How To Draw A Leaf In Illustrator

Botanical prints were essential for institute identification in the 18th century.

The prints would feature different species of plants, bugs, and insects.

Originally used for academic purposes today vintage botanical prints are beautiful pieces of history used to decorate homes and offices.

In this tutorial, I'm going to bear witness you how to make a vintage botanical illustration in Illustrator with a little help from Photoshop.

For the illustration, I used Inkwash | Vector Ink and H2o Brushes and Standard Issue Brush Kit.

I recommend adding these brush packs to your illustration toolbox, just yous can always employ Google for gratis brushes. If you go this road, beware of the quality.

Love Illustrator tutorials? Hither are some others we retrieve you'll honey:

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How to Create a 1960s Children's Book Illustration in Adobe Illustrator

Visual Research

I found these prints on Pinterest and Google. From them, I can see that the drawings use some textures and airbrush effects for lights and shadows.

I take what I plant from my visual research and set them alongside my Illustrator artboard equally a reference.

Sketch

I started the sketch straight in Illustrator. With the Brush Tool (B), I drew out the shapes of the bloom, stem, leaves, and bud.

I provided a pace-by-footstep on how you can sketch the aforementioned the rose bloom. The sketch can be loose and doesn't take to be precise.

Tracing and Filling in the Shapes

Later yous've completed your sketch, have the Pen Tool (P) and trace your sketch to create a shape for each chemical element of the plant.

Adjacent with the Pen Tool (P), trace out shapes for each petal and fold. After creating the shapes, they should exist filled in with their designated colors.

I have a little color range at the side of the rose so I tin can hands reference what colour to utilize.

Calculation Shadows to the Petals

Since the visual references have airbrush-like shadows and lights, I decided to employ gradients for my shadows.

Have i of the petals and and then Re-create it (CMD + C) and Paste it (CMD + F). With the pasted shape selected, add a gradient to it with the Gradient Tool (Yard).

After the gradient is applied, set to an Overlay effect to the gradient in the Transparency Panel (Window> Transparency). I exercise this process to all the petals.

Calculation Textures to the Petals

Inkwash | Vector Ink and Water Brushes is the perfect castor pack for this type of illustration. I used it to add brush texture to the illustration so that information technology doesn't look too polished.

With the Brush Tool (B) selected, use vector brush Watercolor 19 (WC19) and draw a line. And then, bend the line to match the curves of the petals.

Next, copy the petal and then paste it on top. With the top petal and the vector brush lines selected, Make a Clipping Mask past correct clicking and then selecting Brand Clipping Mask.

I as well used the vector brush pack to add together more shadows for the petals.

To get into the clipping mask that has already been created, right click on the shape and select Isolate Selected Clipping Mask. Once yous are inside, it should look something similar the correct side of the instance above.

While inside the clipping mask, use vector brush Watercolor 25 (WC 25) and draw lines with the Castor Tool (B) where y'all want the shadows to be.

Repeat this process for all the other petals that need more shadow/ depth.

Making the Shadows for the Leaves

I also gave each leaf a gradient shadow and stem.

After their slope shadow has been applied, I started to make the veins for the leaves. To brand the veins, select the gradient shadow.

So, using the Rectangle Tool (M), make a long rectangle in the middle of the leaf. With the line and the gradient leaf selected, use the Shape Architect Tool (Shift + Yard) and and then click on each side of the leaf.

By doing this, a shape will exist created separating each side.

Practice the same steps for each vein. Repeat the process for all the leaves in the illustration.

Annotation: Y'all may have to delete any other shapes that aren't needed.

Adding Textures to the Leaves and Stem

Adding textures to the leaves and stem gives them more than depth. With the Brush Tool (B) selected, apply vector brush Watercolor 19 (WC19) and describe a line. Curve the line to match the curves of the leaves and stem.

Re-create the leaf/stem and and so paste it on meridian. With the superlative shape and the vector brush lines selected, Make a Clipping Mask by right-clicking and selecting Brand Clipping Mask.

Making Playful, Baby Leaves

At present we're going to work on shapes for the fiddling details. The infant leaves were created with the Pen Tool (P). They can be made with two anchor points. Some were placed onto each other for more variety.

Making Thorns

The thorns are easy to create.

Use the Line Segment Tool (\) and brand a brusk line. Change the Line Contour to match the example above.

I made a bunch of thorns and placed them on the stalk of the bud and below the stem of the bloom.

Calculation Grain Textures

If y'all look dorsum at the references, you lot tin can see that some of them have a grainy texture.

Luckily, in Illustrator, there is an like shooting fish in a barrel way to add grainy textures.

Select a petal, copy it and paste information technology and and so add a gradient to it. Make certain the black part is where the shadow needs to be.

After that, go to Effect> Texture> Grain. A window similar the 1 in the example above should open up. Brand sure your settings match the instance and then press okay.

When the grainy textures are applied, change the transparency to Multiply then change the opacity until you achieve your desired look.

Adjacent, I wanted to add together a grainy texture overlay to the whole illustration—this is where Photoshop comes into the mix.

The Standard Upshot Brush Kit is a Photoshop brush pack that's loaded with different types of subtle brushes that are perfect for adding an analog feel to your illustration.

In Photoshop, create a new file with the aforementioned dimensions as the illustration in Illustrator.

With a tan colour and Brush Tool (B) selected, use Photoshop castor Pencil 4H from the pack.

Brush at different locations on the canvas until you achieve your desired look.

After that, drop it into Illustrator and change the transparency to Multiply. Yous can reduce the opacity to brand the grains look less intense.

Adding Color Overlays

Lastly, some colour overlays were given to the illustration.

Giving an illustration a color overlay puts everything nether the same lite and allows more depth to the analogy.

It will as well help the illustration have the same aged newspaper color of our inquiry images.

The outset color overlay is made with a warm, medium grey to mute the colors of the analogy.

I made a rectangle that covered the whole artboard so applied information technology with this color. I then changed the transparency to Screen and reduced the opacity.

The second overlay is fabricated with a warm yellowish-greenish to requite the illustration an aged newspaper effect.

Like the get-go colour overlay, I fabricated a rectangle that covers the whole artboard then practical it with warm yellowish-green. I then changed the transparency to Overlay and reduced the opacity.

Final

Some vintage botanical prints have writings describing the species of plants, bugs or insect. With that in mind, I finished the analogy with text for the species of rose and the current year.

I promise this tutorial helps you create your own vintage botanical prints to hang in your house, role or building!

About Linh Le

Linh is a fourth-year graphic design student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. You can see more of her works on her website and Instagram.