How to Create Vector Ooze With Illustrator

Delicious ice cream or spooky monster blood?

This tutorial will teach you how to make dripping, vector ooze using Adobe Illustrator. This effect is ideal for statement backgrounds and can be created very quickly from scratch.

Method 1

The first method uses 'drips' of equal widths for a more uniformed and geometric appearance. It is also slightly simpler and serves as good practice for the second method.

Step 1

Create a new document in Illustrator with the dimensions 1200 x 800 pixels. Set the color mode to RGB and tick Align New Objects to Pixel Grid.

Step 2

Draw a new rectangle shape aligned to the top left corner of the document, the width can be as wide or narrow as you like, but ideally should be somewhere between 40 and 120.

Step 3

Copy and paste the rectangle to the side and repeat this step until all of the rectangles collectively fill the width of the canvas.

Step 4

Begin randomly adjusting the height of the rectangles whilst keeping them aligned at the top. The only constraint is that the space between two adjacent rectangles needs to exceed the width of a single rectangle (which in this example is 80 pixels).

Step 5

Select all rectangles and use the Pathfinder window to Unite the shapes.

Step 6

Create a new layer and place it below the other layer. Draw a new rectangle that fills the canvas and has a fill color: #FFEAB8. This is the background layer, you can lock it to avoid selecting it by accident.

Step 7

Set the fill of the foreground shape to #B3B3B3.

Step 8

Duplicate the foreground shape and set the fill to #FF457A. Move the duplicated shape upwards and reduce the overall height, then use the Transform window to Flip Horizontal.

Step 9

Use the Direct Selection tool to highlight all of the vector points on both shapes, except for the top line. Use the Live Corners feature to increase the radius to the maximum (40px). (if using Illustrator CS6 or earlier you can use the Effect > Stylize > Round Corners feature instead of Live Corners.)

Result

Here is the final result using Method 1:

Method 2

The second method uses 'drips' of varying widths for a more random, complex appearance. If you have completed method one this should be very straightforward

Step 1

Create a new document in Illustrator with the dimensions 1200 x 800 pixels. Set the color mode to RGB and tick Align New Objects to Pixel Grid.

Step 2

Draw rectangles of varying widths and heights, until they collectively fill the width of the canvas.

Step 3

Select all rectangles and use the Pathfinder window to Unite the shapes.

Step 6

Create a new layer and place it below the other layer. Draw a new rectangle that fills the canvas and has a fill color: #C1E5E5. This is the background layer, you can lock it to avoid selecting it by accident.

Step 7

Set the fill of the foreground shape to #1D4C54.

Step 8

Select the first two vector points only and use the Live Corners feature to increase the corner radius to the maximum. Then select the next two vector points and repeat this step until all of the points are rounded.

Result

Here is the final result using Method 2: