Learning Graphic Design & Illustration

Gradients, Blends, and Patterns Lesson 23 TEACHING TIP

4. Click the Gradient panel icon ( ) to open the panel. Ensure that the Fill box is In step #5, the Align options won’t appear
selected, click the Gradient menu arrow ( ), and then select White, Black to unless the rectangle is selected.
apply the generic gradient to the fill.
Note: Depending on your screen
5. Select the Selection tool ( ), and choose Align To Artboard from the Align To resolution, you may need to click
menu in the Control panel (if necessary). Click the Horizontal Align Center the word “Align” in the Control
button ( ) and the Vertical Align Bottom button ( ) to align the rectangle to the panel to access the Align panel.
center and bottom of the artboard.

Align the rectangle to the artboard.

6. Change Stroke Weight to 0 in the Control panel, and leave the
shape selected.

7. In the Gradient panel, change Angle to –90° by choosing it from the menu.

Select the new angle Appearance of the gradient after adjusting angle.
from the menu.

8. Double-click the white color stop in the Gradient panel. In the panel that ap-
pears, make sure that the Swatches button ( ) is selected, and select the color
swatch named “Water.” Press the Escape key once to hide the swatches.

Apply the Water swatch to Gradient with the new color added.
the left stop.

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LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 593

Discussion Topic Lesson 23 Gradients, Blends, and Patterns

What is opacity? What does it mean for 9. With the leftmost color stop still selected in the Gradient panel, change
something to have a 0% opacity value? Opacity to 0%.

Adjust opacity to 0%. Gradient with transparency added.

10. Double-click the rightmost color stop (the black color). In the panel that appears,
with the Swatches button ( ) selected, select the color swatch named “Water.”
Press the Escape key once to hide the swatches.

Water swatch color added Gradient with change to right stop color.
to right stop.

11. Drag the gradient midpoint (the diamond shape) to the right until you see a value
of approximately 60% in the Location field. Click the Gradient panel tab to col-
lapse the Gradient panel group.

Drag the gradient mid-
point to the right.

12. Choose Object > Lock > Selection.
13. Choose File > Save.

594 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

594 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Gradients, Blends, and Patterns Lesson 23 REVIEW THE
VOCABULARY
The current appearance of the project.
Blend object The object formed when
Working with Blended Objects blending multiple shapes or colors.

You can blend two distinct objects to create and distribute shapes evenly between TEACHING TIP
two objects. The two shapes you blend can be the same or different. You can also
blend between two open paths to create a smooth transition of color between Blending two objects essentially morphs
objects, or you can combine blends of colors and objects to create color transitions the first object into the second object.
in the shape of a particular object. Illustrator lets you choose how many
The following are examples of different types of blended objects you can create: steps it takes.

Blend between two of
the same shape.

Blend between two of the same
shape, each with a different color fill.

Blend between two
different shapes with

different fill colors.

Blend between two of the
same shape along a path.

Smooth color blend between
two stroked lines (original

lines on left, blend on right).

When you create a blend, the blended objects are treated as one object, called a Blend object
blend object. If you move one of the original objects or edit the anchor points of the
original object, the blend changes accordingly. You can also expand the blend to The object formed when blending
divide it into distinct objects. multiple shapes or colors.

Creating a Blend with Specified Steps

Next, you’ll use the Blend tool ( ) to blend two shapes that you will later use to
create a pattern fill for the water beneath the ship.

Try It!

1. Scroll down in the Document window so that you can see shapes off the bottom
of the artboard. You will create a blend between those two shapes.

LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 595

LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 595

Discussion Topic Lesson 23 Gradients, Blends, and Patterns

What happened after Step #3 when you 2. Select the Zoom tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and drag from left to right, across
clicked to create a blend between the the large and small white shapes off the bottom of the artboard, to zoom in.
two objects? How many new objects
were created? 3. Select the Blend tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and position the pointer over the
larger shape on the left. Click when the pointer displays an asterisk ( ).
Note: You can add more than Then, hover over the small shape on the right until the pointer displays a plus
two objects to a blend. sign ( ), indicating that you can add an object to the blend. Click to create a
blend between these two objects.
Note: If you wanted to end the
current path and blend other
objects, you would first click the
Blend tool in the Tools panel and
then click the other objects, one
at a time, to blend them.

Click the first object with the Blend tool. Click the second object to create the blend.

Note: To edit the blend options 4. With the blended object still selected, choose Object > Blend > Blend Options.
for an object, you can also In the Blend Options dialog box, choose Specified Steps from the Spacing menu,
select the blend object and then change Specified Steps to 10, and then click OK.
double-click the Blend tool. You
can also double-click the Blend
tool ( ) in the Tools panel to set
tool options before you create
the blend object.

Spine Select desired number of steps. The modified blend.

The path along which the steps 5. Select the Selection tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and double-click anywhere on
of a blend are aligned. the blend object to enter Isolation mode.
This temporarily ungroups the blended objects and lets you edit each original
shape, as well as the spine (path).

