How to Create A Nature Inspired Arrow Pattern in Adobe Illustrator

by Nataliya Dolotko

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What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a seamless arrow pattern. We will go through steps like creating the elements for the pattern, drawing a fox illustration, scattering everything on the background, and then cropping. 

1. Drawing a Stalk Using a Special Brush

Step 1

Open a New document, and first let's create an arrow. For this, we will need thePencil Tool (N) and the fill color R=123 G=130 B=94. 

So, check Round Cap on the Stroke panel, make sure that the options of this tool are Fidelity 3 pixels, Smoothness 50 %, and check Fill new pencil stroke. Draw a line using the Pencil Tool (N). 

Let me tell you a little trick: if your hand is shaky and you can't draw a long, straight line, draw a very short line, for example, a few millimeters long, and then use theDirect Selection Tool (A) to stretch this line. Using the Pencil Tool (N), continue to draw the arrow. But of course, you can draw your own beautiful arrow.

Step 2

Create a few more arrows by following my examples below, or create your own. Add a feather at the end of one arrow, and make a copy of this feather as a separate item. To draw the tip of arrow, use the Pen Tool (P) with the same fill color and with no stroke. 

Step 3

Use those stroke colors to add colors to the arrows.

In the end they should look like the image below. If you're satisfied with the result, expand all of the arrows (Object > Expand Appearance).

2. Creating Other Elements for the Pattern

Step 1

Again, with the help of the Pencil Tool (N), draw another element of our pattern—a square spiral. Multiply it to have four elements in one column. Rotate the second and the third spirals by 45 degrees using the Rotate Tool (R).

Step 2

Draw a few simple triangles: four of them in one column.

Step 3

Now let's draw a sun. Make a very thick stroke and place a big dot, forming the body of the sun. To create the beams, you can use the Pencil Tool (N) or the Pen Tool (P) again—whichever you like the most. Using the Rotate Tool (R), multiply them.

Step 4

To create the last item of our pattern, I used a thick Brush Tool (B) (Brushes > Artistic > Artistic_Calligraphic > 20 pt. Oval), and then I added a few more elements.

Step 5

Now we have four different pattern items along with the arrows. Expand all of them (Object > Expand Appearance). 

3. Drawing the Fox

Step 1

I made this sketch directly in AI, using the Pencil Tool (N) and the Eraser Tool (Shift-E). So you can draw it by copying the image below, or create your own beautiful fox. To adjust the options of the Pencil Tool (N) in the new dialogue window, under the Tolerances section, make Fidelity 3 pixels and Smoothnessaround 40%. In the Stroke panel set Weight 1 px, and also I like to check Round Cap.

After finishing your drawing, select everything in this layer (Control-A), go to theTransparency panel, and make the Opacity around 20%. Lock the layer where you have drawn the fox.

Step 2

Create a new layer under the layer with the sketch, and start to outline your illustration. Choose dark orange for the fill color (R=206 G=99 B=52) and no stroke. 

Step 3

Add the ears, the eye and the nose. Remember to make the closer ear lighter and the further ear darker. The eye and nose are black.

Step 4

Keep the fill color which you used for the darker ear and draw the left legs.

Step 5

Change the color to R=96 G=71 B=54 and draw the lower part of the fox paw.

Step 6

Make the fill color darker (R=81 G=58 B=41) and draw the same for the right paws.

Step 7

Cut off the unneeded parts of the brown paws using the Intersect button inPathfinder.

Step 8

Set the fill color to R=241 G=240 B=236 and using the Pen Tool (P) draw a shape roughly as shown in the image below, overlapping the fox's tail.

Step 9

Also draw a curved shape over its face and belly.

Step 10

Cut off the unneeded parts of it using the Intersect button in Pathfinder.

At the end the fox should look like this:

4. Creating the Seamless Pattern

Step 1

Let’s draw a large square by using the Rectangle Tool (M). Set the fill color toR=216 G=219 B=202 and draw a square with Width 600 px and Height 600 px.

Step 2

Scatter the arrows and pattern elements all over the square. Try to place the elements so they are overlapping just at the top side of the square.

Step 3

Then randomly add the foxes.

Step 4

Select all the elements without the background and group them (right-click > Group). Press the Enter key and Move window should pop up. Enter Horizontal Position 600 px, Vertical Position 0 px, Distance 600 px and set the Angle 0 degrees. Now, press the Copy button.

