How to Create Watercolor Background using Phantasm CS and Adobe Illustrator

I want to teach you how to modify an existing brush and create your own one.

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a vector Watercolor Background in an interesting way. You do not have to get yourself dirty with paint and waste expensive paper. It turns out that all you need is right within your reach, which is the Internet! I will teach you very quickly how to create vector paint brushes sets and re-model the default ones. Today, we will also learn about some of the Phantasm CS features that will make your work faster and more comfortable.

Step 1

In this artwork we will be using raster texture of paper, which is designed for painting with watercolors. You can download such a texture here (credit to deviantART user Craftmans). Paste the texture into the artwork (File > Place …) then click on the Embed button at the top toolbar.

Now you can change the size of the paper texture with the Selection Tool (V). I suggest that you carefully choose the texture, because it affects the overall impression on your artwork.

Step 2

You can work with raster objects in the Adobe Illustrator program if you are using the Phantasm CS. Let’s increase the brightness of the texture; go to Effect > Phantasm CS > Brightness/Contrast… and move the brightness slider to the right, watching the changes in the brightness of the texture.

Step 3

There are many free watercolor brushes for Photoshop, for example, these via Smashing Magazine. We’ll be using them to create watercolor spots on the paper. Download the appropriate brushes, open Photoshop and create a new document. Most watercolor brushes for Photoshop are high resolution — therefore create a new document of a large size. I think 2000 x 2000px is an appropriate size.

Take the Brush Tool (B) and open the Brushes panel (F5). Click on the Preset Manager button on the bottom of this panel.

In the Preset Manager window click on the Load… button, and open the appropriate brushes.

Step 4

Choose a neutral gray color as a Foreground Color and apply a paint mark to the canvas. Note: to change the brush size, use the keys “[" and "]“.

Save the file and paste it into Adobe Illustrator (File > Place…). I was using the default PSD format.

Step 5

Keeping the image selected, go to Object > Live Trace > Trace Options…, set the parameters indicated in the picture below and click on Trace button.

Now click on the Expand button at the top toolbar, or go to Object > Expand.

As a result, we get a group of regular vector objects.

Step 6

Place the group on the paper texture and reduce the transparency in the Transparency panel.

Now to color the spot of paint. Select the group and go to Effect > Phantasm CS > Hue/Saturation…. Tick “Colorize” in the Phantasm CS Hue/Saturation dialog window — and by controlling the sliders — achieve the desired hue, saturation and brightness.

Step 7

Creation of such vector color spots can greatly increase the size of your source file and slow down the speed of your computer. This happens because these objects have a lot of points, which results in a lot of information to store. With the help of the Phantasm CS, you can color the raster color spots. The coloring technique is not different from the coloring of vector images, but ensure that before applying the Phantasm CS Hue/Saturation effect, the raster image is embedded into the current document, as we did it in step 1.

Step 8

In order for the paper texture to be revealed through color splashes, set Multiply Blending Mode in the Transparency panel.

You should also use the Multiply Blending Mode in the case of overlapping color spots.

To apply variable transparency to any splash of color, make use of the Opacity Mask. Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a rectangle and fill it with a black and white radial gradient.

Select a color spot plus rectangle and opt for Make Opacity Mask in the Transparency panel fly-out menu.

Using the described technique, create a few more color spots.

Step 9

Now create a few strokes of watercolor paint. Unfortunately, there are not many high quality free paint brushes for Adobe Illustrator. I recently amassed a small collection that you can find here. Seeming quite diverse, there’s actually not so many of them. Many of the brushes are several years old and you might have seen them repeatedly in similar collections on different websites. Today I want to teach you how to modify an existing brush and create your own one. Save brush sets on your disk, and open in the current document. To do this, in the Brushes panel fly-out menu, go to Open Brush Library > Other Library….

Choose your favorite brush and pull it into the workspace from the Brushes panel.

Step 10

Now the brush represents a group of simple vector objects that we will continue to work with. Select the group and go to Effect > Phantasm CS > Desaturate… and click OK in the open dialog box.

