Wavy Line Blend | Free Illustrator Tutorial

Learn how to create stunning visual effects in Illustrator with tools like Blend, Reflect, and Rotate. This step-by-step tutorial walks you through the process of blending lines to create a repeating line effect, adding color, and refining your design.

Key Insights

The tutorial begins with a demonstration of how to use the Blend tool to create a repeating line effect between two wavy lines.
You'll learn how to use the Reflect tool to create a duplicate of the wavy line and position it appropriately.
The tutorial guides you on how to use the Rotate tool when you can't find the Reflect tool.
The process also entails adding color to the design. This involves changing the stroke color of the top and bottom lines to white and other specified values respectively.
Finalizing the design involves tweaking the anchor points of the lines to make them look more interesting. The Direct Selection tool is used for this process.
Every step of the process is detailed and illustrated with images, making this a practical resource for learning how to use Illustrator for graphic design.

Discover how to enhance your skills in Illustrator by following this detailed tutorial focusing on blending lines, the Reflect tool, and the Rotate tool.

This exercise is excerpted from Noble Desktop’s past Adobe Illustrator training materials and is compatible with Illustrator updates through 2020. To learn current skills in Illustrator, check out our Illustrator Bootcamp and graphic design classes in NYC and live online.

Topics covered in this Illustrator tutorial:

Blending lines, The Reflect tool, The Rotate tool

Exercise Preview

blendy spiral done

Exercise Overview

In this exercise, you’ll take two wavy lines and use the Blend tool blend tool to make this incredible repeating line effect. We show you how to edit the lines to form the proper shape.

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Blending Lines

In the Illustrator Class folder, open wavy.ai.
Save it as yourname-wavy.ai.
In the dialog that appears, leave the default options checked and click OK.
Select the wavy line.
Double–click the Reflect tool . If you cannot find it, click and hold the Rotate tool .
Under Axis, choose Horizontal.
Click the Copy button, NOT the OK button.
Select the new line and move it up and slightly to the left as shown below.
Select both lines.
Go to Object > Blend > Make.
Double–click the Blend tool .
Set Spacing to Specified Steps.
Enter 50 in the steps field.
Click OK.
Do a Select > Deselect.

Adding Some Color

Choose the Group Selection tool .
Click and drag a selection box over the very top of the blend to select just the top line.
In the Properties panel, change the Stroke to white (using the Color Mixer). The blend is a live effect, so anything done to the lines will update the blend.
Click and drag a selection box over the very bottom of the blend to select just the bottom line.
Let’s change its stroke color too. In the Color Mixer panel, enter 50m, 100y and make sure the other values are set to zero.

Finishing It Off

Select both lines so their anchor points are easy to find. We want to tweak them to make the lines look a bit more interesting.
Choose the Direct Selection tool .
Click once to select the middle point of the left line, as shown below.
Click and drag the point to the right, a little past the other curve.
Select the bottom point of this line.
Click and drag the point to the left, about an inch.
Go to View > Fit Artboard in Window or Fit All in Window and admire your work.
Save and close the file when finished.