Seamless Repeating Pattern using the Scatter Brush Tool in Adobe Illustrator

SUPPLIES USED:

Adobe Photoshop (30 day free trial here)
Adobe Illustrator (30 day free trial here)

Practice your Adobe Illustrator skills and create a pattern using the scatter brush tool in Illustrator

STEP 1:

Draw or paint your motifs and scan them into your computer. Open them up in Adobe Photoshop. Adjust the levels panel so the background of your paper disappears.

72b0783d

STEP 2:

Choose the motifs you wish to use and digitize them in Adobe Illustrator using the Image Trace tool. I chose 16-Colors for my preset.

f431bb64

STEP 3:

Create your scatter brushes, choosing Random for all of the drop downs. Adjust the size, spacing, scatter, and rotation of your scatter brush.

d1c36b68

STEP 4:

Draw a squiggle on your artboard. Then use expand appearance. Drag the motifs around until you get them where you want them. Overlap on the top and left sides, then use SHIFT+CMD+M to copy them onto the other sides of your artboard.

59ca66d1

STEP 5:

Place your background and choose your color. Use CMD+C and CMD+B to paste a bounding box behind everything and choose no-fill no-stroke. Drag your entire work into your swatches panel. Create a new box and choose your pattern swatch: voilà! A repeating pattern created using the scatter brush tool in Illustrator.

840e8b1e

Holly Swenson

--

8