Adobe Illustrator Tutorial for Beginners: How to Color

In this Adobe Illustrator Tutorial, we will be going through how to color using Blob Brush and Live Paint Bucket. I highly recommend using the Live Paint Bucket Tool, it will feel just like the Point and Click version in Adobe Illustrator. Remember to Select All, Object - Live Paint - Make. Coloring will take place after we have applied and edited our Brushes Layer. PUG TUTORIAL: jasonsecrest.c...
HOMEPAGE: jasonsecrest.com/
BEGINNER GUIDES: Many of our tutorials will follow an easy process for creating artwork in Adobe Illustrator. If you are new to Adobe Illustrator, start with Beginner Guides or Illustrator Tutorials. Understand how to apply the Primary Building Tools and Options in Adobe Illustrator.
jasonsecrest.c...
ILLUSTRATOR TUTORIALS: I have organized tutorials by core areas of your Workflow: Building, Editing, and Coloring. Pay attention to the Sequence of Events and Tool Options related to building a "Routine" or "Workflow." Understand how to apply Building, Variation, Editing, and Advanced Color Techniques.
jasonsecrest.c...
DOWNLOAD BRUSHES: Adobe Illustrator Brushes are my go-to for Professional Logos, Cartoons, Mascots, and Branding. Brushes include our Cartoon, Comic Strip, and Vintage Mascot Libraries. Once you have downloaded and extracted the Folders, Brush Libraries are ready to be used in Adobe Illustrator.
jasonsecrest.c...
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS: Many of you are looking to download our Brushes and Resource Folders. Digital Downloads will come as Zipped Folders. Once you have downloaded and extracted the Resource Folders, they are ready to be used in Adobe Illustrator. Start with our Resource Guides, Illustrator Tutorials, or KZbin Playlists.
jasonsecrest.c...
Copyright & Legal: All characters, artwork, and tutorial videos are copyrighted by Jason Secrest. Tutorials, characters, and artwork are for educational purposes only and should not be reproduced, sold, distributed, or made into products for commercial use without expressed written consent. This applies to any derivative work created from the tutorials and characters.
#jasonsecrest #adobeillustrator #illustratortutorials #stepbysteptutorials

[@TheRealArtDoctor]

I feel so stupid right now!, this whole time i could have colored with Live Paint Bucket Tool?!! I was for the longest time Literally by hand making shapes under the layer to color!!!!!!! You saved my life! Thank you so much for this video!!!!!!

[@Trippii]

damn that's how i used to do it before this video too lmao

[@gwendelinenathania3486]

omg same hereee

[@geovanniromanos5342]

Still good problem solving though lol...

[@re4hdmodlifeinhell144]

Same 😂

[@RedDragonKnighter]

I am honestly the same. I didn't know we could have done the live paint bucket tool for coloring. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@carlaromero9664]

You're actually a life saver, I've been trying to use illustrator but couldn't figure out how to color, thanks!

[@JasonSecrest]

Glad I could help! You are not allowed to color with the pen tool anymore. I am upset that this is hiding from so many people. Live Paint. Remember you can adjust the Gap Options if you go under Object - Live Paint - Options

[@jagatardian01]

oh my god, this is actually a professional work, but you made a video tutorial about it.. thank you very much mr jason, you just gain subcriber...

[@Joshchucci]

This is the best set of tutorials I’ve seen I’ve learned so much about making cartoons in just a an hour than I ever have on any other video. Thank you so much

[@JasonSecrest]

Thank you for respond I am always happy to hear that it helped, did you go through the full challenge?

[@ALEX-sn1he]

I have been looking for colored tutorials, but obviously your tutorials are smarter

[@joao777vitor]

Thanks a lot man! I've been struggling for months with coloring in illustrator, and this video went straight to the problem I was going trough, subscribing!

[@yanerps]

Sir, you're a lifesaver. Thank you so much!

[@daxon]

Where is Day 4 and Day 5 please? I really really need them. These videos are incredible!! Keep it up!

[@RikiyuGushiken]

U are a savior sir! salute to you! This is by far the easiest and clearest tutorial of using Adobe Illustrator for Beginner!

