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Adobe Illustrator CS6 has a new feature which is called Gradient on Strokes. It is the first time since Adobe Illustrator’s creation we have an opportunity to apply the gradient fills to the strokes. There are two more types of the gradient fills beside the linear and radial gradient fills. I think this feature has lots of creative potential. Let’s examine the gradient on strokes in more detail and figure out how to use it.

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Step 1

Create a path without a fill but with the stroke wide enough for our experiments.

Apply a black-and-white linear gradient to the path.

Open the Gradient panel (Window > Gradient) and check out how you can control this gradient. We can change the gradient’s angle; and also color, place and opacity of its sliders.

But unfortunately, we can’t control this gradient with the help of the Gradient Tool (G) and the Gradient Annotator is inactive as well.

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Step 2

There exist two more types of gradient fill for the gradient on strokes. There are the gradient along stroke and the gradient across stroke.

While using those two types of gradients, we can still control the sliders, but we cannot change the gradient’s angle and its location with the Gradient Tool (G). The Gradient along stroke is perfect for creation of the patches of light and the conic gradients.

The Gradient across the stroke is good for creation of cylindrical surfaces, as tubes.

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Step 3

We can change the location of the path’s points and control their handles; the gradient fill will be changed in accordance with the new shape of the path.

To change the path’s shapes use the profiles from the Stroke panel and/or the Width Tool.

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Step 4

After your first impression of the new function of the Adobe Illustrator let’s see how I use it on practice. I will create the chromic chair for you. Create the legs and the back of the chair with the Pen Tool (P); after that create the chair bottom with the Ellipse Tool (L).

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Step 5

Select the path and chose the Round Cap in the Stroke Panel.

Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and create the new stroke by pressing the according button in the bottom part of the panel. Apply the linear gradient to this stroke; it consists of alternate shades of the grey color. Choose the Gradient across the stroke in the Gradient panel.

Choose the Butt Cap for this stroke in the Stroke panel.

Apply the described technique to the other strokes.

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Step 6

Select the path which represent the left leg and the part of the chair’s back and go to the Object > Expand Appearance. As a result of our actions, the stroke with the gradient fill has been transformed into the Gradient Mesh.

This quality of the stroke with the gradient fill allows us to get the complicated coloring of the objects. We can manipulate with the nodes of the Gradient Mesh and change their colors. Thereby, I got the reflection of the chair’s bottom in its chromic back; I also have changed the color of the left leg a little bit.

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Step 7

Let’s not complicate our work. All we need in the end is the gradient on strokes. For the other reflections of the red chair bottom on the chromic surfaces, I created the paths to which the suitable profile was applied in the Stroke panel and filled them with the linear gradients along the stroke, which consists of the transparent sliders.

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Step 8

Using this technique, I created the patches of light and shades on the chromic tubes of the chair.

The reflections might have more complicated structure in some places. That’s why I used a couple of strokes with the gradient fill that lay on one another.

So after work with the metal tubes of the chair our artwork looks like this.

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Step 9

To create the light-and-shade effect on the chair’s bottom create three ellipses, as it is shown on the picture below.

Set the 0% opacity for the lower ellipse in the Transparency panel, then select all the ellipses which were created in this step, and go to the Object > Blend > Make.

With two ellipses and the Blend Tool create the patch of light on the front surface of the chair’s bottom.

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Step 10

We need to create only the shade of the chair. Create the ellipse and place it as low to all chair’s objects.

Create the shades to the chair’s legs with the Pen Tool (P).

Select the ellipse and the shades from the legs, press the Unite button in the Pathfinder panel; that transfers the shade into one object.

Fill the shade’s form with the linear gradient, which consists of two shades of the light-grey color.

Go to the Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the radius in the dialog window.

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Conclusion

Could have I create the similar artwork in Adobe Illustrator CS5? Definitely, but it would have taken much longer. The creation of the similar artworks in the earlier versions requires special knowledge and experience. I think, on the example of this small tutorial you made sure that Adobe Illustrator CS6 solves tasks like this easily.

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A career in freelance illustration is much more than drawing pretty pictures. As much as you’d like to spend the entire day sitting in front of Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, you’ll also need to learn about selling yourself, keeping your portfolio fresh and, all the admin work we love to hate.

Join us over at FreelanceSwitch as we introduce you to five talented freelance illustrators, sharing the incredibly useful advice they have about the industry!

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Details: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vectortuts/~3/Y-JNKnLLJNw/

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a leather texture of different colors using Adobe Illustrator. This is a basic tutorial to follow and will take around thirty minutes to complete. You can use this vector texture in your artwork when you need to add a leather texture. Let’s get started.

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Step 1

Create a new document with File > New (Command + N).

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Step 2

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a square with the settings shown below. Set the stroke to none, color it with RGB (R=255, B=255, G=255) and position it to center.

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Step 3

Go to Effect > Texture > Stained Glass…, a window opens and then click OK to apply it. Go to Object > Expand Appearance.

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Step 4

Go to Object > Live Trace > Make and Expand.

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Step 5

Right-click and Ungroup the layer.

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Step 6

Use Magic Wand Tools (Y), select the white colors and delete.

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Step 7

Color the layer with RGB (R=25, G=25, B=25), position it in the center of artboard, and modify the size to 300 px. Uncheck the constrain proportion.

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Step 8

Make a copy of the layer (Command + C) and paste in back (Command + B). Color the layer with RGB (R=65, G=65, B=65), and modify its position: transform x=301 and y=299.

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Step 9

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a square with the following settings:

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Step 10

Color the layer with RGB (R=40, B=40, G=40), and modify its position in the center of artboard as x=300 and y=300. Move the order layer down as shown.

