tutorial: Create and color an eco easter egg in Adobe Illustrator

08/04/09

In this tutorial you will learn how to prepare an eco colored egg for easter. Eco for there are no artificial colorants used. I wanted to recreate the look of a traditional polish egg: cooked in onion rinds with wax decors to be scratched off afterwards. In the first part of this tutorial I explain how to create a decor, in the second one how to create a 3D naturaly looking egg.

Preview: final result

Preview: final result

Free source file: Ai CS2+ (ai.zip 0,83 MB)


Part 1: Decor

Step 1: Creating a custom brush

Create a custom brush to be used for the decor. I call it a nail brush. Below you can find the template of mine (you can aslo create this shape combining two ellipses, then go to Pathfinder, choose Add to Shape Area and extract afterwards).

nail brush

nail brush

Using the Selection Tool (V) drag your shape to the Brushes panel and choose the settings as below:

Create a nail brush

Create a nail brush

Step 2: Creating a wax decor

Draw a straight line segment, apply the nail brush and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform…

Creating decor (1)

Creating decor (1)

Again go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform… and choose Apply New Effect when the dialog box pops up.

apply_n_e

Set the value of horizontal move so that to recreate what you can see below (that may vary depending on the initial size of your line segment).

Creating decor (2)

Create decor (2)

Draw another vertical line segment of the same length above the left border of the first circle of nails, apply the nail brush, go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform… and again set the value of horizontal move and number of copies so that to recreate what you can see below.

Creating decor (3)

Creating decor (3)

Then drag it down holding alt/option key (to make a copy) and Shift (to drag it vertically) key

Creating decor (4)

Creating decor (4)

You don’t have to be precise as far as the number of copies here (as you can see I was not) since the left and right edges will not be visible.

Step 3: Turning the decor into a symbol

Select your three objects, go to Object menu and expand them. Set stroke color to none and fill color to white. Drag the selection to the Symbols panel and choose Graphic:

Creating symbol

Creating symbol

Now, it’s time to create an egg.

Part 2: Creating a 3D egg object

Step 4: Creating an egg shape to be revoled

You may use the image below as a template to draw the shape of an egg.

Egg shape template

Egg shape template

To trace it, make sure the image is in its own layer, double-click the layer in the Layers panel, select Template, and click OK:

set_template1

Easiest way is to draw an elipse starting in the center of the template egg – hold the alt/option key. Then reshape your ellipse using the direct selection tool (A).

With the selection tool (A) select the right half or your egg and delete it. We are about to create an eco egg which means we only use purely natural colorants – the onion rinds in this case. To obtain the onion rinds effect set the stroke color to R = 165 G = 78 B = 61. Make sure you set fill color to none.

Shape to be revolved

Shape to be revolved

Step 5: From 2D to 3D

Go to Effect > 3D > Revolve. Click More Options to view the complete list of options. On the screenshot below you can see my choice of settings:

Rotated egg

Rotated egg

Step 6: Mapping Art

Choose the Map Art button and go to Surface 2, choose the eco veggtor symbol and place it on the grey area. Check the preview to properly position the symbol.

Mapping art

Mapping art

Step 7: Adding shade on the egg surface

Duplicate the revolved object (cmd/ctrl+C) and paste it to the front (cmd/ctrl+F). Change the stroke color to white (fill is still none), blending mode to Multiply and Opacity to 60%. Double click the Apperance panel, first go to Map Art and click the Clear All button – that removes art from all surfaces. Press OK than go to More Option, below are my settings:

Adding shadow to the egg surface

Adding shadow to the egg surface

Step 9: Adding background and shadow underneath the egg

Create an ellipse starting from the bottom peak of your egg. Set it to the back shift+cmd/ctrl+[. Fill the ellipse with a radial black to white gradient and adjust the gradient settings as below:

Adding shadow underneath the egg

Adding shadow underneath the egg

Set blending mode to Multiply and decrease the Opacity a bit. If you use Illustrator CS 4 you may use a black to transparent gradient instead, then you do not have to change the blending mode.
Now set the backround color, create a rectangle and set it to back shift+cmd/ctrl+[. I set the fill color to R = 157 G = 178 B = 178. The font I used are Skia Regular and Santa Fe LET.

Preview: final result

Preview: final result

I hope you found this tutorial useful – it’s my first one – some feedback much appreciated! So are tweets/diggs/stumbling… :)

40 Responses to “tutorial: Create and color an eco easter egg in Adobe Illustrator”

  1. Mel

    Apr 8th, 2009

    Fantastic tutorial – I had fun with this, and I didn’t know how to map art before. Very useful

  2. lawrence77

    Apr 8th, 2009

    wow cool!

  3. Bernard

    Apr 9th, 2009

    Dobry Dzień Peeha,
    I found your tutorial via twitter link and have just completed doing each step myself. Illustrator is very hard for me for some reason (I spent 15 years using CorelDRAW) so I had some difficulty on some of the steps.

    I would love to be able to do more tutorials like this and hope that you will create more soon.

    Thank You,
    Bernard

  4. Eiencafe.com --> New way to graphic

    Apr 10th, 2009

    Easter Special…

    I think I won’t be able to post the weekly Fave’s this week for various reasons, so I thought of puting together some things about Easter… So here the:

    Super Cute Easter Wallpaper Illustration Tutorial
    How to Create a Cute Bunny…

  5. eus

    Apr 17th, 2009

    Hi,
    i love your ill. things! nice nice nice! THANKYOU!

