30 Detailed Drawing Tutorials for Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator can at first seem a little bit intimidating and daunting (speaking from first-hand experience) to work with. Whereas it is in many ways similar to working with Photoshop (or any other graphic editor), but is also in many ways, very different. And the thing is, quite often certain design techniques with Illustrator may seem at first complex, but in actual fact are very very simple – it’s just about learning techniques.

There is no better way for learning new Illustrator techniques, for a beginner or an advanced user than delving into a good high-quality tutorial, which is exactly what you will find in the tutorials below.

Create Lady Birds Insect

Lady birds, is there any other insect that symbolize the prosperity and freshness of the nature more? In this tutorial you will be shown how to create a cool lady bird using Adobe Illustrator.

Vector Handphone Tutorial

In this tutorial, you’ll be shown how to draw a vector mobile phone by using simple shapes and gradients.

How to Create a 3D Marker in Illustrator

There are many ways to create a marker in Adobe Illustrator, but this might be one of the quickest. It only takes three paths, some text for the imprint and a 3D effect to create a semi-realistic and freely rotatable marker.

Create a Stylized Avocado

In this tutorial, you’ll how to create a cut avocado with simple shapes, blends, and textures. We’ll design both the outer skin, yummy light green avocado filling, and the inner core.

How to Create Stereo Headphone Plugs

How to draw an USB Flash Drive

In this advanced tutorial, you will be shown how to draw this amazing USB flash drive.

How to Create a Photorealistic iMac and Magic Mouse

This tutorial is about using Adobe Illustrator’s Mesh Tool (U) and several basic techniques to create a vector style monitor and mouse, with a similar design as Apple’s brand new iMac 27″ with magic mouse.

Create an old TDK Cassette

The retro style is always a popular style, and in this tutorial you’ll be shown how to create a standard D-C60 TDk cassette in just a few minutes.

How to draw a delicious Burger

Create a Golden, Vector Compass

In this tutorial you will be taken through the steps and techniques for creating a golden compass.

How to Create A Realistic Chef’s Knife

If you love cooking, then this tutorial is just for you! Learn how to create a realistic chef’s knife by using simple paths and gradients. You’ll use relatively easy techniques to give an object volume, control the lighting, and make it look super sharp.

How To Create A Vector Wacom Tablet

In this tutorial, you will be shown how to create a vector Wacom tablet in Illustrator CS4 using some basic shapes, gradients, and effects. In order to follow this tutorial, you should have some prior experience with the Pen Tool and know how to manipulate preexisting points and curves.

Realistic Orange Tutorial

In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to make a photo realistic orange using Adobe Illustrator CS3.

Turn a Client Approved Snack Label into a 3D Looking Snack Pack

Often after approving the final label’s design, clients will want to see the design mocked-up as a package. Starting with a final label design, you’ll use Illustrators mesh tools to simulate a 3D package design.

How to Make an Icy Cocktail

How to Create a Cute Earth Illustration in Vector

In this tutorial, you’ll be taken through the steps of creating a cute earth illustration. You’ll use basic shapes and some Illustrator knowhow to make this. It’s a fun look at the earth, as seen from space, and interpreted in a cartoon vector style.

Create A Realistic Pendrive

In this Adobe Illustrator tutorial you will be shown how to create a realistic pendrive only using shapes and gradients.

How to Make Super-Sharp, Vector Swords

In this tutorial you’ll be shown how to draw a sword in Illustrator, using the Rectangle Tool, gradients, and other Illustrator tools.

How to Create Semi-Realistic Scissors

In this tutorial, you are going to create metallic scissors using some basic Illustrator tools, as well as simple shading and highlighting effects to create this illustration.

Draw A Realistic Vector Light Bulb From Scratch

In this tutorial, you’ll be shown how to build a light bulb from scratch in Illustrator, using numerous shapes and effects to create this illustration.

How to Create Shiny, Vector Dice

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a set of vector dice using Adobe Illustrator and the Gradient Mesh Tool. The Gradient Mesh Tool can be tricky to get the hang of, but hopefully with this tutorial it will shed some light on this great little tool.

Create a Rocketing, Vector Aircraft Shuttle

In this tutorial, you’ll be creating a illustration of a speeding aircraft shuttle. It’s going to be all vector, but along the way you’ll use blends, and other techniques that give this rocketing aircraft an interesting look.

How To Create A Slick IPod Icon

This is a great little illustrator tutorial form Creative Nerds, which shows you how to create an iPod icon using illustrator. This is s good tutorial for beginners learning their way around Illustrator simply because the entire iPod is created using only basic default illustrator shapes.

How to Create a Recycling, Paper Bag Icon

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create an eco-friendly paper icon with simple shapes and gradients. This tutorial is great for beginners getting started with icon design, as this is a fairly simple icon to create.

Cute Retro-Flavored Teddy Bear with the Gradient Mesh Tool

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to easily add a retro feeling to your creations and also cover techniques such as using gradient mesh tool to add inner shadows to your objects, which gives them a subtle rounding while keeping your artwork scalable.

How to Create an Electronic Piano

In this tutorial, you’ll be shown how to make your own realistic, electronic piano in Illustrator. You’ll create quite a few shapes and apply various gradients and blends to make this vector instrument. Even though it’s a bit of work to put all this together, the techniques used in this tutorial are fairly simple.

Creating a Toaster-Popping Illustration

With this tutorial, learn how to apply some effects not often used in Illustrator, like the Chrome effect, which is used to create metallic look with a realistic aspect. Also, notable in this tutorial is the use of Texturizer to create toast texture. You will also use 3D effect and the Mesh tool, which bring depth to the this illustration.

Create a Vector Tree with Custom Brushes and the Gradient Mesh Tool

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a leaf-filled, vector tree – step by step. Some of the techniques you’ll use are custom made brushes to create the leaves, and Gradient Mesh Tool for creating light and shadows.

How to Turn Glasses into a Great Geek Icon

In this tutorial, you’ll be shown how to make a cool, or should we say geeky, glasses icon. You should be versed in Adobe Illustrator’s tools to complete this tutorial. You’ll learn how to take creative license and create an illustration that uses a photo reference, but differs a bit in the final design.

How to Create a Vector Safari Compass

The Safari browser from Apple has a great little icon that works well in small formats while also displaying quite a lot of intricate details when viewed in large format. Navigate through this Adobe Illustrator tutorial to draw up your own vector Safari inspired compass in Adobe Illustrator.

Create a Colorful Cocktail Icon

Create A Mouthwatering Chocolate Covered Strawberry

You can easily apply this illustration to your own greeting card, t-shirt, or anything else you can think of. Moreover, you can apply this tutorial to other illustrations and logos.