Draw a Cowboy Hat in Adobe Illustrator CS3
This tutorial is going to show you a step-by-step approach to drawing a cowboy hat in Adobe Illustrator. The tutorial uses mostly the pen tool.
Steps
- Create a document measuring 800 x 800 pixels.
- Sketch the hat first. You can do that freehand or do it in Photoshop. Once completed, go to "file>open" and select the sketch file you made.
- Create a new layer. Use the Pen Tool on your toolbar to create the shape, following your sketch. Make sure the fill on the toolbar is set to "none" and set the stroke color to "black" and the stroke weight to "1".
- Color the hat with a vertical three color gradient. Click at the object and go to the Gradient tool and set the colors to the following: first color at position C=60, M=53, Y=85, K=62; second color at position C=44, M=63, Y=84, K=56; third color at C=34, M=60, Y=80, K=28. Set the stroke to "none".
- Make a shadow. The option used for the sake of this article is Multiply. Click a shadow part and go to "Transparency>Multiple" and set the opacity at 36%. This opacity, when used with the same color of the hat can create some excellent shadow effects.
- Make a light reflect. Create a shape of reflections on the hat and then go to "Effect>Blur>Gaussian Blur" and set it to Radius 2 pixels. Create other reflect by create a shape and set the color at positions C=32, M=47, Y=70, K=19.
- Color the hat strap with a vertical two color gradient. Click at the object and go to the Gradient tool and set the colors to the following: first color at position C = 0, M = 0, Y = 0, K = 100; second color at position C = 0, M = 0, Y = 0, K = 0. Create a rivet to decorate the hat.
- Use the Ellipse Tool> to create an ellipse size 16-x20-pixels>, then set the color the same as the hat strap.
- Create a new ellipse, but smaller. Set the color at position C = 0, M = 0, Y = 0, K = 83.
- Copy the rivet two times and make it smaller.
- Finished.
Tips
- Keep a clear head while you’re going through each step, making sure not to confuse colors or tools, and be patient. Drawing in Adobe Illustrator is an intricate process, but the quality of the end result is worth the effort.
Things You'll Need
- Adobe Illustrator CS3
