How to Make a Nautical or Beveled Star in Illustrator

Performed on a Mac in Illustrator CS6
Time: 3:23

Nautical Star Tattoo

This tutorial will show you how to quickly create a nautical or beveled star in Adobe Illustrator. You see these stars in tattoo designs and retro graphics and they are super easy to create using your line segment tool in Illustrator! Make sure you have your Smart Guides turned on (Menu – View – Smart Guides); it will make the process easier and more accurate. Normally I have the Smart Guides turned off while I’m working in Illustrator – they are buggy and get in the way when you’re trying to create a fluid design – but you really need to have them turned on when you’re creating symmetrical shapes. That way you won’t have to draw each section by hand (ack!) – using the line segment tool and the paint bucket is easy and fast.

You can customize the colors to any that you want, but I would say that two colors: black and a deep red, blue or green look the best. (Go Bold or Go Home!) Look up Sailor Jerry artwork for some fantastic tattoo designs.