In this Tutorial, we are going to create a wallpaper that you can use on your desktop with some simple and easy steps with Adobe Illustrator.
1. Start off with creating a document at 1024 X 768 pixels. Then, create a black (R-0, B-0, C-0) rectangle as your background.
2. Set your ruler unit to millimeter (mm) and create vertical guidelines with 15mm distance.
3. By using the Pen Tool, draw a straight white (R-255, G-255, B-255) stroke . Adjust the weight of the stroke to 0.5pt.
4. Select the line you created, and press Cmd+Shift+M / Ctrl+Shift+M to bring up the Move option window. Then, change the numbers to 0.05mm for horizontal, 0mm for vertical. Distance and Angle should automatically change to the same numbers as well, then, click Copy.
5. Press Cmd+D / Ctrl+D and you’ll see the stroke you made being duplicated. Hold on to the keys until it duplicates to the 1.5mm guide that was created earlier.
6. Select all the lines, change the transparency to ‘Screen’ and opacity at 10%.
7. Next, use the Pen Tool to create a shape on top of the lines as shown in the picture. The shape will determine how your abstract lines will turn out. Make sure to fill the shape with White (R-255, G-255, B-255) without strokes.
8. Select all objects, then go to Object > Envelope Distort > Make with Top Object or Cmd+Alt+C / Ctrl+Alt+C. You will get abstract lines. If you’re not happy with the result in this step, you may undo and repeat from Step 7 until you get the desired effect.
9. Select the abstract lines and Expand it (Object > Expand). Bring up your Brush Panel (F5) and drag the lines in to it. On the New Brush pop up option, choose Art Brush and on your Art Brush Options, fill in according to the picture shown below.
10. Now you have an abstract brush of your own! You can delete the abstract line that was created earlier as you have already saved it as a brush. Using the Pen or Pencil Tool, select the new brush you created and draw according to your preference.
11. To add color to the pattern, create a rectangle box on top of it. We used a red to yellow gradient for this tutorial but you may change it to any color you want.
12. Finally, change the appearance of the rectangle to ‘Multiply’ in the Transparency panel (Shift+Cmd+F10 / Shift+Ctrl+F10).
We hope you had fun following this tutorial and that you will be back for more!