Tuto Illustrator : draw a landscape

To discover the content of this blog visit the "summary" page.

Introduction

Here is a beautiful landscape, probably in Crete, with a mill along the Mediterranean (photo found on the internet) that I intend to reproduce the Adobe Illustrator (CS5).

The final result after many hours of work is as follows:

I have split the realization into 5 parts:

•        the house
•        the terrace
•        the mill
•        the foreground
•        the sea and sky

The house

The drawing of the house begins with a path of white color (RGB = 255, 255, 255) and Feather 3 pixels:

The roof is a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = -85 ° and transparency "Darken") described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 254, 254, 254
·         Location 92%, RGB = 163, 157, 162 (Distribution: 86-14%)

Read the post "Notation for color gradients" for more information.

The wall on the right side is a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = 0 ° and feather 2 pixels) described below:

·         Location 27%, RGB = 206, 206, 206
·         Location 100%, RGB = 179, 176, 177 (Distribution: 13-87%)

The shadow on the wall is a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = -161 °, transparency "Darken" and opacity: 70%) described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 193, 190, 191
·         Location 59%, RGB = 217, 217, 217 (Distribution: 51-49%)
·         Location 100%, RGB = 168, 168, 168 (Distribution: 71-29%)

The first window starts with a gradient mesh for background design:

Followed by the paths of colored window panes (RGB = 29, 35, 50) and feather 2 pixels:

Darker paths draw the frame around the window. The second window is achieved in the same manner.

The bottom of the wall is dirtier (probably because of the ferruginous water from the wellbore) and made with a gradient mesh into 2 parts.

The watering system is designed with two darker paths (see below).

The second brighter wall is made with a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = 75 ° and transparency "Darken") described below:

·         Location 56%, RGB = 254, 254, 254
·         Location 100%, RGB = 163, 157, 162 (Distribution: 72.5-17.5%)

The door is drawn using 2 paths. The first is a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 0 ° and Feather 3 pixels) described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 172, 166, 171
·         Location 53%, RGB = 163, 157, 162 (Distribution: 31-69%)
·         Location 86%, RGB = 204, 204, 204 (Distribution: 50-50%)

The second is a path of color (RGB = 21, 27, 41) and Feather 3 pixels:

Without giving more details of paths:

·         The door is completed with a (small) handle
·         The house is complete with outdoor lighting (green arrows) and the air vents (red arrows).

See the following picture:

The rosebush is made with an object from my personal library (image treated with the "Live Trace" function Illustrator). The "flowers" are from the standard library of the symbols of Illustrator (red arrows).

Closed parasols are gradient meshes.

The low walls of ochre color present no difficulty and are not thus described in detail.

The flowery shrubs are realized as the rosebush with objects from my personal library and the flowers come from the standard library of the symbols of Illustrator (red arrow).

The terrace

The drawing of the terrace begins with the low wall of the right-hand side which is a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 0 ° and Feather 2 pixels) described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 237, 234, 232
·         Location 18%, RGB = 248, 248, 248 (Distribution: 56-44%)
·         Location 91%, RGB = 163, 157, 162 (Distribution: 21-79%)

The top of the small wall is a path of color (RGB = 254, 254, 254) and 2 Feather pixels:

The tiles inlayed in the small wall are made ​​with paths of color RGB = 21, 27, 41 and 2 pixels Feather:

Without detailing the realization of the vase, the main plan is a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 172 °), described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 90, 28, 26
·         Location 27%, RGB = 255, 246, 226 (Distribution: 87-13%)
·         Location 99%, RGB = 220, 186, 146 (Distribution: 51-49%)

The plant in the vase is also an object from my personal library (green arrow in the image below).

