Pattern brushes: create seamlessly repeating patterns along a path.

Rather than stretching art – like Art brushes – they scatter it.

Scatter brushes: disperse copies of an object (such as a butterfly or leaf) along a path.

Bristle brushes: create brush strokes that look as though they were made using a natural brush with bristles.

Art brushes: stretch a brush or object shape evenly along a path.

There are five different types of brush in Illustrator and each of them has a different purpose. The best Illustrator brushes for you will depend on what you're looking to create. How to choose the best Illustrator brushes for you

This handy set of free abstract Illustrator brushes lets you create shapes and patterns, including some pretty crazy-looking ornaments.

Download Free Abstract Brushes from DeviantArt (opens in new tab)ĭeviantArt (opens in new tab) is always a good place to find free-to-use resources and assets, as this example from alethiologie demonstrates.

Price: Free for commercial and personal use.

And if you haven't got Adobe Illustrator yet, make sure you check out our guide to how to download Adobe Illustrator, or sign up for a free trial below. If you use other Adobe software, make sure you also have a look at our roundup of the best Photoshop brushes. For each option, we've linked to the site where you can download the brush or brush pack.Īlways make sure that you check the licence conditions on every Illustrator brush pack because some of the best free Illustrator brushes are free to use for personal work only. You can click on the quick links to jump to the section you want, or you can scroll down to browse through them all. In the list below, we'll start with the best free Illustrator brushes and then move on to the best premium Illustrator brushes. It can take a lot of time to filter through all the options, so we've done some of the leg work, making our own pick of the best Illustrator brushes for different uses. There are lots of Illustrator brushes available out there online, both free Illustrator brushes and premium options.

Adobe brushes