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Step 11

Make a copy of the layer (Command + C) and Paste in Front (Command + F). Keep the Command key pressed to select the layers in the image below.

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Step 12

Keep the Alt key pressed to select Intersect from the Pathfinder window and Expand.

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Step 13

Make a copy of the bottom layer (Command + C) and Paste in Front (Command + F). Select the layer you just copied and go to Object > Create Gradient Mesh. Enter the data shown in the following image and click OK.

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Step 14

Lock the top layers.

Now color the mesh points with the following colors:

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Step 15

Now after you have finished coloring you can unlock the layers. Select the Ellipse Tool and click on the artboard to create a circle with the following settings:

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Step 16

Color the circle with the Gradient Tool (G), using the following colors: RGB (R=255, G=255, B=255) and RGB (R=150, G=150, B=150) with a type of Radial. Modify its position in the center of artboard x=300 and y=300, then select Overly from the Transparency window.

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Step 17

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a square with the following settings: x=300 and y=300, then modify its position in the center of the artboard: x=300 and y=300.

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Step 18

Select the first two layers you just created and Right-click > Make Clipping Mask. Select all the layers and group them (Command + A > Command + G).

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Step 19

Modify its position in the top right corner of artboard: x=150 and y=150.

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Step 20

Make a copy of the group layer (Command + C) and Paste in Front (Command + F). Modify its position in the top left corner of the artboard: x=450 and y=150.

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Step 21

Open the group and make a copy of the square for the bottom layer (Command + C) and Paste in Front (Command + F). Color the layer with RGB (R=75, G=175, B=255), select Overly in the Transparency window, and move up the layer to the second from the group, then close the group.

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Step 22

Make a copy of the group layer (Command + C) and Paste in Front (Command + F). Modify its position in the bottom right corner of the artboard: x=150 and y=450. Change the RGB color (R=75, G=175, B=255) and layer of the group to a RGB color (R=255, G=75, B=75).

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Step 23

Make a copy of the group layer (Command + C) and Paste in Front (Command + F). Modify its position in the bottom left corner of the artboard: x=450 and y=450. Change the RGB color (R=255, G=75, B=75) and layer of the group to RGB (R=175, G=125, B=75).

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Conclusion

Now your leather texture with different colors is done. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial.

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Details: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vectortuts/~3/T3xvz6g6UBk/

Vectortuts+ loves Illustration and discovering new talent, so today we are proud to be showcasing the third and final round of the Vectortuts+ Creative T-shirt Project. Check it out at the jump!

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Create Your Own T-shirt Design, Round 3

The designs are posted in no particular order, but we thought it would be fun to kick things off with some cuddly animals and dinosaurs by Andres! Great work everyone, it’s been fun to see what you’ve come up with.

Thankyou to everyone who participated, if you missed the previous designs, check them out in Creative T-shirt Project Round 1 and Creative T-shirt Project Round 2

Andres Alfonso
"Hello, I’m Andres Alfonso, I like to illustrate funny animals and here’s my t-shirt designs "We are all animals" and "Prehistoric Kids" like me on facebook"

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Js Daniel
"Hi JS Daniel here. I am an illustrator & designer. I love anything art. You can see more of my work at www.jsdaniel.com"

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Joe St Onge
"I was hungry when I did this!"

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Seyi Oyekoya
"Can’t say much cos it was done in a rush"

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Adrien Falconnier
"Hello, my name is Adrien, I’m French, and I draw the head of my friends! Vectortuts you soon!"

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Piotr Bajbak

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Michel Moura
"My work here are different, more dream of one day being only illustrator,
drawing done in 10min"

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Mahdi
"Hi, I’m Mahdi I’m from Morocco!
This is Badass Rabbit"

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Syed Maaz
"My name is Syed Maaz. I gave life to my graphic designing career in 2008. I’ve always been very passionate about art, especially manual calligraphy and abstract painting, I feel that I will always strive to learn more about this field because in my opinion, graphic designing is an occupation that I was meant to pursue.. to check out my other work please follow the links: syedmaaz.blogspot.com and strongmind.deviantart.com"

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Andrei Marincas
"Hello! I’m Andrei Marincas, a freelance graphic designer and photographer. I design for web, print, identity and branding. You can follow me on twitter and facebook or visit my website"

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Raymar
"I’m Raymar an aspiring graphic designer in the Philippines.
This is one of my first full vector artwork inspired by Jared Nickerson works which I have been experimenting for that time since then I don’t use gradients in vector portraits anymore
Well here is my portfolio totopc.site90.com"

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Lukasz Wójcik
"Sketches moved to cyberworld …Joy and satisfaction from every illustration are most important, and if someone enjoy my works? … Hmm… Please Enjoy!!! That is for me even greater motivation and satisfaction."

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Byron
"Hello there! My name is Byron and I’m from Malaysia. This is my "first time ever" complete art using Adobe Illustrator. I never get the chance to learn deeply about AI but I’m really interested in illustrator especially Vector art. So this is my logo which I trace from my very own logo. So I’m not really satisfied with myself because I only trace this image out as I’m not good in AI. Anyway here it is! P.S: For anyone out there that willing to share knowledge about AI with me, please do share with me and teach me how to improve in using AI! Please teach me more about AI! Thank You!! "

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Tomás Bojko
"Hi, everyone! This is TRABAGR, a collaborative project from Czech Republic. These four t-shirts are a small sneak peek from our labs. Our illustrations are hand-drawn and pursue simplicity together with bright colors. You will find us at www.trabagr.com"

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Rey Exzyl
"Hi! Here is just some random stuff that’s been going in my head.
You can see more of my works here: reyexzyl.deviantart.com"

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Selena M. Trujillo
"A couple of years ago I started working with a burlesque circus and found my own creative muse again for just fun, personal projects. The people I work with in the circus and being among such creative and talented artists just creates an amazing atmosphere that inspires. I just wanted to throw out a t-shirt idea for the circus. I’m Selena M. Trujillo. I work at Basin Printing and Imaging, and I also work for saltfirecircus.com in Durango, Colorado."

