Illustrator has a wide variety of drawing tools found in the Toolbar, each allowing you to create in different ways. This tutorial introduces the different drawing tools available.

Understand what the drawing tools create

All of the drawing tools create paths. Paths come in the form of a closed path like a square or circle, or an open path like a line. All paths—closed or open—are made up of anchor points, which control the direction and shape of the path, and line segments (or paths) that connect those anchor points.

Paintbrush tool

The Paintbrush tool, similar to the Pencil tool, is for creating more free-form paths. The great thing about the Paintbrush tool is that you can select a brush, like a calligraphy brush or texture, that is applied to the path you draw.

Blob Brush tool

The Blob Brush tool, found by pressing the Paintbrush tool in the Toolbar, is for creating filled, compound paths. New shapes painted with the Blob Brush tool will merge with existing shapes with the same appearance settings.

Pencil tool

The Pencil tool, found by pressing the Paintbrush tool in the Toolbar, is for creating more free-form paths—similar to drawing on paper with a pencil.

Curvature tool

The Curvature tool is a more intuitive drawing tool that gives you the ability to create paths with a good deal of precision without switching tools. With the Curvature tool, you focus on adding, editing, and removing anchor points to control the look of a path.

Pen tool

The most powerful drawing tool found in Illustrator is the Pen tool. With the Pen tool, you can create and precisely edit anchor points to make paths.