We can’t but agree that winter is one of the most beautiful seasons, when nature is sleeping peacefully, covered with pure white snow. Let’s make it less chilly and more enchanting by creating a warm and cozy illustration of a wooden candle lantern. We’ll be using basic shapes, warp effects, and some simple freehand drawing. Let’s start!
1. Create Base Elements From Your Sketch
Step 1
We’ll start by placing our sketch onto the
Artboard of 600×600 px size and turn the sketch layer to a template by double-clicking it and
ticking the Template box.
You can draw your own simple draft, or use
the sketch from this tutorial by downloading the image below directly to your
computer.
Step 2
Now let’s add the first element of our
lantern. That will be its front part. Make a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (M) and use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select
its upper and lower right anchor points. Drag the points down to make the shape
slightly skewed, as shown in the screenshot below.
Here is how it should look after this simple
transformation.
Step 3
Select the created shape and use the Reflect Tool (O) to mirror the object
over the vertical axis, thus
creating the second frame. Squash the shape slightly to make it fit the perspective of
our lantern.
Step 4
Select the first frame, which is on the left. Go to Object > Path > Offset Path and
set the Offset value to -15 px (or set another value, using the Preview option so that the new shape fits your sketch). Make the same
actions for the second frame, this way forming two holes for the window glass.
Step 5
Now we need to render the top part of our lantern.
Create a narrow rectangle and skew it the same way as we did with the frames of
the lantern, by moving the side anchor points down.
Add the second edge and put it in its
proper place.
Step 6
The next thing to do is to add the “roof”
to the lantern. For this purpose, form an even square with the Rectangle Tool (M) and skew it, moving
its right side anchor points down.
Step 7
For this step we need the Smart Guides to be turned on (View > Smart Guides). Select the two
upper anchor points of our square, and drag them down and to the right in order to make the square flat. Smart Guides will
help to snap the object, placing it in the needed position.
Step 8
Add the inside bottom part of our lantern
in the same way, forming the “floor” on which we are going to place the candle.
Step 9
Let’s switch the fill color of the lantern
parts to some random hues just to see how it looks. Don’t forget to add the
two back faces of the lantern (greyish-blue in the screenshot), as they will be
visible too.
Step 10
It may happen that some of the elements of
our lantern do not match each other. We can fix it easily by repositioning the
anchor points in a few clicks. First of all, let’s switch to Outline Mode (Control-Y). Notice that
our sketch is still visible, as we’ve turned it into a Template.
Zoom in and check the edges of the lantern. Find the
mismatching place and select those anchor points, which you need to put in the
same position. Now turn to the Align panel
and select Align to Selection. Finally,
click on the middle positions of the
Align Anchor Points and Distribute
Anchor Points. Now our points are aligned and perfectly matching! Check out the other edges and fix them if needed.
Step 11
The next element of our lantern is a
so-called “chimney” on the top. Start by forming a squashed ellipse with the Ellipse Tool (L) for the upper part of
the chimney.
Step 12
Add a narrow rectangle, so that its upper
anchor points match with the side anchor points of our ellipse. Go to Effect > Warp > Arch and set the Bend value to -15%, Horizontal in order to make it slightly arched down.
Step 13
Add another rectangle for the foundation of
our chimney. Apply the same Arch
effect to the rectangle, bending the shape.
Step 14
Put the ellipse that we’ve created on top
of all other objects (Control-Shift-]),
select all parts of the chimney and open the Align panel. Set Align to
Selection and click the
Horizontal Align Center to line up the objects.
2. Apply Colors & Make the Lantern
Realistic
Step 1
Let’s enliven the lantern by coloring it into appropriate wooden shades. Start from the back sides, making them
dark brown. Apply lighter brown colors to the front faces of the lantern.
Step 2
Switch the fill color of the windows to
light blue. You can also check the palette for wooden parts in the screenshot
below.
