This Tutorial is to create vector ice creams using only Illustrator tools. Open a new document in Adobe CS 2 > Illustrator and continue with the following. Overview :

icecream_overview



A,_) Creating an Ice-Cream with a Cone :

Icecream_1

STEP 1 : Create guides by clicking on the ruler area and without removing your finger from the mouse, drag horizontally and vertically. The guides are perfect for allignment purposes. Using the help of these guides, you can draw shapes at an accurate distance so that the shape does not look crooked. Once the desired shape is drawn, you can temporarily hide the guides to prevent distraction using, VIEW menu > GUIDES > HIDE GUIDES. The guides will not be removed but will be hidden. To clear/delete the guides, use CLEAR GUIDES option available with the Hide guides option.
cone_sketch

STEP 2 : To begin, create a new layer and name it = CONE. Now, Create a triangle using the Pen tool. Click on an area and then click diagonally in a downward movement using the help of guides and and click at the top again so that we get a ' V ' shape. Also close the cone by clicking horizontally to get a closed figure. If the guides were not drawn, the cone would be slanting.

STEP 3 : The fill color for the cone is # 8A5C29 ( Brown shade ) and the stroke color for the shape is # 5A3D1C ( Dark brown ). The stroke size is 1 pt only. The most important step that highlights the cone is not the stroke size alone but the brush style applied to stroke. Along with the fill and stroke options, there is an option calles > Brush. Select the brush style which is available by default called > MARKER ROUGH. Once this brush style is applied, in the same Brush option, this brush would be available, so Double click the name. Doing this, a dialog box opens where you can adjust the position of the brush being applied to the cone. Set the width as = 100 % and select the option = ' Flip Accross '.

STEP 4 : Now select the cone shape using the Selection Tool and use the tool called > WRINKLE tool that is available with Warp and related tools in the Tools box. Now, simply scribble on the top straight line of the cone. One has to be very patient doing that. The result would be that the straight line is converted to crooked line and looks like the broken bits of the top side of a cone.
cone_brush

STEP 5 : Create a new layer and name it = SCOOP. Now Draw a circle using the Ellipse Tool. The size of the circle depends on how big you want your ice cream scoop to be. Use SHIFT + click and drag to get a perfect circle shape instead of an oval shape. Once the circle is drawn, you have to make the scoop colorful. Instead of a plain color, we will use gradient fill. Select the circle shape using Selection Tool. Now click the Gradient Icon in the tools box at the bottom. The default black and white gradient will be applied.

STEP 6 : Next to make changes to the balck and white, enable the menu > WINDOWS menu > SWATCHES. Then under the Gradient heading, select Black color and now come back to the color box in Tools  section and change the foredround color to # 3DE9E4 (Light Blue shade ). This change will be seen in the Gradient swatches.  Now repeat the same for the white color among the two black and white gradient. Select the white color, and in the color box, change the color to # CBDF00 (Green shade ). Once the two new colors are set, select the Gradient type as = RADIAL and the Location is set to = 4.5 %.
grad_ice

STEP 7 : Having a plain circle will look too artificial. So let us use the WRINKLE tool we used for the cone. Select the circle and use the Wrinkle tool to scribble around the corners.of the whole circle. Position this scoop of ice cream over the cone. Doing this will cover the top part of the cone. So select the cone shape using Selection Tool and go to OBJECT menu > ARRANGE > Bring to Front. The cone appers in front of the scoop covering the bottom part of the scoop.Next step is to add some extra designs to the cone and extra colorful beans to the scoop of ice cream.

STEP 8 : Extra 1 > Styling the Cone : First for the cone, draw a straight line. The is no fill color for a line. So, set the stroke color for the line as = # E3BB95 (Pink shade ). Set the Stroke size as = 5 pt. Now use the Free Transform Tool and rotate the line in a diagonal angle. Similarly, you can draw multiple lines using the line tool and rotate them in the same angle as the first line. Or, you can use Edit menu > Copy and Paste options to make duplicate copies. Another shorcut is that select the line, and use ALT + click the line and Drag to have a duplicate. Hence totally you should have 5 lines all facing the same direction and rotated at same angle. Also reduce the sizes of each line. Now select all 5 lines and use OBJECT menu > TRANSFORM > REFLECT > HORIZONTAL to flip the direction of the lines and also select the option COPY to have a copy of the transformed lines instead of disrupting the original set of lines.
cone_lines

STEP 9 : Extra 2 > Addings colorful decoratives to Scoop : Now for the scoop of ice cream, draw tiny circles using Ellipse shape tool. Set any fill color and NO stroke color and therefore no stroke size. You can also use the above Duplication of shapes methods to get multiple circles. Change the colors of each and arrange them accordingly.
beads

