How to Create an Engraved Illustration Effect in Illustrator

I've always loved the look of engraved illustrations. Especially when the engraved illustration is created in Illustrator.

But creating these types of illustrations always seems insanely intimidating. So many lines and textures.

After playing around with our Deep Cuts | Engraving Brushes for Adobe Illustrator, I realized I could create engraving illustration effects in Illustrator FAST!

Here's a tutorial on how I created an engraved eye illustration in Illustrator using our Deep Cuts Engraving Brush Pack.

What You'll Need

You'll need a few simple resources to create this illustration. Don't worry– all of them can be found for free or at little cost.

Here's what you'll need:

• A camera (and iPhone camera will do just fine).
• Paper and pencil.
• Engraving brushes for Illustrator (buy ours here or do a Google search for free ones).

Step. 1: Make a Simple Drawing of an Eye

Create a simple drawing of an eye with pencil and paper.

You can take a photo of your own eye (or find one on the web) and use it. Our goal is to place a sketch or image of an eye in Illustrator so we can trace it with the Pen Tool or Brush Tool.

Here's the eye that I made using pencil and paper. As you can see, it's nothing fancy. We're just trying to get the basics of the eye.

Step 2. Create your Adobe Illustrator file

Open Adobe Illustrator and choose File > New. Then set your dimensions and other preferences. I'm using a 1160px by 772px artboard in RGB mode.

Step 3. Place your drawing in Illustrator

Choose File > Place... and then choose your drawing or photograph you'll be tracing with your Pen Tool or Brush Tool in Illustrator.

Place the eye in the center of your artboard. Now open the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and name the layer something like sketch or photo and lock it by clicking the empty box on the left-hand side of the layer.

We want this layer locked so our reference image doesn't move while we're drawing on top of it.

Step 3. Trace the basic shape of the eye with the Pen Tool or Brush Tool

Now that we have our image locked down create a new layer in the Layer Panel. Then choose a brush to start drawing the basic parts of the eye.

I'm using 1MT Liner 01 from the Deep Cuts Engraving Brush Pack. But you can use any brush you find online that is slightly rough and simulates the imperfect of engraving.

Step 4. Create the iris and pupil using a multiline Illustrator brush

This is where an engraving brush pack for Illustrator comes in handy. By choosing one of the multiline effects you can just make a partial circle and then choose the multiline brush.

Step 5. Add multiline brushes to the top and bottom of eye

This is where things get fun and easy. Using your multiline brush a stroke strokes to the top and bottom of the eye.

It looks like a lot happened here but I've only added 4 strokes with the Pen Tool and the engraving brushes.

Since I'm not a master with the Pen Tool, I used Astute Graphics VectorScribe plugin to make it easier to adjust the curve of the lines.

Step 6. Add shading lines to the inside of eye

We're on the home stretch! This is starting to look like a pretty cool engraved eye illustration.

Fill in the shading of the inside of the eye by adding some lines. Especially around the edges and the tear duct.

Step 7. Add crosshatching to make shadows darker in some areas

Add depth to your illustration by adding darker shadows to appropriate areas. I've added crosshatching to the top of the illustration.

You might have noticed at this point I've also turned off the sketch layer. At this point, the illustration is looking good enough that we can fill in the rest with our imagination.

Step 7. Add final touches and adjustments to your illustration

We're just about done. Now we just add finishing touches to dial in the final illustration.

Here are some things to consider doing to finish your illustration:

• Add final strokes to your work with the Pen Tool or Brush Tool
• Adjust the position of lines
• Eliminate stray points, extruding lines, and sharp edges

I've noticed that taking a 30-minute break can do wonders for spotting things you need to tweak. So if you can take a short break or come back to your work in the morning.

Step 8. Put your illustration into your final work

Okay, you got as far as making a killer engraved eye illustration in Illustrator. Let's put this baby to use. Here's a little logo I made out of the final eye.

You could use your final work on a coffee mug, t-shirt, personal project for your portfolio, or anything else your heart desires.

Create your own eye engraving illustration in Illustrator

I hope after checking out this tutorial, you feel less intimidated to make your own engraving illustration.

If you haven't already, create your own engraved eye illustration to reinforce what we just covered.

If you want to make it easier and faster to create this kind of illustration you should consider purchasing the Deep Cuts Engraving Brush Pack. It will pay for itself in the time you save, the results you achieve, and the happiness you get from learning a new style.

Click here to purchase the Grave Etcher Engraving Brush Pack for Illustrator Now.