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Ed Rogers
"Death Turtle – Edward Rogers,
Created in Illustrator
Very cartoon/vector style"

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Details: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vectortuts/~3/cpp5vUcvx4I/

Tom Percival is a writer, illustrator and animator who is based in the United Kingdom. He has created the illustrations for the successful Skullduggery book series and his own picture books, Tobias and Home for Mr Tipps. During the following interview, Tom shares his knowledge and experience on working within the creative and publishing industry.

I made a conscious decision during 2004 to become an illustrator. Prior to this I was working in a web-based design agency in London. The work that I did there was occasionally illustrative, but mainly I did a lot of animated gifs, Flash work, animation and a bit of coding on simple games.

I studied graphic design at University and up until then used to draw all day every day. When I attended university I focused on motion graphics and music production. I guess it was a bit of a deviation, but ultimately any creative skills that you learn feeds back into each other, so it was by no means a waste of time.

Besides, I do a lot of motion graphics work alongside my illustration work to help promote the books that I write and illustrate. Because I can create the music, animation and illustration work, it means that I have a very clear idea of how I want the final piece to be presented.

When I decided to become a full time illustrator I reduced my working week to three days at my full-time job and used the other two days to build up my portfolio. My salary was obviously cut down dramatically, but I did get a good portfolio together and managed to secure an agent.

Soon after I left my job but continued to do freelance graphic design to cover the periods when I wasn’t getting any illustration work. I gradually phased that out until I was a full time illustrator. So it was a pretty cautious approach, I know some people just jump into these things, but having grown up in a caravan with NO MONEY WHATSOEVER, I was very keen to make sure I could actually make a living from illustration before I left a secure job!

I have a lots of different influences as I work across a lot of different styles in a number of mediums and in different genres. To list all the people who have inspired me would take a long time! One thing that I would say is that it’s best to be inspired by the message in someone’s work as opposed to the aesthetic, otherwise you can quite easily just become a clone of them.

I guess the single biggest influence on my work would probably be Dave McKean. I saw an exhibition of his work when I was about 13 and it absolutely blew me away. His approach to his whole career is fantastic and he sets himself no restrictions on the areas that he can or can’t work in.

The most inspiring site I have come a cross recently is Pinterest.com. It’s a fantastic place to see just how much amazing artwork is being created. It can also contain a lot of home decoration material which isn’t really my thing, but you know, ‘horses for courses’!

I get some work through my agent, especially the commercial work – for the last few years I have created all of ASDA’s halloween characters and there is no way that they would have been aware of me or my work if it wasn’t for my agent.

I work two days a week at Harper Collins Publishers doing all their creative marketing for the children’s division so I know quite a lot of people in Publishing now – I guess that counts as word of mouth?

I do pitch ideas for some projects, as that’s how the picture book work comes around. Again, I have an agent who goes to speak to the editors and I don’t do that directly until a contract has been drawn up. Finally, I get work from Twitter and Facebook. By the way if you want to follow me on twitter go to @TomPercivalSays

My studio is a complete mess. I’d love to be one of those people who sits at a pristine desk surrounded by neat filing units but instead my Wacom tablet is the only clear surface in the entire studio.

Currently I have a set of weights, a baby-walker (my sons, I’ve not needed one of those for years) stacks of 1950′s national geographic (very cool for research/inspiration), an etching press and LOTS of pieces of paper with drawings, linocuts, screen prints and paintings on.

I always start work by hand, so for example, with a Skulduggery picture, I draw the figures in pencil on cartridge paper and then shade them using Letraset Markers. I used to shade my line art on the computer, but I prefer the look and feel of working with the markers. It’s nice to have originals too.

Then I scan the images in and tint the shading on the computer, adding additional highlights and shadows, digitally if necessary. I finally composite all the characters and background elements together in Photoshop. For the final image I often use 3D assets, photography, painting, drawing and found/scanned objects (to create texture.)

I use vector programs mainly in animation work or for the more commercial illustration work. All of my ASDA Halloween illustration work is vector based, as they need to be able to scale some of the illustrations up to fit across a whole supermarket isle.

I draw freehand in Flash with the Wacom and then export as a FXG file as all the other export options from Flash seem to monkey around with the colours for some reason! I just find the vector drawing tools in flash so much more intuitive, although Illustrator is obviously more precise for ‘pure’ vector artwork.

The agency I was working with on the ASDA Halloween characters had requested Illustrator files, so I used the FXG format to convert the freehand vector drawn images from Flash into a format that I could open in Illustrator, then it was simple ‘file: save as.’

The brief was fairly tight. They had very clear commercial objectives for each character. Each figure needed to appeal to a certain age range or personality type and had to have an appropriate mood. Having said that, how I represented those moods was up to me.

So I received the written brief for the personality type and then got to work with pencils sketching out a whole raft of ideas. These got solidified along the way until we arrived at the character designs that ended up being used. Some of these arrived more quickly than others. A few characters I got with the first sketch, which is always nice, as it maintains that initial excitement!

I don’t think that traditional creative methods will ever die out. They might be replaced in a commercial environment at times, however as illustration is essentially style led, it’s cyclical in the same way as fashion is. So, whilst you might have a period when everybody is adopting the latest technical innovation to express their ideas, you will also have times when more people are utilizing traditional mark making techniques instead.

