Hello, dekeOradans. There’s no new Deke’s Techniques episode this week (the LinkedIn Learning team is on a well-deserved but hopefully socially distanced spring break). I bring you news of the latest update to Deke’s comprehensive series on Adobe Illustrator 2021 One-on-One: Fundamentals. If you’re a member of LinkedIn Learning, you can find it by following the link above or checking out Deke’s author page. And if you’re not a member, I have included some free and useful samples below that I have unlocked just for the denizens of dekeOrado (that means you if you’re reading this).

The first movie I wanted to share here is from Chapter 1: Open, which aptly tells you how to open a file by in Illustrator by double-clicking on it. Believe it or not this is a very often asked question.

I also unlocked the first movie from Chapter 5: Shapes, which features the dekeDrawn Colorado flag you see up top. This may look like every other specifically drawn Colorado state flag, but I happen to know this is the actual one Deke drew in Illustrator using the less-than-exactly-specific specifications at the Colorado.gov web site. (In the course of the chapter, Deke also draws our diagonal neighbor flag from Arizona, which has an even more confusing description of how to draw the stripes and star of their state flag, but let’s stay in Colorado for a while…)

Using the Rectangle Tool

And finally, I thought I would throw in a two-parter from Chapter 14: Corners, featuring the use of the Rounded Corners feature in order to painstakingly draw this iPhone 12. (Any coincidence that Deke just got an iPhone 12 for his birthday?)

Using Rounded Corners to Draw an iPhone

Adding Detail to the Phone

I hope you enjoy these unlocked dekeSamples, and be sure to check out the whole course over at LinkedIn Learning if you think this entry level course is right for you or if you need a refresher on the fundamental workings of Adobe’s vector-drawing power tool.

Oh, and if you’re intreuged by our triceratops mascot, check out more of Chapter 14, or hang on for some future Deke’s Techniques.