
Welcome to the sixth tutorial of the UI/Game Art for Beginners series. In this tutorial, we will be learning how to make 2D trees in Adobe Illustrator.
BACKGROUND
- Create a new document that is 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw out a rectangle that is 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high
- Remove the border
- Fill the rectangle with a pale gray (#f7f7f7)
- Open the Layers Panel and rename Layer 1 as “background” and lock the layer
TREE 1
- Create a new layer named “tree 1” above the background layer
- Select Ellipse Tool (L) and click once on the Artboard
- Make an ellipse that is 300 pixels wide and 300 pixels high
- Fill the ellipse with a green color (#85aa00)
- Make a copy of the ellipse (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and place a rectangle over the left-half of the ellipse
- Select both the rectangle and the ellipse
- Open the Pathfinder Tool and select “Minus Front” (second icon under Shape Modes)
- Change the right-side of the ellipse color to a darker green (#6b8400)
- Select all the ellipses and group them together (Object > Group)
- Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and click on the Artboard
- Make a rectangle 50 pixels wide and 500 pixels high
- Fill the rectangle with a brown color (#a87000)
- Make a copy of the rectangle (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and make a rectangle and place it over the left-side of the rectangle
- Select both rectangles
- Open the Pathfinder Tool and select “Minus Front” (second icon under Shape Modes)
- Change the right-side of the ellipse color to a darker brown (#7a4e00)
- Select all the rectangles and group them together (Object > Group)
- Align the with the ellipses
- Place them behind the ellipses (Right-Click > Arrange > Send Backward)
- Lock the tree 1 layer
TREE 2
- Create a new layer named “tree 2” above the tree 1 layer
- Select Ellipse Tool (L) and click once on the Artboard
- Make an ellipse that is 300 pixels wide and 300 pixels high
- Fill the ellipse with a green color (#85aa00)
- Select the Anchor Point Tool (SHIFT + C) and click on the top anchor point
- Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) and select the top anchor
- Use the SHIFT key and up-arrow to move the anchor point up 100 pixels
- Use the Direct Select Tool (V) and make a copy of the ellipse (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and place a rectangle over the left-half of the ellipse
- Select both the rectangle and the ellipse
- Open the Pathfinder Tool and select “Minus Front” (second icon under Shape Modes)
- Change the right-side of the ellipse color to a darker green (#6b8400)
- Select all the ellipses and group them together (Object > Group)
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and make a rectangle 50 pixels wide and 250 pixels high
- Fill the rectangle with a brown color (#a87000)
- Make a copy of the rectangle (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Make a rectangle and place it over the left-side of the rectangle
- Select both rectangles
- Open the Pathfinder Tool and select “Minus Front” (second icon under Shape Modes)
- Change the right-side of the ellipse color to a darker brown (#7a4e00)
- Select all the rectangles and group them together (Object > Group)
- Align the with the ellipses
- Place them behind the ellipses (Right-Click > Arrange > Send Backward)
- Lock the tree 2 layer
TREE 3
- Create a new layer named “tree 3” above the tree 2 layer
- Select Ellipse Tool (L) and click once on the Artboard
- Make an ellipse that is 500 pixels wide and 500 pixels high
- Fill the ellipse with a green color (#85aa00)
- Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool and click on the Artboard
Width: 72 pixels
Height: 540 pixels
Corner Radius: 180 pixels
- Align the rounded rectangle to the horizontal and vertical center of the ellipse
- Select the Rotate Tool (R) and holding down the ALT key click on the center of the rounded ellipse
- Change the Angle to 10o and select Copy
- Duplicate the rounded rectangle (CTRL + D) until the entire ellipse is covered
- Select all the sections of the tree
- Open the Pathfinder tool and choose Unite (first icon under Shape Modes)
- Make a copy of the ellipse (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and place a rectangle over the left-half of the ellipse
- Select both the rectangle and the ellipse
- Open the Pathfinder Tool and select “Minus Front” (second icon under Shape Modes)
- Change the right-side of the ellipse color to a darker green (#6b8400)
- Select all the ellipses and group them together (Object > Group)
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and make a rectangle 75 pixels wide and 250 pixels high
- Fill the rectangle with a brown color (#a87000)
- Make a copy of the rectangle (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Make a rectangle and place it over the left-side of the rectangle
- Select both rectangles
- Open the Pathfinder Tool and select “Minus Front” (second icon under Shape Modes)
- Change the right-side of the ellipse color to a darker brown (#7a4e00)
- Select all the rectangles and group them together (Object > Group)
- Align the with the ellipses
- Place them behind the ellipses (Right-Click > Arrange > Send Backward)
- Lock the tree 3 layer
TREE 4
- Create a new layer named “tree 4” above the tree 3 layer
- Select Star and click once on the Artboard
Radius 1: 300 pixels
Radius 2: 150 pixels
Points: 3
- Fill the triangle with a green color (#85aa00)
- Make a copy of the triangle (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Use the SHIFT and up-arrow key move the copied triangle up (place it about 75% of the way up the original triangle)
- Resize the triangle to 360 pixels wide and 311.769 pixels high
- Make a copy of the triangle (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Use the SHIFT and up-arrow key move the copied triangle up (place it about 75% of the way up the middle triangle)
- Resize the triangle to 250 pixels wide and 216.506 pixels high
- Select all three triangles
- Open the Pathfinder tool and choose Unite (first icon under Shape Modes
- Make a copy of the triangles (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and place a rectangle over the left-half of the triangle
- Select both the rectangle and the triangle
- Open the Pathfinder Tool and select “Minus Front” (second icon under Shape Modes)
- Change the right-side of the ellipse color to a darker green (#6b8400)
- Select all the triangles and group them together (Object > Group)
- Use the Rectangle Tool (M) and make a rectangle 75 pixels wide and 150 pixels high
- Fill the rectangle with a brown color (#a87000)
- Make a copy of the rectangle (CTRL + C) and paste it in front (CTRL + F)
- Make a rectangle and place it over the left-side of the rectangle
- Select both rectangles
- Open the Pathfinder Tool and select “Minus Front” (second icon under Shape Modes)
- Change the right-side of the ellipse color to a darker brown (#7a4e00)
- Select all the rectangles and group them together (Object > Group)
105. Align the with the ellipses