6. Choose View > Outline.
In Outline mode, you can see the outlines of the two original shapes and a
straight path between them. The straight path you see, called the spine, is the
path along which the steps in a blend object are aligned. These three objects are
what a blend object is composed of, by default. It can be easier to edit the path
between the original objects in Outline mode.

7. Click to select the edge of the smaller shape.

8. Choose View > GPU Preview if supported or View > Preview On CPU if not.

Select the blend object in Outline mode.
596 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

596 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Gradients, Blends, and Patterns Lesson 23 Discussion Topic

9. Drag the smaller shape roughly into the center of the larger shape, and you will Note: To release, or remove, a What is the spine of a blended object?
see the blend change. blend from the original objects, How do you reveal it?
select the blend and choose
Object > Blend > Release. Read step #4 before you complete it.
What do you think will be the end result
of the step?

Drag the object to the left. The adjusted blend.

Make sure you drag the shape and not the path (the spine). You may want to
zoom in (Command++ [Mac OS] or Ctrl++ [Windows]) to make it easier
to select.

10. Choose Select > Deselect, and press the Escape key to exit Isolation mode.

Modifying a Blend

Now you’ll create another blend and edit the shape of the straight path, called the
spine, which the objects blend along. You will create a blend between two copies
of the blended object you just created. Blending between two objects that are also
blended objects can produce unexpected results. That’s why you will expand
the blended object first (and understand what that means).

Try It!

1. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.

2. Select the Zoom tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and drag to the right, across the
orange flag off the right side of the ship to zoom in.

3. With the Selection tool ( ) selected, click to select the flag. Option-drag
(Mac OS) or Alt-drag (Windows) the flag down along the edge of the orange sail,
as you see in the figure.

Alt+drag the flag. Copied flag in place. Note: Expanding a blended
object divides the blend into
4. Double-click the Blend tool ( ) in the Tools panel to open the Blend Options distinct objects, which you
dialog box. Change the specified steps to 6. Click OK. can edit individually like any
object. The objects are grouped
5. With the Blend tool selected, position the pointer over the top flag. Click when together by default. To expand a
the pointer displays an asterisk ( ). Then, hover over the bottom flag until the blend, you can choose Object >
pointer displays a plus sign ( ). Click to blend the objects. There is now a blend Blend > Expand. You can no
between these two objects. longer edit the blended object
as a single object because
it has become a group of
individual shapes.

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LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 597

TEACHING TIP Lesson 23 Gradients, Blends, and Patterns

Activate (click on) the Ship layer in the
Layers panel to complete the Try It! activ-
ity that begins at the bottom of the page.

Note: Another way to reshape Shapes copied using Blend options.
the spine of a blend is to blend
the shapes along another path. 6. Choose View > Outline.
You can draw another path,
select the blend as well, and 7. Choose Select > Deselect.
then choose Object > Blend >
Replace Spine. 8. Select the Pen tool ( ) in the Tools panel. Press the Option key (Mac OS) or Alt
key (Windows), and position the pointer over the path between the flags. When
the pointer changes ( ), drag the path to the left, as in the first part of the figure.

9. Choose View > GPU Preview if supported or View > Preview On CPU if not to see
the change. Press Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows), and drag the selected path a
bit more (if needed) so that the flags appear to come from behind the sail (see the
following figure).

Position the pointer on the path Blend shapes have been repositioned.
and drag to the left.

10. Choose Select > Deselect.

Creating and Editing a Smooth Color Blend

You can choose several options for blending the shapes and colors of objects to create
a new object. When you choose the Smooth Color blend option in the Blend Options
dialog box, Illustrator combines the shapes and colors of the objects into many inter-
mediate steps, creating a smooth, graduated blend between the original objects. If
objects are filled or stroked with different colors, the steps are calculated to provide
the optimum number of steps for a smooth color transition. If the objects contain
identical colors or if they contain gradients or patterns, the number of steps is based
on the longest distance between the bounding box edges of the two objects.

Now you’ll combine two shapes into a smooth color blend to make the ship.

Try It!

1. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.

2. Select the Zoom tool, and click twice to zoom into the windows on the ship.

598 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

598 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Gradients, Blends, and Patterns Lesson 23 Discussion Topic

You will now blend the two paths that will become the ship. Both paths have a After step #5, why is the ship all one color?
stroke color and no fill. Objects that have strokes blend differently than those
that have no stroke. TEACHING TIP

3. Select the Blend tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and position the pointer ( ) over Be sure you’re applying these changes to
the top line beneath the sails and click. Position the pointer ( ) over the bottom the Stroke color, not the Fill color.
line, and click. Leave the blend object selected.
The blend you created is using the last settings from the Blend Options dialog
box (Specified Steps: 6).
Next, you’ll change the blend settings for the ship so that it blends as smooth
color, rather than in specified steps.

Click the top line with the Blend tool. Click the bottom line to make the blend.

4. Double-click the Blend tool in the Tools panel. In the Blend Options dialog box,
choose Smooth Color from the Spacing menu to set up the blend options,
which will remain set until you change them. Select Preview, and then click OK.

