In today’s tutorial we will be looking at how to create an illustration of a Microphone in Adobe Illustrator. We’ll use vector shape building techniques, various types of gradients and blending modes, working with the Align palette and other functions of Adobe Illustrator to make this music inspired illustration. Get ready to rock this!
Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: Adobe Illustrator
What will you get?
- Instant download of PDF e-book (28 pages, 32 steps)
- Comes with Ai file for easy reference
- Detailed step by step tutorial to draw a nice realistic microphone
Tutorial Preview:
Create a New document
1. Launch Illustrator and then press (Ctrl + N) to create a New document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 1027 in the width box and 688 in the height box 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.
Create the Microphone
2. Start with drawing a 171 by 171px ellipse using the Ellipse Tool (L) and then fill this ellipse with R=0, G=0, B=0. Next pick the Line Segment Tool (\) and create a horizontal line of length 214px, with a 5px red stroke and no fill. Keep working with the Line Segment Tool (\), create a horizontal line of length 154px, with a 3px yellow stroke and no fill. Now reselect three objects created in this step, open the Align palette (Window > Align) and click on the Horizontal Align Center button, then click on the Vertical Align Bottom button. Next select the yellow line and move it 23px up. Finally select the red line and move it 81px up.
3. Pick the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift +C), click on the left anchor point of the red line, hold mouse and drag it to the right, then place it as shown below. Continue do the same with the right anchor point of the red line to get the result like you see in the first image below. Likewise, repeat the same process for the yellow line. In the end your illustration should look like the second image shown. Now reselect the two curved lines and go to the Object > Blend > Blend Options… Follow the data like you see in the third image and click OK, then go to the Object > Blend > Make (Ctrl +Alt +B).
4. Using the Line Segment Tool (\) create a vertical line of length 70px, with a turquoise stroke and no fill. Select the blended object created in the step 3, hold down the Shift and click on the turquoise line, release the Shift and then click on the blended object again (to fixed its position). Next open the Align palette (Window > Align), click on the Horizontal Align Center button and then click on the Vertical Align Top button. Pick the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift +C), click on the top anchor point of the turquoise line, hold mouse and drag it up while holding Shift, then place it as shown in the second image below. Continue do the same with the bottom anchor point of the turquoise line to get the result like you see in the second image below. Now reselect the turquoise line and the blended object created in the step 3, then go to the Object > Blend > Replace Spine. In the end your illustration should look like the last image shown.
5. Select the blended object and replace the existing stroke color of it with the linear gradient across stroke as shown below. Now reselect this blended object and go to Object > Transform > Reflect… Check the Horizontal box then hit the Copy button. Drag the copy we have just created up and place it as shown in the second image. Don't forget to hold the Shift key on the keyboard for straight dragging. Next select the two blended objects and go to the Object > Transform > Rotate… In the Rotate box, enter a 90 degrees Angle and then click Copy. Finally select and group (Ctrl +G) all four blended objects created from beginning step 2 to this time.
6. Select the black ellipse created in the step 2 and go to the Object > Path > Offset Path… Enter a 4px Offset and click OK, then bring the newly created ellipse to front (Ctrl +Shift +Right Square Bracket). Make sure that the new ellipse is still selected, make a copy (Ctrl +C, Ctrl +F) of it and then press (Ctrl +3) to hide the copy. Now reselect the black original ellipse and the group created in the step 5, then go to the Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Ctrl +7). In the end your illustration should look like the last image shown.
7. Before you continue, press (Ctrl +Alt +3) to show the black ellipse hidden in the step 6. Replace the existing color of this ellipse with the radial gradient as shown below. Keep the resulting ellipse selected and change the Blending Mode to Overlay and lower the Opacity to 50%. Make sure that the resulting ellipse is still selected, make a copy (Ctrl +C, Ctrl +F) of it, then replace the existing color of the copy with new radial gradient as shown in the third image. Finally change the Opacity of the new ellipse to 90%.
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