[@JasonSecrest]

Wow, thanks! Did you go all the way through from the beginning?

[@leaguedude4999]

It helped me a lot...I watched other live paint videos but they all were doing some grouping and copy paste and so on....But this is simple and working...Thanks man..!

[@queenraya]

OMG, THANKS A LOT! I wished I've found your video earlier. I've been watching many other videos but none of them showing like you did. Keep up the good work!

[@JasonSecrest]

You're very welcome Raya!

[@troncalnegrete479]

I can't thank you enough for your tutorial...Thank you!!

[@codnoober987]

Excellent video with a great teacher! Thank you Sir! Best of wishes from Norway🇳🇴

[@luiseyouknow]

thank you so much! we had this in class but i couldnt get it to work so this video really helped :) now i can actually do my homework yeahh

[@massomasaeed9029]

Thanks. You saved a life!

[@JasonSecrest]

Glad it helped!

[@sturmgewehr6663]

Thank you so much brother you are a life saver! Respect

[@AliciaRPaparo]

Thank you so much for making my life easier by creating this video! So helpful!!

[@nemothe8065]

Thank you so muchh!! it was really helpful video!!

[@BirdsNThings]

Thank you. I can now paint the correct way without wrestling with Adobe Illustrator!

[@chanta4937]

I just bought my very first Wacom lasr night, and your super cute Pug dog is my vert first paint on Illustrator. So much love on what you have done to the tutorial 👍👍

[@milkibearmilkibear]

Awsome video, keep up the good work!

[@egoistic_hiya]

you solved my biggest problem .... thank uuuuuu

[@himanshidabas5282]

Thanks this video helps me I just want this video Thank you

[@BananaBoba]

Thank you so much! You have really helped me out a lot!

[@JasonSecrest]

Glad I could help Anna!

[@djsaifeebeats]

You are a genius man thanku soo much!!!

[@HorrorbleDriver]

My dude... THANK YOU

[@ebrukodal3851]

Really helpful! Thank you.

[@ninjascroll1017]

Awesome tutorial, just what i needed

[@brandon6682]

Thank you for this I’m jumping back into illustrator to improvement portfolio. Making my family’s coat of arms in illustrator has been taxing. Now I have a better idea on what to do.

[@diegod1177]

LIFE SAVER

[@cinpaname]

thank you so much

[@JasonSecrest]

You're welcome!

[@chikita5757]

Thank you so much! :D love this tutorial. :D

[@lll6758]

Thanks bro it helped me a lot 👍👍

[@emerlander]

Wow, that was super cool! Thanks a lot. :D

[@allbyolydesign]

Thank you so much!

[@adhdbookworm]

Great tutorial! Thank you for sharing.

[@charcoalcharizd]

Thank you

[@gwendelinenathania3486]

i love youuuu this so helpful, thankss aaa

[@villeloving888]

Thank you for helping get true this task

[@nguyentai464]

thank you

[@pawyprint]

Very good tutorial!!

[@krazychung]

Thank you love all your tutorials! Is there a video after this? ABout color shading. The other video also didn't have the last part. would you be sharing it?

[@Jimmy7779]

Very clear.

[@NahumDacumos]

nice very helpfull

[@itsjes3d]

wow thanks!!!!

[@Gamer_bhai-v2k]

What happened to day 5 of this? The part where you add the shadows? Because I cant seem to find it.

[@philjudd3473]

THese are a great series of lessons. Is there one showing adding shadows? I can't seem to find it? Though you mentioned it in htis lesson as the next video?

[@sanjansenmuziek]

thank you so much! :)

[@pacoilocano8351]

Thanks Mr..

[@JasonSecrest]

Follow Along Version of Pug: jasonsecrest.com/adobe-illustrator-tutorial-using-wacom-tablet/

[@johnnyr5592]

How come my live paint "make" option is not available for me?

[@alexandraboyko9896]

THANKYOU SO MUCH

[@angelinachandra3199]

Thank you very much!! >w

[@T4eva]

Live paint bucket tool, going to write that one down because the colored rectangle send to back thing never works out for me...

[@ljiljanakuruca1926]

Thank you for these great tutorials! I only can't figure out why do we do expand, ungroup, magic wand and unite, after painting with live bucket tool? Why is it important? Tnx in advance!