Change the Spacing setting to Smooth Color. Note: Creating smooth color
blends between paths can be
5. Choose Select > Deselect. difficult in certain situations.
For instance, if the lines intersect
When you make a smooth color blend between objects, Illustrator automatically or the lines are too curved,
calculates the number of intermediate steps necessary to create the transition unexpected results can occur.
between the objects. Once you’ve applied a smooth color blend to objects, you
can edit it.

Next, you will edit the paths that make up the blend.

6. Using the Selection tool ( ), double-click the color blend (the ship) to enter Iso-
lation mode. Click the top path to select it, and change the Stroke color
in the Control panel to any color you want. Press the Escape key to hide the
panel. Notice how the colors are blended.

Adjusting the smooth color blend.

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LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 599

REVIEW THE Lesson 23 Gradients, Blends, and Patterns
VOCABULARY
7. Choose Edit > Undo Apply Swatch until the original stroke color is showing.
Pattern Saved artwork that can be applied 8. Double-click away from the blend to exit Isolation mode and deselect the ship.
to a stroke or fill. 9. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.

Pattern The current appearance of the project.

Saved artwork that can be 10. Choose File > Save.
applied to a stroke or fill.
Painting with Patterns

In addition to process and spot colors, the Swatches panel can also contain
pattern and gradient swatches. Illustrator provides sample swatches of each type
in the default Swatches panel as separate libraries and lets you create your own
patterns and gradients. In this section, you will focus on creating, applying, and
editing patterns.

Applying an Existing Pattern

A pattern is artwork saved in the Swatches panel that can be applied to the stroke
or fill of an object. You can customize existing patterns and design patterns from
scratch with any of the Illustrator tools. All patterns start with a single tile that is tiled
(repeated) within a shape, starting at the ruler origin and continuing to the right. Next,
you will apply an existing pattern to a shape.

Try It!

1. Choose Object > Unlock All, and then choose Select > Deselect.

2. With the Selection tool ( ) selected, click to select the rectangle with the blue
gradient that represents the sky (behind the text and ship).

3. Choose Window > Appearance to open the Appearance panel. Click the Add
New Fill button at the bottom of the panel. This adds a second gradient fill to the
rectangle and layers it on top of the first.

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600 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Gradients, Blends, and Patterns Lesson 23 TEACHING TIP

In step #6, you want the Swatch Libraries
option (not Swatches) near the bottom of
the pull down menu. You can make the
same selection from the menu icon at the
top right of the Swatches panel.

Adding a new fill to the rectangle. Note: You’ll learn all about the
Appearance panel in Lesson
4. In the Appearance panel, click the top word “Fill:” to select the top Fill row. An 25 “Exploring Creative Uses of
arrow is pointing to it in the figure. Effects and Graphic Styles.”

5. Choose Window > Swatch Libraries > Patterns > Decorative > Vonster Patterns to Note: You can type the word
open the pattern library. “diadem” in the Find field to sort
the pattern swatches or choose
6. In the Vonster Patterns panel, select the Diadem pattern swatch to fill the path Small List View from the panel
with the pattern. Close the Vonster Patterns panel. menu to see the names of the
pattern swatches.
Select the specified pattern.

The pattern swatch fills the shape as a second fill on top of the first and is added
to the list in the Swatches panel for this document.

Pattern applied to the sky.

7. Click the word “Opacity” in the Control panel above the artwork to open the
Transparency panel (or choose Window > Transparency). Choose Screen from
the blending mode menu, and change the opacity value to 30. Press the Escape
key to hide the panel.

Adjust the opacity and blending mode.

8. Choose Object > Lock > Selection, and then choose File > Save.

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LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 601

TEACHING TIP Lesson 23 Gradients, Blends, and Patterns

The second yellow note would make a Creating Your Own Pattern
good activity for independent practice.
Students who don’t like the flannel shirt In this section, you’ll create your own custom pattern and add it as a swatch to the
idea could design their own desktop wall- Swatches panel for this document.
paper or smartphone case pattern.
Try It!
Note: You don’t need to have
anything selected to start with a 1. Press and hold the spacebar, and drag the artboard up just enough to see the
blank pattern. blend object off the bottom of the artboard, if necessary.

2. With the Selection tool ( ), click to select the blend object, and choose Object >
Pattern > Make. Click OK in the dialog box that appears.

Note: A pattern can be First step in defining a custom pattern.
composed of shapes, symbols, or
embedded raster images, among When you create a pattern, Illustrator enters Pattern Editing mode, which is
other objects. For instance, similar to the group Isolation mode you’ve worked with in previous lessons.
to create a flannel pattern for Pattern Editing mode allows you to create and edit patterns interactively, while
a shirt, you can create three previewing the changes to the pattern on the artboard. All other artwork is
overlapping rectangles or lines, dimmed and cannot be edited while in this mode. The Pattern Options panel
each with varying appearance (Window > Pattern Options) also opens, giving you all the necessary options to
options. create your pattern.

3. With the Selection tool, click the artwork in the center to select it.

The blend object is now a group of objects. In a pattern, blend objects are ex-
panded and grouped, which means you can no longer edit the artwork as
a blend object. Going forward, the blend object will be referred to as a group.

