Creating an environmentally friendly Green Type Leaf

Create a Leaf

Step 1

Now we're going to create some leaves. Start by drawing a leaf shape with the Pen Tool (P). Again, with the Pen Tool (P), draw a line that starts at the tip of leaf and ends in the middle of the bottom part of the leaf. After selecting the line and the leaf shape, press the Divide button in the Pathfinder panel, located on the bottom left side of the panel. Ungroup (Command + Shift + G) the objects so you have two separate shapes.

Step 2

Select both shapes and create the same colored Linear Gradient as the text. Next, select one shape and use the Gradient Tool (G) to click and drag at a 45 degree angle across the leaf half shape. Do this again for the other half of the leaf.

Step 3

With the Pen Tool (P) draw a highlight shape on the top leaf half. Change the highlight shape to a Radial Gradient. Change the left swatch to white and the right swatch to your green color (C=40 M=0 Y=100 K=0).

Step 4

With the Pen Tool (P), create a stem shape and send it behind the leaf shapes. Create a Linear Gradient, make the gradient the same colors as the leaf shapes, and adjust the gradient so the darker green is at the top of the stem.