Vector Symmetry & Symbols in Affinity Designer for iPad V1 | Modern Folk Art Insect Illustrations

Learn how to create beautiful Modern Folk Art Insect illustrations, right on your iPad, using Affinity Designer in a class taught by illustrator Tracey Capone.

Hi! I'm illustrator and photographer, Tracey Capone and thank you for checking out my class!

In this class, I will teach you everything you need to know about how to create your favorite insect shapes, as well as how to add vibrant color, whimsical floral and leaf shapes and texture to give them depth and dimension.

PLEASE NOTE

This class was filmed in V1 of the app. If you are using V2 of the app, you can still follow along, as long as you know where tools are located. The process itself hasn't changed, however the interface is much different. Thank you!

You will learn:

• Where you can source inspiration for your own Modern Folk Art project.

• All about Boolean (Geometric) Operations and how you can use them to create a wide variety of interesting shapes for your insects.

• How to add subtle, yet effective, color and textures to give life and dimension to your illustration.

• How to use the Assets Studio to quickly add pre-created shapes to your design as well as how to save your own items for future illustrations.

• How to effectively use Designer's built in tools to add both simple and complex elements to your bug shapes, as well as use Blend Modes, so that they appear to be an organic part of your insect illustration. 

• I will show you my method for creating PERFECTLY symmetrical beetles and other insects, right in the Designer Persona, without having to rely on a sketch. I go in to the full process in my class, "Symmetrical Vector Floral Illustrations with Symbols in Affinity Designer for iPad." While you will be able to follow along with the process in this class, if you would like a more in depth look at the Symbol Studio and the various ways you can use it, I recommend starting with that class first.

This class is great for those who have a basic familiarity with Affinity Designer for iPad. If you are brand new to the app, and want to learn more about the complete interface and tools before you take this class, check out my beginner's class, "Textured Florals in Affinity Designer for iPad" where I will teach you all the basics you need to know about Designer, including the entire user interface and tools, by showing you how to create florals like the ones shown below. 

When you take my Modern Folk Art Insects class, you will receive a free assets pack which is full of hand drawn insect, floral and other shapes which you can use in your own designs. The downloads for this class can be found here. (Password will be shown in the "Downloads & Resources" section of the class)

Please note, while I don't provide texture files for this class, there are a number of resources for either free or paid textures out there. I have put together this blog post covering a few of those sources, which also includes a quick video about how you can use Designer's built in stock studio to pull texture images right from Unsplash, Pixabay and Pexels.  Find the post here on my blog.  The class itself isn't about the specific textures or brushes I use so feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

I have been using Affinity Designer for iPad to create textured botanicals and Modern Folk Art Insects for quite some time and can't wait to show you my methods so you can begin building your very own collection. If you would like to see more examples of my Modern Folk Art inspired work, please check out my website here. I can't wait to see what you create so let's get started!

Do you love textural digital illustrations as much as I do? Join my Textural Illustrations for Digital Artists Facebook Group. In this group, you can share your creations, learn tips and tricks for adding texture in the various digital apps, and ask questions of other artists who love texture as much as you do. Check out there group here.

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CREDITS:

Photographic Images used in Intro and Downloads & Resources Section by Tracey Capone Fine Art

Introduction Music: "Sunny," by Bensound.com

• Welcome! | Class Project
• Downloads and Resources
• Finding Inspiration for Your Folk Art Illustrations
• Creating Shapes with Boolean (Geometric) Operations
• Setting Up Your Canvas for Symmetry
• Creating Your Bug Shape Using Symbols
• Adding Simple Elements Using Assets
• Adding Complex Elements With Raster Files and Drawing Tools
• Folk Art Insect Start to Finish (Time-Lapse)