[@JasonSecrest]

Are you referring to the flat color layer after coloring? The expanding is to finish live paint- it won’t let you do a whole lot while it is in live paint ‘make’ mode. The ungrouping is so we can get the colors separated so se can start the values to each color group individually. The unite is in case the gap setting on the live paint was large- small areas will break up in smaller pieces randomly- since they are touching we can unite the pieces together rather than compound shapes. Great question!

[@ljiljanakuruca1926]

@@JasonSecrest Thank you so much for this answer! 🤗

[@cryxtalsno8392]

Hi I'm new to adobe illustrator .. as i was following this tutorial... i noticed that when i went to object> live paint ... i cannot click "make" :( can anyone help me with this?

[@JasonSecrest]

Nothing is selected. I also have a new troubleshooting live paint video with the duck as the thumbnail

[@jjc5475]

very useful guide. thanks!

[@JasonSecrest]

I am Glad it was helpful John. Have you used Live Paint before?

[@jasonhung9081]

legend.

[@WPR91]

Most cleart tutorial i had so far Btw i want to know why after finishing the colouring with live paint bucket then you expand those shape, what is the purpose??

[@JasonSecrest]

You have to “finish” the live paint before moving on to the next steps. You will see * is the bound box that let you know as well the big expand button in the control panel that hints that that is the next step

[@WPR91]

thank u for replying, love your humble answer

[@JasonSecrest]

Ps- I won't ever have attitude in my responses so re-read it with a happy face on to get my tone. I am always trying to help and point out where the frustrating parts are in illustrator.

[@WiWillemijn]

I am doing something wrong and its driving me crazy. When I color something it dissapears. Its in layer two but you dont see it.

[@JasonSecrest]

1. First thing I want you to do is Click View - Show Transparency Grid. This will get rid of the white artboard. Click through your layers (eyeball-view) to see what is on each layer. There could be a white shape or a fill on one of the layers on top. 2. Next I want you to select all- do the shapes you just colored show up? Are you coloring using live paint and it is not coloring? or after live paint? Have you expanded the Live Paint?

[@JasonSecrest]

The 2 things I think it could be is there is a fill on a top layer- check your brushes or final line layer. The second is that you have not expanded after using live paint bucket. (Look for * in your bound boxes when you select the pug.)

[@WiWillemijn]

@@JasonSecrest I got it now, thanks

[@Evitaschannel]

Whenever I try to use the paint bucket I just get a tiny black stop sign next to it... even with completely closed items like a cirkle or whatever it just never works for me... I"M LOST

[@JasonSecrest]

I think I can help you out Evita. 1st, have you gone through and cleaned up all of you lines (expanded and erased?) 2nd Have you selected all of your expanded lines (I do recommend uniting them in pathfinder panel-window-pathfinder) 3rd - Go under Object - Live Paint - Make (this is more than likely the issue) This basically turns on the live paint bucket tool and lets the computer know what lines are involved. Try those and let me know if it is still giving you a stop sign.

[@Evitaschannel]

@@JasonSecrest what do you mean with expanded? I think I have it now but I can't seem to work out another thing with the paint bucket. Above the paint bucket icon there are three squares with colors, but my middle one stays "empty" (white square with red stripe through it) even if I use the pipette. So i can only change that through other ways but not just the easy way with the pipette

[@JasonSecrest]

If you click the arrow keys left or right does the color swatch with the red stripe switch to other colors?

[@donotpress5729]

Im greatful i can access to top college level lecture for free.

[@JasonSecrest]

You are very welcome. Did you start from the beginning and follow along?

[@ailjayjavier698]

Can I still do it with cs6? Anyway I will goin to try it. Thanks😁

[@audunjemtland8287]

I have used the pen tool and not a brush. How do I expand? The choice is not available for me

[@JasonSecrest]

Click on Expand Appearance if Expand is not available. Live Paint Bucket can be used on lines without Complex Appearances, you can potentially apply without expanding.

[@Allswells24]

How can you see the color through the line layer? When I do this I can't see the color unless I hit the eye ball on the line layer?