Step 5

Select all the elements inside the artboard again and press the Enter key. In theMove window, make Horizontal Position -600 px, Vertical Position 0 px,Distance 600 px and Angle 0 degrees. Press the Copy button.

Step 6

Select all the elements inside the artboard once again and press the Enter key. In the Move window, make Horizontal Position 0 px, Vertical Position 600 px,Distance 600 px and the Angle 90 degrees. Press the Copy button.

Step 7

Select all the elements inside the artboard for the last time, and press the Enter key. In the Move window, make Horizontal Position 0 px, Vertical Position -600 px,Distance 600 px and the Angle -90 degrees. Press the Copy button.

Step 8

Now, you must to ungroup everything. You need to delete all the elements that do not cross the background.

Step 9

The important point: if you want to move, for example, the arrow at the top of the wallpaper, you need to select the corresponding arrow at the bottom of the wallpaper at the same time, and then move the two of them. Or if you need to move the feather from the bottom side of the wallpaper, you need to move the same corresponding feather from the top side of the wallpaper.

Then create another copy of the background and put it over everything. Your result should look like the image below:

Step 10

Now we will crop the image. Select everything without the lower background—all the pattern elements and the background on the top. Then press the Crop button on thePathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder). And last but not least: while keeping the cropped wallpaper selected, go to Object > Path > Clean up, then OK. You need this to delete the paths without the fill and stroke.

Your image should look like this:

Step 11

Let's check whether our pattern is fully functional now. Keeping the image selected, drag it to the Swatches panel. Now draw any shape from the Tools panel and apply the newly created pattern. Look closely to check the seams—they have to be perfectly matching and aligned!

Conclusion

Good job everyone! Now you have a beautiful ethnic pattern with fox and arrows, which can be used for wallpapers, banners, and everything else you can imagine. Hope you have found this tutorial useful and your head is exploding with other pattern ideas! 

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10 Easy Social Media Tips for the Struggling Artist

by Melody Nieves

With each new year, social media changes the way that we interact with one another, making us even more connected to the people and interests we love most. 

But finding your place in a world full of endless chatter seems nearly impossible. Here are 10 social media tips to reinvigorate your strategy as an artist online. 

1. Find Your Community 

Where do I belong? 

A simple, yet powerful question, and the answer that lies to these four words is transformational. Finding where you belong online can reap incredible rewards for your art career. However, you'll face many challenges and frustrations along the way.

So... where do I belong then? 

The answer to this question is actually quite clear. Where you belong is in places you already frequent. We have this misconception that it's important to have a profile on every single social network that's out there. But as you collect networks, you start to spread yourself out so thinly that it becomes nearly impossible to juggle them all. 

Prioritize your work to only a few social networks. Get to know the ones you love the most and study any potential strategies specific to that platform. 

Here's a list of social networks you can join. Limit yourself to only a handful that you can manage and update often.

Top Social Networks

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• Instagram
• YouTube

Art/Design Communities, Portfolios, & Inspiration

• DeviantArt
• Behance
• Dribbble
• Coroflot
• ArtStation
• Threadless
• Tumblr
• Pinterest

2. Photos Rule the World

Who run the world? Photos. 

Who run the world? Photos.

Who run the world? Photos. 

Even Beyonce's got nothing on photos. Pictures are amongst the most shared content across social media. So why are you still posting just links?

Take a moment to really think about it. We live in much lazier times. And if you're scrolling through Facebook or Twitter, the last thing you want to do is click a link that opens up a new window. 

Upload your art directly to social networks. This makes it more likely to be shared. You can always include links to higher resolution images in the post description. 

Adjust Your Image Size

Speaking of poor resolution, not all social media sites are great for art. Facebook, for instance, compresses your art to a point that is bleak and unrecognizable. 

Follow this tutorial on How to Get the Best Image Quality for Your Timeline to make improvements on how you upload art to Facebook.

For all the social networks you use, get familiar with their allotted image sizes. Keep them in mind when posting new work, so that you can adjust them yourself instead of letting the site do it. You can avoid awkward and unnecessary clipping by cropping them ahead of time. 

3. Tag Everything

Tags + your art = people seeing your art. 

Repeat this formula in your head. Hashtags are like that friend who introduces you to everyone at the party. Because images aren't made up of codes, it's imperative that you include some form of description. Hashtags serve this purpose.

Whenever you post a new work online, tag your art with as many associating words as possible. This helps search engines cluster images together, and narrow down which ones are the perfect fit for your search results. So by tagging your work appropriately, you can greatly increase the chances of landing new followers. 

