The Pen tool allows you to freely draw lines, shapes, and edges by hand. You can make these paths and shapes curved or straight. The anchor points and handles let you adjust these drawings after you’ve created them with the Pen tool. But drawing with the pen tool can be very difficult if you do not understand how, it works but once you know them it's easy and fun.
Let’s keep it simple.
Anchor Point:
It is a starting point where a path begins and stops at the next point and continuous. A path is created in between the anchor points.
Smooth Point:
A point with two handles one left and one right. A handle in smooth point will always be opposite to each other. When you rotate one handle the other will rotate as well.
Cusp Point:
A point with two handles, but in a cusp point 1 handle will be perpendicular / or any angle to other handles. A handle in a cusp point will rotate independent to another handle.
Anchor point Tool:
This tool can be used to convert an anchor point to smooth point and smooth point to cusp point and curve of paths.
Direct selection Tool:
This tool lets you select, move, or modify specific points or path segments in a path or a shape.
Handles:
Handles determines the length of the curve. Longer a handle lengthier the curve.
Tips:
1. Practice tracing / drawing basic shapes like square, circle… etc. organic shapes and abstract shapes to understand all these three points.
2. Practice tracing / drawing fonts Sans, Serif, Crusive… etc. A bit tricky but very powerful in understanding pen tool and learn typography (added bonus).
3. Practice tracing / drawing images.
Drawing using pen tool:
Keep in Mind:
1. Always learn to trace or draw in clockwise direction.
2. When you trace / draw always visualize in basic shapes in the art, imagery, typography.
Credits to Deke (Adobe Pen Tool: Mastery) and Von Glitschka (Vector Basic Training: A Systematic Creative Process for Building Precision Vector Artwork) for them to teach on how to use pen tool and master them. I learned from their videos and books.
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