This tutorial will teach you a method to create realistic clouds using Adobe Illustrator CS4 (see image below). Since these clouds are created using vector graphics, they can be scaled to any size without a decrease in image quality. This tutorials is intended for intermediate to advanced Adobe Illustrator users. If you get lost on using some of the palettes or tools in this tutorial, you might want to try one of my Beginner tutorials. Also, due to the fact that the technique used in this tutorials takes advantage of variable opacity gradients, this method will only work in Illustrator CS4 (if you are using an older version, a work-around would be to use opacity masks).

Realistic clouds created in Adobe Illustrator

The following Adobe Illustrator tools will be used in this tutorial:

• Rectangle Tool
• Layers Palette
• Ellipse Tool
• Symbol Sprayer Tool
• Symbol Screener Tool
• Gradient Tool/Palette
• Symbol Palette

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