As long as people are expressing their ideas in some way, I’m happy! I do a lot of motion graphics work and use lots of plugins for AfterEffects like Trapcode Particular that are just amazing! There is no way that you could do the things that they can do with traditional animation, so as far as I’m concerned every method has it’s own unique set of advantages. It’s like the debate about books versus e-books really, it’s not a question of one or the other, both are valid and useful.

Here are a few animations that I’ve made:

• Meet Ruby Redfort
• A Home for Mr Tipps
• Find out more about ‘A Home for Mr Tipps’
• The Hueys in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers

I had a certain level of control over the layout of both Tobias and a Home for Mr Tipps. The authors at HarperCollins work with a designer whose job it is to actually make the book work!

I had set ideas on how I wanted certain spreads to work, which I think was viewed in a positive light, as it meant one less thing for the publisher to worry about. It was great to have someone to veto certain ideas I had though, and I can say 100% that the input from the designer improved the look of both of my books.

I wanted to have the book in a square format so that the double page spread would have a similar aspect ratio to widescreen for real impact on the spreads where there’s a big action splash, and the publisher was fine with that. So I guess as long as you and the publisher are moving in the same sort of direction these things aren’t really problems. I suppose it’s different as I studied graphic design and worked for a good few years on both interactive and print design, so I know what I’m doing.

It’s tricky to give advice as I only know what I did and what worked for me at the time. I did a lot of work for free on flyers, club nights, friends bands, charities, etc. Anything really to build up a strong portfolio of work that was visible and out in the real world. I was also getting paid work as a designer so that was feasible for me, it’s tricky if you need to make illustration pay your way from the start.

Working at a design/advertising agency or a publisher also helps, as there are lots of people who you become friends with that go on to become creative directors or commissioning editors. I know that sounds a bit ‘it’s not what you know…’ but the fact is a good working relationship with someone is invaluable. Obviously, your work needs to be as great as you can make it, but if you can’t get on with people, you’ll never get repeat work. So, be passionate but not too arrogant. Be punctual and professional.

In terms of your portfolio, context is key. A bunch of twenty very cool but completely random illustrations isn’t going to make someone feel they should hire you. Divide your portfolio into blocks Editorial (magazine) work, Publishing (split into genre’s if appropriate) Advertising and personal or ‘art’. That way if a magazine editor/designer is looking through your portfolio, they know exactly where to go.

If you don’t have any of those kinds of work then re-make pieces that you like. Take a magazine article and re-illustrate it, dropping your version into the design. Again, this sort of context shows that you understand the industry and that not only can you create beautiful images but that you ‘get’ what they will be wanting you to do.

Lastly, I would say try to get in touch with a working illustrator that you might know or have access to and ask them to have a look through your folio and offer advice. When I was younger a comic book illustrator called Charlie Adlard (he creates art for The Walking Dead) took a look through my portfolio and REALLY helped/inspired me. So I kind of see it as an obligation to help out people when they’re starting out. Besides, when you get old and horribly unfashionable, perhaps one of the people you helped out at the start will offer you work!

I’m currently working on a new picture book called ‘Jack’s AMAZING Shadow’, but I’m still finalizing the last few spreads, and publishing is a sloooow process, so it could be that this won’t be released until next year! Here are a few spreads to give you a sense of how it’s shaping up. World exclusive!

Also coming up I’ve got the new Skulduggery Pleasant book, ‘Kingdom of the Wicked’ coming up, which looks absolutely ace, but I’m sworn to secrecy on anything Skulduggery related! I can reveal that it will probably have a picture of Skulduggery on there though

I’ve also done the UK cover for the first book in a new series by Geoff Rodkey called Chronicles of Egg, which is a rollicking adventure set on the high seas, Chronicles of Egg: Deadweather and Sunrise.

Tom’s next book, Jack’s Amazing Shadow is due for release in March 2013. For more information visit his site at: tom-percival.com.

Tom Percival on the Web

• tom-percival.com
• @TomPercivalSays

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With the vector software Corel Draw you are able to draw everything you can imagine. However, if you are using it to create illustrations for the microstock agencies – there are some issues that you must take into consideration. The problem comes with the industry requirement to provide an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file, which is mandatory for almost all agencies. See, EPS is Adobe standard and Corel developers don’t like Adobe standards very much. And because they did a poor job with it – you will have to save your EPS 8 files from Illustrator. See how here: Quick Tip: Saving Files from Corel Draw for Microstock Agencies

What’s interesting is that even Adobe developers say that the EPS format has no future, and they prefer to concentrate their efforts on the AI and PDF file types. Nevertheless, for one reason or the other – the microstock industry loves it, and we must accept this, no matter which vector software we are using. By the way, to make things even more complicated, agencies now accept EPS 8 and EPS 10. But for now let’s concentrate on EPS 8.

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The Problem

The EPS standard was created by Adobe in the mid 80′s. Yeah – that’s the previous century. Life was simple back then. I was still an infant, and the special effects in vector software weren’t even developed yet. Some time later things changed. Transparency, meshes and some other effects appeared and made the vector world even more exciting. Too bad that the EPS 8 standard does not support them, for the simple reason that it is obsolete. In short – the problem is that the EPS 8 standard is older than some effects, and therefore it was not made to support them.

By the way this Quick Tip is being written from the perspective of Corel Draw users, but they are not alone in facing this problem. No matter which vector software you are using – you will still have to conform with this tedious issue, only in different way.

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The Solution

No need to panic though. You can still draw what you want. You will just need to use other ways to do it. For example, if you want to create a transparency effect – you will need to simulate it.

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Step 1: Transparency

The way to do that is identical in all vector software. Since a lot has been written on the subject – I won’t get into details here. But basically here is how you do this. Let’s say you want to create shiny spots like on the bottles below.

