Free Adobe Illustrator Brushes - Community Collection Thread

Resources & Downloads
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Starting a community collection thread for free adobe illustrator brushes because my bookmarks folder is a mess and i know yall have good ones

ill go first with my top picks:

vector brush packs:

  • Artifex Forge vintage halftone brushes. these are insane for retro poster work. free sampler on their site
  • Von Glitschka’s freebie stipple brushes. the man is a legend and his free stuff is better than most paid packs
  • RetroSupply has illustrator versions of some of their procreate sets. the ink brushes are gorgeous

pattern brushes:

  • there was a set of hand-drawn border brushes on dribbble like 2 years ago that i use constantly. ill try to find the link
  • for rope and chain patterns theres a free adobe illustrator brush pack on brusheezy thats surprisingly good

calligraphy/lettering:

  • honestly for vector calligraphy i mostly make my own from scanned ink strokes. but theres a set by Ian Barnard that comes close

the thing about illustrator brushes vs procreate is the scatter and art brush system in AI is SO powerful once you understand it but the free brush ecosystem is way smaller

drop your favorites below. especially looking for good free texture and distress brushes

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Von Glitschka is indeed a legend. his stipple brushes are in my default illustrator workspace permanently

ill add: Vector Mill has some incredible free adobe illustrator brush samplers. the crosshatch and woodcut ones are insanely good for vintage illustration style. theyve got this authentic engraved look that most vector brushes cant achieve

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For scatter brushes in illustrator: i make my own from hand-drawn elements and honestly recommend everyone do this. draw 5-10 variations of a shape (leaves, stars, dots, whatever), scan them, live trace in illustrator, save as scatter brush. takes 30 minutes and youll use them forever

the custom ones always look better than downloaded packs because they match YOUR drawing style

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The thing about illustrator’s brush system being powerful but having a smaller free ecosystem is so true. procreate has like 10x more free brush content. probably because procreate brushes are easier to make and share

anyone know if theres a way to convert procreate brushes to illustrator? probably not but worth asking lol

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For distress and texture brushes specifically (since you asked): Dusty Inklab has a free sampler with some grungy vector brushes that work perfectly for packaging. i use them to add that “weathered” look to retro label designs

also True Grit has illustrator versions of their texture toolkit. not free but if you already have their procreate stuff its the same quality

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Amazing recs everyone. @zara.phantom making custom scatter brushes from hand-drawn elements is such good advice, adding that to my weekend project list

@CrispestHaze88 sadly no direct conversion that i know of. completely different brush engines. but you can export procreate strokes as PNGs and use those as the basis for new illustrator brushes