How to Create a Piggy-Bank Illustration in Adobe Illustrator

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

In the following steps you will learn how to create a detailed piggy-bank illustration in Adobe Illustrator.

For starters, you will learn how to set up a simple grid and how to create the main shapes using basic tools and vector shape building techniques, as well as the Live Corners feature and some simple effects. Using basic blending techniques, Gaussian Blur effects and some Warp effects, you will learn how to add shading and highlights.

Moving on, you will learn how to create the first coin shape and how to easily mask it using a simple opacity mask. Taking full advantage of the Appearance panel, you will learn how to create a bunch of new, easily editable coins. You will also learn how to create and save a new pattern and how to add some subtle sparkles using the Pucker & Bloat effect.

For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final illustration, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.

1. How to Create a New Document and Set Up a Grid

Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 800 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.

Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). You will need a grid every 5 px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid, and enter 5 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid—it will make your work easier, and keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control-" keyboard shortcut.

You can learn more about Illustrator's grid system in this short tutorial from Andrei Stefan: Understanding Adobe Illustrator's Grid System.

You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don't forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.

2. How to Create the Body of the Piggy Bank

Step 1

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and focus on your Toolbar. Remove the color from the stroke and then select the fill and set its color to R=41 G=171 B=226. Move to your artboard and simply create a 290 x 255 px ellipse—the grid and the Snap to Grid feature will help.

Step 2

Set the fill color to yellow and pick the Rectangle Tool (M). Create a 75 x 55 px shape and place it exactly as shown in the following image.

Step 3

Focus on your yellow rectangle and pick the Direct Selection Tool (A). Select the bottom-left anchor point and drag it 15 px to the right, select the bottom-right anchor point and drag it 20 px to the left, and then select the top-right anchor point and drag it 25 px down. In the end, your yellow shape should look like in the second image.

Step 4

Make sure that your yellow shape is selected and go to Object > Transform > Reflect. Check the Vertical box and then click that Copy button. Select the newly made shape and place it exactly as shown in the second image.

Step 5

Select the three shapes made so far, open the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder), and click the Unite button. Fill the resulting shape with R=246 G=148 B=140.

Step 6

Focus on the bottom side of your shape and pick the Direct Selection Tool (A). Select the two anchor points highlighted with blue, go to the Control panel, and enter 50 pt in that Corners box.

Select the two anchor points highlighted with green, return to the Control panel, and enter 10 pt in the Corners box.

Select the four anchor points highlighted with purple, get back to the Control panel, and enter 5 pt in the Corners box.

Step 7

Select your pink shape and add a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F). Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), create a new 290 x 255 px shape, and place it exactly as shown in the first image. Reselect both shapes made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel.

Make sure that the resulting shapes remain selected and focus on the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance). Set the fill color to black (R=0 G=0 B=0) and then click that Opacity piece of text to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay and lower the Opacity to 25%.

Step 8

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 290 x 255 px shape, and place it exactly as shown in the first image. Using the same tool, create a 270 x 215 px shape and place it as shown in the second image.

Select both shapes made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with black, lower its Opacity to 20%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 9

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and create a 290 x 255 px shape. Place it exactly as shown in the first image and then add a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F). Select this copy and move it 5 px down and 5 px to the left.

Reselect both shapes made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with black, lower its Opacity to 10%, and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.

Step 10

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 230 x 160 px shape and place it as shown in the following image. Fill this new shape with the linear gradient shown below and then focus on the Appearance panel. Keep in mind that the yellow zero from the Gradient image stands for Opacity percentage.

Select the existing fill, lower its Opacity to 30%, change the Blending Mode to Overlay, and then go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 15 px Radius and then click that OK button.

Step 11

Make sure that your newest shape is still selected and focus on the Appearance panel. Select the fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button. Select the newly added fill, lower its Opacity to 10%, and remove that Gaussian Blur effect.

Step 12

Pick the Pen Tool (P) and create the two shapes shown in the first image. Fill them both with R=243 G=136 B=129 and then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 3 px Radius and then click that OK button.

Step 13

Pick the Pen Tool (P) and create the two shapes shown in the first image. Fill them both with R=254 G=212 B=192 and then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 3 px Radius and then click that OK button.

Step 14

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and create the two shapes shown in the first image. Fill them both with R=254 G=212 B=192 and then turn them into one compound path (Control-8 or Object > Compound Path > Make).

Make sure that your compound path stays selected and pick the Rotate Tool (R). Hold the Alt button on your keyboard and simply click the anchor point highlighted in the first image to set the center point in that spot and open the Rotate window. Set the Angle to 45 degrees, click that OK button, and move to the Appearance panel. Lower the Opacity to 30% and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 15

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 150 x 10 px shape, fill it with black, and place it as shown in the following image. Lower its Opacity to 50%, change the Blending Mode to Soft Light, and then go to Effect > Warp > Arc. Enter the attributes shown below, click that OK button, and then go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 7 px Radius and then click that OK button.

Step 16

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and create a 150 x 80 px shape. Fill it with the linear gradient shown below and place it as shown in the following image. Lower its Opacity to 30% and then go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 20 px Radius and then click that OK button.

Step 17

Disable the Snap to Grid (Control-"). Select your large pink shape and create a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F).

Pick the Brush Tool (B) and draw a simple path roughly as shown in the first image. Select it along with the copy made a few moments ago and click the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with R=254 G=212 B=192, lower its Opacity to 20%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 18

Reselect your large pink shape and create a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F).

Pick the Brush Tool (B) and draw a simple path roughly as shown in the first image. Select it along with the copy made a few moments ago and click the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with black, lower its Opacity to 15%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 19

Select your large pink shape and go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and then click that OK button.