Illustrator: Harvest Caramel Apples Tutorial

For the first tutorial, I'm going to look to the seasons for inspiration. Fall is here and that means the leaves are changing, the weather is getting colder, and it's also harvest time. I'm sure you've been to or at least heard about  different Fall Festivals in your area. There's crafts, home made pies, apple cider, kettle corn, and the subject of this post, caramel apples! I'm using Illustrator CS5, but if you have an earlier version, you can still follow along. A few things may be different, but I'm not using a lot of complicated techniques in this tutorial. So, lets begin!

Note: Basic knowledge of Illustrator is required for this tutorial. It helps if you've worked with the pen tool and gradients as well, but I will try to explain things as thoroughly as possible either way.

Step 1: Open a new document in Illustrator. I just went with a standard size piece of paper (8.5 x 11) but I made mine 11x 8.5. It's up to you. Illustrator files are scalable, so no matter how big or small you make it, it will always look just as good. (Make sure your color mode is set to RGB (unless you're sending it to a printer, then they will tell you which color mode to set it to. To switch to RGB, click File> Document Color Mode> RGB).  

Step 2: Use the Ellipse Tool to create a circle. (If you want to make a perfect circle, hold shift while dragging. When finished, make sure to let go of the mouse button before letting go of shift) I'm starting out with just an outline (stroke) and no fill. The stroke I am using is 0.0323 in. I'll change the fill in a later step. The most important thing at the moment is to get the shape of the apple right. Of course, a circle doesn't exactly look like an apple, so it's going to need to be changed a little.

Step 3: Switch to the Direct Selection Tool. Click on the stroke to highlight it and see all the nodes (the little points that make the shape up). Click the topmost node to select it. Grab the left arm and hold Alt/Option and drag it slightly up and outward. Do the same thing with the right arm in the opposite direction. It should look almost like the top part of a heart. Click on the bottom center node now and, using the same technique, make smaller bulges by dragging out and down. You should end up with something like this:

Step 4: The apple shape is almost there, but it looks a little too wide. Switch to the Selection Tool and click on the outline of the apple to select it. You'll notice a bounding box will appear around the shape.  Mouse over one of the left or right center side points (it doesn't really matter which one) until a double headed arrow appears. Click and drag towards the center until your apple looks more tall and slender. This is What you should end up with:

Step 5: Let's add some color to this apple. Click on the apple shape to select it (if necessary). In the toolbar, make sure the fill color is in front of the stroke.

(If the stroke is in front, you can simply click the swap arrow, located right above, to make sure the fill is in front). Now click the Gradient Fill icon which is the center icon located directly below the fill and stroke. It will probably make your apple look something like this:

That's not exactly the look we're going for, so you'll need to change the type of gradient from linear to radial. This option is in the gradient window. (If it's not already showing, click Window, then make sure gradient is checked.) Click the blue arrows and select radial.

This is what you should end up with:

Still not very apple-like, but look how far we've come already.

Step 6: Now it's time to give the apple some realistic color. Right now your gradient should be made up of two sliders. (see picture from step 5). We're going to change the colors. Start by double clicking the left slider and changing it to a nice shade of yellow-green. I used R=217, G= 224, B= 33. To enter in the numeric values, click the color option (in the box that pops up when you double click the slider). (It looks like a painter's palette.) Next, Double click the right slider and change the color to a bright green color. I used R=140, G=198, B= 63. (Sometimes Illustrator doesn't give you the option of using color in your gradients. You can change that by clicking the drop-down menu in the gradient panel and choosing RGB instead of gray scale.) Still looks a little off, so move the diamond at the top of the gradient. (Mine is set to position 71.43) You should have something like this:

Note: You don't have to make your apple this color.  Feel free to change the colors to match your favorite kind, be it Granny smith, Gala, Golden Delicious, or other type.