STEP 10 : Extra 3 > Adding Scoop layers : Draw a circle using the Ellipse Tool. There is no fill color for this circle. The stroke color is = # D49658 (Chocolate color / Light Brown color).The stroke size is 1 pt. Now create another copy of this circle and paste it near the original circle. Now to get the highlight  / layer effect, select both the circles (SHIFT + select to select multiple circles at a time ) and go to Brush which is available at the top. Select the Brush style = INK SPATTER. The perfect circles are converted to layers of curves. Place them over the scoop of ice cream in the center.
fuzz2




B._) Creating a 3D Choco-bar ice cream :

Icecream_2

STEP 1 : First let us draw the ice cream and then the ice cream stick. Create a new layer = Ice cream. The first step is to draw a simple rectangle in a vertical direction. Then select the rectangle using the Selection Tool and EFFECT menu > CONVERT TO SHAPE > ROUNDED RECTANGLE. If we directly use the rounded rectangle shape tool, we  can not make any adjustments that we like. Hence you this option to convert any shape into another shape by entering precise values. Set the following details : Shape > Rounded Rectangle, Select the RELATIVE option and set the extra width = 6.35 mm, extra height = 6.35 mm and Corner radius = 25 mm. With these values you will have a decent rounded rectangle. The fill color of this rectangle = # 8A5C29 ( Brown shade ). The stroke color is = # 5A3D1C ( Dark Brown shade ) and the stroke size = 1 pt. I pt stroke size is enough to highlight the edges. Increasing the size would look awkward.

STEP 2 : Now selecting the rounded rectangle, go to Edit menu > Copy and use the option Paste in Back options to make duplicate copy. Or use the shortcut  ALT + click the lrectangle and Drag to have a duplicate. But, dragging this will position it in front so you can use OBJECT menu > ARRANGE > SEND BACKWARD to allign the copied rectangle at the back of the original shape. After positioning it properly, you will have a closed ice cream figure.
choco-cream

STEP 3 : For creating an impression that the ice cream is bitten, first create a simple oval shape using an Ellipse shape tool with fill color = # D49658 (light Brown shade ) with NO stroke color. Selecting the shape drawn, go to EFFECT menu > DISTORT AND TRANSFORM > TWIST and set the twist angle to = 60 degree. Now, you will have the twisted bite look. Use the transform tool and rotate the shape and position it over the top right corner of the icecream. Next draw another oval shape which is ver thin compared to the one drawn previously. Use the same Distort > Twist feature for this shape also and the twist angle is the same = 60 degree. The fill color of this shape is = # 8A5C29 ( Brown shade ). The stroke color is = # 5A3D1C ( Dark Brown shade ) and the stroke size = 1 pt. Position this over the oval created above and place it in center. Refer the image included for more information.
bite

STEP 4 : Now to create the ice cream stick, create a new layer called = Stick. Draw a vertical Rounded rectangle using Rounded rectangle shape Tool. The corners are small and is sufficient and there is no need to covert it further. Draw it in such a way that it is of proper stick size in comparison with the ice cream. The fill color of this stick is = #  D49658 ( Light Brown shade ). The stroke color is = #  8A5C29 ( Brown shade ) and the stroke size = 3 pt. Increasing the stroke size would highlight the stick. Now selecting the stick, go to Edit menu > Copy and use the option Paste in Back options to make duplicate copy. Once pasted in back the shape will not be visible but selected so, you can move it by directly selecting it or by using the Right and Left Arrows in the Keyboard.Once positioned, select bothe sticks ( SHIFT + select to select both the sticks at the same time ) and move them to position them properly in the center of the ice cream.

STEP 5 : Now the final step is to draw a spilled chocolate cream on the stick. This can be randomly drawn using the Pen Tool. Click on an area and click in various places or click and drag to get a curve. Repeat this to get a closed selection. The fill color of the path drawing is = #  8A5C29 ( Brown shade ) and there is NO stroke color. Position this at the intersection of the ice cream and the stick. This is the end of the choco bar ice cream.



