gradient mesh tutorial - santiagousing your pen tool, draw over the main red section of the pepper....

GRADIENT MESH TUTORIAL HOW TO DRAW THE RED BELL PEPPER

Presented By Brooke Nuñez of L i fe invector.com

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This Red Bel l Pepper Mesh Tutor ia l is ©2005 Brooke Nuñez of L i fe invector.com

GRADIENT MESH TUTORIAL

-INTRO TO THE MESH-

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

made f lat shapes come a l ive to be 3d- l ike works of ar t . Just by adding a gr id of

anchor points, p ictures become suddenly “rea l” . I t ’s an awesome tool that most

d ig i ta l ar t is ts f ind int imidat ing - wi th 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 g ive them. But as d i ff icu l t as they may

seem, i t won’t take long before you gain contro l . Th ink about how much you’ve

learned s ince f i rst 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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-BEFORE YOU START-

The most important th ing of a l l is choosing the r ight image to render. The gradient

mesh isn' t an easy tool , and requires a lot of pat ience & t ime - so you' l l want your

subject to be interest ing. I t should be something worth tak ing the t ime to render,

something you know others wi l l f ind p leas ing to the eye, and not just technica l ly

accurate.

At th is point I would l ike to stress the fact that you may want to use your own

photography or sketches as reference. You don't want to fa l l into any legal issues

later, or receive any negat ive comments f rom someone who might recognize your

source.

I f you're render ing d i rect ly f rom a photo, before tak ing the p icture i t is important to

consider your composi t ion, consider approaching your subject at a d i fferent angle,

and consider your l ight ing. (Remember, make i t interesting! ) A lso, once you've got

d ig i ta l f i les of your photos, you may want to retouch them in Photoshop before you

begin render ing. (You don’t want to create a dul l mesh in I l lustrator, do you?) Don't

be afra id to br ighten up your image, remove unnecessary shadows or objects, or

even change the color scheme to make i t more exci t ing.

I f you p lan to render over a sketch, I ’d recommend you f ind other photographic

resources to use for proper texture & l ight ing. Remember, the gradient mesh is an

instrument for rea l ism. The more accurate to l i fe your references are, the more

precise & rea l is t ic your drawing wi l l be.

Another th ing to a lways keep in mind is that there is no “r ight” way to go about a

mesh render ing. There are dozens of techniques to use, you rea l ly can’t go wrong.

Don’t be afra id to exper iment & f ind a method that’s best & easiest for you.

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-MESH BASICS-

There are only a few parts to the mesh tool that you should become fami l iar wi th. You

a l ready know what anchor points are, but wi th in a mesh they work a b i t d i f ferent ly.

They aren’t just to create an outer shape anymore. They are the basis of a l l the color.

This is something that makes the mesh so interest ing, the way the colors radiate

f rom each anchor point & b lend into one another so per fect ly. There are only a few

ways to manipulate & contro l th is b lending i l lus ion, and that is wi th the anchor

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

One negat ive about the mesh tool is that i t is i r revers ib le. That is , once your shape

conta ins a mesh, there’s no going back. (Unless, of course, you “undo” enough. ) Yes,

you can a lways delete anchor points & mesh l ines, but you can’t revert back to your

or ig ina l edi table shape. The solut ion is to s imply make copies of your in i t ia l out l ines,

that way you have something to refer back to in case you need to start over.

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 lat ter, but that is up to you.

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

that i t is 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 to start?

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-LET'S GET GOING ALREADY!-

I have taken the t ime to create a tutor ia l su i table for mesh-beginners. I t was wr i t ten

under the assumpt ion that you, the reader, are a l ready prof ic ient in I l lustrator, but are

interested in expanding your l imi ted knowledge of the gradient mesh. Please note

that th is is only one technique which helped me become fami l iar wi th how i t works.

Hopefu l ly i t wi l l be of some ass istance to you as wel l !

For th is tutor ia l , I have chosen to render a red bel l pepper. I f ind i t to be an

interest ing subject wi th a br ight , beaut i fu l co lor palet te, not to ment ion a smooth

texture, and lots of room for bumpiness & imperfect ion – great for start ing out. I took

the reference photo against a whi te background for an appeal ing contrast , but st i l l

made sure to br ighten i t up in Photoshop.

STEP 1 – Creat ing Out l ines

First th ing’s f i rst . Open “redbel lpepper. jpg” wi th I l lustrator & immediate ly make i t a

template. This is a s imple but cr i t ica l step with th is part icu lar technique. Go ahead &

create another layer on top so that you can begin render ing. [See (B) ]

Ready for your f i rst b ig mesh secret? I never use just one mesh with in a render ing. I

l ike to work with smal ler, s impler meshes and basica l ly “b lend” them together.

