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INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Bulldozer

6/24/2018

Lets move some dirt. Create a bulldozer pushing some dirt around. Looks complicated, but these tutorials make it so easy. Have fun creating this one.

Start with a rectangle.

Pull the Corner Widgets to round the ends. COPY this shape, you will need it again later.

Add a dotted line to the oval by clicking on the Dashed Line in the Stroke Panel, Cap the ends, set the dash to ZERO and the gap to 28, stroke weight at 13 pts.

PASTE the original oval over the top of the dotted line

Change the dots to the same color as the oval.

Add two circles inside the oval. Add a rectangle inside as well.

Paste the oval again but use the Paste Behind command and fill it with a lighter gray.

Add a rectangle for the body, behind the tracks.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the top corners and pull the corners in. They will be round. Use the OPTION (ALT) and click on the corner widget target to cycle through the corner styles until you get to the flat style.

Add another rectangle behind for the cab.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the top right corner and move it to the left.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the top corners and pull the corner widgets in slightly.

Create a rounded corner rectangle, fill it with blue for the window. Cut the shape.

Select the cab and choose the Paste Inside function at the bottom of the Tool Bar.

Paste the window into the cab, Click on the Draw Normal mode.

Create a rectangle for the blade.

Add and oval over the rectangle. Select both shapes.

Use the minus from command in the Pathfinder Panel.

Add the blade to the front of the bulldozer. Add a rectangle for the smoke stack.

Create a rounded end rectangle.

Add it to the blade and the the track.

Repeat the of adding a dashed line to an arc. You will need to reduce the gap between the dots in the Stroke Panel.

Add the dotted arc to the smoke stack.

Create different sized circles for the dirt pile.

Select all the dirt circles and use the Pathfinder Unite mode.

Create a rectangle at the lower part of the dirt. Select the shapes and use the Pathfinder Minus Front mode.

Add the dirt behind the blade and you are done with your bulldozer. Nice job!

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INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Shark week

6/18/2018

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Here is a shark, a happy shark with some cool blue water reflections in it. This was a request from a viewer; if you have a request send it to me and I will create it!

Start the body with an oval; stoke, no fill.

Duplicate the original oval and pull the oval taller.

Using the Direct Selection tool, select the bottom point of the first oval and delete it, removing the lower half of the oval.

Using the Direct Selection tool, select the top point of the second oval and delete it, removing the uper half of the oval.

Place both arcs over each other to form the body.

Select both pieces and use the unite Mode in the Pathfinder Panel to make them into the body.

To create the fin, create a circle and duplicate it as shown. Select both circles.

Use the Minus Front Mode in the Pathfinder Panel to create a moon which will become the fin. Copy this shape as you will use this again.

Place the moon over the body of the shark, rotate it if needed to create the back fin. Use the Pathfinder Unite mode to integrate it into the body.

Paste the copied shape, place it at the bottom of the body to create the smaller fin.

Use the Pathfinder Unite mode to integrate it into the body.

For the tail fin, create 2 circles, one larger, one smaller. Use the Minus Front Mode in the Pathfinder Panel to create a moon which will become the fin.

Place the moon over the tail of the shark, rotate it if needed to create the tail fin. Select the body and the moon.

Use the Pathfinder Unite mode to integrate it into the body.

Select the body and round the corners of the stroke in the Stroke Panel so the ends don't end in points.

The rounded corners get rid of the sharp points.

Put in a circle for the eye and an arc for the mouth

Add some extra lines to the trailing edge of the fins to give them dimension. Be sure to round the ends (hot dog them) in the Stroke Panel.

Create 3 ovals, each one getting lighter. This will be the water reflections in the body. Select all 3 shapes and CUT the shapes.

Select the boy and choose Draw Inside Mode at the bottom of the Tool Bar.

Paste the 3 ovals into the body. Once pasted, they are hard to move around so open the Layers Panel.

In the layers panel, anything that is "Pasted inside" or "Drawn Inside" is called a clipping mask. This shows up in the Layers Panel as a Clip Group, open the clip group by clicking on the Twirly (yes, that is the real name) to open the group. Inside, you can see the ovals in the group. To select an oval to move or edit, click on the layer and then then click on the circle on the far right of the layer and a box will appear and the shape will be selected.

This will select and activate just that shape inside the clipping mask to edit or move without breaking the shapes apart or using isolation mode.

I also made the shark happy by flipping his smile.

One happy shark with some nice water reflections. Enjoy!

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INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Gleaming Jewel

6/3/2018

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Create a gleaming jewel in these simple steps. With or without a stroke to make it look bold or subdued.

Create a triangle using the Polygon Tool. While drawing a polygon, use the down arrow to reduce the number of sides. OR, after you have drawn the Polygon, you can drag the diamond (red circle) up or down to change the number of sides.

Flip the triangle and narrow the triangle to be half as wide as it is long.

Duplicate the triangle so the upper corners are touching.

Fill the one shape with a lighter color. Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the bottom point and move the point over the the lower point of the middle shape

Repeat the last 2 steps to create the right side of the jewel. Make that section a darker color.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the outer top points and move them in to create facets that are half as wide as the center facet.

Select all 3 shapes and hit the RETURN key. That will bring up this dialog box. Set the horizontal and vertical measurements to ZERO. Click COPY.

This will copy the shapes directly on top of existing shapes. Pull the bottom point up to flip the shapes. Pull that shapes half as high as the bottom shape.

Draw a rectangle over the top 3 shapes. Select the rectangle and top 3 shapes. Use the Pathfinder TRIM feature to trim the top triangles.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to remove the extra shapes left by the Trim function.

Select the top 3 shapes and choose Edit> Edit Colors> Adjust Color Balance. Click the convert box and the Preview box. Set the colors lighter and click OK.

This will give the top facets a lighter look.

Add a stroke to the shapes.

Set the stroke in the stroke panel to a rounded corner to avoid the spikes from the stroke.

This is the result of the rounded stroke.

Add some lines as highlights with rounded end caps (hot dog the ends).

Create a "gleamie" by using the Star Tool. While drawing, UP ARROW will add point, DOWN ARROW will take points away. COMMAND (on a mac) or CONTROL (on a PC) and Pull away from the center to create longer points, pull in toward the center to shorten the points.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the points and pull them out to create longer and shorter points.

Add the gleamie to the shape. Draw a colored circle and place it behind the jewel to make it more visible.

To create a shadow draw a rectangle and make it a darker color than the background.

Create a gradient in the rectangle to blend from the darker color to the lighter color background.

Select the gradient shape and CUT the shape.

Select the circle, click on the Draw Inside Mode at the bottom of the Tool Bar. Paste the gradient rectangle in the shape and position it to create a shadow.

Click on the Draw Normal Mode to exit the Draw Inside Mode.

To remove the outlines, select one of the facets, choose Select>Same>Stroke Color to select all the shapes with that stroke. Set the stroke to ZERO or choose no color.

You have a gleaming Jewel!

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Design Points n PixelS

INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Bulldozer

INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Shark week

INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Gleaming Jewel

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