Step 7: Apples aren't perfect, so we need to add a few blemishes. Use the Ellipse Tool to make tiny, circular dots scattered over the apple's surface. I used R=117, G= 76, B= 36 for the fill with no stroke. Click on the dots individually and adjust the opacity. They can vary. Remember, it's not supposed to be perfect. To adjust the opacity click on the dot you'd like to adjust, then either click the transparency icon. (It looks like two overlapping circles, usually located on the left side of the screen depending on how you have yours set up) or you can click window> transparency, to bring it up. This is what mine looks like so far:

Step 8: It still needs more detail. Let's add a divot in the top of the apple where the stem will come out.  We're going to use the Ellipse tool to draw an oval. (You won't be needing a stroke and the fill color doesn't matter at this point so choose anything. I suggest using a color that will stand out when you're adjusting the shape so you can see it.) It shouldn't take up the entire top of the apple, just enough to give the effect of an impression. Next, use the Direct Selection tool to form the top part of the oval to the top part of the apple. (Use the same technique as in step 3.) Then move it down a little so that it's not touching the very top of the apple. This is what I have:

Step 9: That doesn't look like much of a shadow, but now that we've got the shape and position down, lets make it look more shadow-like. Use the Selection tool and click the shadow shape. Choose gradient from the middle of the 3 small icons below the fill and stroke. In the gradient window, we will be adjusting the gradient like we did in steps 5 and 6. So make sure you have Radial selected for the type. Double click the left slider and make it black and change the right slider to a dark gray. I used R=51, G=51, B=51.  Next we're going to adjust the aspect ratio to 50% so the black part is smaller and fits better in the divot. (The aspect ratio is on the rightside of the dialog box. It looks like an oval with 2 arrows, one on the side, and a dotted one on the bottom.) The opacity will help make this effect come to life. Remember Opacity is on the left side of the screen (unless you changed your setup) under the gradient window.  It looks like 2 overlapping circles. Click that to bring up the opacity window. Keep the mode set to normal, but change the opacity to about 50%. It still looks a little harsh, so go up to the top of the screen and choose Effect and, under Photoshop Effects, choose Gaussian Blur. Make it about 3%. This is what you should end up with:

Note: If your blur looks pixelated, you may need to change your Document Raster Effects Settings. Go to Effect>Document Raster Effect Settings and click it. A dialog box will pop up. Change the Resolution to High.

Step 10: It still needs more detail. Lets add the stem and that scratchy stuff around the stem. Let's do this somewhere off to the side of the apple. To make the scratchy stuff, I used the Star tool. (It's in with the ellipse and the rectangle tools) For the fill, I used a brown R=140, G=98, B=57. For the stem, I used the rectangle tool to make a skinny, stem-sized  rectangle. I used a slightly darker brown for the stem color (R=66, G=33, B=11).  Then I used the Direct Selection tool to bring the 2 bottom points in towards each other. Next, I switched to the Selection tool to rotate the stem a little to the side. Position your stem on top of the star to look like it's sprouting from the middle. Select both shapes and go to Object> Group. Place your new grouped shape coming from the shadow in the apple. The star should be in the middle. Then click the shadow and make sure it is on top by going to  Object> Arrange> Bring To Front. Now it looks like everything is emerging from the shadow. Like so:

It's getting there... (Actually, If you just wanted the apple, you're pretty much there, I'd suggest adding some highlights though and taking the stroke off the apple. Maybe add a drop shadow or something to make it pop.)

Step 11: Caramel!!! Start by making an oval with the Ellipse tool big enough to cover most of the apple, leaving the top sticking out. For the fill I used another Radial Gradient with the left slider set to R=255, G=204, B=115 and the right set to R=188, G=137, B=64. Use the Direct Selection tool to tug and pull at the nodes to give your apple a thick caramel coating. Mmmm... Look's like this:

Step 12: Up until this point, the stroke defined the edge of the apple. As the apple is starting to come to life, it's time to lose the stroke.  Use the Selection tool and click the apple. Change the stroke to none. At the top of the screen, choose Effect> Stylize> Inner Glow (Make sure to choose the stylize option from the Illustrator Effects, not Photoshop Effects) In the pop-up box, choose normal for the mode. Set the color to black by double clicking the color box. Make sure the Edge button is selected. Set the opacity to 25% and the blur to 0.35 in. This is what mine looks like now:

