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If you’re looking to add some extra interest to your vector illustrations, then you’ll want to learn how to draw wiggly lines in Illustrator! This quick tutorial will show you how to create wavy lines with the Pen tool, using a simple technique that’s easy to master.
Checkout this video:
Introduction
Drawing a line is one of the basic skills you need to master in Adobe Illustrator. In this tutorial, we’re going to show you how to draw a wiggly line. This will come in handy when you’re trying to create a hand-drawn look for your illustrations.
We’ll start by creating a new document in Illustrator. For this tutorial, we’re using the default settings.
Next, we’ll grab the Pen tool from the toolbar on the left.
Now we’ll click and drag to create our first anchor point. As we move the mouse, we’ll see a straight line being created between our first anchor point and our mouse cursor.
To create a curved line, we need to add more anchor points. We can do this by clicking and dragging with the Pen tool again. We’ll see that as we move our mouse, two lines are being created: one straight line between our anchor points, and one curved line between our cursor and the straight line.
We can continue adding anchor points until we have the desired shape for our wiggly line.
Once we’re happy with our wiggly line, we can go ahead and give it a stroke color by selecting it and choosing a color from the toolbar on the right-hand side. We can also add a fill color if we want to.
What You Will Need
In order to draw a wiggly line in Illustrator, you will need a computer with Adobe Illustrator installed, a digital drawing tablet (optional), and a digitalpen or stylus (optional).
Step One: Create a New Document
To start, create a new document in Illustrator. You can do this by going to File > New. A dialogue box will appear. Set the width and height of your document, and make sure the units are in inches. I like to work at a resolution of 300 dpi so that the file will be print-ready if I need it to be, but you can enter whatever resolution you prefer. Click “OK” when you’re done.
Step Two: Select the “Pencil” Tool
To draw a wiggly line, you’ll need to select the “Pencil” tool from the main toolbar. This tool will allow you to draw freeform lines that can be easily edited later on. If you’re having trouble finding the “Pencil” tool, it’s located just below the “Brush” tool.
Step Three: Draw a Wiggly Line
In the last step, you learned how to set up your workspace and draw a straight line. Now it’s time to draw a wiggly line!
There are a few different ways to draw a wiggly line in Illustrator. You can use the pen tool, the pencil tool, or the brush tool. For this tutorial, we’ll be using the pen tool.
1. Select the pen tool from the toolbar.
2. Click once on the artboard to create a starting point for your line.
3.Click and drag to create a curved segment. Release the mouse button when you’re happy with the shape of your curve.
4.Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you’ve created a wiggly line that you’re happy with!
Step Four: Convert the Line to a Path
Now that you have a line, it’s time to convert it into a path. A path is a line with anchor points that can be manipulated. To convert the line to a path, select the line with the Selection tool and go to Object > Path > Outline Stroke. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Command + Shift + O (Mac) or Control + Shift + O (Windows).
Step Five: Edit the Path
Now that you have your wiggly line, you need to edit the path to make it into a perfect wavy line. With the Direct Selection Tool (A), click on the anchor point at one end of the line and drag it up or down until the wave is the height that you want it to be. Do the same thing at the other end of the line.
Step Six: Add a Stroke
Now that you have your anchor points in place, it’s time to give your wiggly line some thickness. Go to the “Stroke” menu (it’s probably set to “None” right now) and choose a color. I usually go with black, but feel free to be creative. Use the drop-down menu next to the color swatch to choose a stroke thickness. I usually stick with around 3pt, but again, feel free to play around and see what you like best. After you select a stroke thickness, hit “OK.”
Step Seven: Change the Stroke Width
This is the seventh and final step in drawing a wiggly line in Illustrator. In order to change the stroke width, simply select the “Stroke” option from the main menu and then adjust the slider to change the width of the stroke. With a little practice, you’ll be able to produce beautiful wiggly lines in no time!
Conclusion
Now that you know the basics of how to draw a wiggly line in Illustrator, try experimenting with different techniques to find the look you want. You can use the Width tool to create varied line widths, or the Artboard tool to create interesting shapes. Remember to have fun and experiment!
