Foray into the World of Illustrator CS5

This year was the first year that I made any serious New Year's resolutions and, halfway through the year, I'm pleased to say I am slowly but steadily making my way through my list.*
*For illustration goals anyway. My personal NYR list is ongoing and includes exponentially more difficult things like 'stressing less'.

One of my goals was to tackle a new programme (preferably Illustrator or InDesign...or maybe both. The year is young!) and last night I took the plunge and started exploring Illustrator.

Here are the fruits of my (equal parts fun, frustrating and taxing) labour.

This mess of graffiti may not look like much to you, but it was great playing around with the look of the letters after the basic structure was set up and watching my freehand lines become instantly smooth.

edit 5/7/13: speaking of "playing around" I just found this post which I think is super relevant! : )