Illustration Techniques for Summer

After a long winter, the spring and summer seasons provide much needed sunshine and inspiration to both nature and to creative souls. It’s a vivacious time full of energy and the perfect opportunity to shake things up and experiment with refreshing illustrative techniques and visuals.

Here are a few techniques to try out if you’re looking to brighten up your illustrations this summer.

1. Creative Multiplication

Multiplication of elements, textures, and colours can add complexity to your image. Repetition helps establish visual unity, but by playing with scale and opacity, you can add dynamic layers to your composition.

Image source: Jing Gu / Minty / Adobe Stock

2. Textures on flat illustrations

The flat illustration style is characteristically minimalistic. But you can create a deep and richly painted canvas by adding various textures. These can be subtle or bold, depending on the style you’re aiming for.

Image source: Simona Cechova / Minty / Adobe Stock

3. Punchy colours

The summer is accentuated by pops of vivid colour and life. That inspiration can be brought into the canvas. In addition to bold colour combination, consider gradients that add a layer of texture. Bright colours immediately grab the attention of the viewer, so these types of punchy images are especially well suited for Social Media.

Image source: Summerkid / Minty / Adobe Stock

4. Summer themes

In addition to experimenting with illustrative techniques, you can embrace the season by featuring seasonal subject matter in your images. From fresh fruits to outdoor activities, beach scenes and adventurous holidays, there’s no shortage of inspiration when it comes to summer.

Image source: Minty / Adobe Stock (left), Minty / Adobe Stock (right)

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