In this tutorial I'll show you how to make Windmill illustration using Sketch, an amazing vector design tool. This tutorial will teach you a lot of techniques required for creating custom illustrations with Sketch. Let's get started!
1. Set Up Your Document
Let's begin by creating our artboard. To do this, press A on the keyboard and draw an artboard sized at 1200 px by 900 px.
2. Create the Sky
Step 1
Select the Rectangle tool from the Insert > Shape menu in the top toolbar, or just press R on the keyboard and create a rectangle.
Step 2
Use the Inspector Panel on the right to uncheck the Borders, and then click on the Fill button and switch to Linear Gradient.
Step 3
Select the color stop on top—you will notice that it will become bigger when selected—and change the color to #052138.
Step 4
Next select the color stop at the bottom, change the color to #3B749E, and move it upwards. Use the image below as a reference.
3. Create Stars
Step 1
Pick up the Rectangle tool by pressing R on the keyboard and draw a rectangle 10 px by 10 px. Change the color to #4F89BA and uncheck the borders using the Inspector Panel on the right.
Step 2
Choose the Rotate tool from the top toolbar and rotate the rectangle 45° clockwise, and then apply Gaussian Blur with Amount of 1 px using the Inspector Panel.
Step 3
Add more stars by duplicating (Command-D) this rectangle. Use the image below as a reference.
Use #061C2E color for the darker stars and #DBF0F0 for the brighter ones. Select all the stars and place them into a group using Command-G. Name this group "stars".
4. Create the Moon
Step 1
Press O to invoke the Oval tool and make a circle. Turn off the border, change the color to #224E6F, and apply Gaussian Blur with the Amount of 1px.
Step 2
Duplicate the circle (Command-D) and change the color to #E0FFFF.
Step 3
Duplicate the circle one more time, change the color to #20E6E6, and move it 13 px to the left.
Step 4
Select these two circles by holding Command on the keyboard and clicking on these layers in the Layers List on the left, and then click on Subtract in the top toolbar to create the moon shape.
Select the circle and the moon shape, group them, and give this group the name "moon".
5. Create the Distant Mountains
Step 1
Press V to choose the Vector tool and draw the shape of distant mountains.
Step 2
Turn off the border and change the color to #215178.
6. Create the Closer Mountains and Trees
In this section we'll be creating mountains and trees that are just behind our windmill by using triangles.
Step 1
Choose the Triangle tool by pressing T on the keyboard, and create a triangle as in the image below.
Step 2
Change the color of the triangle to #23567E and turn off the border.
Step 3
Create another rectangle, and for this one use the color #275B85.
Step 4
Then another one. For this one use the color #29608C.
Step 5
And finally create one more rectangle and color this one with #24567E.
Step 6
It's time to add some trees on our mountains. Use the Triangle (T) tool to create a tree shape.
Step 7
Change the color of the tree to the color of our mountain.
Step 8
Duplicate a couple of times and move the shapes around our mountain, as in the image below.
Step 9
Repeat this process for all other mountains.
Select all mountains and trees and nest them inside a group by pressing Command-G. Name this group "mountains and trees".
7. Add Clouds
Step 1
Let's add some clouds to our illustration. Pick up the Vector (V) tool and draw a cloud shape. For the color, use #FFFFFF.
Step 2
Set Blending to Soft Light and Opacity to 20%.
Step 3
Draw another cloud.
Step 4
Change Blending to Soft Light and Opacity to 15%.
Step 5
Finally create one more cloud just over the moon.
Set Blending to Soft Light and Opacity to 10%.
Select all the clouds and group them together. Give this group the name "clouds".
8. Add the River
Step 1
Draw a rectangle using the Rectangle (R) tool, and place it at the bottom of our artboard.
Step 2
Click on Fill in the Inspector Panel and select Linear Gradient. Color the stop on the top set to #0F273F.
Step 3
Color the stop on the bottom set to #070C1F.
9. Create the Windmill Tower
Step 1
Create a rectangle using the Rectangle tool (T). For the color, use #E0E0E0 and turn off the border.
Step 2
Press Enter on the keyboard to start editing the rectangle. Select the round point in the bottom left corner and nudge it 36 px to the left using the left arrow on the keyboard. With the arrow keys you can move the selected points 1 px, and by holding the Shift key you can move them 10 px per click.
Step 3
Next, select the round point in the bottom right corner and nudge it 36 px to the right using the right arrow key.
Step 4
Let's add depth to our tower. Grab the Vector (V) tool and draw a shape as shown in the image below. For the color use #FFFFFF, turn off the border, and set the Opacity to 60%.
