How To Make Clouds In Illustrator

Do you want to use Adobe Illustrator to make fluffy clouds? If so, you’ve come to the right spot. Unless you have to, stop sketching those boring clouds. We have a workaround for you if you’re unsure how or where to begin; simply follow the instructions in the guide below.

Make the cloud-shaped circles using the “Ellipse Tool.” Create the shape of a new moon from two circles and set it on a cloud. Using the “Pen Tool,” draw a shadow on the cloud and darken its hue. Make the top highlight by duplicating the cloud and changing the cloud’s hue to something lighter.

Keep reading below as we go into more details.

Illustrator Clouds: How to Create Them

Follow the steps below to create clouds in Illustrator easily.

For more information on how to create a cloud in Illustrator, watch this video:

Step 1: Make a Circle

Locate the “Ellipse Tool” in the “Tool menu” and select it from there, or utilize the shortcut by pressing the letter “L” on your keyboard.
When moving the tool, press “Shift” while drawing the circle on your screen. Since it will serve as the primary circle for producing clouds, enlarge it slightly.
For the purpose of this tutorial, let’s choose 460px.

Step 2: Remove the Fill

Utilize the “Selection Tool,” which may be found in the “Tool Menu,” or the keyboard shortcut, “V,” to choose the circle.
After selection, locate the “Fill” box in the “Top Tool Menu,” scroll the drop-down menu, and then pick the [None] box to eliminate the color.
You can simply control the circles in this manner.

Step 3: Add Circular Shapes

Add two more circles to the circle’s left side.
Add a circle with a diameter of 340 pixels first, then one with a lesser diameter of 245 pixels.
Continue adding circles, this time using different-sized circles for the right side of the primary circle. The bigger one should be 160 pixels, while the smaller one is 300 pixels. The amount of circles in the cloud is not a restriction.

Step 4: Adjust the Circle Shapes

Utilizing the “Selection Tool,” choose the circle you wish to relocate, then drag it to the desired location.
Continue to do this until you have the ideal cloud.

Step 5: Delete the Stroke Before Adding the Fill

You delete the stroke and add the fill in the exact manner was described in “Step 2” for removing the fill.
Locate the “Fill” box, select a light blue color from the drop-down menu, and afterwards select the [None] box in the “Stroke” box to erase the color.

Step 6: Add a Highlight

Make a circle with the “Ellipse Tool.”
By choosing the shape and pressing Control (CTRL) + C (Windows) or Command + C (Mac), you may duplicate it.
Then, you can paste it by hitting Control (CTRL) + V (Windows) or Command + V. (MAC).
Drag a duplicate of the circle shape a little ways beneath the first circle to form the outline of a crescent moon between them.

Step 7: Divide the Circles

You should start by launching “Pathfinder.”
When you pick “Pathfinder” from the drop-down option that appears after clicking “Window,” the window will appear.
Choose “Divide” from the “Pathfinder menu” after selecting the circles.
You must ungroup them in order to employ one of the forms. Make sure the shapes are chosen, then right-click to reveal the drop-down menu and choose “Ungroup.”
Drag the chosen form to the cloud.

Step 8: Unite the Cloud

After selecting the circular shapes, hit the “Unite” button in the “Pathfinder” box.
Send the cloud form to the backside if the cloud’s highlight shape vanishes.
Select “Object” in the menu bar to bring up a drop-down menu. From there, pick “Arrange,” and then from the fly-out menu, pick “Send to Back.”

Step 10: Add Shadow

Add a shadow to the cloud by using the Pen tool.
Remove the shape that is not a part of the Cloud region.
It doesn’t have to be much darker than a cloud, just dark enough to stand out, so choose it and modify the shade to a darker type of blue.

Step 11: Create a Highlight Shape

Duplicate the cloud shape after choosing it.
Move it a little lower, choose the new and cloud shapes, and afterwards click the “Divide” button in the “Pathfinder” panel. Now you have to separate them.
Remove the cloud’s background shape.
Change the fill color to a lighter shade of blue while selecting the highlight shape.
If you have finished modifying the highlight shape but are still not happy with the results, you can alter the colors of all forms. You may change them to be brighter or darker.

Conclusion

And there we go. Creating clouds in Illustrator is not that hard, but it sure takes a lot of time. We discussed the simple ways you can create a cloud in Illustrator. Just follow the instructions and you’ll be there in no time.