Adobe Illustrator Tutorial: Adding Shadows

[@NicotinaNana]

Jason, thank you so much for all your tutorials, they're really helping me a lot and making everything much, much easier

[@HungrySheep]

Thanks for the tutorial! I’ve been retracing existing shapes with the pen for shadows but my life will be so much easier from here on out!

[@nexstar718]

excellent teaching Jason, your hard work is valued by many. Thanks

[@dilhumbug3963]

Just droped by to say thanks for the tutorial, appreciate it!

[@JasonSecrest]

Helpline (Beta Test): If you are going through the tutorial step by step and need assistance "LIKE" this comment (a notification hits my phone). Write a NEW comment with your question and the time of the video you are stuck on (the NEW comment is at the top of my comment list).

[@Wildest_Wahoo]

Ctrl + shift + A Or Cmd + shift + A on Mac to DESELECT! Very useful!

[@gowthamant4005]

Wow I didn't know I can use the Knife tool for this. I always tend to use the Pen tool for cutting things out for colouring. Thank you!

[@SwetPotato]

Thanks a lot for the tutorials!

[@berrybeca]

Thank you for these tutorials!!! They are amazing and very helpful!!!

[@JasonSecrest]

Thanks Rebeca, I am glad you are getting a lot out of them.

[@Saintkushman]

You are a life saver I hope you know that ❤❤❤

[@ColanChen]

I've been following your tutorials it's really into details and amazing!! Thank you

[@Barthunor]

Jason , you are awesome man !

[@rictolorio9062]

Best tutorial ever i learn a lot in your videos, i have some encounter difficulties in cutting knife tool the color getting out of proportion after i cut...

[@AnnaPolka]

CHANGED MY LIFE BRO

[@vivianasanguino1455]

Hi! this video is great!! Has helped me a lot! I just have one question... How did you de-select and re-select? I'm sorry if you had already said this

[@JasonSecrest]

Deselecting is just clicking on the artboard. Re-selecting is simply using your black arrow to select the object. This is so you can individually select the shadow shape to change the color.

[@LuisGonzalez-gw1fs]

Brou u helped me asf thx

[@subscriber6697]

liked and subscribed. thanks for the video

[@BrendaKato]

excellent!

[@CelliosGamesCG]

nice tutorial man! but i have a problem. i already used the knife tool for one drawing and it was working excellent. but when i began adding the shadow to my second drawing it wasnt working the way i wanted it to. it now only reacts to small sections of my drawing. for example, i have drawn a hand with a banana in it and i can only apply it to the nails of the hand. i have drawn my picture in exact the same order as you did, but for any reason it just wont work. please help me asap, i must finish my project for school! already thanks ps: sorry if my grammar isnt correct, im dutch and im working on it :)

[@JasonSecrest]

Should work for small and large shapes so lets do some Double Checks: 1. Make sure that you are selecting the shape you are cutting *(it isn't grouped with other shapes) *(it has been expanded after Live Paint (if using) 2. Cut all the way through the object. Go really long with your cuts if you have to. 3. Remember to Deselect- then re-select the shape to recolor

[@CelliosGamesCG]

Jason Secrest when im using live paint i cant edit with the knife tool and if im using the blob brush i can use the knifetool. And yes i did al the steps in the correct order

[@JasonSecrest]

Yep- I know the issue. Issue 1: Live Paint hasn't been expanded yet- check your transform boxes (select all) to see if you have asterisks in the transform boxes. Expand your Live Paint Issue 2: Still Grouped Shapes After using Live Paint- Select All- Expand. Then Ungroup your Live Paint (could be 3X of ungrouping) Just keep ungrouping until you can select individual shapes again. Then use your knife tool.

[@rebeccabrooks69]

You are awesome! :))))))))) I am running Ai CS6 and for the life of me the dang knife tool does not function the way yours does. I rewatched the vid like 6 times and for some reason it keeps entering live paint. And it will not let me ungroup the shapes. So I just used the blob brush.

[@JasonSecrest]

Make sure you have expanded after live paint and then ungroup (usually takes 3x before you can select the individual shapes) Then the knife tool should work properly.

[@rebeccabrooks69]

Hi, Thanks so much. :)

[@peklat6934]

I tried using the knife tool but it simply creates a stroke, how can i remove it?

[@JasonSecrest]

Make sure you have expanded your paths into shapes and you don't have a stroke selected on the shape before you use the knife tool.

[@mitigiant5328]

Shading is my worst enemy

[@JasonSecrest]

I am recording some Q&A videos this week for our new series launching Friday. Shading is going to be one of the topics, anything specific on shading you would like to see to make your life easier?

[@toolzshed]

picking where shadows go is hard :'(

[@casey-gt8nl]

i dont have a knife tool :/

[@JasonSecrest]

Its hiding under the eraser tool