[@JasonSecrest]

In the video, I am coloring directly on the line layer with the Live Paint Bucket. For the Blob Brush I am coloring on a blank layer below the inking layer that is visible.

[@philjudd3473]

@@JasonSecrest oh so you're not using the Blob tool on the copied images for colouring? But a blank layer? Is there a reason for this? But obviously you need the linework copied onto a lower layer as a duplicate for the Paint tool?

[@jozsefkantor3361]

I don't have the paint bucket tool. HELP ME PLEASE!

[@roshanbajirao9209]

Sir, why do i get the message "complex visual appearance attributes such as brushes ,live effects, transparency and stroke alignment options may be lost when converting to live painting" when i click object>live painting>make.

[@JasonSecrest]

Illustrator won't let you use Live Paint with complex visual appearance, brushes, live effects, transparency which is the pop-up dialogue that you cited. It will convert it back to basic strokes if you click on live paint -make. You can use Live Paint/ Bucket as shown in the series (in the previous video we expanded our brushes and edited them using the eraser tool) or use a duplicated (live) brush layer without strokes to use for coloring with live paint.

[@halle3llah554]

It will not let me click make? Can someone please help! 6:09

[@JasonSecrest]

Have you expanded the brushes? Is everything selected before you go to Live Paint?

[@halle3llah554]

Jason Secrest, Thank you so much! I didn't expand it, this will save me so much time!

[@gwendelinenathania3486]

btw may I know what brush do you use for the outline? would love to know, thankyou master hahah

[@volkskrant825]

Gwendeline Nathania do you know what hé uses?

[@philjudd3473]

Jason I am a bit confused. To do the next videos we need to join Teachable? I went to your main pages but coulodn't find where I sign up and details with that? Can you help clarify? I see the brushes and textures etc for sale. But not how to follow to the tutorials? Thanks

[@philjudd3473]

I was wanting to follow along on the adding of shadows to this character...

[@Paramountpicsreal]

why is the live paint brush tool not working?

[@JasonSecrest]

If the Live Paint Bucket Tool does not work or if the "Make" button is not able to be selected in the (Object - Live Paint) dropdown, you just don't have anything selected. Select All or Select the Layer before using the Live Paint Bucket Tool.

[@danindelalic99]

Does this work for illustrator 2024?

[@JasonSecrest]

Of course. Make sure you have something selected before you use the Live Paint Bucket Tool.

[@HWvuurwerk]

Live paint doesnt work for me! soo frustrating now i have to color every pixel one by one

[@JasonSecrest]

You don’t have anything selected- select all then click on live paint- make

[@jakubhoza2987]

5:29 for what is that part ? when nothing has changed ?

[@JasonSecrest]

If you have Gap Options Selected while using the Live Paint Option there could be small gaps in your colors. The gaps would break up the larger shape which would affect other coloring and value methods such as gradients.

[@elcol2761]

Does anyone know what the tutorial is before this one? Not sure how to prepare the line work.

[@JasonSecrest]

Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hl7ciJqJatiFbK8

[@elcol2761]

@@JasonSecrest Thank you! I just found all your brushes. Cant' wait to dig into the brushes and purchase some. Love your tutorials. They are so brief and informative.

[@JasonSecrest]

Have an Illustrator question or topic you would like to see a tutorial on?

[@theartfulrogers]

I'd really like a breakdown of how illustrator works. I get really confused over having to expand, isolate, unite, merge shapes and paths etc. If I understood what all of these meant, then I would be able to remember what to do. Unfortunately I watch tutorials and click these buttons without knowing what they're actually doing.

[@edonacela8898]

how to undo the expand and to restart working and fixing the work before coloring..

[@mauricioreales57]

How could you paint the right ear with the interactive paint bottle if there was no closed shape?

[@JasonSecrest]

Test #1: Under Object - Live Paint - Options. Test your Gap Options to see if it fills in. Test #2: Draw a segment with no stroke to fill in the gap manually, then select everything again and Object - Live Paint Make. * Troubleshooting : the mistake will draw a segment and not click on the live paint again to have illustrator recognize the new line.