4. Press Command++ (Mac OS) or Ctrl++ (Windows) several times to zoom in.

The series of lighter-colored objects around the center shape are the pattern
repeat. They are there for a preview and are dimmed to let you focus on the
original. The blue box around the original group of objects is the pattern tile (the
area that repeats).

5. In the Pattern Options panel, change the Name to Waves, and choose Hex
By Column from the Tile Type menu.

The name appears in the Swatches panel as a tooltip and can be useful to dis-
tinguish multiple pattern swatches. The Tile Type determines how the pattern is
tiled. You have three main Tile Type choices: the default grid pattern, a brick-style
pattern, or the hex pattern.

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602 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Gradients, Blends, and Patterns Lesson 23 Discussion Topic

How do the three Tile Types differ?

TEACHING TIP

The three Tile Types are listed at the
bottom of page 602.

Choose Hex By Column. Note: Because the blend objects
are repeating in Pattern Editing
6. Choose 1 x 1 from the Copies menu at the bottom of the Pattern Options panel. mode, it may be difficult to select
This will remove the repeat and let you temporarily focus on the main the three original objects. You
pattern artwork. can choose View > Outline to
enter Outline mode to see the
7. With the Selection tool selected, drag the group over a little. After you have fin- original blend objects only.
ished dragging, notice that the blue tile moves with the artwork.

8. With the artwork group selected, Option-drag (Mac OS) or Alt-drag (Windows)
it twice to make three of them. Change the size of each to make them a little
different in size and arrange them something like you see in the figure.

Change Copies to 1 x 1. Note: The spacing values can be
either positive or negative values
9. In the Pattern Options panel, change the following options (use the following to move the tiles apart or to
figure as a guide): bring them closer together.

• Choose 5 x 5 from the Copies menu to see the repeat again. Note: The Pattern Options panel
has a host of other pattern-
• Select the Size Tile To Art option in the middle of the panel. editing options, including the
ability to see more or less of the
The Size Tile To Art selection fits the tile area (the blue hex shape) to the pattern, called Copies. To learn
bounds of the artwork, changing the spacing between the repeated objects. more about the Pattern Options
With Size Tile To Art deselected, you could manually change the width and the panel, search for “Create and
height of the pattern definition area in the Width and Height fields to include edit patterns” in Illustrator Help
more content or to edit the spacing between. You can also edit the tile area (Help > Illustrator Help).
manually with the Pattern Tile Tool button ( ) in the upper-left corner of the
Pattern Options panel.

• Change H Spacing to –0.25 in, and change V Spacing to –1 in.

• For Overlap, click the Bottom In Front button ( ), and notice the change in
the pattern.

The artwork in a pattern may begin to overlap due to the size of the tile or the
spacing values. By default, when objects overlap horizontally, the left object is
on top; when objects overlap vertically, the top object is on top.

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LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 603

TEACHING TIP Lesson 23 Gradients, Blends, and Patterns

Point out the yellow note at the top of
the page.

Note: If you want to create Adust the overlap.
pattern variations, you can
click Save A Copy in the bar 10. Select Show Swatch Bounds at the bottom of the Pattern Options panel to see
along the top of the Document the dotted area that will be saved in the swatch. Deselect Show Swatch Bounds.
window when in Pattern Editing
mode. This saves the current 11. Click Done in the bar along the top of the Document window. If a dialog box
pattern in the Swatches panel appears, click OK.
as a copy and allows you to
continue creating. Click Done.

12. Choose File > Save.

Applying your Pattern

You can assign a pattern using a number of different methods. In this section, you’ll
apply your pattern using the Fill color in the Control panel.

Try It!

1. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.
2. With the Selection tool ( ), click the scalloped white shape behind the ship.
3. Select the swatch named “Waves” from the Fill color in the Control panel.

Note: Your pattern may look The pattern has been added to the image.
different, and that’s okay.
4. Choose File > Save.

604 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

604 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Gradients, Blends, and Patterns Lesson 23 Discussion Topic

Editing your Pattern Note: You can also select an In step #2, when you chose Select All,
object filled with a pattern why were only three objects selected?
Next, you will edit the Waves pattern swatch in Pattern Editing mode. swatch and, with the Fill box
selected in the Swatches, Color, TEACHING TIP
Try It! or Tools panel, choose Object >
Pattern > Edit Pattern. The last few steps—in which you create
1. In the Swatches panel, double-click the Waves pattern swatch to edit it. a clipping mask—are worth repeating.
Note: In the Scale dialog box, Select the waves first, Shift+Click to select
2. In Pattern Editing mode, with the Selection tool ( ) selected, choose Select > All if you wanted to scale the the ship second, then Object > Clipping
to select all three of the objects. pattern and the shape, you can Mask > Make.
select Transform Objects and
3. In the Control panel, change the Stroke color to the swatch named “Window 1.” select Transform Patterns. You
can also transform patterns
4. Click Done in the gray bar along the top of the Document window to exit Pattern in the Transform panel by
Editing mode. choosing Transform Pattern
Only, Transform Object Only, or
5. Click the waves shape to select it, if necessary. Transform Both from the panel
menu ( ) before applying a
6. With the shape selected, double-click the Scale tool ( ) in the Tools panel to transformation.
scale the pattern but not the shape. In the Scale dialog box, change the following
options (if not already set):
• Uniform Scale: 120%
• Scale Corners: Deselected (the default setting)
• Scale Strokes & Effects: Deselected (the default setting)
• Transform Objects: Deselected
• Transform Patterns: Selected

Scale the pattern.

