How to Draw an Ultra Violet Collection of Presents in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the Mesh Tool in Adobe Illustrator to create a vector collection of gifts using the Pantone Color of the Year 2018: Ultra Violet!

If you want to skip the tutorial and just use some of these presents along with some other awesome elements in your work, you can purchase Set of Colorful Gift Boxes with Bows and Ribbons from GraphicRiver!

1. How to Draw the First Variant of a Gift Box

Step 1

Let's begin using the Mesh Tool (U) by drawing this first piece of the bow!

First, using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a rectangle.

Fill it with the #584382 color, and then grab the Mesh Tool and by clicking on the object, place some Mesh Nodes in the middle of it. Drag the edge nodes of the object with the Mesh Tool to shape it as indicated below.

Once the mesh grid looks right, select the nodes shown in the screenshot below and change their color to #3A2250. Similarly, continue with the third and fourth section of this step, using #C0BDE7 and #6F5F91.

Step 2

Draw a tiny ellipse, fill it with #3B224F, and attach it to the first part of the bow. After selecting both objects, press Control-G to group them.

Step 3

Similarly, with the Mesh Tool, color the second part of the bow. Use these colors:

1. #533F7C
2. #3C2552
3. #C0BDE7
4. #725E9C
   

Step 4

Proceed to the third part.

1. #604C8A
2. #3A224E
3. #BFBAE7

Step 5

1. #533F7C
2. #3B2351
3. #BCB8E3
4. #8D7EB6
   

Step 6

Add a #3A2455 ellipse and group both objects.

Step 7

Draw the final piece of the bow.

1. #533F7C
   
2. #3C2554
3. #B0AAD8
   

Step 8

Construct the bow out of the pieces we made.

Step 9

Draw a #3A2455 circle to place it behind the bow.

Step 10

Begin drawing the ribbon! Place two #8F78BD stripes onto a #402556 rectangle.

Step 11

Cross the ribbon with a copy of itself, and then place the bow at the intersection.

Step 12

Draw another ribbon, the colors being the same: #402556 and #8F78BD.

Step 13

Place the bow at the intersection of the two copies.

Step 14

Next, create a copy of the first bow arrangement and select it.

Proceed to Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors, choose Color Mode: Grayscale, and set the value of Black to -25%. Don't forget to tick Convert!

Step 15

Once more, go to the Adjust Colors menu. This time, choose the RGB Color Mode, tick Convert, and set the values to:

• Red: 0%
• Green: -2%
• Blue: -2%
  

Step 16

Follow the same process with a copy of the second arrangement.

Step 17

Let's draw the box! Create a #5A4788 rectangle with rounded edges, and then color some nodes with #39245F. Finally, add a #BBADDE highlight.

Step 18

Create a copy of the box and proceed to Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors.

There, select Grayscale and set the value of Black to -65%.

Step 19

Color the right and bottom edges of the white box with #979797.

Step 20

Create a little group of gift boxes by placing different color variants together. You can add a shadow, using a Radial Gradient from gray to white.

2. How to Draw the Second Variant of a Gift Box

Step 1

Proceed by drawing the first piece of the second bow.

1. #645098
2. #C8C3E5
3. #8774B5
4. #473079
   

Step 2

Draw the second piece.

1. #4E3983
2. 
   
3. #3E225D
   

Step 3

Combine the first two pieces.

Step 4

1. #523C86
2. #D1C9EA
   
3. #452E78

Step 5

1. #452E78
2. 
   
3. #2E1B4C

Step 6

Combine the third and the fourth element.

Step 7

1. #422971
2. #C6B9E4
3. #614D95

Step 8

Attach a #3B1F56 shape to the fifth element.

Step 9

1. #422971
2. #D0C9E9
3. #7461A6
4. #341954
   

Step 10

Add a #41276D shape to the seventh element.

Step 11

1. #41276C
2. #C6BBE4
3. #68549A
4. #321751
   

Step 12

1. #8876B7
2. #D4CCEC
3. #42296E
4. #725FA5
   

Step 13

1. #462F7B
2. #7966AA
3. #AF9ED4
4. #8674B4

Step 14

Attach a #5E4891 piece to the ribbon.

Step 15

Construct the bow.

Step 16

Draw the first part of the ribbon.

1. #6B559A
2. #CCC3DE
3. #8A74B5
4. #5B4C82
   

Step 17

1. #6D589F
2. #372D53
3. #8A74B5

Step 18

Put the ribbon together.

Step 19

Add a reflected copy of the ribbon and place the bow at the intersection.

Step 20

Recolor a copy of the bow using Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors, converting to Grayscale and setting Black to -35%.

Step 21

Draw the box!

1. #654F94
2. #8C79B6
3. #9482C4
4. #553F84
   

Step 22

1. #654F94
2. #8774B2
3. #A399C1
4. #553F84
   

Step 23

1. #685297
2. #564085

Step 24

Construct the lid for the box.

Step 25

Draw the base of the box.

1. #614B90
2. #7C66AB
3. #0B092D
4. #4F397E
   

Step 26

Place the lid onto the box and add the white bow.

Step 27

Recolor a copy of the violet box using Adjust Colors with -56% Black.

Step 28

Place the violet bow onto the white box.

3. How to Recolor the Presents

Step 1

Now that we've drawn some new gift box variants, let's look into recoloring presents we have made in a previous tutorial.

After drawing the cyan gift box in the linked tutorial, go to Edit > Edit Colors > Convert to Grayscale. Select the gray box and go to Edit > Edit Colors once more, now selecting Adjust Colors.

Change the Color Mode to RGB, tick Convert, and input the following percentages:

• Red: -5%
• Green: -12%
• Blue: 13%
  

Step 2

Create a copy of the violet bow from the last step and place it on the white box we made in the last section.

Step 3

Recolor one more box from this tutorial. First, convert it to grayscale, and then in Adjust Colors, turn it back into RGB and input these values:

• Red: -11%
• Green: -19%
• Blue: 6%
  

Step 4

To recolor the final box from our Christmas presents tutorial, go to Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors, select Grayscale, and lower the value of Black to -11%.

Step 5

Return to Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors, convert the object back to RGB, and use the following percentages:

• Red: -11%
• Green: -19%
• Blue: 6%

Step 6

You're done! You can create a set out of the boxes like this:

Awesome Work, You're Now Done!

What now? You can try any of my other tutorials from my profile, or check out my portfolio on GraphicRiver, as well as the original vector I was inspired by for this tutorial.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and I would be super happy to see any results in the comments below!