Preview

How to Make a Delicious Vector Orange in 9 Decisive Steps

Sep 22nd in Illustration by Alejandro Zuñiga

Learn how to create a semi-realistic vector orange with simple shapes, tools, and multiple effects. This tutorial is possible for a beginner to complete, though is aimed at an intermediate Illustrator user. Let's get started.

Author: Alejandro Zuñiga

I'm Alex from Mexico. Nobody taught me how to use the Illustrator, except myself. I've been using the program for over a year and I want to learn even more. Thanks to the people who share their knowledge in these tutorials and I'm happy to be participating.

Final Image Preview

Let's have a look at the image we'll be creating.

Final

Step 1

The first thing that we have to do is to create a triangle that is 2 inches wide by 3 inches high, then fill it with an orange color (R=252, G=175, B=23). Next, we apply an effect to make the corners round. To do this go to Effect > Stylize > Round Corners, and set the value to 0.5 in. Now go to menu Object > Expand Appearance and then Ungroup (Command + Shift + G) the result.

Step 2

In this step we create the texture of the orange. Copy (Command + C) the object already created and paste it to the front (Command + F). Change the color of the fill to white. With this last object selected, go to Effect > Texture > Stained Glass, and set values to: Cell Size of 45, Border Thickness of 10, and Light Intensity of 0.

Expand the same object (Object > Expand Appearance). Next, go to Object > Live Trace > Tracing Options, set the values that are shown below, and Expand it (Object > Expand). Also, be sure to check Object and check Fill.

To this last object with the Stained Glass effect, fill it with a white color, then Ungroup (Command + Shift + G) it three times. With this last object selected, go to Object > Path > Simplify, and set the Opacity to 60%. Apply a Gaussian Blur (Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur) with a Blur Radius set to 6.0 pixels. Finally, group these two objects.

Step 3

Now create the other pieces of the orange. Rotate the object by Alt-clicking to the position that we want to be the center of the orange, then in the window that appears set the Angle to 40º, and click in Copy. To create the other pieces we just repeat tha last action (Command + D) seven times

Step 4

Let's make the orange look not so straight and give it a more natural look. Select the Pucker tool, then use the values shown below to retouch the whole object and to give the natural aspect that we desire. Next, select everything (Command + A) and Ungroup (Command + Shift + G).

Select one of the orange colored objects, then go to Select > Same > Fill Color. Copy (Command +C) the recent selection, paste it in back (Command + B), and group (Command + G) it. Next, we rotate a little so that it looks like the image below. Lastly set the Opacity to 40%. Then Select All (Command +A) and Group (Command + G) it.

Step 5

In this step we'll form the edge of the orange. Create an ellipse (L) with a width and a height of 6.5 inches (the color of the line is not important). Next, create a group of ellipses as shown below, the size we'll be proportional to the orange. Group (Command + G) these ellipses, move them to the Brushes Panel, and check New Pattern Brush. In the Pattern Brush options leave it as is.

If you want to give a name to our Pattern Brush that's great, I named it "ORANGE." After creating the pattern brush, erase the group of ellipses, then apply this pattern brush to the 6.5 inches ellipse that we created some moments ago. Lastly, set tha Opacity to 15%.

Step 6

Continuing with the edge of the orange, create another ellipse (L) with a width and a height of 7 inches, then Send it to the back (Object > Arrange > Send to Back). With the object selected, go to the Gradient Panel and set the values as shown in the image below.

Step 7

Now let's create the exterior of the orange. First, select everything (Command + A) and Group (Command + G) it. Change only the width of our orange to 5.5 inches. After that we create an ellipse (L) with a width of 5.5 inches and a height of 7 inches, then fill it with a orange color (R= 245, G=130, B=32).

Draw a vertical line that intersects in the middle of the ellipse that we just created, then go to the Pathfinder Panel, click Divide, and then Ungroup (Command + Shift + G) the result. Erase one of the halves of the ellipse and to the other half change the width to 3.5 inches.

Step 8

Next we proceed to create the texture for the exterior of our orange. Create a rectangle with a width and a height of 1 inch, no Fill, and no Stroke. Copy (Command + C) this rectangle and we paste it all to the front (Command + F). Then Fill this rectangle with an orange color (R=245, G=130, B=32).

Create various ellipses inside the rectangle with the colors that are shown below. Select all the ellipses inside the rectangle and apply a Gaussian Blur (Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur) with a Radius of 7.0 pixels.

Ungroup the two rectangles, the ellipses, and move the object to the panel of swatches. Apply the swatch that we just created to the half ellipse. The rectangle that has no fill and no stroke serves to limit the area of the swatch.

With the texture of the exterior of the orange ready, align tha half-ellipse in the middle of the orange so that it looks natural. Send tha half-ellipse to the back (Object > Arrange > Send to Back). Finally, select everything (Command + A) and rotate it a little.

