In today's tutorial, I'm going to show you how to easily create a spring banner. You will draw birds, a bow and floral branches using basic shapes, and learn how to add a new fill to an existing one.
1. Drawing the Body of the Bird
Step 1
Create a new document (Control-N) and hit the Ellipse Tool (L). We will first create the body of the bird. Set the stroke color at any color and with no fill. Create an ellipse. Then add a smaller one on the top. Take the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle; this will form the neck of bird. To finish off the body shape, take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and make the lower part of the rectangle wider.
In the end, the shape should look like in the following image.
Step 2
Using the Ellipse Tool (L), draw two long, narrow ellipses to create the tail. Place them as shown in the image below.
Step 3
Now let's create the beak. You will need to get a sharp corner with the help of the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C). Click on the right anchor point. Then take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and select the top and bottom anchor points. Shift them to the left. Voila! The beak is done!
Step 4
Place the beak in its place and add an ellipse to show the eye of the bird.
Step 5
Select the shapes which we used to create the body of bird. Go to the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder) and click on the Unite button. Take the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C) and convert sharp corners into smooth. Notice that you do not need to click with the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C), but stretch the handles of the anchor points.
Step 6
Delete all the strokes and fill the resulting shapes with the colors shown in the image below. The color of the eye is black with white highlight.
Step 7
Now let's create the wing. Set the fill color to R=96 G=115 B=128 and, with the help of the Ellipse Tool (L), draw an ellipse. Make the right anchor
point sharp using the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C).
Then
move the top and bottom anchor points to the left. Select the anchor
points using the Direct Selection Tool (A), and move them using the
arrows on your keyboard.
Step 8
Place the wing on the bird.
Step 9
Now, let’s create the dark area around the bird's eye. Make the sharp corners of the ellipse (R=96 G=115 B=128).
Step 10
Put it behind the eye of the bird.
Step 11
Keep the same fill color and draw an ellipse. Place it as shown in the image below. Select the body shape of the bird and make another copy in front (Control-C, Control-F). Keep it selected and, while holding the Shift key, select the new overlapping oval. In Pathfinder, press the Intersect button.
Step 12
On to the last part. Draw a narrow ellipse, set the fill color at R=221 G=213 B=74. Then make the right anchor point sharp and go to Effect > Warp > Arc. Enter the following settings. Don't forget to expand the resulting shape (Object > Expand Appearance).
Step 13
Place the newly created shape on the beak. The bird is ready!
2. Creating Another Bird
Using the same process but changing the color, we can create another bird.
3. Creating the Bow
Step 1
Start with a pink (R=246 G=160 B=169) rectangle, which you need to create with the help of the Rectangle Tool (M). Go to Effect > Warp > Arc and enter the following settings:
Step 2
Expand the shape (Object > Expand Appearance) and draw an overlapping rectangle as shown in the image. Select the two shapes and on the Pathfinder panel, press the Intersect button.
Step 3
Hit the Reflect Tool (O) and click on your art board, holding the Alt key.
In the new dialogue window, check Vertical and press Copy.
Step 4
A slightly lighter (R=248 G=184 B=190) rectangle will make up the middle part of the bow. Enter the Warp Options with the settings you see below:
Step 5
Using the Reflect Tool (O), make a Horizontal reflection of the bow
wings and set the fill color to R=232 G=116 B=18. Don't forget to put
them behind (Control-X, Control-B).
Step 6
Take one of the bow wings and make it a bit bigger. Incline the wing to the left. Then place it behind everything (Control-C, Control-B) and change the fill color to R=244 G=144 B=159. After that, make a vertical reflection with the help of the Reflect Tool (O).
4. Placing the Birds and the Bow Together
Arrange the two birds and the pink bow as shown.
5. Drawing the Floral Branch
Step 1
Now let's create the branch. Set the fill color to R=128 G=69 B=0. Take the Polygon Tool and click on your art board. Make it 3 Sides with any Radius. You will get a triangle, which you will need to make very narrow and long. Copy-paste it to have two more triangles. Arrange the branch as you like.
Step 2
Once you have an ellipse, fill with color R=177 G=190 B=45. Pick the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C) and make sharp anchor points. You'll get a simple leaf shape.
Step 3
Copy-paste to create as many leaves as you want, and put them on the branch.
Step 4
Take the Polygon Tool and click on your workspace. A new dialogue window will ask you how many sides and what radius you want. Make 6 Sides, and Radius doesn't matter, just not too big. Set a white fill color with any stroke color. And to make a flower from it, go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Pucker & Bloat and set the slider to 60%. The flower is ready. Later, we will remove the stroke, because we don't need it.
Step 5
Add a yellow circle for the middle part of the flower.
Step 6
Spread the flowers over the branch however you like.
6. Placing the Branches and Flowers
Make a vertical reflection of the branch and add a few more flowers and leaves.
7. Creating the Background
Step 1
Draw a blue rectangle at size 600 pxWidth and 250 pxHeight. Place it behind everything.
Step 2
Look at the Appearance panel. Click on the tiny triangle on the top right corner and in the pop-up menu select Add New Fill. Now look at the Swatches panel. Go to Swatches > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Dots and select the 6 dpi 10% pattern for this new fill. Set the Opacity to Overlay.
8. Final Touches
The last step is to place the birds and floral branches on the background.
Also we need to delete the stroke color from the flowers. Select one flower without the middle part and go to Select > Same > Fill & Stroke. Then delete the stroke and leave just the white flowers.
And let the spring reign!
Conclusion
After all the great work, I wish you a happy spring mood. Enjoy the spring!
