Deke’s Techniques

Your weekly quick-fix of Deke, with ideas you may inspire or inform your own projects.

Creating an MC Escher-esque Shape in Illustrator

Deke creates a hexagonal pattern in Adobe Illustrator with an eye to creating a tessellating, interlocking MC Escher-inspired pattern.

Creating an American Flag in Photoshop

Deke sets out to construct a perfect American flag in Photoshop for Election Day.

Projecting Simple Shapes into 3D Perspective in Illustrator

Deke takes on a member challenge and recreates a spherical shape effect in Adobe Illustrator.

Creating a Hovering Head in Photoshop

Deke celebrates Halloween by virtually severing a model's head from her body.

Photoshop’s Top Secret Banana Tool

Deke customizes your Photoshop toolbar with the banana tool.

Creating Photorealistic Neon in Photoshop

Deke takes last week's Illustrator neon sign project and ups the realism in Photoshop.

Create a Classic Neon Sign in Adobe Illustrator

Deke creates a classic neon sign out of nothing but Illustrator.

The Rule of Thirds for Smooth Bézier Curves

Deke studies the Rule of Thirds with regard to creating smooth Bézier curves in Adobe CC applications.

Drawing the Ninio Extinction Illusion

Deke helps you recreate a currently trending Internet optical illusion in Illustrator, so you can prove to yourself (even if you can't see them) that the dots are all there.

Drawing Precise Bézier Curve Time and Tangent Lines in Illustrator

Deke demonstrates how to create precise points and lines for a technical drawing featuring Bézier curves in Adobe Illustrator.

How Bézier Curves Really Work

Deke goes full geek and gets to the bottom of how Bézier curves are calculated in Adobe Creative Cloud applications.

Drawing a Bacterium with Gradient Mesh in Adobe Illustrator

Deke shines a microscope on how to draw a bacterium in Adobe Illustrator using Gradient Mesh.