Step 5
Duplicate this shape (Command-D), Flip Horizontal using the Inspector Panel on the right, and move it to the right side of the tower.
Step 6
Change the color to #000000 and the Opacity to 10%.
Step 7
Next, select these two shapes that we've just created, and the tower shape, by holding down Shift and clicking on the layers, and then choose Mask in the top toolbar.
Again, select all the shapes that we've created in this step and place them in a group. Name this group "tower shape".
10. Add the Door and Windows
Step 1
To create a door, draw a rectangle as in the image below, and set the following properties in the Inspector Panel:
- Fill: Unchecked
- Border color:
#676767 - Position: Inside
- Thickness: 3 px
Step 2
Next, draw a smaller rectangle, turn off the border, and set the color to #676767.
Select both rectangles and place them into the "door" group.
Step 3
Let's create a window. Draw a square using the Rectangle tool (R) and holding down Shift. Apply the following properties to this square:
- Fill color:
#BEBEBE - Border color:
#676767 - Position: Inside
- Thickness: 3 px
Step 4
Choose the Line (L) tool, and draw two lines over the window shape: one horizontal and one vertical. For the color, use #676767 and set the Thickness to 2 px.
Select the square and the two lines and press Command-G to nest them inside a group. Name this group "window".
Step 5
Duplicate (Command-D) the "window" group three times and place it as shown in the image below.
Step 6
Select the top window, and change the color of the rectangle to #FDF485.
Select "tower shape" and all "window" and "door" groups, and put them in one group. Name this group "tower".
11. Create the Cap of the Windmill
Step 1
Use the Oval (O) tool and hold down Shiftto create a circle. Set the color to #D71A03 and turn off the border.
Step 2
Press Enter to enter shape edit mode, and then select the Scissors tool from the Layer > Paths menu in the top toolbar, to cut away lines from our circle to get a hemisphere.
Step 3
Go to Layer > Paths and choose Close Path to close the path.
Step 4
Let's add some highlights and shadows. Create a rectangle over the left side of our hemisphere, turn off the border, and set the color to #FFFFFF and the Opacity to 20%.
Step 5
Duplicate this shape, change the color to #000000 and the Opacity to 15%, and position it over the right side of our hemisphere.
Step 6
Select both shapes and the hemisphere by holding down Shift and clicking on the layers, and then choose Mask in the top toolbar.
Step 7
At the end, create a rectangle that is a bit bigger than the gap between the cap and the tower. Set the color to #EFEFEF and apply Shadows using the Inspector Panel.
Select both shapes (hemisphere and rectangle) and group them. Give this group the name "cap".
12. Add the Sails
In this step, we will create the final part of our windmill: the sails. So let's begin.
Step 1
Pick the Vector (V) tool and draw a shape like the one in the image below. Set the color to #070640 and turn off the border.
Step 2
Use the Line (L) tool to create the horizontal and vertical lines that are part of our sail. For horizontal lines, set the color to #070640 and the Thickness to 2 px.
Step 3
For vertical lines, set the Thickness to 1 px and the color also to #070640. It should look like this.
Step 4
Select all the lines (horizontal and vertical) along with the basic sail shape and group them. Select Rotate from the top toolbar. Click and drag the crosshair marker as shown in the image below to rotate around that point.
Step 5
Rotate the sail. Use the image below as a reference.
Step 6
Duplicate the sail, select Rotate, click and drag the crosshair marker as we did in the previous step, and rotate the sail.
Step 7
Repeat the previous step twice more to add the two missing sails.
Step 8
Create a white (#FFFFFF) circle on top of our sails using the Oval (O) tool. Set the following properties for the Borders:
- Color:
#070640 - Position: Center
- Thickness: 4 px
Step 9
Select this circle and all sails and place them in one group using Command-G. Name this group "sails".
Then select the "tower", "cap" and "sails" groups and nest them inside the "windmill" group.
13. Create the Reflections
Step 1
Select "windmill" and "mountains and trees", duplicate them (Command-D), group them into the "reflections" group, and Flip Vertical using the Inspector Panel on the right.
In the Layers Panel, put the "reflections" group just below the "windmill" group.
Step 2
Move down "reflections" as shown in the image below.
Step 3
Finally, lower the Opacity of this group to 5%.
And You're Done!
Your windmill illustration is now complete!
I hope you had a great time working on it. I'd love to see your versions of the windmill, so please go ahead and share what you've created in the comments below.
Thank you for your time!
