How to Create a Custom Art Brush in Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator's art brush simulates stylized brush strokes. Art brushes won't make your illustration look like a real painting, but you can certainly add a painting effect. If you can draw a shape in Illustrator, it's easy to create a custom art brush.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Draw your brush shape. You can use any shape to create an art brush in Illustrator. You can make a brush from an arrow, a fire engine or a shape that resembles the shape of a paint stroke or charcoal on canvas (look at Illustrator's custom brush libraries to get some ideas). You can use multiple paths with different paint styles.

2. Select all the elements of your brush object. Choose "New Brush" from the brushes palette menu. Choose "New Art Brush" when prompted. The Art Brush Options dialog will open and you will see your object in the brush preview window.

3. Edit your brush settings. Name the brush. Choose the brush direction (if you choose up or down, the brush will follow a path, right or left will paint the brush across the path). You can also scale the element width and flip it across one or more axes.

4. Choose the Colorization style. You can paint the art elements as is, paint it with a tint of the current stroke color, or shift the hues of the element colors based on the current stroke color. The "Tips" button will provide an overview of the colorization effects.

5. Apply the settings. Select the paintbrush and set the fill color to none (your art follows the stroke not the fill). Paint your brush stroke; the element will follow the path according to your settings. You can also draw a path with the pen or shape tools and apply the stroke from the brushes palette.

6. Build up strokes with the paintbrush. Change the color or the stroke width to vary the brush effects. You can also change the opacity and blend mode of each brush path.