Create a Realistic, Vector Building Illustration
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Create a Realistic, Vector Building Illustration

on Apr 2nd 2010 with 21 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Program: Illustrator CS4
  • Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced
  • Estimated Completion Time: 15-20 hours

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

We have another great Vector Premium tutorial available exclusively for Premium members today. If you want to learn how to create realistic vector buildings, then we have a massive and extremely detailed tutorial for you.

This Tutorial is Filled with Creative Techniques

This is a massive tutorial that documents the creation of a realistic vector, building illustration, which is based on a photo reference. There are numerous techniques covered, each section is very well detailed with documentation on each step and process used to create this artwork. Doing a large project like this will build your vector skills immensely. This is by far the longest, and most detailed, tutorial we’ve ever made available to Vector Premium members.

Plus members can Log in and Download! If you’re not a member, you can of course join today! You can view the final illustration below.

This is an Extremely Detailed Tutorial

This tutorial is filled with loads of information to absorb, and vector techniques to master. There are over 30 sections, all with multiple steps (between 10 and 25 each). There are over 500 images that show every step in detail. Plus members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! Below are sample images, which show some of the development of this monolithic tutorial.

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Vector Premium Membership

As you know, we run a Premium membership system that costs $19 a month, which gives members access to the Source files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials like this one! If you’re a Premium member you can log in and download the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!

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Andrei Marius is VforVectors on Graphicriver
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I'm a self taught vector artist who is making a living doing something that he likes. I spend most of my time working in Adobe Illustrator, trying to avoid the Pen Tool. You can find all my vector experiments at this little website dedicate to Illustrator VforVectors.com.  

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  • http://www.cutelittlefactory.com Andrea Austoni

    Seriously this is massive. I cannot help but congratulate the author for having the patience to put this together. ANd I haven’t even seen the tutorial.
    It goes without saying that the result is nothing short of phenomenal.
    I hope you have a market for this because it really looks like a 3D render which I suspect is much cheaper to create.
    Kudos Andrei!

    • http://www.cutelittlefactory.com Andrea Austoni

      Ok I noticed now that it’s traced on a photograph which diminishes its value a lot. Still the result is great.

      • http://sexidesign.com Melody

        I agree, tracing a photo doesn’t help you understand perspective. Had it been used as a reference for the type of perspective desired is one thing, but it’s extremely beneficial for any designer to at least try and figure out themselves…

      • Dario

        The nice thing about tutorials that have you use a photo reference is that, if you really don’t want to use a photo, you can just skip that step and use your imagination. =P

  • http://www.jonathanpatterson.com Jonathan Patterson

    Superb!

    I disagree, just because it’s a traced photo doesn’t cheapen the work. I’d rather use a photo reference if the end result will be that much better.

    • http://www.spgrafiks.com Simona

      I second that.

    • Carolyn

      You’re so right. The sheer volume of useful information in this tutorial should dispel any myth that using photographic references makes the work any easier or the end result any less valid. Tracing in and of itself doesn’t make work good or bad. Besides we’ve all seen our share of bad tracing.

  • http://lenatailor.designerteam.info Lena Tailor

    OMG. I cant believe that this is illustration, looks so real..

  • Browen

    Will it still work If I use the appearance panel to do all of the gradients you use for the wall of the building? As opposed to how you do it by creating copies of the layers and putting a different gradient on each one.

  • Stefan Frank

    Wow! That looks great! The tutorial will be very usefull for a lot of cases.
    But if i compare the hard work here and the “easy to go – in 2hours ready” work in my 3dprogram i would
    use the techniques for other cases.

    But still jaw-dropping.

  • Victor

    Really unusable a render it´s better but you can learn a lot from this

  • http://sean-pollock.com Sean Pollock

    That is… really realistic looking!

  • http://webme.co.il leon

    perfect toutorial!
    thanks.

  • ThE_OwNeR

    Wait… That picture isn’t real? What do you say? It’s made in Illustrator? :|

  • cayenne

    It will take lots of patience to follow and finish the tutorial. But it would be quite easier if you know how to use another 3-D program .

  • Iaroslav Lazunov

    Super. I need to reinstall adobe illustrator.

  • http://www.darrinhoudek.com kid

    Nice Illustration the cool thing about doing this as an .AI rather than in a 3D package is that you can print this in as large a scale as you need and not have to worry about rendering out an enormous file from a 3D file. However, I could probably achieve this in about an hour in MAx.

    Great Work!

  • Eliecer

    In some way this tutorial remind me of the amazing work by Kevin Hulsey Illustration. If any one is interested in it then go to http://www.khulsey.com/demo_1howto.html

    Anyway, thanks for the tutorial and your hard work!!

  • http://MCFARLANEPAVING.COM Ronald Paving

    This building is beautiful. I love the bold color. It’s such an interesting shape. It almost reminds me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

  • ducsu

    Whether this is from a stock image or not, it is still an awesome piece of work. I would love to give this a try and see others work who have follow this tutorial.

  • http://ducsu.com/ Duc Su

    Well, it’s been 7 months pasted. I should have started with this tutorial from the start, but the pen tool and the hours stirred me away. After doing this tutorial, I have learn so much and am much better with the pen tool and have a firm grasp on using the pathfinder tool. Thank you for your awesome tutorials. This one is a showcase if I must say. My completion time for this illustration was 36 hours.

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/duceduc/themes/vector-building-illustration_zps475a1f17.png