The inner part of the left-hand side small wall is a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 172 °, and feather 1 pixel), described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 140, 129, 126
·         Location 44%, RGB = 173, 173, 173 (Distribution: 55-45%)
·         Location 100%, RGB = 184, 178, 166 (Distribution: 60-40%)

An "Inner Glow" effect is applied with the following options:

·         Mode : multiply
·         Opacity : 75%
·         Blur : 5 pixels
·         Radio button : "edge”

The outside wall left-hand side is a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 50 ° and Feather 1 pixel), described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 253, 242, 223
·         Location 53%, RGB = 248, 248, 248 (Distribution: 31-69%)
·         Location 98%, RGB = 163, 157, 162 (Distribution: 61-39%)

The top of the low wall is a path of color (RGB = 254, 254, 254) and 1 pixel Feather:

Without giving details of the realization, the drawing of the terrace continues with the dark edge of the left low wall, the inlayed blue tiles and the big vase in the background containing the plant through the objects of my personal library (green arrow).

Then I realize the drawing of the 4 garden tables (red arrow):

As well as the drawing of 4 chairs (from examples taken on the Internet):

The small gate of blue color (RGB = 29, 40, 68) is then added.

The drawing of the terrace ends with the tiled floor made ​​from an image taken on the internet (red arrow) transformed with Photoshop then "vectorized" with Illustrator (green arrow), 25% opacity:

Finally, the drawing of the house and its terrace is realized as shown below:

The mill

The drawing of the mill begins with a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 5 ° and Feather 2 pixels), described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 231, 227, 224
·         Location 18%, RGB = 248, 248, 248 (Distribution: 37-63%)
·         Location 91%, RGB = 168, 168, 168 (Distribution: 21-79%)

Then a path that overlay the previous is filled with color RGB = 168, 168, 168, transparency "Soft Light" and opacity 60% with "sponge" effect with the following options:

·         Brush size : 2
·         Definition : 12
·         Smoothness : 5

The drawing of the thatched roof begins with a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 5 ° and Feather 2 pixels), listed below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 149, 140, 130
·         Location 20%, RGB = 191, 179, 167 (Distribution: 52-48%)
·         Location 91%, RGB = 89, 81, 76 (Distribution: 30-70%)

The shadow of the roof is made with a path under the above, but slightly less tall, with a "drop shadow" effect whose options are:

·         Mode : Multiply
·         Opacity : 75%
·         X Offset : 0 pixel
·         Y Offset : 3 pixels
·         Blur : 3 pixels
·         Radio button : color (black)

The "straw" appearance of the thatched roof is made with a path of color RGB = 149, 140, 130, Feather 2 pixels and containing 2 effects:

A "Film Grain" effect with the following options:

·         Intensity : 40
·         Contrast : 50
·         Grain Type : vertical

A "Smudge stick" effect with the following options:

·         Stroke Length : 5
·         Highlight : 10
·         Intensity : 8

The wooden beams that support the straw are lines as shape "Charcoal - Pencil ", in thickness from 0.75 to 1 pt. and color RGB = 83, 75, 54:

 Openings on the front of the mill (red arrow) are not detailed.

The blades of the mill (green arrow) are performed with different paths, an example of which is given below. This is a linear gradient of 2 colors (angle = -156 °), described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 235, 235, 235

·         Location 61.5%, RGB = 65, 34, 33 (Distribution: 39-61%)

The shadows of the blades on the front of the mill are paths of color RGB = 193, 190, 191:

The threads that hold blades are lines of color RGB = 119, 190, 191 with opacity 50 %:

The foreground

The drawing of the foreground begins with the low wall of foreground which is a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 43 °), described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 237, 234, 232

·         Location 18%, RGB = 248, 248, 248 (Distribution: 56-44%)

·         Location 91%, RGB = 163, 157, 162 (Distribution: 21-79%)

We apply then a 8.5 pixels Feather and a "Craquelure" effect with the following options:

·         Crack Spacing : 12

·         Crack Depth: 1

·         Crack Brightness: 9

The foreground low wall (right side) is a path of color RGB = 179, 172, 177 to which we apply a path of the same size with a gradient of 3 colors similar to the precedent and transparency is "Lighten":

The left part the low wall foreground is made the same way. The gate foreground is a single stroke color RGB = 35, 44, 58 with a 2 pixels Feather:

The inside of the left wall is a path of RGB color = 212, 208, 200 with Feather 2 pixels:

