You can modify the Tool Options by double tapping on the Blob Brush Tool in the toolbox. Similar to the Paintbrush, the Blob Brush Tool can offer unique behaviors by adjusting its options. As in the case with the Paintbrush Tool, without enabling pressure, your stroke is going to look pretty boring - consider enabling pressure sensitivity. Next, simply press your pen to the tablet and draw a stroke across your document.Now, choose a brush from the Brush Panel. It can be found nested beneath the Paintbrush Tool. In this way, the Blob Brush actually behaves more like a brush than the Paintbrush tool, at least in a traditional sense. This tool creates outlined and filled shapes as you draw - long time users may recall the added steps of having to draw with the standard Paintbrush Tool and then “create outlines” from selected paths in the past. The Blob Brush is an exception to the standard method of creating paths in Illustrator. Return to the Paintbrush Tool Options to modify them again to see the different behaviors based on these settings. The “Keep selected” option keeps the path selected when you have completed each stroke.Īfter modifying these options, tap OK and give your paintbrush another try. Note: the “Fill new brush strokes” option applies a fill to the path as you draw. Under Options, I recommend unchecking “Fill new brush strokes” and “Keep selected.” Doing so will make your brush work in a more familiar fashion. Experiment with these settings to see what matches your style best. This setting is entirely based on your style of drawing. This is determined based on a slider ranging from “accurate” to “smooth.” Accurate will yield more anchor points, while smooth delivers fewer. “Fidelity” controls the distance that you have to move your pen to add new anchor points to a path. In the Paintbrush Tool Options dialog box, you can alter the Fidelity and Options. You can modify the Tool Options by double tapping on the Paintbrush tool in the toolbox. Another consideration, however, is the behavior of the Paintbrush Tool itself. Pressing the pen lightly to the tablet produces a thin stroke, while pressing the pen harder to the tablet produces a wider stroke. Now, drawing with the Paintbrush tool and your Wacom pen should yield a more true-to-form brush stroke. Experiment with how much sensitivity works best for you. At 1, sensitivity is minimal - the difference between a light touch and a heavy touch will affect your brush size the least. Change the size parameter in the dropdown menu from the default “Fixed” to “Pressure.”.Doing this will reveal the Calligraphic Brush Options for that brush.

To vary the width of a brush stroke with pressure sensitivity, double click on the first Calligraphic brush in the Brush Panel - the first brush in the top row of the Brush Panel.Using your Wacom tablet’s pressure-sensitive pen, however, you can vary the width of the brush stroke based on how hard you physically put your pen to the tablet. The results will likely look somewhat boring - that is because there isn’t any variation to your brush stroke: by default, the stroke maintains the same width from the beginning to the end. Note: there are five brush types in all, including Scatter, Art, Bristle, and Pattern experiment with these to see how they work. Not to worry though, the default Calligraphic brush is the most common brush type for drawing. If you are familiar with brushes in Photoshop, this panel may look a bit sparse. Select the Paintbrush tool from the toolbox, and then chose a brush from the Brush Panel.This method offers a more familiar drawing experience, particularly with a Wacom tablet. But when you use the Paintbrush tool, you simultaneously apply a brush stroke as you draw. You create these paths using any number of tools, such as the aforementioned Rectangle and Line tools. In most instances, drawing in Illustrator involves creating vector paths and then applying various brushes to those paths to achieve a desired appearance. Each possesses unique behaviors, which are beneficial for different approaches to drawing. There are two different brush tools in Illustrator: the Paintbrush Tool and the “Blob Brush” Tool.

Adobe illustrator tablet