Did you know: Instagram now allows you to preview the number of posts associated with that hashtag.

Take advantage of anything you can learn about tagging your art, SEO, and ranking well online. Hashtags are just one small step to an effective online marketing strategy. 

4. Shorten Your Links

Do your links look like this?

Here's the problem with these types of links:

• The link looks messy/too long.
• The length makes it difficult to organize multiple links on one post.
• The link shows any affiliation ID codes.

There's nothing uglier than a long URL. Instead of focusing on what really matters to your post, they distract the eyes with all their weight. 

Shorten long URLs easily with sites like Bitly and Ow.ly.  

An alternative to shortening URLs is to post a link to the main website. A favored technique amongst many, posting the main website not only helps to reinforce your brand, but also keeps visitors longer on your site as they search for a particular post.

5. Building Consistency Does Matter

It's important to be real with yourself along this journey. Hypothetically speaking, if you had one million people ready to follow you at this very moment, would it even matter? 

The last post on your Twitter page was three years ago. Your best work to date is not updated to your portfolio. And let's just say, socializing is just not your forte.

So, even if you had one million people lined up at the door right now, the truth is... 

You're not ready... yet.

We can scoff and mock the people of popular pages, but in all reality, they show their faces, and art, and opinions to the world every single day. It takes a lot of work to build consistency. And if you think about it, why are you online? To learn? Escape? Or for entertainment? So imagine your own disappointment when you stumble across a dead profile. 

Be someone other people want to follow. Become that escape or inspiration for your audience. Post regularly. Pick one platform you can easily manage, and challenge yourself to a simplified schedule until you build the consistency to post even more. 

6. Turn Off Your Inner Salesman

Telemarketers make hundreds of calls per day. They have only seconds to convince the recipient to stay on the phone much less become an actual customer. But for many of us, the most natural reaction to a telemarketer is to simply hang up. After all...

... We all know what a sales pitch sounds like.

We are bombarded daily with so many ads that we naturally try to ignore anything that even smells like a sales pitch.

Don't let your fans see you as a salesman. Post your thoughts, sketches, or details of work you've done to break up the moments when you're pushing for a purchase. 

And you don't have to stop selling your art. All I'm saying is to treat your fans like normal people―not endless streams of cash. Your followers know when they're being sold to, so relax your approach to establish more meaningful connections. 

7. Do What the Popular Kids Do

Sure, they have the most beautifully presented lifestyles, are best friends with anyone else you follow, and their doors are always open to endless opportunity. But beneath all that glitz and glam, you can find incredible social media and marketing tactics from the popular people you follow online.

What I Learned from Popular Instagrammers

Consistency is key, remember? Check out the Instagram profile of anyone with 100k+ followers. Now count how many posts they average per day. I found that some of the most popular people on Instagram post anywhere between one and ten times a day!

But I'm an artist, and I don't like selfies.

This is the moment when you should definitely take advantage of WIPs, or Work-In-Progress posts. Instead of posting one finished piece outright, create a cliffhanger.Make people wait a couple hours between each update as you slowly unfold your masterpiece. Continue to engage your followers by including short process videos showing the complete evolution of your work. 

Throwback posts are also great for bringing your art back from the dead. As addicting as social media is, you can't expect each new follower to have already seen all of your work. Remind them of your favorites or relive a great art memory by joining in on #tbt (Throwback Thursday) and #fbf (Flashback Friday) hashtags. 

The last note you should take from popular Instagrammers is the quality of their posts. Clean, high quality imagery gives their profiles that instant professional look. Invest in either technology or software to help improve your photos. And make them stand out with unique compositions or vibrant colors. 

As I mentioned previously, consistency takes time and serious commitment. But once you master this stage, the rewards are immeasurable. 

What I Learned from Popular Facebook Videos

Tyrese Gibson, singer, author, and actor attached to the Fast & Furious franchise, has over 26 million followers on Facebook. And every so often, he posts a candid video expressing his thoughts on success, love, and self-empowerment. 

Full of charisma and a dazzling smile (if I do say so myself), he ends each video with a quite effective call to action. Not only does he politely ask followers to "like" and "share" the video, but he also asks that they share their own experiences or repeat positive affirmations along with him by typing them into the comments section.

As you may already know, Facebook now allows us to see whenever one of your friends comments or likes someone else's post on the site. Because of this feature, more and more people connect to new pages simply through their friends' activity.

