Creating Custom Illustrations from a Sketch using the Pen tool in Figma.
There are so many new tools that are released and it’s always fun for me to test them out either for screen design or for illustrations. Using various tools shows that there are similarities in the toolsets. It’s always interesting to discover new and fun ways to create amazing things.
The last post I did was based on using simple shapes to create character illustration while following a sample video tutorial and this one would be focused on using the pen tool to create illustrations from a paper sketch.
Process
I started with creating a Colour Palette with which I would base my illustration on. Like I said in my last post, I do this so I have a nice clean way with which I select colours. I decided to stick to a one colour illustration while using the Light and Tone property to create variations in my selected colour.
I created a 800 x 600 frame that would act as my Artboard and I placed a rectangle with the exact same sizing on it so I would be able to manipulate the background colour freely. (Tip: Ensure to lock the background layer so that you can freely make selections in your “Artboard” without selecting the background)
Next I imported my sketch into Figma as this would act as a base for me. I used the pen tool to trace the sketch to get the required outline. (Tip: When tracing the outline, always ensure a new vector layer is created for each shape)
So you want your vector shape layers to look like this with each outlined part having it’s own layer that way you can easily manipulate the colours.
After getting the outline, I moved it to my Artboard and reduced the size and Stroke Weight to ensure it fits into it.
Next is Filling the various different vector shapes with the colours from my colour palette. The eye dropper tool in the Fill Properties really plays a big part here as it would be used to select colours from the palette.
That’s it.
Some extra details like a background, gradient shadows, a wall frame, a plant, some UI Elements can also be added to give more depth to the illustration.
Conclusion
This was a really fun experiment because I had to follow a sketch I made and use a single colour. As always, I encourage you guys to try this out. Draw a simple sketch and trace it using the pen tool.
Here’s a link to the figma document — https://www.figma.com/file/Fb4ZZYx4wdNQXZOfHR1j8RRv/Untitled?node-id=2%3A2
Let us create amazing stuff!
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