7. Select Preview to see the change. Click OK, and leave the shape selected.

8. Choose Object > Show All to show a hidden shape on top of the boat. You’ll use
that shape to mask the boat so that it looks like it’s in the water.

9. With the Selection tool and the new shape selected, Shift-click the boat shape.
Choose Object > Clipping Mask > Make.

Show the hidden shape. Create a clipping mask.

10. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save.

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LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 605

Comprehension Check Lesson 23 Gradients, Blends, and Patterns

1. A gradient is a graduated blend of two 11. Choose File > Close.
or more colors or of tints of the same
color. Gradients can be applied to the The completed project.
stroke or fill of an object.
Comprehension Check
2. To adjust the blend between colors
in a gradient, with the Gradient tool 1. What is a gradient?
selected and with the pointer over the 2. How do you adjust the blend between colors in a gradient?
gradient annotator or in the Gradi- 3. Name two ways you can add colors to a gradient.
ent panel, you can drag the diamond 4. How can you adjust the direction of a gradient?
icons or the color stops of the gradi- 5. What is the difference between a gradient and a blend?
ent slider.
606 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION
3. To add colors to a gradient, in the
Gradient panel, click beneath the gra-
dient slider to add a gradient stop to
the gradient. Then, double-click the
color stop to edit the color, using the
panel that appears to mix a new color
or to apply an existing color swatch.
You can select the Gradient tool in
the Tools panel, position the pointer
over the gradient-filled object, and
then click beneath the gradient slider
that appears in the artwork to add a
color stop.

4. Drag with the Gradient tool to adjust
the direction of a gradient. Dragging a
long distance changes colors gradu-
ally; dragging a short distance makes
the color change more abrupt. You
can also rotate the gradient using the
Gradient tool and change the radius,
aspect ratio, starting point, and more.

5. One difference between a gradient
and a blend is the way that colors
combine together—colors blend to-
gether within a gradient and between
objects in a blend.

606 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Working with Layers and Fills Chapter 11 REVIEW QUESTIONS

End-of-Chapter Activities 1. The benefits of using layers when
creating artwork include organizing
Review Questions content, selecting content more easily,
protecting artwork that you don’t want
1. Name at least two benefits of using layers when creating artwork. to change, hiding artwork that you
2. Describe how to locate an object on a particular layer in the Layers panel. aren’t working with so that it’s not dis-
3. Why would you want to merge layers? tracting, and controlling what prints.
4. How do you create a layer clipping mask?
5. What is the difference between a linear gradient and a radial gradient? 2. Click the object on the artboard, then
6. Describe how to apply a gradient to multiple objects so that the gradient blends from the first object to the click the Locate Object button on the
Layers panel. The selected object’s
last object. layer is highlighted in the layer stack.
7. How could you use a blend to create a series of rectangles that are the same size and positioned the same
3. Merging layers groups objects of the
distance apart? same type on a single layer, rather
8. When you save a pattern in Illustrator, where is it saved? than distributing every single object
as its own layers. This makes the Lay-
Multiple Choice ers panel more organized and easier
to work with.
1. By default, a new layer is added
a. always at the top of the layer stack 4. Create a clipping mask on a layer by
b. always at the bottom of the layer stack selecting the layer and clicking the
c. above the currently selected layer Make/Release Clipping Mask button in
d. below the currently selected layer the Layers panel. The topmost object in
the layer becomes the clipping mask.
2. To hide the contents of a layer,
a. click the eye icon to the left of the layer name 5. A linear gradient blends from one side
b. click the lock symbol to the left of the layer name of an object to the other. A radial gra-
c. double-click the layer name dient blends from the center outward.
d. drag the layer name out of the Layers panel
6. Select all objects and then apply the
3. When you apply an appearance attribute to a layer, gradient. The gradient will apply to
a. only the topmost object in the layer is affected each object individually. Then, with
b. all objects on the layer display the attribute the objects still selected, select the
c. the attribute will not apply to objects in sublayers Gradient tool and drag from one side
d. you must use attributes from the Layer Effects category of the group to the other.