Usually you would draw the shape of the shiny spot, then color it in white, and then add some transparency to it. Right? Well, the other way is to draw the shape and then color it like the rest of the bottle, only brighter. For example – select the shape of the spot, place it over the bottle (or your shiny object), then color it in exactly the same color, then, while the shiny spot is still selected hold Ctrl and click over the white color in your palette a couple of times. This will brighten the original color, just like a transparent white object would do. But instead of playing with the transparency options, here you will play with the colors.

If you are used to working with transparency and you are not sure exactly what the color of the shiny spot is, you can do this. Draw your illustration with transparency, then clone it and remove the transparency from the duplicated objects. Now color the shiny spot in the same color it is in the original image with the transparency effect. In order to do that just use the Eyedropper tool, placing it over your shiny transparent spot. The color will appear on your status bar. From there you drag it to your cloned shiny spot. That’s it!

Well, not exactly. There is one more thing, and that is – what you do if your shiny spot covers more than one object. In one example the spot covers both the pale yellow label and the brown glass. Since you have two different objects covered – you will need to slice the shiny spot in two parts. If it was to cover three objects it will be divided in three parts. Get it? As much the covered objects, as many the objects for the shiny spot. In the end they should look like one though. To accomplish that you will need to use the shaping tools a lot. It is irritating, I know. However, as a reward for your efforts you will have an illustrations that is compatible with the EPS 8 requirements and can be viewed in all vector software.

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Step 2: Gradients

Gradients are the reason why many Corel Draw users switch to Illustrator when they do microstock illustrations. Or they draw the shapes in Corel and then edit the gradients in Illustrator before saving the final file. Oh, if they only knew that there is a way to avoid this and do everything in Corel.

Here is "the big secret". Your gradients will look perfect in any software IF you use them in the right way. And the right way is to use horizontal or vertical linear gradients with Edge Pad = 0. Before I explain this – see the following illustration.

Those robots were done only by simple linear gradients. All you need to remember is that they must be exactly horizontal (0 or 180 degrees) or vertical (90 or -90 degrees) and the Edge Pad must be “0″ every time. The last thing is also very important. If your Edge Pad is not 0 – I can’t guarantee that your gradients won’t change in AI.

The number of colors you use doesn’t matter. You can use as many as you wan. If you use Radial gradients they will look good in AI, but when you save your EPS 8 file from there and open it in Corel – they will become slightly brighter. Now isn’t that awkward: You create something in Corel, save it as EPS 8 in Illustrator and it looks perfect there. But when you open it in Corel again – it is not as good any more, even though it was "born" here! Well, that’s how it is. I am not sure why exactly is that so, but I don’t bother myself thinking about it any more. I just use linear instead of radial gradients. If I really need to create a radial gradient – I use blends instead. And if I need some really crazy radial effects – I combine linear gradients with blends. Those 2 simple tools can produce some astonishing effects when used together. They can also replace the radial gradients and save you some time and nerves.

When you work with gradients in Corel Draw my advice is to close your illustration when it is done, and then open it again and check if the gradients are OK. Some times the numbers on the gradient options may move on their own. This happens mostly when you place your gradient in an object and then clone that object or mirror it. Your illustration will look good, but the next time you open it – the gradients in those cloned shapes will be changed in the exactly opposite direction or they will have Edge Pad different than 0. So, as I said, close the file when it is done, open it again, and if a gradient has changed its options – fix them and save. They will not change a second time. To me this happens rarely and only when I save files in older versions (From Corel Draw X4 to Corel Draw 9.0 for example). Maybe it is a bug, and maybe there is some update or plug in to fix this. I don’t know. If somebody knows more – please share in the comments below.

Another thing that I must warn you about are the reviewers who check your work when you submit it to some agencies. You see, some sites don’t like blends very much.They think that you have made complex illustrations with blends, when you can use gradients instead. Almost all of them use Illustrator, and they still haven’t read this Quick Tip, therefore they don’t know we are doing this for the sake of compatibility. So when you save an EPS 8 file containing blends, tell them why you have. You can say "I used blends instead of radial gradients, so the illustration can look the same in all vector programs." Your reviewer will understand.

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Step 3: Meshes

Alright, first of all, meshes are not exactly a pure vector tool. They are something like a mixture between bitmap and vectors. They are also not supported by the EPS 8 standard. So if you want to create photorealistic illustration you must find another way. The closest that I know of is by using blends again. I don’t have any photorealistic illustrations of my own, but you can google Aleksey Oglushevich and see for yourself what can be done by just using blends.

I have to say that he often mixes blends with transparency, but you don’t have to. You will be able to create great photorealistic illustration with just blends and no transparency. This method is more time consuming than using meshes, but according to Aleksey "It is a more creative vector technique." Plus it is EPS 8 friendly.

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Step 4: Shadows

I can think of four different ways to create shadows without using transparency. First with blends, second with gradients, third with blends and gradients, and fourth with just a simple shape in uniform color. It all depends on the style of the illustration, and what type of shadow do you want. The good news is that in those four ways you can draw whatever shadows you imagine. They will look great in EPS 8 and will remain the same in all vector software.

But, there is bad news as well. And it is that your shadow is not a real shadow. It only looks like one. Take a look at those bottles above again! Do you see the shadow? Well, I used blends to create it, so the illustration is an EPS 8 file. But if you decide to replace the white background with another color the shadow will look awful. It is not transparent, remember? So the steps of the blend will remain fading to white, while your background is no longer white. Since you know that you will do well if you pay attention to how your illustration will be used, and consider it when drawing the shadow. For example, lets say you are drawing a set of vector icons over white background. When I do that I try to avoid intersection between icons and their shadows if possible. See the heart icons below!

