Step 1
Now that we have our background ready, let’s create several objects that will be going all the way through the background when we’re scrolling it. These are going be the key elements that we’ll be moving from top to bottom of the background, one by one.
We’ll start by making a flying saucer. Use the Ellipse Tool (L) to make a 200 x 200 px turquoise circle. Make a horizontal magenta oval and Send it Backward by pressing Control-[.
Use the Line Segment Tool (\) and hold Shift to make a horizontal stripe across the circle. Select both the circle and the line and use the Divide function of Pathfinder to split the circle apart. Select the bottom half and Send to Back (Shift-Control-[), beneath the saucer.
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Use the Curvature Tool (Shift-‘) to bend the bottom edge of the upper circle, making it slightly curved.
Now let’s add some dimension to our UFO and decorate it with additional details. Copy the magenta oval and Paste in Back (Control-C > Control-B). Make the lower copy a bit darker and drag its bottom side down, using the Selection Tool (V), making the shape a bit larger.
Duplicate (Control-C > Control-B) the bottom half of the turquoise circle and shrink the upper copy a bit, dragging its bottom edge up. Fill the lower copy with yellow color, making a gentle overtone.
Use the Ellipse Tool (L) to make a group of yellow light bulbs along the edge of the saucer.
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Let’s finish up with our UFO by adding a shiny reflection to its glass surface. Copy the top half of the turquoise circle and Paste in Front twice (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Move the upper copy to the right a bit, using the Right Arrow key on your keyboard.
Select the top copy and the one beneath it and click Minus Front in the Pathfinder panel to cut the shapes, leaving only a narrow crescent-shaped stripe at the left edge of the UFO. Fill the created shape with light-turquoise color, forming a highlight. You can add a smaller circle of the same color on top, making the UFO look complete.
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Now let’s make a fancy character that is hidden inside the UFO – an alien. First of all we’ll make him look as if he is going down from his ship through the atmosphere.
Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and make a 50 x 50 px light-blue circle. Make a dark-blue oval for the eye. Keeping the eye selected, double-click the Reflect Tool (O) and flip the shape over the Vertical Axis. Click Copy to add a second eye.
Make a larger magenta circle of 75 x 75 px size and place it right beneath the alien’s head.
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Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to make a turquoise shape of 100 x 330 px size, placing it beneath the alien's head. Select the bottom anchor points of the shape with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and use the Live Corners feature to make the bottom of the shape fully rounded.
Add two vertical narrow stripes above the turquoise shape and use the Minus Front function of Pathfinder to cut the shapes out.
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Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the top anchor points of the stripes and drag them up or down, varying the height of the shapes. Use the Live Corners feature to make the corners rounded. Now the shapes look like a comet or falling meteorite.
Keeping the shapes selected, go to Object > Path > Offset Path and set the Offset value to 5 px, thus creating a larger shape.
Make the inner shape a bit lighter, adding dimension.
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Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to vary the height of the dark and light stripes.
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Now let’s depict our alien in full length after he lands on the ground. We’ll use the head and will be adding elements to it. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to make a 6.5 x 85 px light-blue shape across the head. Add a small 15 x 15 px circle on top.
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Now we’ll shape the body from a 70 x 140 px light-blue rectangle. Add two thin vertical stripes above the rectangle and use the Minus Front function of Pathfinder to cut them out, forming two long, thin arms.
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to move the bottom anchor points of the arms up, making them shorter than the body.
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Add another rectangle on top of the body and cut it out using Minus Front to shape the legs of our creature.
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) and the Live Corners feature to make all the square corners fully or partially rounded.
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Let’s finish up our alien by selecting its body and using Object > Path > Offset Path with 5 px Offset value to make a larger shape around the body. Fill it with the same magenta-pink color as the circle around the head.
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Finish up with the background by placing the main elements right in the center of the background, starting from the UFO on top and finishing with the alien on the ground. And that’s all!
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Great job! We’ve reached the very end of our tutorial and finished the exciting process of creating elements and combining them with each other, building a balanced composition! We’ve learned how to transform basic geometric shapes and use various functions of Adobe Illustrator to make our workflow fast and convenient!
We can use these techniques for our future projects, creating flat seamless backgrounds, detailed compositions and flat-style scenery, landscapes, cityscapes and much, much more.
Now that we have a static version of our background ready, we can learn how to make it work and move! Stay tuned and don’t miss it!
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