Drag the group back into the Brushes panel and save a new brush as an Art Brush.

If you are using a graphics tablet in your work, set the relationship between the width of the brush and the pressure and set the minimum and maximum width.

Choose the Colorization Method: Hue Shift.

Now the brush stroke will have a color of the stroke.

Step 11

Of course, you can create such brushes on your own. At the beginning of this tutorial we were creating color spots using the sets of free brushes for Photoshop. To create brushes, drag such vector objects into the Brushes panel and save as Art Brush with the parameters specified in the previous step. Using this method, in a few minutes I got a few interesting brushes.

You can learn about other ways to create paint brushes for Adobe Illustrator by clicking on the following links:

• How to Create a Set of Highlighter Brushes for Illustrator
• Free Watercolor Brushes and Tutorial

So, after creating a few new brushes and modifying free brushes, I added a few colorful brushstrokes to the background.

Step 12

Now add a few decorative elements. Using the Rectangle Tool (M) create a rectangle and fill it with linear gradient consisting of white and gray colors.

Using the Ellipse Tool (L) create a circle and fill it with radial gradient consisting of white and gray colors. Set the Color Burn Blending Mode for the circle and reduce opacity in the Transparency panel.

Drag the circle to the Symbols panel and save as a new symbol.

Now, the circle can be removed.

Step 13

Select the rectangle with a gradient fill and a new character in the Symbols panel, and then go to Effect > Phantasm CS > Halftone… and set the parameters indicated in the picture below.

You can play with the parameters in order to achieve a more suitable result, but the Current Symbol should be chosen in the Shape parameter.

Step 14

After applying the effect, I reduced the opacity of the rectangle and set the Color Burn Blending Mode in the Transparency panel.

Be aware that this is the result of experimenting. With the help of the Phantasm CS Halftone tool, I created a few regular circles in another area of the background and set the Screen Blending Mode for them in the Transparency panel.

Step 15

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a square with no fill and a stroke of any color.

Keeping the square selected, go to Object > Expand and fill it with linear gradient, set the Multiply Blending Mode and reduce opacity in the Transparency panel.

Create some more similar shapes of different sizes.

Step 16

Now to proceed to the creation of the water drops. Take the Ellipse Tool (L), create an ellipse, and fill it with an elliptical radial gradient. The colors of the gradient depend on where you are going to place the drop. The inner slider of the gradient has 0% opacity.

Step 17

Using the Pen Tool (P), create a shape similar to the one shown in the picture below. Fill the shape with white color. Using the Ellipse Tool (L) create an ellipse and displace its upper point slightly down using the Direct Selection Tool (A). Set 0% opacity for the second shape in the Transparency panel.

Select both shapes and go to Object > Blend > Blend Options…, set the number of Specified Steps, then go to Object > Blend > Make.

Using this technique, create one more highlight and shadow from the drop.

Step 18

Do not worry, now we will hide part of the shadow under the drop. Take the Pen Tool (P) and create a path, as shown in the figure below.

Select the shade and path, and then click the shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + 7, creating a Clipping Path.

Group up all components of the drop, and rotate the group with the help of the selection Tool (V).

Place some of these drops on the background.

Step 19

Hide parts of the objects that go beyond the outlines of the paper texture. Take the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a rectangle of the same size as the paper texture. Select all the elements of the composition and press the shortcuts Cmd + 7, creating a Clipping Path.

The following image show an area of the end result in more detail. Then advantages of the vector nature of this artwork is obvious to see!

You can find more detailed information on Phantasm CS by following the link.

Download the wallet icon artwork

Click here for the Illustrator CS5 version (14.5Mb)…

Click here for the PDF version (14.2Mb)…

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About the author

My name is Iaroslav Lazunov, I am a graphic designer from Zhytomyr, Ukraine. I am glad that I finally found the job in my life that I can share my knowledge and experiments with you in my tutorials.

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