NOTE: This tutorial assumes you are familiar enough with Adobe Illustrator to use some basic functions. This is not a ‘How to use Illustrator’ tutorial.

Begin with a square drawn with the rectangle tool and with a black stroke

Rotate the square by 45° by selecting it, double clicking the rotate option and entering the angle

Now you will need to turn your shape into a triangle. The most efficient and precise way to do this is to select the Delete Anchor Point tool and click on the left-hand anchor point. This instantly creates a triangle perfect for this use.

Fill the shape with 100% black and make sure there isn’t a stroke applied.

Turn the shape into an Art Brush. To do so, select and drag it over to the brushes palette. This will open up the new brush window. Complete the options as below.

You can now delete the triangle you created to make the brush. (double check that the new brush displays in the brush window first)

Draw your spiral, the quickest and easiest way to do this is to use the spiral tool. Here you can play around with the settings to suit your needs.

Apply the new brush to your spiral. You’ll want to experiment with the stroke size until you’re happy with the shape.

When you’re happy, expand the spiral to be able to add effects as required.

All done

These spiral shapes are useful for so many things, have a play and discover some new ways to use them.

In this, my first ever video tutorial, I will show you how to make a simple brush in Adobe Illustrator. This is invaluable and comes in useful in so many more ways than you can imagine. As this is my first video tutorial, I’d like you please to be kind!