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Create a Christmas Tree Vector Collage
Christmas is fast approaching and if you’re getting in with the season you’re going to love this tutorial. We’re going to create several digital Christmas inspired illustrations in Adobe Illustrator then we’re going to use them to create a Christmas tree vector collage. All tutorial files are available for download.
Let’s start by sketching Christmas inspired illustrations on a piece of paper. Try to get as many as 16-20 items. You can download the sketch piece I put together if you want to skip this part. Once you’re finished go ahead and scan it into your computer.
Fire up Adobe Illustrator and place the sketch file onto the new document. Label this layer sketch and lock it.
Next we’re going to use the Pen Tool to trace at least 16 illustrations from your sketch. Do this on a new layer and label it. If you’re using my sketch let’s start off with the shoe as illustrated below.
The finished piece will have a red background so go ahead create another layer and fill the entire background with a red box. Lock this layer. You can put this layer below your traces but above the sketch.
Continue to trace over the shoe as illustrated below. Feel free to fill in your traces with any colour. I used black and white for this tutorial.
Next select all four objects and from the Pathfinder Panel (SHIFT+CTRL+F9) select Minus Front to create a new compound shape. Now your shoe illustration is one vector piece instead of having four objects.
Next we trace another object from your sketch. I traced over the star in my sketch. I actually used the Star Tool to cheat this one out. Hold SHIFT while you drag with your mouse to constrain the proportions.
Select your star go to Object > Path > Offset Path…. Change your Offset value to -2px and enable preview to see how it will look. Click OK once you’re happy with the preview. This will create another star on top of the stack.
Next trace over the shades and fill them with a solid colour.
Select the 2 stars and fill them with white colour.
I went ahead and filled the shades with red so I can make a feel of what it will look like once we “minus front” the shades. You don’t have to do this step.
Select both stars and from the Pathfinder Panel select Merge which will merge both stars into one. Make sure not to merge the shades with it.
Next we select the star and the shades. From the Pathfinder Panel select Minus Front.
Now we have 2 finished traces let’s move on to the mistletoe. The secret to the Pen Tool is lots and lots of patience.
Don’t hesitate to Undo (CTRL+Z) if you make mistakes. Practice makes perfect.
Use the Ellipse Tool (L) and hold down SHIFT to make a perfect circle. Give them a white fill. Select all the objects making up the mistletoe and group them (CTRL+G).
Alternatively, you can use the Pathfinder Tool to merge all objects into one.
Let’s trace another and this time if you’ve downloaded my sketch, we’re going to trace over the snowman.
Feel free to add more details to your traces as you see fit.
Give it a white fill to give it the final touch. Now he’s looking more like a snowman!
So basically you keep doing the same steps moving on to the next object from your sketch and tracing them over with the pen tool. Using the Pathfinder Tool to clean up the traces or grouping them.
Never forget that the finished copy will have a red background so having a white solid fill is best.
Keep tracing away until you have at least 16-20 objects.
This next step is optional but it may be optimal to do it.
Select each traced object and drag them into the Symbols Panel. If you don’t see it press SHIFT+CTRL+F11 or from Window > Symbols.
After dragging an object into the Symbols Panel you will get the Symbols Options Pane. Select Graphic as your type and type in a name for that symbol. Do this for every object and once you’re finished you can save it as a Symbol Library from the upper right hand corner of the Symbols Panel.
Next we create a new layer and draw an outline of a Christmas tree. Lock this layer.
Create a new layer on top of the Christmas tree outline.
If you saved your traced objects as symbols you can just pick and drag them over to fill the outline. Try to randomize things a bit. Make some of objects smaller or bigger than the others. Use Rotate, Reflect and Scale to spice things up a bit.
Do not rush. Be patient.
Try to fill any gaps that you may see to give it a solid feel. Zoom out of the entire document to get a good perspective.
I went ahead and added some more finishing touches in Adobe Photoshop. That’s it we are done!
Written by Angelo Beltran
Angelo Beltran is a freelance designer who recognizes that design and marketing are one and the same. He's passionate about branding and corporate identity. Follow his tweets over at Twitter.
3 Comments
Donna said...
Good job
Siosaia said...
Hey, you’re so smart and absolutely genius! I wish that I could be smart like you doing such an excellent art. Keep on and I am sure God will use your talents to excel His Glory and honor.
May I get hold this precious opportunity to say Merry Christmas to you and your family and a happy, safe and rich in blessing New Year!
Angelo Beltran said...
Thank you for such wonderful and encouraging words good friend!
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