So what can artists learn from this scenario? 

• Relate your message/opinion/work in a powerful way through video.
• Create a personal connection to your audience.
• Inspire call to action efforts without the feeling of being pitched.
• Establish a natural interest for your work, methods, and philosophies.

If you've established a YouTube channel it might seem that you have this area covered. But the best way for videos to travel on Facebook is if they're already uploaded to the site. So if creating videos is a strategy you'd like to explore, study the differences in the types of videos you should upload depending on the platform.

8. Stand for Something

How do you really feel about what's going on in the world? Are you ready to share it candidly?

I know that it seems scary, or controversial, and sometimes even unprofessional to have an opinion. But one of the best ways to connect to your followers is to be passionate about something... that's not just art.

Recently on one of our journal projects we had an incredibly powerful entry by the talented Jacqueline Thompson.

Challenged with the task of making art through fingerprinting, she created a great commentary piece on the subject of police brutality. In fact, you can always find a lot of art inspired by recent events. Art is, after all, a reflection of the world we live in and how we perceive it. 

Let your art be the dialogue you wish to inspire. Stand behind a cause that speaks passion into your work. And don't be afraid to take risks. 

9. Be Social

Social media has now made it so that we can have friends, associates, and even coworkers in every corner of the globe. But overtaken in a rhythm of endless scrolling, we don't necessarily keep in touch, despite all the convenience.

It's time to put the "social" back into social media. 

Are you approachable? Do you respond to comments or emails? A natural tendency to shy away from social situations can have an impact on your online presence. 

Trust me, I'm as introverted as they come, but social media is actually quite perfect for the introverted or shy. You can join groups, chat online, and make new friends without all the anxieties attached to meeting in public. 

Improving how social you are is important because it directly affects your business. And as an artist, you are the sole creator, marketer, and promoter of your work. Challenge yourself to take on new projects where you collaborate with other people. Strengthen your online connections, and you'll create a whole new world for yourself full of opportunities. 

10. Check Your Stats

Last but not least, the only way to know if any of this is going to work is to track your efforts. Some sites include free statistics, while others may not provide any at all. 

Keep a note of your stats and check them often. Notice the difference between the types of post you put up as well as any changes in composition, topic, and overall description. Do some tags work better than others? Continue to ask yourself questions in order to find possible solutions. 

Also keep track of events that usually lead to a boost in your views. Retweets, either from your followers or popular profiles, always lead to a spike in traffic.

Remember, statistics are here to help motivate you. Even if no one favorites or retweets your post, at least your stats will show that you're still getting views. Study what it takes to craft the perfect post, and you'll be on your way to better traffic.

Conclusion

Yes, your work speaks volumes. But are you putting your work in front of enough people? Social media proves that the world's most popular artists can come from any background, style of art, or difficulty level. It's simply up to you to master social media.

Try out some of these tips and make sure to track your progress. We would love to hear the results!

Your time is now. So introduce your art to the world. 

Good luck! 

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How to Create a Custom Color Profile for Your Camera

by Jeffrey Opp

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What You'll Be Creating

Creating a color profile for your camera is the single best way to ensure color accuracy and consistency under differing light sources and between multiple camera bodies. Having this level of uniformity and precision will help save you from color correcting individual images. It may sound technical and time-consuming, but a short and simple procedure will provide you with a camera profile that will greatly improve your camera’s color accuracy.

You will need to:

• shoot in Raw file format
• have access to a ColorChecker target
• download Adobe DNG Profile Editor for Windows or for OS X and/orColorChecker software

Photograph the ColorChecker Target

The first step in profiling your camera is to create an image of a ColorChecker chart. This can be any 24-patch ColorChecker chart. I am using the ColorChecker Passport from X-Rite. 

Set up your light and place your ColorChecker chart under your light source. It is a good idea to have a profile created under natural daylight at the very least. Then, check to make certain that the chart is evenly illuminated. I like to use a light meter and check the exposure values at each of the four corners. 

Next, set your camera’s White Balance setting to Custom White Balance and adjust it using the white balance target on the reverse side of the ColorChecker.

Once the target is evenly lit, go ahead and take a photo of the chart. Make sure that your exposure is accurate. If any square is too bright or too dark, the profiling software will not be able to create a profile. 

It is a good idea to slightly bracket your exposures. That way one from the group should work. Create a ColorChecker chart image with any other cameras you use. Once you have your target images, download them to your computer.

