Intro to Adobe Illustrator Lab 2:

Create a folder called IllustratorLab2. Place all files in that folder, and, when finished the lab, upload the folder

to the University Web server. Submit the URL of the folder to Sakai.

Part 1: Brushes

Using Brushes is fun because they kind of self-correct for your flawed drawing abilities. We’re going to try the

different brushes to see the different effects.

Step 0: Open a new file. Call it part1 and make sure RGB is selected under Advanced.

Step 1: Choose the paintbrush tool (from the left side)

Step 2: Now on the right, select the brushes palette.

Step 3: Select the 5 pt oval (selected above) and draw an apple. Don’t worry about being perfect – the brush will

make it look pretty good for you!

Step 4: Cool, huh. Now repeat the process with the following brushes:

You should have something that looks kind of like this:

Calligraphy Brush Stroke

Step 5: Now select the calligraphy brush stroke tool:

Step 6: with the calligraphy brush stroke tool, write your initials below the apples. Make it a bit fancy so it looks

like calligraphy. (if you don’t have enough space, go to File-> Document Set-up, then select “Edit Artboard” and

then expand the artboard by clicking on the green square and dragging down. If you do this, make sure you

reselect the paintbrush tool before writing your initials.)

1

2

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Step 7: To make changes to your calligraphy brush, double click the Calligraphy Brush to pop up the calligraphic

brush options. Drag the brush to change the angle in the thumbnail. Change the Diameter makes it thicker.

Create a Border Pattern

Step 8: Draw a rectangle around your initials and pick the border pattern (the bottom brush). This will create a

frame for it.

Step 9: To create a new brush, draw a star. Click on the color (bottom of tool bar) and select a yellow color to

make it yellow.

Step 10: With the selection tool, drag it to the Brushes Palette. A New Brush selection appears. Choose New

Pattern Brush for it. Name it starbrush and click OK. The brush should appear in your brushes palate below the

border brush.

Step 11: With the pencil tool selected, draw a line. In the brushes palate, select the starbrush. Your line should

now be a starred line:

Step 12: Now double click the star brush from your brushes and set both the Scale and Spacing to 50% to get the

effect below.

Brushes are very good for aligning objects and creating borders. So experiment with it and have fun!

Step 13: Save this file as part1 It should be pretty full, so close it for turning in later. Save the file as a gif file as

well (part1.gif)

Part 2: Compound Paths

For this part, you’ll create the ancient key from lab 1 using compound paths instead of the Pen Tool.

Step 1: Open a new file. Call it part2, and make sure RGB is set under advanced.

Step 2: Go to View>Show Grid (near the bottom) to turn on the grids, then repeat and turn on Snap to Grid. With

the grid and snapping turned on, you can easily snap objects to the grid.

Step 3: First draw a Circle (hold down the pointer over the rectangle tool, then select the ellipse tool, and then

draw a circle by holding shift as you click on the artboard and drag). If your circle is filled with anything other than

black, double-click on the fill square at the bottom of the toolbar, then, in the color picker, select black.

Step 4: Select the selection tool (top of toolbar). Hold the Alt/Option as you click and drag to create a new copy of

the circle. Place the new circle beside the first.

Step 4: Make a 3rd copy of the circle and place it on top.

Step 5: Next, select the Rectangle Tool and continue building up your key shape.

Step 6: Swap the Fill and Stroke for the object. First, select the selection tool (top of toolbar). Then drag the

selection tool around the entire key, so all the shapes are inside the selection.

Now at the bottom, make sure the fill square is forward. Right below it, select the None option (the box with the

red line through it).

That should set the fill to none, so you should be able to see the outline of all the shapes (like below).

Step 7: To make the key into one shape instead of 6 separate shapes, using the Selection Tool, select the whole

shape and go to Window>Pathfinder to bring up the Pathfinder. On the top right of the pathfinder panel, click on

the drop-down menu. Select “Make Compound Shape”

If you click outside the key (somewhere else on your artboard), your key should now look like this:

Step 8: You can still make changes to the compound path at this stage. Try moving the top circle below the other

two circles. To do this, double click with the Selection Tool on the top circle (this takes you into isolation mode).

Now drag the top circle below the other two circles and click elsewhere. Your shape should now look like this:

Step 9: We want the key to be black, so using the selection tool, drag it around the entire key to select the whole

key.

Step 10: Double-click on the fill button (bottom) and, in the color picker, choose a brownish color.

