Quick Tip: Create a 100% Vector Texture Brush

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Texture can add richness and character to a vector illustration, but often those qualities come at a price. Most texture effects in Illustrator are actually raster based, with limitations on size and quality. Here’s a quick way to create a versatile vector texture that can be painted on with a brush, right where you want it.

Step 1

Draw a rectangle, 1 point x 1 point.

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Step 2

Drag the square into the brushes panel and choose Scatter Brush as the type.

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Step 3

Enter the following values in the Scatter Brush Options dialog box. Be sure to choose Hue Shift as the Colorization method.

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Step 4

Drag this brush onto the New Brush icon on the Brushes panel to make a copy of it.

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Step 5

Double-click the copy to bring up its options. Enter the following values, which are double the previous numbers.

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Make a copy of this brush, as before, and again double the values, as shown below.

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Step 6

Draw a temporary stoke, and apply the first Scatter Brush.

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Step 7

In the Appearance panel, drag the stroke to the Duplicate icon. Select the copy and change its stroke to Scatter Brush #2.

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Step 8

Repeat the above process, changing the third stroke to Scatter Brush #3.

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Step 9

You now have a stroke that contains a graduated texture, with enough randomness to look organic. Your Appearance panel should look like the image below.

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Step 10

Drag this stroke into the Graphic Styles panel to create a new style.

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Step 11

Now it’s simply a matter of drawing paths and applying the Graphic Style to them. You can change individual strokes’ colors in the Appearance panel.

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Step 12

You can create additional subtle texture by painting with a single Scatter brush, and layering paths.

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Step 13

For a tidier look, apply a Clipping Mask to the shapes to contain the texture.

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