Instead I make them float over their shadows. Why? Because people probably won’t use the shadow anyway. Or, if they want to export a raster file from your EPS 8, they will want to apply their own shadow in Photoshop in order for it to be suitable with their own background. So in this case the shadow is only an accessory used to make the composition look cooler. It should not stand in the way (intersect) with the main subject, which is the icons.

When you are drawing an object over a white background your composition won’t suffer if the object casts no shadow – skip the shadow. Skip it every time it has no impact on your artworks overall look. If you are drawing a closed composition (and not an isolated object) like a natural landscape for example – you can draw all the shadows in the world.

So, in short. When you are drawing objects isolated over white – skip the shadow if this will not affect the coolness of your work. If you are drawing icons – make sure that the shadows (created by blends) don’t intersect with the icons. And if you are drawing a closed composition – do whatever you want.

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Step 5: 3D

In order to create 3D looking objects you are free to use the Extrude effect in Corel Draw. Just make sure that in the end everything is in vectors. The EPS 8 standard doesn’t have any problem with the Extrude tool.

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Step 6: Reflections

Usually you would probably create a reflection this way. You mirror the object that you want to cast a reflection, then you add transparency or masks and place this over the reflecting surface. Something like that, right?

Well, here is the new, EPS 8 compatible way: You mirror the object, place it over the reflecting surface, then while holding Ctrl you click on the color of the surface in your palette (the object or group of objects stays selected all the time). If it is not a uniform color, but a gradient, you select the closest uniform color in the palette (in the case of this example it is baby blue) and click on it until your reflection is good.

This process of clicking on a color while holding Ctrl, when an object or a group of objects is selected, will fade them to that color step by step, or should I say click by click.

If you want the reflection to get more pale with the growing distance away from the source object, you will have to play with those linear gradients some more. The color (on your gradient) of that farthest side should be the same or close to the color of the reflecting surface.

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Conclusion

As you very well know, in every good graphics program, no matter if it is Corel Draw, Illustrator, Photoshop, 3D Studio or whatever, there is always more than one way to express your ideas. The better you know your software, the more ways you will find to do the same thing. Some of them will be quick and easy to apply. Others, like some of those 6 above, will be good mostly for the purpose of maximum compatibility. At the end the technique that you will be using depends on the purpose of your artwork and the knowledge you poses about your software of choice. Those are most of the tricks that I use to simulate effects when I create clip art illustrations for the microstock agencies with Corel Draw. If you know more on the subject please share in the comments section. It will be great to know how you do those things.

Note: All illustrations in this tutorial and in my entire portfolio are saved in EPS 8 and compatible with all vector software.

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What can one say about a stepladder? A stepladder may be represented as a concept that shows the development of designers skills and improvement of their creativity. Therefore it is high time to go ahead step by step in depicting the final image of this tutorial. Follow along, while creating your own striking and stunning artwork using a professional vector workflow in Adobe Illustrator.

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Step 1

Take the Rectangle Tool (M) and illustrate a background for your stepladder.

Now grab the Pen Tool (P) and sketch a path to represent the front metallic part of the ladder.

Go to Object > Expand. Then go to Object > Ungroup. Lock the resulting path in the Layers palette, and save it as the “Main tube” for further use in the tutorial. It will be used as a clipping path as well shortly.

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Step 2

Now take the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a rectangular path with a height approximately equal to the thickness of the (crimson) path just illustrated. Then change the Opacity of the rectangle.

Now go to Object > Create Gradient Mesh and specify the number of columns in the dialog box.

Go to Object > Transform > Rotate to define the angle of rotation of the mesh in order to place it over the crimson path as exactly as possible.

Place the mesh over the end of the crimson path.

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Step 3

Take the Lasso Tool (Q) and select all the nodes of the gradient mesh except for the two lowest ones.

Grab the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move the mesh nodes up.

Select then the mesh nodes that are located beyond the bounds of the crimson path.

Now take the Rotate Tool (R), and make a rotation, as shown in the helpful figure below.

Repeat these actions in order to stretch the mesh on the crimson path. After that, change the mesh Opacity to 100%.

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Step 4

Take the Mesh Tool (U) and add the mesh lines. Change the mesh nodes’ colors to gray with different brightnesses in order to represent the distribution of light on a metallic tube accurately. And crop the mesh with a clipping mask by going to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Command + 7). Use the crimson path made in the first step as a clipping path.

Blow up the artwork and focus your attention on the top part of the ladder.

If you do not like your result so far, then let’s continue to improve it. You can apply the Art brushes for this operation…

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Step 5

Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and sketch a horizontal elliptical path filled with black as shown below.

Go to Object > Transform > Scale, and specify the values shown in the diagram below. Click the Copy button after that.

Change the Opacity of the biggest ellipse to 0.

Go to Object > Blend > Blend Options. Set the Spacing to Specified Steps and the quantity of steps to about 100.

And then select both ellipses and go to Object > Blend > Make (Command + Alt + B). You should receive the same picture as below.

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Step 6

Drag and drop the received blend into the Brushes palette. Select the Art Brush option in the dialog box.

Set the items for the brush as shown in the figure below, and name the brush as “Black brush.”

Illustrate the analogous Art brush named “White brush.”

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Step 7

Picture a path in the top part of the ladder, apply the “White brush” to it in accordance with the light distribution principle, change the stroke weight and the Opacity of it, as necessary in your own artwork. Now crop the path with a corresponding clipping mask (the same one which was used above).

Apply the “Black brush” to the following two paths in order to emphasize the borders of the metallic tube of the ladder. These paths’ weights should be thin enough.

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Step 8

Add one of the black, metallic tubes to the ladder, and fill it with an angled, linear gradient.