Remember - your audience wi l l never see what goes on “behind the scenes”, so go

r ight ahead & layer your heart away with shapes!

Using your pen tool , draw over the main red sect ion of the pepper. Keep in mind that

the mesh doesn’t work wel l wi th corners, funky shapes & hard edges. The mesh wi l l

form to whatever shape i t ’s created in - so create the contour as round & s imple as

possib le by us ing your Bezier curves! Put your f i rst shape on i ts own layer & label i t

“Front ( le f t ) ” . [See (C) ]

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STEP 1 (Cont inued)

Go ahead & create a shape for the other large sect ion of the pepper to the r ight .

Make i t as round as possib le ! When you’re done, p lace i t on a layer BELOW the main

shape so no one wi l l see the over lap once the render ing is complete. Label th is layer

“Front ( r ight )” . Cont inue drawing over the remain ing layers & label them as fo l lows:

Behind Front (R ight ) , Behind Front (Lef t ) , Back (Lef t ) , and Back (Right ) . [See (D) ]

A lso draw the stem & put i t on i ts own layer labeled “Stem”. In th is tutor ia l , we won’t

be putt ing a mesh on i t . I t ’s s imple & f lat enough to recreate as a non-mesh vector

wi th some real ly n ice o ld fashioned gradients. [See (E) ]

STEP 2 – Backup!

Now that you have your out l ines, se lect i t a l l and copy & paste i t into one more layer.

Cal l i t “JUST IN CASE”. Go ahead & h ide that layer unt i l you need i t later. FYI : You

may not need i t but i t ’s a lways n ice to have something to fa l l back on in case you

make a mistake or fee l the need to start over ! ( I made th is i ts own step because i t is

a v i ta l one – a l i fesaver in some cases! ) [See (F) ]

STEP 3 – Adding Color

T ime to add some color ! The easiest way to go about th is is to p ick the most

common color according to each sect ion of the pepper. S ince i t is consistent ly red,

th is step is an easy one. Use your eyedropper tool & take the color d i rect ly f rom the

photo. ( I f your eyedropper won’t let you, double c l ick on the tool in the toolbar &

uncheck “Appearance”. This should do the t r ick. ) The common color wi l l vary f rom

shape to shape, so keep that in mind. [See (G) ]

Once you’re done with th is step, you’re ready for the mesh!

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STEP 4 – I t ’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 easiest possib le route. I t starts off a b i t confus ing, but bear

wi th me!

F i rst , hide al l layers except for “Front (R ight )” . Using 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 wi th “Out l ine Mode”? This 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 into 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 t ry to use the mesh af ter the fact , i t won’t 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

possib le.

T ime to start c l ick ing away - but be aware that you can only 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 basic guidel 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 wai t 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 i rect ly next to. (Zoom in i f you need to! )

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STEP 4 (Cont inued)

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

p icks up. Somet imes they appear to be raw & just p la in wrong, but you have to keep

going. In rea l l i fe , shadows can be pract ica l ly any color – green, grey, b lue, 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 consider - 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 & DON’T 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 p icture, adding mesh points & p ick ing your colors s imul taneously. Two, you

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

you go a long. This technique, by the way, may be considered “cheat ing”, but i t ’s a

great & easy method to learn how the mesh works.

STEP 5 – Repeat!

Once you’ve f in ished with your “Front (Lef t ) ” mesh, h ide that layer & begin work ing on

“Front (R ight )” us ing the same technique. Remember to start 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 whatever’s d i rect ly behind the shapes that are in f ront. What’s

important is that you t ra 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 start over i f you’re 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 you’ve a l ready

done by moving the l ines & points around. Just don’t g ive up!

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STEP 6 – Blend 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 qui 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 lect

the 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 asking yoursel f why I have chosen not to put a mesh 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. So go ahead

& 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

prov ided (“ f in ishedpepper.a i” ) . [See (N) ]

AND VOILA! You’ve successfu l ly completed a L i fe invector mesh tutor ia l ! [See (O) ]

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PLEASE READ OVER EVERY PAGE CAREFULLY.

TAKE YOUR TIME & PRACTICE AS MUCH AS YOU NEED TO.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS TUTORIAL

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT brooke@l i fe invector.com.

I WILL TRY TO GET BACK TO YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

THANK YOU & HAPPY RENDERING!


A B

C D

E F

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G H

J K

I

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L M

N

O

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gradient mesh tutorial - santiagousing your pen tool, draw over the main red section of the pepper....

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