4. The object that will be used as a clipping mask must 7. Position one rectangle at the starting
a. have no fill or stroke point of the series. Select the rect-
b. appear below the object that will be masked angle, hold down Alt (and Shift, if you
c. be on a different layer from the object that will be masked want to keep the blend objects on
d. appear above the object that will be masked the same plane), and drag a copy of
the rectangle to the end point of the
5. On the gradient annotator bar, the larger circle shows series. Select the Blend tool and click
a. the starting point of the gradient the first rectangle, then click the sec-
b. the ending point of the gradient ond rectangle. To adjust the number
c. the direction of the gradient of copies, double-click the Blend tool
d. the type of gradient and specify the number of steps in
the Blend Options dialog box.
LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 607
8. When you save a pattern in Illustrator,
MULTIPLE CHOICE it is saved as a swatch in the Swatches
panel. By default, swatches are saved
1. C with the current document open.
2. A
3. B
4. D
5. A

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MULTIPLE CHOICE Chapter 11 Working with Layers and Fills

6. C 6. To change a radial gradient into an elliptical gradient,
7. C a. select Elliptical from the Gradient panel’s type list
8. B b. type a new value in the Angle box
c. type a new value in the Aspect Ratio box
d. drag the annotator bar to create an ellipse

7. Which of these options is NOT available when aligning a gradient to a stroke?
a. within stroke
b. along stroke
c. outside stroke
d. across stroke

8. The path along which blended objects are aligned is called the
a. backbone
b. spine
c. blend path
d. bounding box

Chapter 11 – Portfolio Builder

Working with Layers to Create a Print Ad

In this exercise, you will modify and rearrange layers in an illustration to finalize an advertisement for Global
Solutions. All the objects you need are currently on the default Layer 1. You will create new layers and sublayers,
edit layers and objects, apply appearance attributes to a layer, and create a clipping mask.

Everywhere in
the World

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Working with Layers and Fills Chapter 11

DIRECTIONS 13. Create a new layer named Space.

1. In Illustrator, choose File > Open, navigate to the • Click one of the star shapes on the black back-
folder holding the data files for this chapter, and ground to select the brush stroke.
double-click PB11Start.ai to open it.
• Locate the path in the Layers panel, and then
2. Click File > Save As, navigate to the location where move it to the Space layer.
your instructor directs you to save files for this
chapter’s projects, and rename the file PB11End_ • Drag the Everywhere in the World text to the
xx.ai. Leave the default format selected, and click Space layer.
Save. Click OK in the Illustrator Options dialog box.
• Move the path object below the text object.
3. Choose Window > Layers to display the Layers panel.
14. Create a new layer named Background and move
4. Click the disclosure triangle to display all the the irregular black rectangle into this layer.
objects on the layer. Increase the depth of the
Layers panel as necessary to see all objects. 15. Click the Global Heading layer disclosure tri-
Increase the width of the Layers panel if necessary angle to collapse the layer, and then move the
to see all object names. Background layer to the bottom of the layer stack.

5. Double-click the Layer 1 name and rename the 16. With the Background layer selected, create a new
layer Global Heading. layer named Earth. Expand the Global Heading
layer and drag the three paths into the Earth layer.
6. Alt+click the Create a New Sublayer button, and
name the new sublayer Text. 17. You have now distributed all objects to their correct
layers. To finalize the image, first collapse all layers
7. Drag the Global Solutions object into the Text and then move the Blend layer to the top of the
sublayer. Layers panel. Create a blend from the shapes on
this layer:
8. Click the Global Heading layer and Alt+click the
Create a New Sublayer button. Name the new • Select the Blend tool in the Tools panel, click
sublayer Horizontal Dash. Click OK. the light yellow rectangle, then click the dark
red rectangle.
9. Click the dark red horizontal dashed line on the
artboard and click the Locate Object button to find • Double-click the Blend tool to open the Blend
the path in the Layers panel. Options dialog box.

10. Choose Edit > Cut, select the Horizontal Dash • Click the Spacing down arrow and select Speci-
sublayer, and click Edit > Paste in Place. fied Steps. Change the number of steps to 16.

11. With the Global Heading layer selected, click • Collapse the Blend layer and move it below the
the Create a New Layer button. Name the new Global Heading layer.
layer Blend.
18. Expand the Earth layer if necessary. Move the
12. Drag to the Blend layer the two path objects blue planet object above the second path, so it is
currently at the bottom of the Global Heading between the two yellow dashed lines representing
layer—a light yellow rectangle and a dark red an orbit.
rectangle.
19. Move the Space layer below the Earth layer.

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Chapter 11 Working with Layers and Fills

20. The heading objects still need some work. • Click the Text sublayer and then click the Make/
Release Clipping Mask button at the bottom of
• Click the Global Heading layer and then click the Layers panel.
the Layers panel menu icon and choose Enter
Isolation Mode. • Double-click on the artboard to exit Isola-
tion Mode.
• On the Layers panel, select the Rectangle object
at the bottom of the layer stack to select it on 21. Click the target icon to the right of the Global
the artboard. Make sure Fill is selected in the Heading layer name. Add an effect to the
Tools panel. entire layer:

• Click Window> Swatch Libraries > Patterns > • Click Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow.
Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Textures.
• Change the X offset, Y offset, and Blur values
• In the Basic Graphics_Textures pattern library, to 2 pts.
click the third pattern from the left in the bottom
row, USGS 7 Vineyard. Close the pattern library. 22. Save and close the file, and close Illustrator.

• Move the Rectangle object into the Text sublayer,
below the Global Solutions text object.