Apply the “Black brush” to the shown path, which is located at the right side of the back tube. Change the stroke weight and the Opacity of it as necessary. Then crop the path with the help of the clipping mask.

Draw the second back leg of the ladder the same way.

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Step 9

Now we should connect the tubes to each other with the aid of the connecting detail. Take the Pen Tool (P), and illustrate the shown detail over the coupling point of the tubes. It must be wider than the width of the tubes. See the image below for reference. Fill the detail with an angled linear gradient.

Copy it and Paste in Back (Command + C then Command + B). Lock the original detail in the Layers palette. Now take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and change the form of the copy in order to connect it to the tubes. Fill the copy with another angled, linear gradient. You should receive the following result.

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Step 10

Illustrate a connecting bolt with the help of the Ellipse Tool (L), and fill it with a radial gradient as shown.

Draw additional connecting bolts.

Let the connecting detail be metallic. So, we should create light spots over it, by using the “White brush.” See the image below for reference.

Produce the second connecting detail the same way.

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Step 11

Illustrate a transverse tube over the ladder and fill it with an angled, linear gradient.

Now draw the following elliptical path at the left end of this tube. Fill the ellipse with a radial gradient. Pay attention that the long axis of the ellipse should go along the contour of the “Main tube,” which was illustrated in the first step. Follow the helpful diagram below.

Select the “Main tube,” Copy it and Paste in Front (Command + C then Command + F). Select the ellipse over it (which was just created), Copy it and Paste in Front too. After that, select both copies of the paths, go to the Pathfinder palette, and click the Intersect button there.

Now crop the ellipse with the resulting path, by going to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Command + 7).

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Step 12

Copy the transverse tube and Paste it in Front (Command + C then Command + F). Copy just the resulting clipping path and Paste it in Front as well. Select these new copies. Take the Shape Builder Tool (Shift + M), and drag the mouse over the paths from the left to the right, as shown in the diagram below. Or use the Pathfinder palette for this operation.

Delete the unnecessary paths after that. And use the resulting path as a clipping mask for the transverse tube. All in all, you should receive the effect of inserting the transverse tube into the “Main tube.”

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Step 13

Illustrate the next transverse tubes the same way. See the images below for reference.

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Step 14

The next steps will be devoted to creating the steps (pun intended). See the step style we’ll be creating below.

If you know how to achieve this, do it without assistance. Otherwise you should read carefully the next parts of the tutorial. First illustrate a sheared rangular path filled with an angled linear gradient as shown.

Copy it and Paste in Front (Command + C then Command + F), fill it with black, and move it slightly upwards.

Copy it again and Paste in Front (Command + C then Command + F), fill it with an angled linear gradient, and create a thickness of the step by using the Pen Tool (P).

Now create a light gray path over it.

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Step 15

We’ll use the “Black brush” to create the notches on the step. Let’s see how this works. In the beginning, sketch a small path with the aid of the Pen Tool (P) at the right side of the step, then apply the “Black brush” to it. Change the stroke weight of the path in order to create the picture shown below.

Illustrate the same path using the same technique at the left side of the step.

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Step 16

Go to Object > Blend > Blend Options, set the Spacing to Specified steps and the number of steps to about 50.

Select both paths and go to Object > Blend > Make (Command + Alt + B).

Change the Opacity of the blend if necessary and crop it with a clipping path.

Crop the step with a clipping path too.

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Step 17

Illustrate a path filled with a linear gradient, as shown in the diagram below.

Draw the next similar path.

Now take the Pen Tool (P) and draw the lateral part of the connecting detail. Fill it with a usual linear gradient.

Copy it and Paste in Front (Command + C then Command + F) and fill it with a vertical gradient.

And change the Blending Mode of this path to Multiply in the Transparency palette.

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Step 18

Attach the green detail to the “Main tube” with a connecting bolt as shown.

Apply the “White brush” to the following path in order to reproduce the light distribution. Crop the path with a corresponding clipping mask.

Illustrate the right green detail.

Picture as many steps of the ladder as you desire.

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Step 19

Picture the top plate of the ladder filled with an angled linear gradient.

Now sketch a brown lateral path of the top plate in order to add volume to it.

Grab the Pen Tool (P) and produce a front lateral part of the plate, then fill it with dark brown.

Place the plate in the correct position.

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Step 20

Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and illustrate an elliptical path over the end of a leg.

Copy it and Paste in Front (Command + C then Command + F), fill it with another color, change the opacities of both ellipses. Then go to Object > Transform > Scale and decrease the copy of the ellipse to the size of the leg as shown.

Copy the leg tube and Paste it in Front (Command + C then Command + F), select both: this copy and the small ellipse, take the Shape Builder Tool (Shift + M) and draw the mouse over the paths as shown. Or use the Pathfinder palette for this purpose.

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Step 21

Delete then the unnecessary paths and use the resulting path as a clipping mask for the leg tube.

Change the Opacity of the red ellipse to 100%, and change the color fill to black, then create a path illustrated below by using the Shape Builder Tool (Shift + M) or the Pathfinder palette.

Apply the “White brush” to the following paths and crop them with a clipping mask. After that produce those support details under all the legs.

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Step 22

Picture the shadows from the legs using blends. See the helpful diagrams below.

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Conclusion

The final image is below. I hope you have studied the important techniques of Adobe Illustrator in this tutorial and have fun applying them in your own work.

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Details: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vectortuts/~3/qjJLUPqkA8Q/

Vectortuts+ is all about helping people turbo charge their skills, and today we have another special community post that will help our readers take their images to the next level. The best thing is, you can be part of it too! Find out more at the jump.

