illustrator brushes: dresser

28 custom border pattern brushes for illustrator: from christopher dresser, studies in design — $11.00 USD Purchase Now

introduction

to install

to access the dresser_StInDe_border brush libraryto use custom border brushes

customizing custom border brushes

introduction

These are the 28 linear border patterns from Studies in Design by Christopter Dresser (1834-1904). The plates were “hand” traced in Adobe Illustrator CS3 (as opposed to using “Live Trace”) and converted to pattern brushes that can be used with Illustrator CS and above (and possibly 8.0 and above). The colors are close to the original, though the plates were faded, thus colors are probably somewhat muted, compared to the original.

These designs are representative of the Aesthetic through the early Art Deco styles. Dresser’s use of botanical and fantastical animal forms dominate this collection–many are detailed and highly decorative.

These brushes are customizable (see below) so experiment with different border combinations and colorways.

to install

Unzip the dowloaded file

If Illustrator is running, quit/exit before installing the new brushes

Locate the Adobe Illustrator application folder/directory

For Mac, in the Applications folder

For Windows, in the Programs directory

Locate the Brushes sub-folder/(-directory)

Presets > your language (i.e. en_US) > Brushes

Copy or move the file “dresser_StInDe_border.ai” to the Brushes folder/directory

This will install all 28 brushes and they will be available as a brush library each time you launch Illustrator

Launch Illustrator

to access the dresser_StInDe_border brush library

Open the Brushes panel (A)

Click on the flyout menu in the upper right-hand corner of the panel (B)

Choose Open Brush Library > dresser_StInDe_border

to use custom border brushes

Use the Pen tool (or the Line Segment tool) to draw a straight line

With the linear path still active, click on one of the brushes

Note: Some patterns may take a moment to render

customizing custom border brushes

To change the width

Draw a line segment and apply one of the brushes

Using the Selection tool, click on the line segment to reveal 4 corner handles

Click and drag one of the corner handles inward to make the segment smaller or outward

to make the segment larger

To make the segment longer

Using the pen tool, click on one of the end points and drag to the desired length

If the two line segments are sucessfully connected, the new segment will be the same width

To change the color (CS3 and above)

Click on the line segment to make it active

In the Options bar (below the Main Mentu), Open the Live Color panel (A)

Note: An overview of the way this panel works can be found in the video tutorials at Layers magazine:

http://www.layersmagazine.com/illustrator-live-color.html for a basic overview

and

http://www.layersmagazine.com/live-color-in-adobe-illustrator.html for a more detailed tutorial

Visit http://www.AtelierCascadiaGraphics.com/illustrator_editing_colors for additional tips for colorizing brushes and explore other posts for additional Illustrator techniques. Posst questions and/or comments at this website.

Thank you