Step 11: Now, with your entire key selected, (using the selection tool), click on “expand” in the pathfinder tool

panel (under Windows).

Step 12: Using the Ellipse tool, draw a circle in the middle of the top of the key (the mouse’s head).

Step 13: Select the selection tool, and drag around the entire key. Both the key and the center ellipse should be

selected. In the pathfinder, select the minus front (below). Your final results should look like the key below.

Step 14: Save the file as part2 for turning in. Save it as a gif file as well (part2.gif)

Part 3:Working with Color and Strokes

Step 1: Open a new file. Call it part3, and make sure RGB is selected.

Step 2: On the artboard, create an ellipse using the ellipse tool (under the rectangle tool drop-down menu). I

made a long, relatively narrow ellipse, like a surf-board.

Step 3: You’ve already filled shapes with color using the fill tool at the bottom of the toolbar. This time, let’s use

swatches. On the right, click on the swatches palate to open up the swatches palate. Select a color by clicking on

it. The ellipse should fill with the color you selected.

Step 4: Let’s give our ellipse a stroke (a border) using the control palette at the top of the artboard. Pick a

contrasting color:

Step 5: To make the border wider, adjust the stroke to 8 pt.

Step 6: To apply gradient to your object, make sure your ellipse is selected. Then, at the bottom of the toolbar,

click on the Gradient Fill.

By default it is a Grayscale gradient. We want color. So first we need to change the mode to RGB:

Step 8: Click on the white box that looks like a house on the leftmost side of the slider in the gradient palate. A box

should pop up. Click on the drop-down arrow in the upper right corner of this popped-up box. You should get a

menu of color schemes, with Grayscale currently selected. Change the selection to RGB.

Step 9: Now you can change the first color in the gradient by sliding around the red, green, and blue amounts.

Alternatively, you can use the color swatches to pick your first color:

Step 10: Repeat to pick the second color on the gradient by clicking on the house arrow at the other end of the

gradient tool

Step 11: Slide the center arrow around to adjust the gradient until it is something you like.

Step 11: To add a new gradient stop to the gradient, click right below the gradient ramp to create a new stop.

Change it to another color – make it a color that’s different enough that you can see the change. Feel free to slide

the gradient around to adjust the transition

(If you want to remove it, just drag the new house (stop) out of the Palette.)

Step 12: Now click on the selection tool. Make a copy of the ellipse by holding the alt/cmd key down and dragging

the ellipse so that it is straight across from your original.

Step 13: In the gradient tool palate, select reverse gradient to reverse the gradient color order:

Step 14: Make another copy of the ellipse (either). Drag it toward the center (you’ll be repositioning this, so the

exact location doesn’t matter)

Step 15: In the tool bar, select the rotate tool.

Step 16: With the shift bar held down, click on the new ellipse and rotate it 90degrees. Position it above the

center point between your other two ellipses (so it looks like it’s sticking straight up and out of the middle.

Step 17: Use the selection tool to make a copy of the vertical ellipse from step 16, and drag it straight down. For

the ellipse of 16 or 17, you’ll have to reverse the gradient of one of them so all the ellipses have the same color in

the center. (see below)

Step 18: Using the Ellipse tool, create a circle in the middle of the 4 ellipses. Hold the shift key down while you

draw the circle to ensure that you have a perfect circle. Give it a nice colored stroke (border), 8 pts.

Step 19: It is possible that since you’ve got the gradient tool filling your other ellipses, the new circle you’ve just

created will be filled with a gradient fill as well. While we do want a gradient fill, this linear gradient isn’t exactly

what we want. Instead, we’d like a radial gradient. Select radial in the gradient palate. Add another house stop to

add another gradient. I made mine white because it contrasts nicely

Step 20: Create yet another circle, this time in the center of the first circle. Hold the shift key down to make it a perfect circle. (If you draw it and it isn’t in the exact middle, you can always use the selection tool to reposition it).

Step 21: We’re going to fill this circle with a pattern. Choose your color swatches (right side, 2 down). At the bottom left of the swatches palate, there’s a Swatches Library Menu. Click on this. You’ll see a drop-down menu of different libraries. There should be a Pattern library. Pick one. Make sure your inner circle is selected, and choose one of the patterns to fill the inner circle.

Step 22: Save your file. Yeah, I don’t know what it is either, but it’s sort of cool looking. Save it as part3.gif

To Turn In: The folder containing:

part1 (and part1.gif)

part2 (and part2.gif)

part3 (and part3.gif)