Smart Arts, Not Brain Farts

Blob Brush in Illustrator Choose the blob brush and draw whatever you want.  You can change the color and outline with the swatches menu.  You can also send object behind or in front of other objects by right-clicking and choosing Arrange> Bring to Front or Arrange> Send to Back  

Pencil Tool in Illustrator Choose the Pencil Tool from the Tool Menu.  Draw whatever you want.  You can fill the object by going to the top color swatch menu and choosing the color.

Polygons and Stars in Illustrator Choose the Star Tool from the Tool Menu.  You can left-click to choose the radius and number of points of the star.  To make a polygon, choose the Polygon Tool from the Tool Menu.  Drag and hold the mouse to make a polygon.  You can choose the radius and number of sides by left-clicking and opening the menu.  

Rectangles in Illustrator Choose the Rectangle Tool from the tool menu.  Drag and hold the mouse to make a rectangle.  You can also left-click to create a menu and choose the width and height of the rectangle.  

Ellipses in Illustrator   Choose the Ellipse Tool from the Tool menu.   Drag and hold to make an. Ellipse  

Using the Spiral Tool in Illustrator Choose the Spiral Tool from the Tool Menu.  Click and drag to make a spiral.  You can also left-click to open up a menu to choose the radius, decay, and segments of the spiral.  

Using the Arc Tool in Illustrator Choose the Arc Tool from the Tool Menu.  Draw the arc by clicking and dragging.   You can also make an arc by left-clicking and opening this menu.  

Joining Line Segments in Illustrator Notice that the top intersection of the lines are not joined. To join them, select the lines and go to Object > Path > Join.  Notice that the rightmost tower is now joined at the top, compared to the one on the left.  You can also join the bottom of the tower.    

Scissors Tool in Illustrator Select the Scissors Tool from the Tool Menu. Select the intersection points with the Scissors Tool and delete the unwanted lines.  

Using the Move Command in Illustrator To move an object, first select it ad then use Object > Transform > Move. This menu will show up, so choose the amount of horizontal points you would like to move the object. If you want to copy the object while moving it, select Copy. You can also move the object vertically.

Duplicating Lines in Illustrator   After making a line, you can copy it by dragging the mouse and holding ALT. You can move the line in a similar way by going to Object > Transform >Transform Again.

Line Segments in Illustrator Choose the Line Segment tool from the Tool Menu Drag the cursor to make a line  You can also make a line by left-clicking the mouse and choosing the length and angle.  

How to Create Center Guides in Illustrator Make sure Smart Guides is on by going to View > Smart Guides.  Go to View and choose Rulers > Show Rulers  Click and hold on the top left-hand corner of the rulers  Drag until the lines are at the center of the screen.