C._) Creating a flavoured Ice :

Icecream_3

STEP 1 :
Let us create the ice first. Create a new layer = Ice. Draw a rectangle in a vertical direction. Then selecting the rectangle, go to EFFECT menu > CONVERT TO SHAPE > ROUNDED RECTANGLE. Set the same details as adjusted for choco bar, that is details : Shape > Rounded Rectangle, Select the RELATIVE option and set the extra width = 6.35 mm, extra height = 6.35 mm and Corner radius = 25 mm.  We will not apply fill color but gradient is applied. Selecting the rectangle shape, click the Gradient Icon in the tools box at the bottom. The default bi-color gradient will be applied. To make changes go to  Gradient swatches. There you will see the gradient. Select Black color and now come back to the color box in Tools section and change the foreground color to # FF9800 ( Orange shade ).  Now select the white color and in the color box, change the color to # E8F30B ( Yellow shade ). Once the two new colors are set, select the Gradient type as = LINEAR and the Angle is = 45 degree. The STROKE color for the shape is # FF7F00 ( Orange shade ) and the stroke size is = 1 pt.

STEP 2 : Next, to form the layers on the ice, first draw a simple rectangle. The fill color is # CBDF00 ( Green shade ). There is no stroke color. Use the Direct Selection Tool and select the corner points which need to be altered. Once the points are selected, click the points and drag them in various directions to get some random shape with crooked look. Place this over the ice at the top. Now create another rectangle and fill it with Fill color = #  FFF400 ( Yellow shade ). The yellow color is too bright so, go to Color swatches, which is available at > WINDOWS menu > Color. Under TRANSPARENCY option, set the blend mode to SOFT LIGHT.

STEP 3 : Now to position the rectangle in a diagonal position on the ice, select the rectangle, and go to EFFECT menu > WARP > ARC. Set the style to Arc, positioned vertically, and the Blend Percentage is = 15 %. Now you can use the Transform tool and rotate it and position it over the ice. Also use the Wrinkle Tool available in the Tools box to scribble on the rectangle to get crooked edges. Next create another copy, using ALT + click and drag to get a duplicate copy. Using the Transform tool, reduce the size and position it below the original rectangle. The color and the blend mode for the duplicate is same as the original.

STEP 4 : Creating the ice cream step is the same as above as in the Choco bar ice cream. Create a new layer called = Stick. Draw a vertical Rounded rectangle using Rounded rectangle shape Tool. Draw it in such a way that it is a little long in length and thinner in width compared to the ice cream. The fill color of this stick is = #  D49658 ( Light Brown shade ). The stroke color is = #  8A5C29 ( Brown shade ) and the stroke size = 3 pt. Position it in the middle of the ice.

STEP 5 : Once the stick is positioned over the ice, the intersection where the stick and the ice are joined look a little awkward. Let us cover it with ice melted flavour. Use the pen tool and draw some random design. You can always use the Direct selection tool to select particular points and alter them to blend with stick. The fill color for this shape is # FFBE00 ( Orange color ). Position it in the intersection over the stick.



This ends the creation process of three varieties of ice creams. I have further added frames to them in Photoshop. You can use the following information if necessary. Open a new document in Photoshop of a size that is enough to hold the ice cream images. You can then  import the images into the Photoshop document from the Illustrator document by selecting all the items and dragging them into the Photoshop document. They will be placed as Smart objects as one entity. So drag in the three varieties of icecreams one at a time seperately.
Background with Border :

  • Create a new layer by selecting the 'New layer' icon in layers box. Name this layer = Background. Now, for this layer > Background, simply fill it with color by first setting  the Foreground color in color box as =  # 11996b ( Green shade). Then, fill the Background layer with color using = ALT + Backspace as shortcut.
  • Next to apply effect to back ground, Go to Filter > Filter Gallery > Texture > Grain. Set the Intensity to = 25 and Contrast to = 50. The Grain type used is = Regular. Leave the Blending mode for this layer in Layers box as = Normal.
  • For applying border for the Background, use rectangular marquee tool and make a rectangular selection in such a way that you leave some gap for margin on all four sides and select the entire area. Now go to SELECT menu > REVERSE option. Now create a new layer and name it = BORDER, and keeping the selection like as it is, set the foreground color in color box as = # 011731 ( Dark Blue shade) and use ALT + Backspace to fill the Border layer. The result is that, the selection is filled with Blue color in the new layer created = BORDER.
  • Note that the border is thin and not too grand. Once the border is created, if you want to resize / adjust the border level, you can use Magic Wand Tool and select the border so that the entire border containing that color is selected. Now you can use Transform tool  ( CTRL + T ) to resize or position the border to blend with background.
  • To apply a 3D look to the border, adjust the following in the Blending options which is found at, Layer menu > Layer style > Blending options or right click the layer and select the option > Bevel and Emboss. Bevel and Emboss settings > The bevel used is = Inner Bevel and technique used is = Smooth and with Depth= 100 % and direction is set to = UP. The size is 5 px and soften level is 0 px. The contour used is = Llinear Gloss contour and Highlight color is white and mode is = Screen and shadow color is Black and mode is = multiply and both set at 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree.

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