Chapter 11 – Critical Thinking

Applying Gradients to Improve a PR Graphic

Greenwood Conservancy has reviewed the illustration you created for their new fundraising campaign. They
would like you to prepare another version of your original illustration, with more visual impact. You can provide a
different look by applying gradients and a background to your original image. A colleague has begun the modifica-
tions by creating one gradient, named Greenwood. In this exercise, you will modify, create, and apply the remain-
ing gradients.

DIRECTIONS • Remove the far-right gradient stop.

1. Open CT11Start.ai and save it as CT11End_xx.ai in • Change the color of the remaining gradient stop
the location where your instructor directs you to to C=30, M=0, Y=100, K=0, and then drag the
save files for this chapter’s projects. stop close to 68%.

2. On the artboard, select the yellow gingko leaf at • Save the gradient in the Swatches panel as
the right and apply the Greenwood gradient from Redbud.
the Swatches panel. Use the Gradient panel to
change the angle to -90°. Adjust the color of the 4. Adjust the angle of the gradient so the gradient
left stop to C=0, M=0, Y=80, K=0. Add a gradient runs from dark green at the base of the leaf to
stop at about 40% and apply a color of C=0, M=10, lighter green at the tip of the leaf.
Y=100, K=0.
5. Select the central vein in the redbud leaf, apply the
3. Select the redbud leaf—the green leaf in the center. Redbud gradient, adjust the angle to 90°, and click
Create a gradient as follows: the Reverse Gradient button in the Gradient panel
to reverse the direction of the gradient.
• Click the gradient box in the Gradient panel
to apply the gradient you just modified for the 6. Click the center leaf in the group of three brown
gingko leaf. ash leaves to the left side of the artboard.

• Change the color of the left gradient stop to • Apply the Greenwood gradient. Change the
the C=85, M=10, Y=100, K=10 swatch in the gradient to a Radial gradient, and change the
Swatches panel. Aspect Ratio to 150%.

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Working with Layers and Fills Chapter 11

• Change opacity of the left gradient stop to 0%. 7. Drag the Gradient tool from the base of the leaf to
Add a gradient stop at about 50% with 100% the tip to adjust the gradient. Then apply and adjust
opacity and the Ash leaf swatch color. Change the Ash gradient for the other two ash leaves.
the right gradient stop color to C=5, M=85,
Y=90, K=35. 8. Isolate the Background layer, select the four
rounded rectangles, and apply the Greenwood gra-
• Save the gradient as Ash. dient. Then adjust the gradient so it blends across
all four objects.

9. Save and close the file, and close Illustrator.

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Chapter 12

Expanding Your
Toolkit with Brushes
and Styles

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Expanding Your Toolkit with Brushes and Styles Chapter 12 CHAPTER 12
OVERVIEW
Lesson 24 | Using Brushes Lesson 25 | Exploring Creative Uses
to Create a Poster of Effects and Graphic Styles In Chapter 11, you learned to use lay-
ers, gradients, blends, and patterns to
Use four brush types: Calligraphic, Art, Bristle, Work with the Appearance panel enhance your artwork. In this chapter
and Pattern Edit and apply appearance attributes you’ll continue to add to your Illustrator
Apply brushes to paths Copy, disable and enable, and remove appearance toolkit with a variety of brush tools,
Paint and edit paths with the Paintbrush tool attributes effects, and graphic styles.
Create an Art brush from a raster image Reorder appearance attributes
Change brush color and adjust brush settings Apply and edit an effect Lesson 24: Key skills include using the
Create new brushes from Adobe Illustrator artwork Apply a variety of effects calligraphic, art, pattern, bristle, and blob
Work with the Blob Brush tool and the Eraser tool Save and apply an appearance as a graphic style brush tools to create a poster.
Apply a graphic style to a layer
Scale strokes and effects Lesson 25: Key skills include using the
Draw an anatomical figure Appearance panel to edit and apply
appearance attributes, such as fills,
End-of-Chapter Activities strokes, and effects—and save a group of
attributes as a graphic style you can apply
to other objects. The lesson ends with
a review of anatomical figure drawing
in Illustrator.

Files Needed for This Chapter:

24Start.ai

24Tree.psd

25Start.ai

PB12Start.ai

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CHAPTER OPENER

In this chapter, you’ll use a variety of brush tools and add appearance attributes
and graphic styles to create two promotional posters.

MEET INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

More advanced learners: Choose up to three more advanced learners—includ-
ing any who are already familiar with Illustrator—to act as the Illustrator Shortcut
Police. As you move through the chapter it’s their job to point out keyboard
shortcuts for pull-down menu options or other commands. Have them keep a
running list to display or distribute to the class.

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FOCUS AND ENGAGE Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

Introduce the Lesson Lesson 24 Overview

Open a blank illustrator document, show In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do the following:
students how to activate the brush tool,
and let them experiment with it—BEFORE • Use four brush types: Calligraphic, Art, Bristle, • Change brush color and adjust brush settings.
they open the 24Start.ai file. and Pattern.
• Create new brushes from Adobe Illustrator
Discussion Topic • Apply brushes to paths. artwork.

