ilustrator gradien mesh

8/14/2019 Ilustrator Gradien Mesh

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GRADIENT MESH TUTORIAL

HOW TO DRAW THE RED BELL PEPPER

Presented By Brooke Nuez of

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This Red Bel l Pepper Mesh Tutor ial is 20052006 Brooke Nuez of L i feinvector.com


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- INTRO TO THE MESH-

The gradient mesh tool is a complicated but gorgeous feature in I l lustrator. I t has

transformed f lat vector shapes into 3D- l ike works of ar t . Just by adding a gr id of

anchor points, your render ings become suddenly rea l . I t s an awesome tool thatmost d ig i ta l ar t is ts f ind int imidat ing - with good reason.

Gradient meshes are very complex & tedious compared to other tools in I l lustrator.

They require a l l the t ime & pat ience you can give them. But as d i f f icu l t as they may

seem, i t wont take long before you gain contro l . Th ink about how much youve

learned s ince f i rs t us ing the pen tool . Remember that pract ice a lways makes you

more prof ic ient. Just do your best & have fun.

Good luck & happy render ing!

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-MESH BASICS-

There are only a few parts to the mesh tool that you should become famil iar with. You

already know what anchor points are, but with in a mesh they work a b i t d i f ferent ly.

They arent just to create an outer shape anymore. They are the basis of al l the color.Th is is someth ing that makes the mesh so interest ing, the way the colors radiate

f rom each anchor point & b lend i nto one another so per fect ly . There are on ly a few

ways to manipu late & contro l th is b lending i l lus ion, and that is with the anchor

arms, with the in-between l ines, and with the anchors themselves. [See (A) ]

There are two ways to add a mesh to a shape. The f i rst is by referr ing to the Object

menu & choosing the Create Gradient Mesh opt ion, which wi l l create the most even

solut ion to your mesh. The second is by s imply us ing the mesh tool and c l ick ing

away at your shape, f reehand, which wi l l a l low you to have more genera l contro l . I

a lways prefer the ladder, but that is up to you.

One f ina l t ip keep i t as s imple as poss ib le ! A lways, a lways, a lways keep in mind

that is i t eas ier to add mesh points than to delete them. You don t want your mesh to

turn into a mess, af ter a l l !

Ready, Freddy?

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STEP 4 It s Mesh Time!

Like I ve sa id before, there are many ways to go about us ing the mesh tool . I m going

to walk you through the eas iest poss ib le route. I t s tar ts of f a b i t confus ing, but bear

with me.

F i rst , hide al l layers except for Front (R ight ) . Us ing your gradient mesh tool , c l ick

once anywhere on the shape (make sure you have your f i l l in f ront & no stroke).

[See (H) ]

Now STOP . Are you fami l iar with Out l ine Mode? Th is feature is he lpfu l in so many

ways, and you l l be surpr ised what i t can do for th is part icu lar mesh technique.

Go ahead & turn i t in to out l ine mode (V iew > Out l ine, or command Y). FYI : In order

for th is to work correct ly, you have to begin us ing the mesh BEFORE turn ing i t to

out l ine mode. I f you try to use the mesh af ter the fact, i t wont work . [See ( I ) ]

You l l not ice that you can now see the photo through your shape. This is why in STEP

1 we turned our photo into a template. ( In out l ine mode, you can st i l l see template

layers as is . ) Th is is how you wi l l get your colors & mesh points as accurate as

poss ib le.

T ime to star t c l ick ing away - but be aware that you can on ly add points to ex ist ing

mesh l ines. Don t get f rustrated! Just t ry & work with i t . [See (J) ]

Now for some bas ic gu ide l ines. Whi le adding mesh points, focus on the l ights &

darks. Don t t ry to add points for the in-between color va lues. Usual ly the mesh wi l l

take care of that for you. [See (K) ]

Use your eyedropper as you go a long. (Or you can wait unt i l the end. ) S imply se lect

on an indiv idual mesh anchor point (wi th e i ther your direct select tool or your

gradient mesh tool ) , and use your eyedropper on the color that i t s s i t t ing on or

d irect ly next to. (ZOOM IN i f you need to! )

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STEP 4 (Continued)

Someth ing to keep in mind a lso is that you have to trust the colors your eyedropper

picks up. Somet imes they appear to be raw & just p la in wrong, but keep going

anyway. In real l i fe, shadows can be pract ical ly any color green, grey, blue, purple,

even ye l low. I f later the color st i l l appears to be unnatura l , change i t .

More th ings to cons ider: Don t forget about colors a long the edges. Don t forget to

adjust the anchor points to t ry to match the contours of the shape. Don t forget you

can drag out the anchor handles to adjust the d i rect ion of the color. Don t forget to

take your t ime & DONT ADD TOO MANY POINTS!

There are a couple of major benef i ts to out l ine mode. One, you can work r ight on top

of the picture, adding mesh points & picking your colors s imultaneously. Two, you

can f l ip back & forth with your shortcut keys (command Y) to see your progress as

you go along. This technique, by the way, may be considered cheating, but i t s a

great & easy method to learn how the mesh works.

STEP 5 Repeat!

Once youve f in ished with your Front (Lef t ) mesh, h ide that layer & begin working on

Front (R ight ) us ing the same technique. Remember to star t your mesh before you

turn i t to out l ine mode. [See (L) ]

Repeat th is process with a l l your layers, minus your Stem layer. Remember that no

one wi l l ever see whatevers direct ly behind the shapes that are in front. Whats

important is that you tra in your eye to pay attent ion to where the color changes on

each shape, where l ight meets dark. Trust your photo. [See (M) ]

Keep in mind that i t s a lways okay to star t over i f youre fee l ing overwhelmed or have

suddenly d iscovered a better technique. You can a lways delete mesh l ines (c l ick on a

mesh point & press Opt ion + Delete) . Or you can s imply reshape what youve a l ready

done by moving the l ines & points around. Just don t be a loser & g ive up!

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STEP 6 Bl end Together

Once a l l your mesh shapes are completed, and you have your layers turned back on,

you may not ice that the edges of each shape don t qu i te match up to one another. An

easy t r ick to get a l l your shapes to look more natura l when they are a l l together is to

once again take advantage of your eyedropper. Zoom in as c lose as you can & se lectthe var ious points a long the edges. One by one, grab the c losest color to the shape

next to i t . Th is should smooth out your pepper t remendously.

STEP 7 Finishing Up

You may be aski ng yoursel f why I have chose n not to put a me sh on the stem. You

certa in ly can i f you want to. But, you see, none of my render ings are ever ent i re ly

mesh. F ina l deta i ls are a lways t radi t ional f lat vectors. I t s just my sty le. But fee l f ree

to render i t any way that you wish. You can v iew how I d id i t in the f ina l f i le that I ve

provided ( fn ishedpepper.ai ) . [See (N) ]

AND VOILA! Youve successful ly completed a Life invector mesh tutor ia l . ROCK!

[See (O) ]

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L M

N

O

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YOU ARE 100 TIMES

COOLER NOW.


ilustrator gradien mesh

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