Adobe Illustrator Tutorial: Valentine hearts for Illustrator

Love is in the air, so it’s time to express some of that love for Valentine’s Day. The CPG How To illustrator will take readers through a step-by-step tutorial for Illustrator users that will show how to draw an attractive Valentine heart that can be used by itself or as part of a larger layout.

Getting Started

Open Adobe Illustrator CS 5 and create a new document. Choose the Ellipse Tool from the Adobe Illustrator toolbox.

Draw a circle by holding down the Shift key on your keyboard while click-dragging the mouse. Pressing the Shift key keeps the drawing proportional.

Draw a Valentine heart for Illustrator by starting with a circle.

Adobe Illustrator Tutorial: Drawing Circles

The next part of this Illustrator How To asks you to select the circle with the selection tool and then press the Alt key and drag the circle to the right. (As soon as you start dragging, press the Shift key. This will keep the copy in line with the original.) This makes a copy of the first circle.

Illustrator How To: Copying the circle with and Alt Drag and delayed Shift.

Adobe Illustrator Pathfinder

Now open the Pathfinder window by clicking on the Window option on the main menu. With both circles selected, click the Unite button. The result of this Illustrator How To tutorial is starting to look like a heart.

Adobe Illustrator How To: The Valentine heart is taking shape.

Getting the Point

Grab the Direct Selection tool from the Adobe Illustrator CS5 toolbox and click the lower intersection point between the two circles.

Use the Direct Selection tool to select the lower intersection.

Grab that point and drag it downward as shown here by our How To illustrator. Hold the Shift key down as you drag to keep it straight.

Start working on the point for Illustrator Valentine hearts.

Delete Anchor Points

Select the shape and then grab the Delete Anchor Point Tool

Now, click on the two midway anchor points to remove them. Here’s what our How To illustrator says your shape should look like.

Your Valentine heart after deleting the anchor points.

Now, use the Direct Select Tools to adjust the handles on the anchor points at the point and on each side.

Putting the final touches on the Valentine heart for Illustrator.

Add Color

Now, Add color to your Fill and Stroke and you are done with your Valentine’s Day heart.

The end of this Adobe Illustrator How To tutorial adds color to the stroke and fill of the heart shape.

Summary

This Adobe Illustrator How To tutorial used the following resources for Illustrator:

• Ellipse Tool
• Selection tool
• Direct Selection tool
• Pathfinder window
• Delete Anchor Point Tool
• Color Window

Happy Valentine’s Day to you from the CPG How To illustrator and all of us at Computer Parts Greenville.