Easy 3D Easter Eggs in Illustrator

1 - In Illustrator, create a “New Document”. If you need the “Rulers”, go to View > Rulers > Show Rulers (Command/Control + R).

2 - Create an empty “Egg” Shape. We used the method showcased in the “Decorated Egg in Illustrator” tutorial. Center it using the “Horizontal Align Center” option on your Top Menu and make sure that “Align to Artboard” is selected. Or use the same options in the “Align Panel”.

3 - Change the “Fill” to a color of your choice and leave NO “Stroke”.

4 - “Copy” the Egg (Command/Control + C) and “Paste in Front” (Command/Control + F).

5 - Change the Front Egg to a “Radial Gradient”, choose the “Super Soft Black Vignette” preset and change the “Aspect Ratio” to 129%.

6 - Head to the “Transparency Panel” and lower the “Opacity” to 50%.

7 - “Copy” the Gradient Egg (Command/Control + C) and “Paste in Front” (Command/Control + F).

8 - Select the “Scissors Tool” (C) and click about halfway between the Top and Middle-Left “Anchor-Points” and again between the Bottom and Middle-Right ones. Delete the Top-Right Path and keep the other portion.

9 - Use the “Direct Selection Tool” (A) to click on the “Anchor Points” at the end of the Path (“Shift” key”) and “Join” them together (Command/Control + J) to close the Path.

10 - Use the “Add Anchor Point Tool” (+) to add an “Anchor Point” on the center of the straight Path that goes between the ones you joined before. Select that new Point and click the “Convert selected anchor points to Smooth” button on the Top Menu. Drag it down and left to create a curved shadow on the bottom-left side of the egg.

11 - Change the “Gradient” Fill color to #ffffff (left: 0% Opacity and right: 100% Opacity). Add a step in the middle (Location 44%, Opacity 0%), change the “Aspect Ratio” to 243.6%, and use a -127° Angle. Select the “Gradient Tool” (G) in the Toolbar to adjust the Gradient if needed.

12 - Choose the “Ellipse Tool” (E), click inside the Document and input a 2 cm Width and a 1.5 cm Height.

13 - Fill it with a “Radial Gradient”, from #ffffff @ 100% Opacity to #ffffff @ 0% Opacity and change the “Aspect Ratio” to 76.2% with a 0° Angle. Rotate the Oval and place it on top of the Egg to create a highlight. Duplicate the Highlight, reduce it a bit and place it on the bottom.

14 - Right-click on top of the Egg and navigate to Select > Last Object Below to select the colored Egg. Copy” it (Command/Control + C), “Paste in Back” (Command/Control + B), and change the Fill color of the duplicate to Black.

15 - Rotate the Black Egg to the Right to mimic a Shadow, making sure the bottom portion stays in place.

16 - With the Shadow still selected, go to the “Appearance Panel”, click on the “Illustrator Effects” Menu icon at the bottom of the Panel and navigate to Stylize > Drop Shadow… Input the following values in order: Multiply, 100%, 0.25 cm, 0.25 cm, 0.18 cm, Darkness 100%.

17 - Go to Object > Expand Appearance.

18 - Double-click on top of the Shadow Egg until you enter “Isolation Mode” and have the Black filled oval selected. Head to the “Transparency Panel” and lower the “Opacity” to 0%. You should only have the “Drop Shadow”. Click on the left-facing arrow on the Top Menu as many times as needed to exit “Isolation Mode”. Lower the “Opacity” to 50%.

19 - Duplicate the Egg, change the “Fill” color and reposition the “Shadow”. Don’t forget to modify the “Opacity” the make it more realistic. Do this as many times as you want.

20 - Once you are done, select all the Eggs, right-click on top of them and choose “Group” (Command/Control + G).

21 - You can add a “Background” color or “Pattern” if you want.

22 - Check it out.