[@Wu-Fei]

Do you ever get white gaps between the shapes and line art? How do you fix that

[@JasonSecrest]

Background shape- keep going in the tutorial it will fill in when we do the white stroke and background layer

[@itsTRSTN]

Help! When I select all my lines and change colour it does it all over the place and looks messy. It doesn’t colour what I want it to. Is it because my lines aren’t connected properly?

[@JasonSecrest]

Alright let's do some troubleshooting: A. Are your lines all on a single layer? Is there color on the same layer? (Have your lines on a single layer and have your color layers locked out.) This is so you can isolate the issue. B. Also- did you finish the Day 2 Video Adding Variation? We go through a whole process of expanding and erasing the lines- this will relate to D and E below. C. Are you using magic wand? Double click to get options- change tolerance to 1. (default tolerance is way too high and will select everything) D. Expanded vs not expanded? **There is a strong chance the lines have not been expanded or there are some still in stroke form** If your are changing the expanded shapes- select all and expand appearance and then expand. (You are looking to see if there are some lines that are not expanded and still have a stroke/path going through the middle.) These strokes will fill in randomly from the ends of the path if you click on fill. E. Double check you don't have random fills on some of your strokes. Click on view - Show Transparency Grid. (If there are any random white fills this will show them.)

[@submeitsfreebruh]

i saw you didnt upload for 7 months now. you deserve subscribers lot more than this, give them some time and do your work. they'll come for sure, this is an amazing channel and your work is very professional.

[@mr.mcclendon8272]

yea man keep them coming man we support ya!

[@JasonSecrest]

Writing is all done- recording this weekend. New vids should hit Monday . I appreciate the friendly push

[@tahsinnawar9847]

Why my Make option does not work? I mean thats not applicable.. can anyone help me?

[@JasonSecrest]

Did you select all before clicking Live Paint?

[@tahsinnawar9847]

@@JasonSecrest can you kindly write down what mistake we make while coloring and the layer thing? We have to duplicate layers.. 1 will be for line work.. other 2 will be for coloring.. and then we have to lock all the layers so that the color does not spread as you said we have to create shape.. am I right? I did not understand which layer needed for which purpose 😅 as English is not my 1st language, its really hard to follow sometimes 😓

[@crispykartel]

"live shape" to "make doesnt work - i cant click Make...\

[@JasonSecrest]

Make sure you have something selected before clicking on Live Paint - Make

[@julioargueta872]

WHERE IS THE NEXT ONE?!?!

[@ItzMeJohn]

live bucket is grayed out help me Y-Y

[@JasonSecrest]

Do you have anything selected? Select All - Object - Live Paint - Make. Give it a try to see if that does it.

[@kmingdiary3382]

i used the live colour bucket and it showing that my artline will be lose, after i click ok then my artlink become normal line, how to fix it??

[@JasonSecrest]

It sounds like you haven’t expanded (expand appearance)your lines yet. Select all- expand appearance- expand. Have you cleaned up your overlapped lines?

[@EggHeadJo]

Why is your Adobe completely different to mine I haven't got half the tools on display as you

[@JasonSecrest]

Go under Window - Toolbars - Advanced to show more Tools

[@EggHeadJo]

@@JasonSecrest Toolbar isn't an option under windows? 😣

[@koykha]

Go through several your tutorial and i love it, but when i try the way to use bucket paint ... i found a little thin white between line after do bucket paint and expand it.. dont know why that happen.. can you/ anyone have an idea?

[@JasonSecrest]

You have a couple of different options. (The line will disappear after you add on the background shape - should be on one of the next step videos.) Option 1: Background Shape - The background shape will go underneath the flat color layer and it is just a duplicated layer of our color that we unite with pathfinder. So it will be a silhouette of the pug. This can be colored the same as the base which will get rid of the artboard showing through. This is also the shape we add the outside stroke/ offset path to. Option 2: Some people like to have a lot of overlapping with the finished line layer and their color. Instead of coloring the expanded line layer with brushes, you can go back to you previous steps that are still in stroke form (not expanded) and color that layer with Live Paint. The paint bucket will read the stroke/path in the middle rather than the expanded outside edge of the brushes. You can even get rid of the brushes/variation to see how the live paint bucket will interact with your paths. Option 3: Instead of Live Paint bucket you can use pen tool or blob brush to create shapes (on a layer below your inking layer) that will overlap with your brush lines. The blob brush acts as a big coloring book. The pen tool you can click around the shape you want to create a fill shape. (Just use straight lines and walk all around the shape) The last 2 options are just ways of overlapping with the brush edge.

