictable.
Use with masks for a template spray look.Want more design freebies? Check these out.
Experience the magic, not by the wand but by the brush! Cloud BrushesSome cloud brushes are made available in Adobe Photoshop. These brushes can make a diversity of cloud formations.
Our list includes clouds that are fluffy, quality, in high resolution, decorative, as seen in nature, and hinting at precipitation.Nevertheless, all forms would do justice to wherever and whatever the artist would add them. For instance, fluffy clouds would be really nice if they are added on art with an outdoor setting. Decorative, on the other hand, is perfect if the mode is gloomy. Nature, moreover, is ideal if the concept is black and white, and would require a lot of clouds of different sizes and shapes.Fluffy.