  6. Mahmood Al Mahdi

    Apr 19th, 2009

    this one is really cool! i like this very much. thanks a lot!

  7. Allie

    Apr 22nd, 2009

    Hi

    I think your eggs are totally gorgeous and I have used them (untouched) in my journal, linking them back to your site.

    You’re very talented!

    Thanks

    Allie

  8. image coloring

    Apr 24th, 2009

    Thank you for posting this great tutorial. The instruction is easy to follow, and the results I have gotten are amazing! Love it!

  9. 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials | Tutorials | Smashing Magazine

    Jun 16th, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  10. Video | ClickLogin Web Design

    Jun 16th, 2009

    [...] Create as well as Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, we will sense how to emanate an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco since no synthetic colorants have been used. [...]

  11. 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials | WORDPRESS-TEMPLATES-PLUGINS-RSS | 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials >>>

    Jun 16th, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  12. 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials | Programming Blog

    Jun 17th, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  13. Wordpress Blog Services - 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials

    Jun 17th, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  14. bebebu

    Jun 17th, 2009

    Wow! Cool.

  15. 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials | Search Engine Optimisation

    Jun 17th, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  16. 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials | Graphics of the World

    Jun 17th, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  17. Your Useful 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorial's | Free Download Blog

    Jun 19th, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator [...]

  18. sunday » Blog Archive » Easter Egg

    Jun 29th, 2009

    [...] Easter egg tutorial. If you’re a beginner at Illustrator (like myself) these instructions are not step-by-step. The author assumes you know how to to do certain things and you’ll have to play around the controls to figure out what he did exactly. This would have been a much easier tutorial if it was just, better written. So…..good luck. [...]

  19. katie

    Jul 1st, 2009

    THANK YOU! great tutorial.

  20. AMB Album » 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials

    Aug 30th, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  21. Grafiko

    Sep 19th, 2009

    Nice. I like the how you made the ornaments, thanks for sharing

  22. 41 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials - 68Design

    Oct 23rd, 2009

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  23. Crystal

    Dec 30th, 2009

    Cool egg! Even better than those in a programme of BabyTV!

  24. 35 Useful Adobe Illustrator Tutorials For 3D Artwork | HybridLava

    Jan 5th, 2010

    [...] 35. Create and color an eco easter egg in Adobe Illustrator [...]

  25.   3D Illustrator Çalışmaları (50+) by webrafik.net

    Feb 23rd, 2010

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

  26. illustrator tutorial: create a 6-egg box (not necessarily for Easter) | PeHaa Blog

    Mar 4th, 2010

    [...] In order to obtain the colorful egg use orange R = 247 G = 147 B = 30 as the stroke color instead of white and choose R = 86 G = 45 B = 34 as the Custom Shading color in the 3D > Revolve Panel. If you want to add some decor to your egg(s) (fill your box with Easter eggs maybe(?)) visit my tutorial: Create and color an eco easter egg in Adobe Illustrator. [...]

  27. Create and color an eco easter egg in Adobe Illustrator | YourTutorialsBox.com

    Mar 11th, 2010

    [...] Click on the picture or here to see the tutorial!!! 0 Comment [...]

  28. Maria D'Antonio

    Mar 19th, 2010

    Hi, first off thank you for this tutorial. It is wonderful up until one problem. I am at the part to perform the 3D and Mapping Art and it freezes up on me. It says I don’t have enough memory. I have an iMac desktop specifically so I can use Illustrator. Why do you think this is happening and what can I do to fix this, and if I might be doing something wrong, could I get some help.

  29. Rockstar Sid

    Mar 21st, 2010

    Simply put, this is an awesome tutorial!!

    Love the illustration.. Thanks!

  30. Pulp Chiction » Blog Archive » Illustrator Tutorials

    Mar 26th, 2010

    [...] Create And Color Easter Egg [...]

  31. MizzKitten

    Apr 9th, 2010

    thanks for this nice tutorial, i really love the color

  32. 50 Excellent 3D Adobe Illustrator Tutorials « TMHs Web Tips

    Jun 5th, 2010

    [...] Create and Color an Eco Easter Egg in Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an “eco”-colored egg for Easter. It is eco because no artificial colorants are used. [...]

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    Jun 30th, 2010

    Thanks for this list ….
    My personal choice is
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    where all tutorials have a higher page rank and professional

  34. sean rooney

    Aug 18th, 2010

    Wow, Nice effect, I particularly like the colours!!

    Sean.

  35. Manaul Clipping Path

    Sep 30th, 2010

    Marvelous tutorial!!!!!

  36. HoMagdi

    Oct 9th, 2010

    When such a beautiful and cohesive lesson I see: I am sorry that I have not the image editor …. nevertheless / even so: I enjoy to watch, as the simple lines that will be a nice picture! Thank you:)

  37. vxxxx

    Feb 8th, 2011

    This was most enjoyable! :)

  38. Sherri Obermark

    Feb 19th, 2011

    Thank you, lovely result!

  39. 35 Useful Adobe Illustrator Tutorials For 3D Artwork « Rekuromeo's Daily Blog

    Mar 18th, 2011

    [...] 35. Create and color an eco easter egg in Adobe Illustrator [...]

  40. Jason Kuek

    Dec 22nd, 2011

    Wonderful tutorial. Thank you.