Step 13: The next step is to add a drop shadow to the caramel. Go to Effect> Stylize (Illustrator Effects)> Drop Shadow.  Use these settings:

Mode: Multiply
Opacity: 70%
X and Y Offset: Both 0 in
Blur: 0.1 in
Color: Black

Step 14: Caramel apples are sticky, so let's put it on a stick.  Off to the side of the apple, use the rounded rectangle tool (In with the Ellipse and Star tools) to make a tall, skinny, stick-sized shape. Use a Linear Gradient for the fill color with the left slider set to R=243, G=219, B=200 and the right set to R=115, G=56, B=34. The gradient slider diamond is set to location 59.51%. Make a small oval with the Ellipse tool and use a tan color. I used R=199, G=178, B=153. Position it at the top of the stick to form a dowel rod. Select both the stick and circle and click Object>Group. Here's the tip of the dowel.

Step 15: Attach the stick to the apple. Position the stick coming from the center, top of the apple. Since the stick is shoved through the impression of the apple, the shadow is still going to be on the stick, so arrange the shadow so that it's still in front. (Refer back to step 10) Shorten stick to make it look like half of it is stabbed into the apple.

Step 16: Let's add highlights. Copy and paste the shadow we created for the divot. Change the fill to white. Change the transparency to 29%. Use the Direct Selection tool to tug and pull the nodes to make it a little wider and narrower. Position the highlight just below the divot. Arrange the divot to the front-most position. Copy the white highlight you just created and paste it. Position it at the top of the caramel. Make it larger, and adjust the transparency as you'd like mine is at 18%.

Step 17: Now that we added a stick and we have a stem, our shadow is going to be a little different. The easiest way to do this is to copy the stem and paste it. Change the fill to black, and add a Gaussian blur (Go to Effect> Blur (under Photoshop Effects)> Gaussian Blur. I made mine 8%. Then I stretched and angled the shadow shape and lowered it's opacity to 32%. I did the same thing to the stick. The stem and stick shadows should be behind the stick. In this case, it was easier for me to arrange my actual stick to the front and then arrange the divot shadow in front of the stick rather than trying to arrange the 2 small shadows. This is what mine looks like:

At this point your delicious treat could be done. It's up to you if you'd like to add additional details like nuts or a little puddle of caramel at the base. You can stop here or you can continue on.

Step 18: Details... To make a pool of caramel at the bottom of my apple, I used the Pen tool to create an organic shape. You can also use the Ellipse tool to make a short, flat oval and use the Direct Selection tool to adjust the nodes to give it an organic blob-like appearance. The next part is easy. With the puddle still selected, use the Eyedropper tool to sample the caramel off of the apple. Your puddle should have the same gradient as the caramel from the apple. Then you can add a drop shadow by going to Effect> Stylize (Illustrator Effects) > Drop Shadow. The settings are the same as the caramel on the apple, but I made the opacity 80 since it's on the bottom.

Step 19:  Add the nuts. To make the nuts, create a bunch of squares and rectangles randomly off to the side of the apple. Rotate them different ways using the Selection tool. Use the Direct Selection tool to move the nodes around so that they don't look like perfect squares. You can use the Pen tool as well to make random shapes. When you get a bunch of chopped nut-looking shapes (10-12), select all of the nuts and for the fill color, choose the gradient again. This time I went with a linear gradient. The left color slider is set to R=255, G=250, B=208. The right is set to R=91, G=53, B=27. Add a drop shadow, using the same settings as in step 18. While you still have everything selected, go to Object> Group. Copy and paste your group several times to cover the apple. You can rotate it to mix things up and you can click on individual nuts with the Direct Selection tool and rotate or scale as you wish. When you're finished, you should end up with something like this:

Hope you enjoyed making these delicious looking treats. Stop back often for new tutorials and tips. Don't forget. You can subscribe by email to my blog as well!