How to Make a Toothbrush in Illustrator

You can make a toothbrush in Illustrator by joining two slightly modified rectangles together to represent the handle, and adding a third rectangle to represent the bristles. To make your toothbrush more realistic, draw a background and other elements representing objects you typically see with a toothbrush, such as a dollop of toothpaste. One key to creating illustrations in this program that are readily understood is selecting the right point of view from which to view the illustration's subject. The most important part of a toothbrush is its bristles, which are most readily recognized in a side view.

Instructions

1. Click the rectangle icon from the tool palette to run the tool for drawing rectangles, then click and drag on the canvas to create a rectangle whose length is roughly eight times its height. This rectangle will represent the lower part of a toothbrush's handle in side view.

2. Click the white arrow from the tool palette to run the Direct selection tool, which lets you modify vector shapes such as the rectangle you just drew. Double-click the top left point of the rectangle, then drag downward slightly to push it toward the bottom left point. This makes the rectangle's shape more like that of the lower part of a real toothbrush in side view.

3. Press "Control" and "C" simultaneously to copy the rectangle to the clipboard, then press "Control" and "V" simultaneously to make a duplicate of the rectangle. This new rectangle will represent the portion of the toothbrush that holds the bristles.

4. Click the black arrow from the tool palette to run the Selection tool, then drag outside any of the corners of the second rectangle to rotate the shape until it forms a 15-degree or so angle with the first rectangle. Drag on the rectangle's center to position it so its wide end connects with the wide end of the first rectangle. This step joins the two portions of the toothbrush together to form the complete base of the toothbrush.

5. Use the instructions from Steps 1 through 4 to create a rectangle whose length is about one-third the length of the first rectangle, and whose height is about one- third as great as its length. This new shape will form the bristles of the toothbrush.

6. Use Step 4's instructions to rotate and position the bristle rectangle so it sits atop and at the end of the shorter rectangle, which you completed in Step 4.

7. Click the paintbrush icon from the tool palette to enter painting mode, then drag on the bristle rectangle to draw several lines roughly parallel with the rectangle's vertical sides. These marks represent the toothbrush bristles and complete the toothbrush.

References

• "Illustrator CS5 Bible"; Ted Alspach; 2010
• "How to Draw What You See"; Rudy De Reyna; 1972
• "Design Basics"; David Lauer; 2007