Do you remember the good old video game, called Space Invaders? Let’s create something new in pixel art creation but it’s going to be vector! We’ll draw the famous pixel aliens in Adobe Illustrator and liven them up with the help of the 3D effect!
1. Create a Pixel Monster
Step 1
Make a New Document of 600 x 600 px size.
To start with, we need a grid. Let’s use the Rectangle Grid Tool. Click on your Artboard once and release the left mouse button. Make the following settings in the pop-up Options
menu: Width and Height values equal 600 px; Horizontal Dividers Number equals 15; Vertical Dividers Number equals 15 as well. Click OK after you’ve done with the settings.
Step 2
After you’ve created the grid, align it with your Artboard and go to Object > Live Paint > Make.
Step 3
Now we can start drawing our pixel monster! Grab the Live Paint Bucket (K), switch the color to pink and start filling in the cells closer to the left side of the Artboard.
Step 4
Continue filling up the blank squares.
Step 5
One half of the funny alien is ready! Draw out the second part in the same way.
Step 6
The alien is finished! Don’t forget to Object >
Expand it in order to delete the grid.
2. Make the
Monster Dimensional by Turning It into a 3D Shape
Step 1
It’s time
for some simple magic trick! Select your object and go to Effect > 3D > Extrude &
Bevel.
Ta-da! Our shape became dimensional. Now we can play with the settings a bit. Set the Bevel to Tall-Round and the Height
to 3 pt.
Step 2
Click the More Options button and reveal the hidden Surface options menu. You may leave the settings as default or increase some values a bit in order to make the alien more bright, slick and shiny.
Our 3D pixel space Invader is finished!
Step 3
How about making the rest of them, using the same simple technique?
After you’ve finished, just select the space invaders and go to Effect > Apply Extrude & Bevel (Shift-Control-E) to automatically apply the 3D effect with the same options that we’ve set earlier.
Congratulations! The 3D Pixel Space Invaders are Finished!
I hope you’ve enjoyed using this simple and fun trick that you can use for creating other
pixel characters and objects. Good luck!
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