Draw a leaf — Janvas

You draw a leaf with the pen, shade it with a gradient, give it a vein with the brush and repeat it in a wreath with the radial array. At the end you export it to SVG.

1 · Open a sheet

Open the editor: there is already a portrait A4 sheet, framed. Measurements are in centimeters, and the rulers count from the corner of the page.

The editor just opened: an empty A4 sheet, the toolbar and the Page and Fill & stroke panels

2 · The outline with the pen

Take the Pen tool (P) and draw the outline in five gestures:

a click on the base of the leaf: it is a corner point;
halfway up the left side, press and drag upward: the point is created smooth and the curve follows it;
a click on the tip, and another click on the same point: you break the curve, and the tip stays sharp;
halfway down the right side, press and drag downward;
a click on the base: the path closes, and you get the arrow back with the leaf selected.

While you draw, ⌘ Z removes the last point, and Enter places the open path.

The Pen tool halfway through the outline: the base, the curved left side and the tip, with the segment following the pointer and its length

3 · Refine the points

Double-click the outline: the anchor points appear. Click the point on the left side and drag one of its direction handles: the side swells, and the opposite handle stays aligned because the point is smooth. To exit, Esc or a click on an empty area. See Editing anchor points.

The leaf in anchor point mode: the point on the left side selected, with its two direction handles

4 · A gradient fill

With the leaf selected, in the Fill & stroke panel turn on Fill and choose linear in its menu: the gradient strip appears below. Click a mark on the strip to choose its color — here a dark green at the base and a light one at the tip —; the first button next to the strip opens the angle wheel. Give the stroke (Stroke) a dark green and Width 2. See Gradients.

The selected leaf with the linear gradient from dark green to light green, and the gradient strip in the Fill & stroke panel

5 · The vein with the brush

Click an empty area: with nothing selected, the Fill & stroke panel shows the style you draw with; give it a dark green stroke. Take the Brush tool (B): the Brushes panel opens. Choose a brush from the list and a fine width from the grid below (here 0.1 cm), then draw the vein from the base toward the tip. The stroke takes the stroke color. See Brush.

The vein drawn with the brush on the leaf, and the Brushes panel with the list of brushes and the grid of widths

6 · A wreath with the radial array

Take the arrow (V) and select the leaf and the vein (⇧ + click). Group them with ⌘ G. Then right-click menu › Modifiers › Radial array: 6 copies appear at 60°. In the Radial array panel enter Copies 8 and Step 45, move the reference point below the base with Direction 90 and adjust Radius. See Arrays.

Eight leaves around a reference point, selected, with the Radial array panel: Copies 8, Direction 90, Step 45

7 · Export to SVG

From the open and save button, Export SVG…: choose the area and the file unit, then Export. The array is written as a group of shapes and the gradient as a real SVG gradient: the file opens in any browser and in other editors. See Exporting SVG.

The Export SVG dialog open over the wreath of leaves

Going further

Every step has its page in the guide: the Pen tool, anchor points, gradients, the Brush tool, arrays and exporting to SVG.

Draw a leaf Pen, points, gradient, brush and radial array: a wreath of leaves in seven steps