Step 3
We need to cut out the window openings to make the
back parts of the lantern visible through the glass. For this purpose, copy the
glass shapes and keep them, as we’ll need them later (you can hide these copies by
clicking the eye icon in the layers panel). Select both the glass part and the
wooden side behind it, and use the Minus
Front function in the Pathfinder panel.
As a result, you get a hole of a proper
size. Do the same with the second frame. Finally, reveal the hidden glass shapes and
reduce the Opacity in the Transparency panel, making the back
faces of the lantern visible. Cut out the holes in the back faces as well.
Step 4
Move on to the chimney. Let’s make it look
metallic, applying a gold texture effect. Open the Swatches panel, go to Swatch
Libraries > Gradients > Metals, and choose the Gold swatch. Apply the
swatch to the lower tube part of the chimney.
Step 5
Apply the same gold swatch to the top edges
of the chimney. In order to separate it from the tube, Copy the tube shape and Paste
it in Front (Control-C >
Control-F). Fill the shape with light brown color and switch it to Multiply Blending Mode in the Transparency panel, lowering the Opacity down to 40% and making the tube slightly darker.
Step 6
Apply the gold gradient to the top elliptical part of the chimney and add a smaller ellipse in the middle of it. Fill the
newly created shape with a simple linear gradient from light brown to darker
brown, creating the effect of a hole or cavity.
Step 7
Let’s make the lantern more three-dimensional by adding gentle shadows, which will help to create some depth. Duplicate
the front left frame of the lantern and fill the copy with linear gradient
from brown color on the top to white in the bottom. Apply the Multiply Blending Mode, creating a
shadow.
Add a shadow to the right frame as well, using the same technique.
Step 8
We need to add more realism by applying wooden texture to our lantern. Let’s draw it with the help of the Blob Brush Tool (Shift-B). You can see
my brush settings in the screenshot below. For more convenience, create a New Layer and start drawing smooth,
curved and slightly dashed lines, imitating the growth rings on a wooden plank.
Step 9
Continue filling the blank space with
strokes. Don’t worry if they cross the edges—we will get rid of the unneeded
parts.
Step 10
Select all the created lines and Group (Control-G) them. Duplicate the frame shape and put the created
copy on top (the shape filled with black in the screenshot). Select both the
lines group and the frame copy and click the right
mouse button to reveal the pop-up menu. Make Clipping Mask to hide the unneeded pieces inside the mask.
Finally, rearrange the objects (Control-[),
putting the masked object above the shadowed frame and below the “roof” of the
lantern.
Step 11
Continue covering other parts of the
lantern with texture.
Add strokes to the edge of the top part of
the lantern as well.
Be sure that the lines match on the edges
of the frames, making a single curved shape. It is rather easy to fix the shape,
moving the anchor points to the proper positions, as they are still snapped to
the Smart Guides.
3. Render Decorative Elements to Make the
Composition Intricate
Step 1
Let’s create a simple candle, which we are
going to put inside our lantern. Start by creating two squashed ellipses—one inside the other—with the Ellipse
Tool (L). Fill the larger ellipse with radial gradient from darker red on
the edge to lighter red in the center. Fill the inner ellipse with a darker
gradient to create a cavity, as we did with the top part of the chimney.
Duplicate the larger ellipse and move the
copy down, marking the bottom of our candle. Put a rectangle between the
ellipses and Unite the rectangle and
the lower ellipse in the Pathfinder
panel, combining them into a single shape.
Step 2
Add three curved half-rounded elements above
the body of the candle, making the upper element the narrowest. Fill all three shapes with vertical linear gradients from orange to black, switching to Screen Blending Mode, thus making the
shapes bright and semi-transparent. This will give our candle a more three-dimensional
look.
Step 3
The candle wick is a simple rectangle,
filled with a three-colored linear gradient from red on the edges to dark brown in the middle.
Step 4
Now let’s light the candle by adding a flame. Start forming the center of the flame by creating a light yellow circle.
Select the upper anchor point with the Direct
Selection Tool (A) and move it straight up, extending the shape.