Step 9

At the very end, we create an ellipse with a width and height of 5.5 inches, then fill it with a gradient (center, R=100, G=100, B=100; edge R=255, G=255, B=255). Change the height to 1.2 inches and send it to the back of the orange. It's done! The final image is shown at the end of the series of images below.

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User Comments

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  1. Salva September 22nd

    Nice tut.


  2. Jeff Finn September 22nd

    Love it. Thanks.


  3. greg spradlin September 22nd

    Very nice vector tutorial!! What stood out for me was how the illustrator tools were used in steps 5 and 8 to give the orange those nice little details to make it more realistic.


  4. Tony September 22nd

    Nice techniques!


  5. andi September 22nd

    I used to be decisive, but now I’m not so sure.


  6. martin September 22nd

    Cool, but please vary the stained glass effect :D


  7. sonhack September 22nd

    goooood!

    thanks..


  8. Gabe September 22nd

    I agree with Greg, steps 5 & 8 really are great touches. Those ellipses and blurring techniques are sweet for this realistic feeling. I also liked the slight rotation and reduction of transparency of the inner “chunks”, really made it look more moist.


  9. Grafiko September 22nd

    Really cool techniques, thanks for sharing,


  10. Shane September 22nd

    Very nice stuff - thanks for posting.


  11. Rick September 22nd

    That’s awesome haha, I love how that came together.


  12. Dan September 22nd

    Sweet, this was a good quick one. Some great little tricks in this tut as well.


  13. Dainis Graveris September 22nd

    That’s just amazing! Looks really realistic! Thanks!


  14. Mitchell September 23rd

    Short and sweet.


  15. Chris September 23rd

    I get stuck at step 2. I can’t get the stained glass effects to display as white. Any help? Thanks!


  16. Mikkel September 23rd

    One of the best tutorials I have writen in a long time! Everything was well explained and easy to follow. I would love to see this done with more effects though. Too many expanding appearance to me. I like it totally non destructive. But still a must read for everybody…


  17. sc September 23rd

    its another fine tutorial, but i swear it must the fifth or sixth tutorial on some kind of citrus fruit by an envanto site. the boss must live in a citrus area… lol.


  18. ChimiHoffa September 25th

    Really enjoyed this.

    I’m not sure why (not an Illustrator expert, but have been using it for 10 years), but almost every number you gave me to enter was completely different than what I had to use to get the same result. The Stained Glass was very, very different and the blurs were, too. Instead of 7 for the skin texture, I had to use about 3 to get the same result. What would cause this? Am I set up incorrectly? I’m using Illustrator CS3 13.0.2.

    Again, fantastic tutorial! I learned a ton.


  19. Gomesla September 25th

    I get stuck on the Pucker tool. Every time I do it the image gets really distorted. Are those settings correct??


  20. zazy September 26th

    tahanks a useful toto!


  21. r3d September 27th

    I get stuck at step two during the trace settings. I don’t have the option to “ignore white.” What am I doing wrong?


  22. Craig September 28th

    Chimi I am with you. Had to use different values. Now I can’t get the swatch to work : - (

    Nice Tut though.


  23. hotte September 28th

    Hi nice tut! just did it.
    cell effect is very n1


  24. Alejandro September 29th

    Hi, ChimiHoffa & Craig.
    When you create a new document be sure that Raster Effects option is set at 300 ppi
    That will solve the problem with the settings.
    Thanks for your comments.


  25. Pat September 29th

    Nice

    http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=limaxj2.jpg

    ;)


  26. shimra October 4th

    I get stuck at the alt-click to get the center of the orange. Nothing happens and I end up with the pieces all over the place. Please help.


  27. Orama October 11th

    Quite a juicy tutorial. Got stuck making the swatch but I made the peel a clipping mask and sprayed some orange textured symbols in it.


  28. Pen Pirate October 14th

    Thank you so much for this tut, simple and easy to follow 4.5/5 :D


  29. dica October 16th

    loved the tut!


  30. Vasily October 17th

    Great tutorial, thanks for sharing.

    I’ve encountered a problem with the orange skin swatch, for some reason after I drag the selection to the Swatch Palette I get white space around the texture, a white border that prevents the texture from being seamless. I must have missed something. Can anyone advise, please?


  31. MiSKEEN KiNG October 20th

    It’s kind of more than 9 steps but hey it’s an awesome tutorial!


  32. anderson nunes October 23rd

    hi, I’m from Brazil, great tuto!! I hope to see more tutos like this where I can learn a lot of new tricks that I can use in my jobs… thank you for sharing your knowledge… and sorry if I wrote some word incorrectly cause I dont speak english very well…


  33. Klaudia K October 29th

    I just can not make the Effect > Texture > Stained Glass, it was the same thing when I tried to make the bums maskine, those option were just unhabilitated for me, why is that??, I just did what you told me to do, when I have the white object selected and go to effects all those Photoshope effects are in gray color and I can not use them! :_O


  34. DAI HOANG November 3rd

    i like your work,but the color is not really friendly.


  35. Eden November 14th

    its awesome thanx
    i tried this and the outcome is great


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