How to Have Watercolor Clouds on Illustrator
To create watercolor clouds on Adobe Illustrator, you will have to use several layers of clouds as well as the Gradient tool in order to achieve the appearance of watercolors blending together. This process may be time consuming if you are used to software like Photoshop, which has tools to blur different colors and soften the edges between shapes. Although making watercolor clouds in Illustrator may be time consuming, it can be a satisfying experience if you want to make your clouds all in vectors, which is one of Illustrator's strengths.
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Instructions
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1
Launch Illustrator and create a new document by clicking "File" and then “New.” Type “Clouds” in the "Name" field. Select “Pixels” in the "Units" menu. Type “800” in the Width field and “600” in the "Height" field. Select “RGB” in the Color Mode menu and then click “OK.”
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2
Click the “Fill Color” icon at the bottom of the Toolbox to open the color picker. Select a light pastel blue from the color palette and then highlight the code for this color in the “#” field. Press and hold “Ctrl" and then press "C” to copy the code. Click “OK.”
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Click the “Stroke Color” icon in the Toolbox. Highlight the color code in the “#” field and then press and hold “Ctrl" and then press "V” to paste the same pastel blue in its place. Click “OK.”
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4
Select the “Ellipse Tool” from the Toolbox. Click the “Stroke” menu in the options bar at the top of the screen and select “0.25 pt.” Drag the tool over the canvas creating a thin, long ellipse about 50 pixels high and 200 pixels wide to make the center of a cloud. Draw additional ellipses and circles over the edges of the first ellipse to make a fluffy-shaped cloud.
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5
Press and hold “Ctrl" and then press "A” to select all of the cloud ellipses. Click the “Window” menu and select “Pathfinder” to open the Pathfinder panel. Click the “Unite” button on this panel. The ellipses are combined to create a single cloud shape. Press and hold “Ctrl" and press "C” to copy this cloud to the clipboard.
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6
Click the “New Layer” button at the bottom of the Layers Panel. Press and hold “Ctrl" and then press "V” to paste a cloud on this layer. Drag it so it is completely covering the first cloud.
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7
Select “Gradient Tool” from the Toolbox. Double-click the second cloud to apply a gradient to it. The Gradient panel is also now visible. In the Gradient panel, select “Linear” from the "Type" menu. Type “-60” in the "Angle" menu to simulate shadows cast by the sun.
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Click the slider above the Gradient Slider and drag it so it is about a quarter of the way from the right. This brightens the top of the cloud.
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9
Click the “Opacity” menu in the Options Bar and drag the slider to about “30” percent opacity.
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10
Create a new layer and repeat the above steps to add a second cloud. Place it beside the first cloud so they overlap slightly.
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