Profile Your Camera With Adobe DNG Editor

Adobe’s DNG Editor is a free, stand-alone piece of software that will allow you to create and edit DNG camera profiles. It is great for creating a general purpose profile that will improve your camera’s color response under any light source just by creating a profile using natural daylight.

If your camera does not create Raw images in the DNG file format, you will have to convert your Raw files to the DNG format to use the Adobe DNG Editor. Don’t worry, you won’t have to do this step once you have your profile created.

Open your Raw image in Adobe Camera Raw and click on the Save Image button in the lower left corner. A Save Options dialog box will open, and you will have to choose the Digital Negative (DNG) from the format options. Choose your desktop as a save location so it is easy to find later and click the Save button.

Start the profiling process by opening Adobe DNG Editor, and then click on theChart tab.

Next, you need to open the DNG image of the ColorChecker chart by opening theFile menu and selecting Open DNG Image.

When the chart loads, you should see four color chips that correspond to the corner color squares on the ColorChecker chart. Click on those color chips and drag them to the centers of their matching swatches.

Once the color chips have been placed on the color swatches, you are ready to create your profile. Under the Chart tab, make sure the option for Both Color Tables is selected and click Create Profile.

A box should pop up with a message telling you that you have successfully created a profile. At this point, you may get a warning indicating that the exposure is off or that there is a strong color cast. Either of these will prevent a profile from being created. Don’t worry if this happens. It just means you need to retake the ColorChecker target image, carefully checking your exposure and color balance.

After you have successfully created a profile, you will need to export it. Open theFile menu and select Export Profile.

In the Export dialog box, give the profile a name. I like to include the camera name, light source, and date in the file name so I can easily distinguish between profiles later. Make sure that you are saving the profile to the correct folder for Adobe Camera Raw. It should default to the correct folder. The exact file path depends on whether you use a Windows PC or Mac. Once you have double checked your save location, click Save. Now your profile is ready to use.

Back in Adobe DNG Profile Editor, it is a good idea to save the recipe for your profile so you can adjust it later if needed. Open the File menu and select Save Recipe As. Then name your recipe to match your profile’s name and save it in the same location as you did the profile. 

Once you have a saved recipe, you can fine-tune your profile and export it as a separate profile. You can edit a profile with the sliders in the Color Matrices andColor Chart tabs. For example, if you constantly find yourself desaturating the reds in your images, create a profile that has the red channel desaturated. Then export that profile as an alternate version of your previous profile.

Profile Your Camera With ColorChecker Software

ColorChecker targets from X-Rite ship with a stand-alone piece of software that will allow you to create camera profiles. It is a bit more automated and simpler to use than Adobe DNG Profile Editor because it doesn’t have the capability to edit profiles. It is great for creating profiles for specific light sources. This way you can get highly accurate profiles for each of your lighting setups. You could have one for your tungsten lights, studio strobes, and speedlight or any other lights you use.

Install and open the ColorChecker software. Next, drag and drop your image of the ColorChecker target into the program. It will take a moment or two to open and automatically find the swatches on the target.

Once the chart image is open and the swatches highlighted with green boxes, click on the Create Profile button in the bottom right corner. The ColorChecker program will take a moment to compute the values it sees in the target. It will give you a warning if any of the swatches are out of gamut. Don’t worry if this happens. It just means you need to retake the ColorChecker target image, carefully checking your exposure.

Give your profile a name. I like to include the camera name, light source, and date in the file name so I can easily distinguish between profiles later. Save your profile in the Camera Raw Profiles folder. Your profile is ready to use.

Using Your Profile

Now that you've created a camera profile, it is time to put it to use. Luckily, it is quick and easy to use in Adobe Camera Raw and it does not add any extra steps while you are taking photos. Whenever you edit a photo taken with a profiled camera, you will want to apply that profile when you process the camera’s Raw files.

Open your photo in Adobe Camera Raw and navigate to the Camera Calibrationtab on the right. It is indicated by the camera icon. 

Once the Camera Calibration tab is open, all you have to do is select the appropriate profile from the Profile drop-down menu. I am going to use the profile that I created for daylight use. When you select your profile, you should see the color shift. The change can sometimes be dramatic, but more often it is subtle.

Once you have your profile selected, you can go about adjusting the image as normal. That’s it. Your images now have accurate color that will be consistent even if you use more than one camera or change your light source.

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