[@koykha]

Thank you so much for your reply, I think I tried with the option 1 (not sure if it is the same as yours) as I put color background shape, send it to the backward of line art, and then merge them both with the pathfinder, then I check buy select the line art and delete it ..I still can see the white line (like the line art) inside the solid color background shape - -; ....I think it must be something wrong with my step. Or is it some way to do line art in the multiply like Photoshop, just let them go through.

[@JasonSecrest]

Here is the background shape on the Adding Gradients video, this is the last step in the tutorial kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4e3Y6WIg7-CpqM at 7:45 If you are in the transparency panel you can adjust blending modes options to do multiply if you want to see through. (If you are on the coloring part you should be done building and already expanded your lines- another possibility is to check to see if you have a stroke on your colors

[@koykha]

Now I found not only a thin line between line art and base color, but it happens when I do adding shadow too. It looks fine when I do at that moment, but i can see the thin line after i expand and merge all of them together. Still cannot figure it out, btw thank you so much for your time.

[@prathebham4043]

I have a doubt.i traced with pen tool.wen i filled with live paint tool,my stroke type is always changing to uniform....could u help me out

[@JasonSecrest]

In the tutorial we have expanded and cleaned up the lines by the time we use Live Paint/Paint Bucket. Go back to the 2nd video and follow along from when we expand appearance/expand and the clean up process.

[@NewtonesIndustries]

How come the right ear work with the live paint tool if it wasn't a closed shaped?

[@JasonSecrest]

In the Live Paint Options you can adjust the Gap Options for small to large gaps. This is good if you have a looser inking style. Object- Live Paint - Options

[@NewtonesIndustries]

Thank you brother I really appreciate your answer. Keep it up 🍺

[@Lena-sf8pt]

is that made with paintbrush or vectors/pens?

[@JasonSecrest]

Cartoon Brushes- did you watch the 2nd video where we added them?

[@ahadubelayalemayehu3516]

Where is the next tutorial?

[@JasonSecrest]

Pug Challenge: Video #1: Using Pencil Tool + Tablet: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGSbcoNvrNZ6h7c Video #2: Adding Cartoon Brushes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5vHoYywgaxloNU Videos #4 + #5 are on Teachable within our Brushes + Resources Challenges. Download Brushes + Resources: jasonsecrest.com/illustrator-brushes/

[@philjudd3473]

@@JasonSecrest Jason which one of these covers adding shadows?

[@stampfla0000]

why doesnt the live paint work for me?

[@JasonSecrest]

Do you have your object your are coloring selected before clicking Live Paint- Make? Live Paint Troubleshooting: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmLCnZywitGKqqs

[@stampfla0000]

@@JasonSecrest i got it now, i had to clean my mess up

[@Eis4Electric]

What kind of brushes did you use?

[@JasonSecrest]

I used the Cartoon Brushes in the Resource folder

[@muhammadowais2873]

I am unable to use it please help

[@JasonSecrest]

See if this video helps out. Question: My Live Paint Bucket doesn't Work? kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmLCnZywitGKqqs

[@enzomitsu4997]

are the colors brushes free on the site?

[@JasonSecrest]

The cartoon brushes/color swatches and anything you see in the step by step videos is free. So everything you need for the pug is free. PS. Check your spam folder for the resource link.

[@kevintariman3331]

​@@JasonSecrest i only got a trace image and a color swatch on the email..sad i cant follow on the brushing.

[@ronaldw7950]

"it's a great tool.... just click click click... it's a great tool"... tried exactly the same and it did not work. I cannot figure out why, so I strongly assume, some kind of vital information in the beginning is missing... as with most "tutorial" videos that are "super easy and super fast". Thumbs down.

[@JasonSecrest]

You don't have anything selected Ronald. I selected what I wanted to Color or the Layer at 1:10 in the Video.

[@vissshhnuuuu]

thank you so much!!!