Step 5
Go to Object
> Path > Offset Path and apply the effect with 5 px Offset value. Fill the newly created shape with linear gradient
from light yellow to brighter yellow. Use the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C) to move the handles of the
upper anchor point, making the shape more pointed and flowing.
Step 6
Copy the flame shape and Place in Back (Control-C > Control-B),
moving it a few pixels down with the down
arrow key. Fill the created copy with a darker orange color.
Step 7
Let’s place the created candle inside our lantern. Rearrange the objects, moving the candle and placing it behind the
front frames of the lantern. You can move it manually by dragging the object with
the help of the mouse directly in the Layers panel or using the Control-[ and Control-] key combinations.
Select the glass shapes on the front parts
of our lantern and fill them with linear gradients from dark blue in the middle
to bright yellow on the edges. Switch to Screen
Blending Mode and lower the Opacity
to 50%, creating an effect of clean glass with warm overtones from the flame.
Step 8
Move on to the next element of our composition: a glossy red berry. Start by making an even circle with the Ellipse Tool (L) and fill it with
linear gradient from pinky-red in the middle to darker pink on the edge. Form a
few highlights and reflections in Screen
Blending Mode, adding glossiness to our berry.
Step 9
Create a small rounded shape, forming a
small dimple on the top of the berry and emphasize it with a tiny highlight.
Add a small stem, filling it with dark brown gradient. Make a few copies of the created berry and place them in
front of the lantern, rotating the berries in different directions.
Step 10
Add some more winter-themed items, such as
fir branches, which are very easy to form with the help of the Paintbrush Tool (B) (find out how to make such branches in this Festive Wreath Tutorial and add more decorative elements to your liking).
Step 11
We also need to create some reflections on the
glass surface if we want to make it more realistic and smooth. Create a set of
narrow rectangles of varied width and turn them into a Compound Path (Control-8), creating a single object. Rotate the stripes and place them above the glass, cutting off the unneeded
parts either with the help of the Clipping Mask or the Pathfinder panel. Fill the shape with the dark blue color and switch it to Screen Blending Mode.
4. Add Minor Details & Form a Gentle
Background
Step 1
Let’s add a touch of winter by making a
blurred light blue background, reminscent of a frozen window. Create a square the same size as your Artboard (600×600 px)
and apply radial gradient from white on the edges to blue in the center,
placing it closer to the top of the canvas.
Step 2
The lower part of our composition remains
purely white. Let’s cover some of the berries with white shapes, as if they
are dipped in thick snow. Draw a wavy freehand shape with the Pencil Tool (N) and make its upper part
slightly darker with the help of the linear gradient, thus separating the
element from the white background.
Step 3
Let’s give our picture a magical look by
adding some shiny sparkles. Create a circle and apply a contrast radial gradient
from white in the middle to black on the edge. Switch to Screen Blending Mode, creating a tiny white spark. If you want to
make gold, blue or other multicolored sparks, just change the center color to
yellow, blue, etc.
Step 4
Spread the sparks all over the lantern,
increasing the glowing effect by putting the sparks one above the other, making
them even shinier.
Step 5
Now let’s add some depth to our artwork by
creating a gentle bokeh effect behind the lantern. Form a group of circles of various sizes,
overlapping each other, and put them above the background. Fill them with the
same black and white radial gradient, adding one more white slider in the Gradient panel and moving it closer to
the edge, as shown in the screenshot.
Step 6
The last but not the least detail will be
light smoke coming out of the lantern chimney. Draw a few wavy lines with the Pencil Tool (N) and switch the Stroke color to white. Select Width Profile 1 in the Variable Width Profile Menu in the
control panel above.
Finally, select the wavy lines and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur,
setting the Radius value to 20 pixels and making the smoke soft and airy.
Great Work! Our Winter Candle Lantern Is
Finished!
I hope this tutorial helped you to discover
some new tips and tricks which will be useful and inspire you to create more
whimsical artworks! Have a warm and cozy winter!
{excerpt}
Read More