How to Draw a Nature Background in Adobe Illustrator Using Gradient Mesh

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the Mesh Tool in Adobe Illustrator to create a beautiful nature background!

If you want to skip the tutorial and just use these flowers in your work, you can purchase the Summer Nature Background With Grass And Flowers from GraphicRiver!

1. How to Draw the Background

Step 1

Let’s begin learning to use Mesh by drawing the grassy hills!

Create a rectangle filled with #90A843. Grab the Mesh Tool (U) and place one mesh node on the upper edge of the shape by clicking with the tool.

Take the Mesh Tool or the Direct Selection Tool (A) and drag your new node down and a little to the right.

Finish the step by dragging the upper right edge down to smoothen the curve of the hill.

Step 2

Add more nodes on the upper edge of the shape and continue bending the hill as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 3

Start coloring the hill!

Add a new row of mesh by using the tool in the lower middle of one of the columns.

Select all nodes on the upper edge of the shape with the Direct Selection Tool (A) or the Lasso Tool (Q) and color them with #CAD75C.

Create one more row of Mesh, and then color the two centre nodes with #A4B345.

As shown below, color some other nodes with #AEB946, and then color the upper left node with #CAD75C.

Step 4

Let’s begin drawing the second hill! Fill a rectangle with #97AC43, and then drag its left edge down.

Continue by adding a mesh node and dragging it up, and then smooth out the hill with one more node.

Step 5

Color the second hill with mesh! Follow along with the screenshots, adding nodes and coloring them as indicated.

You will need these colors:

1. #C7D055
2. #ADB946
3. #DCEA69
4. #86A141

Step 6

Create the third hill, colored with #B1BF4C, by bending it and adding mesh nodes as indicated in the screenshot below.

Step 7

Color the final hill with these colors:

1. #E3E5AC
2. #D3D662
3. #A5B846
4. #C3CD5B

Step 8

Draw the sky background with Mesh.

1. #FFFFFF
2. #B0DAE2
3. #D4EBF0
4. #DDEEF3

Step 9

Assemble the background out of the three hills and sky.

2. How to Add More Elements

Step 1

Now that you know how to use the Mesh Tool, you can proceed to do some of my more complicated tutorials!

To draw the grass, daisies, and dandelions, please consult How to Draw a Nature Scene With Dandelions and a Butterfly in Adobe Illustrator.

Spread the grass to create a banner. You can also tweak its color with Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors.

Step 2

To create a shadow, draw a long, narrow rectangle and color it with Mesh.

You will need these:

1. #2D3500
2. #FFFFFF
3. #A4A066

Step 3

Place the Mesh on top of the grass, and then, in the Transparency panel, set it to Multiply and 60% Opacity.

Add a frame over the grass and flowers.

Step 4

Select everything, right-click, and select Make Clipping Mask.

Next, add butterflies from the above-mentioned tutorial.

Step 5

Place the grass in front of the hills.

Step 6

To add the clouds, consult this tutorial: How to Create a Night Sky With Clouds Using Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop.

Awesome Work, You’re Now Done!

What now? You can try any of my other tutorials from my profile or check out my portfolio on GraphicRiver, as well as the original vector we recreated in this tutorial.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and I would be super happy to see any results in the comments below!