The inside of the wall that accompanies the staircase to the beach is a linear gradient of 5 colors (angle = 0 °) as described below:

·         Location 3%, RGB = 179, 181, 175
·         Location 31%, RGB = 149, 140, 130 (Distribution: 50-50%)
·         Location 50%, RGB = 166, 169, 173 (Distribution: 54-46%)
·         Location 74%, RGB = 193, 190, 191 (Distribution: 50-50%)
·         Location 87%, RGB = 177, 174, 172 (Distribution: 53-47%)

To which are applied feather 3 pixels and an "Inner Glow" effect with the following options:

·         Mode : overlay
·         Opacity : 75%
·         Blur : 5 pixels
·         Radio button : "edge”

The staircase leading down to the beach is made with straightforwardly paths that are not detailed (a step is shown below):

The staircase built steps after steps:

The shadow of the wall foreground is a path of color RGB = 110, 112, 97, transparency "Multiply" Feather 3 pixels:

The driveway at the entrance to the house is paved with tiled floors that cover all of the following surfaces (tiling was performed as previously reported):

The tiling below is partially covered with a path of color RGB = 251, 253, 231 and transparency "Soft Light" to reproduce the reflection of the sun on the surface:

The right low wall of the path is also covered with this tiling:

The drawing of the drain holes is not a problem and therefore is not detailed.

The basin on the right filled with flowers is a linear gradient of 3 colors (angle = 0 °), as described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 237, 234, 232
·         Location 20%, RGB = 248, 248, 248 (Distribution: 39-61%)
·         Location 91%, RGB = 163, 157, 162 (Distribution: 24-76%)

We apply then a 6 pixels Feather and a "Craquelure" effect with the following options:

·         Crack Spacing : 35
·         Crack Depth: 1
·         Crack Brightness: 9

Flowers (green arrow) are made with images from my personal library (red arrow):

Here is the result (shown below) after the work described so far:

But the most difficult part is still to be made …

The sea and sky

Indeed, for me the drawing of the sea (and sky) is the real difficulty of this work!

I decided to simplify my life by avoiding drawing rocks (red arrow).

The suite is drawing of the sky that begins with a beautiful linear gradient with 3 blue colors (angle = 90 °) as described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 203, 204, 225
·         Location 53%, RGB = 163, 186, 226 (Distribution: 50-50%)
·         Location 100%, RGB = 102, 138, 209 (Distribution: 44-56%)

The background of the sea is also a linear gradient of 5 blue colors (angle = -90 °), as described below:

·         Location 0%, RGB = 181, 185, 209
·         Location 10%, RGB = 146, 161, 206 (Distribution: 32-68%)
·         Location 37%, RGB = 63, 125, 184 (Distribution: 50-50%)
·         Location 67%, RGB = 0, 103, 184 (Distribution: 46-54%)
·         Location 100%, RGB = 0, 79, 143 (Distribution: 52-48%)

The waves are made with paths of different colors and thicknesses, some examples of which are described here. The 2 paths below are RGB color = 21, 36, 54, transparency "overlay", thickness 2 pt. and brush "Chalk - Scribble":

The following line is color RGB = 157, 192, 220, thickness 2 pt. and brush "Chalk":

The following line is RGB color = 164, 182, 222, transparency "overlay", thickness 1 pt. and brush "Chalk":

The following line is RGB color = 134, 156, 176, transparency "overlay", thickness 0.75 pt. and brush "Chalk":

The following line is RGB color = 41, 79, 110, transparency "overlay", thickness 0.5 pt. and brush "Chalk":

Finally, after adding a few paths of the same type, the result for the sea is shown below:

This technique to draw the sea is personal; I do not know any other. But if you have other solutions please give them to me...

For clouds, several solutions are used. This may be a path of color RGB = 102, 102, 102, transparency "Soft Light", thickness 1.5 pt. and brushes "watercolor" coming from the standard library Illustrator:

This can also be a drawing of the cloud as gradient mesh, from my personal library, as shown below:

The final result is that shown in page one of this post...