How to Participate:

• This workshop contributor has offered a piece of work that they would like help with, please keep this in mind when you share your thoughts. The images are not perfect, but they can be with the right advice and some friendly encouragement. (Vectortuts+ reserves the right to delete any rude comments)
• If you’re better with pictures (let’s face it, most of us are) feel free to take a screenshot of the image using Little Snapper, Skitch or a similar program and paste a link to the annotated image in the comments section with an explanation of the tweaks.

If you want to take part in the next Vectortuts+ Workshop:

Add your work to our facebook photo gallery or submit it via the Tuts+ Workshop form, with a description about the piece and the help/advice you’re looking for. We will chose one to be published on our site as part of the next Vectortuts+ Workshop, if you’re not chosen straight away – don’t worry – your work will be chosen for a future session.

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Image Category: Realistic Still Life

Details:

Designer: Luis Eduardo

Details: "Hi everyone. I’m a Graphic Designer and I find any kind of illustration very interesting and I want to improve my skills on how to create cool illustrations. I would like to get some useful advice about how to improve and make this illustration, more realistic, because the image reference was not so good, I mean, I´d like to know how to make metallic effects, etc."

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Feedback

What are your thoughts on the work above? Critiquing work helps the artist see new possibilities, and it also helps you learn to evaluate art, which will help you take that same analysis and apply it to your own work. Participate in the comments below with your opinions on how to improve the work above.

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Details: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vectortuts/~3/CyYi3aCvH7I/

We’re planning our next few Tuts+ sites, and would love your opinion and advice on which topics you think we should cover next! We’d be really grateful if you could take a minute to answer our quick poll and share your thoughts…

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Have Your Say

We’ve been considering lots of different ideas for our next Tuts+ sites over the past few weeks, and wanted to also ask the opinion of our awesome community!

A selection of different concepts are included in the poll to the right, along with the option for you to submit your own ideas as well.

The important thing to note is that these are just ideas. Some of these are close to making our final cut, and others aren’t… We’d love to hear what you think, to help guide our decision.

Thanks for taking the time to offer your suggestion — I can’t wait to see what you have to say!

Win a 6-Month Tuts+ Premium Membership

Our poll will be running for the next couple of weeks, and we’ll be choosing one respondent at random to receive a six-month Tuts+ Premium membership!

To be entered into the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post to go into a bit more detail about your site suggestion. We’ll choose one comment at random to win the Tuts+ Premium membership when the poll ends.

Best of luck!

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Today we will learn how to create text that is located in different planes. One very interesting trick with the Bounding box will let us do it without using 3D modeling. Find out more at the jump!

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Step 1

Take the Type Tool (T) and create an inscription.

I used the Impact font. Also you can choose one of the Sans serif fonts. There is a good selection of such fonts here. Align the text to the left by pressing the appropriate button in the Control panel. It is better to use the Character panel (Window > Type > Character) to control the text parameters.

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Step 2

Keep the text selected, go to the Object > Transform > Shear. Set the angle and choose the axis in the dialog box.

Reduce the leading in the Character panel.

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Step 3

Turn the text into the group of the regular vector objects (Type > Create Outlines)

Create three horizontal lines with the Line Segment Tool (backslash) or the Pen Tool (P). Turn them at different angles of -45, 25 and 100 degrees. To do so, select the first segment and go to the Object > Transform > Rotate and set a necessary angle in the dialog box.

Turn the other segments at the indicated degree in the same way as we just did. Place the lines as it is shown on the picture below.

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Step 4

Select all the created objects, then press the Divide button in the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder).

Go to the Object > Path > Clean up and press the OK button in the dialog box.

So in this way we cleaned the artwork from the unnecessary objects.

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Step 5

For the convenience of our further work select the parts of the text with the Lasso Tool (Q) and color them into different colors.

The coloring won’t let us miss the important small details of the composition.

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Step 6

Select one of the color objects and go to the Select > Same > Fill Color, then group up the elements of the same color (Command + G). Use this technique to group up the other elements of different color. As the result of our actions we got four groups of objects.

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Step 7

For the perspective distortion of the parts of the inscription we will use the Free Transform Tool (E). We will use one trick to make the transformation in one plane. Select the group of objects in red color. Note: the position of the bounding box on the picture below, its location determines the plane of the transformation.

Take the Rotate Tool (R) and while holding the Option key set the center of rotation to the A point. Set the rotation angle into the dialog box. The angle of rotation should be so, that the cut of the text took the horizontal position. In this part, the text was cut at the 25 degrees, which means that the rotation angle is 180-25=155 degrees accordingly.

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Step 8

Keep this group selected go to the Object > Transform > Reset Bounding box.

Now we need to put group back into its place. Take the Rotate Tool (R) and while holding the Option key, set the rotation center into the A point. Set the rotation angle into the dialog box. This time the angle should have the opposite sign to the one that we had earlier, i.e. -155 degrees.

Note how the location of the Bounding box changed.

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Step 9

Using this technique, change the location of the Bounding Box in the other groups. Remember, all the groups should be rotated at different degrees. In my case, the rotation angle of the green group is 180-100=80 degrees, and of the violet group 180-(-45) = 225 degrees. The rotation centers were placed at the B and C points accordingly.

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Step 10

Now that we set the plane of the transformation right, we can start to distort the text. Take the free Transform Tool (E), press the side handle and, keeping the mouse button pressed, press and keep the Command key pressed. Now move the side handle while controlling the process of the distortion.

Using this technique distort other parts of the text as it is shown on the picture below.

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Step 11

Now we will fill the text which is located in different planes with linear gradients, which consist of dark grey and black colors. That will enhance the volume illusion of our work and give it the completed form.

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Final Image

I think that an inscription made in such style suits logos and t-shirt designs perfectly. Play around with images and text to see what you can come up with. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tut.

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