What does the icon for the Brushes Panel • Paint and edit paths with the Paintbrush tool. • Work with the Blob Brush tool and the Eraser tool.
represent? In other words, what real-life
object(s) does it resemble? • Create an Art brush from a raster image.

TEACHING TIP The variety of brush types in Adobe Illustrator CC lets you create a myriad of effects simply by painting or drawing
using the Paintbrush tool or the drawing tools. You can work with the Blob Brush tool; choose from the Art,
When you reset Essentials, your Libraries Calligraphic, Pattern, Bristle, or Scatter brushes; or create new brushes based on your artwork.
panel will appear. It’s where your custom
colors, color themes, and other items Opening the Project File
you’ve uploaded via the Adobe Capture CC
app are stored. (Assuming you’re logged in In this lesson, you will learn how to work with the different brush types in the Brushes
to your Adobe CC account.) panel and how to change brush options and create your own brushes. Before you
begin, you’ll restore the default preferences for Adobe Illustrator CC.
Note: If you don’t see Reset
Essentials in the workspace Try It!
switcher menu, choose Window >
Workspace > Essentials before 1. Start Illustrator and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or
choosing Window > Workspace > Command+Option+Shift (Mac OS) to reset the default settings.
Reset Essentials.
2. When prompted, click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the Adobe
Illustrator Settings file.

3. Choose File > Open. If a panel appears, click Open in the panel. You could also
choose File > Open again. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the folder holding
the data files for this chapter, and double-click 24Start.ai to open it.

4. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.

5. Choose File > Save As, navigate to the location where your instructor directs
you to save files for this chapter’s projects, and rename the file 24End_xx.ai.
Leave the Format option set to Adobe Illustrator (ai) (Mac OS) or the Save As
Type option set to Adobe Illustrator (*.AI) (Windows), and then click Save.

6. In the Illustrator Options dialog box, leave the Illustrator options at their default
settings, and then click OK.

7. Choose Reset Essentials from the workspace switcher in the Application bar to
reset the workspace.

Working with Brushes

Using brushes you can decorate paths with patterns, figures, brush strokes, textures,
or angled strokes. You can modify the brushes provided with Illustrator and create
your own brushes.

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Types of brushes Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 Discussion Topic

A. Calligraphic brush Has anyone in the class ever tried cal-
B. Art brush ligraphy? Calligraphers most often write
C. Bristle brush with a flat-tipped pen (sometimes oval or
D. Pattern brush round-tipped) and make short downward
E. Scatter brush strokes holding the pen at the same angle
to the paper, usually 45°.
AB C DE
TEACHING TIPS
You can apply brush strokes to existing paths, or you can use the Paintbrush tool
to draw a path and apply a brush stroke simultaneously. You can change the color, Clear the brush strokes off your practice
size, and other features of a brush, and you can edit paths after brushes are applied page and demonstrate the difference
(including adding a fill). between the 5pt round, oval, and flat
brushes. Double-click on each brush in
Five types of brushes appear in the Brushes panel (Window > Brushes): Calligraphic, the Brushes panel and show where to
Art, Bristle, Pattern, and Scatter. In this lesson, you will discover how to work with all adjust the brush angle.
of these except for the Scatter brush.
Calligraphy comes from Greek words
A A. Brushes ‘kallos,’ which means beauty and
B. Brush Libraries Menu ‘graphein’ which means write.
B C. Libraries Panel
D. Remove Brush Stroke
C DE FG E. Options Of Selected Object
Brushes panel tools. F. New Brush
G. Delete Brush

Using Calligraphic Brushes

The first type of brush we’ll discuss is Calligraphic brushes. Calligraphic brushes
resemble strokes drawn with the angled point of a calligraphic pen. Calligraphic
brushes are defined by an elliptical shape whose center follows the path, and you
can use these brushes to create the appearance of hand-drawn strokes made with a
flat, angled pen tip.

Calligraphic brush examples.

Applying a Calligraphic Brush to Artwork

To get started, you’ll filter the types of brushes shown in the Brushes panel so that it
shows only Calligraphic brushes.

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LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 615

Discussion Topic Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

In step #7, why did we make change the Try It!
smaller (left side) of the two white paths
to gray? What’s the effect? 1. Click the Brushes panel icon ( ) on the right side of the workspace to
show the Brushes panel. Click the Brushes panel menu icon ( ), and
Note: A checkmark next to the choose List View.
brush type in the Brushes panel
menu indicates that the brush 2. Click the Brushes panel menu icon ( ) again, and deselect Show Art Brushes,
type is visible in the panel. Show Bristle Brushes, and Show Pattern Brushes, leaving only the Calligraphic
brushes visible in the Brushes panel. You can’t deselect them all at once, so you’ll
Note: Like drawing with an have to keep clicking the menu icon ( ) to access the menu.
actual calligraphic pen, when
you apply a Calligraphic brush, 3. Select the Selection tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and Shift-click both of the two
such as the 5 pt. Flat brush, curved pink paths above the orange/yellow shape of a ship to select both of them.
the more vertically the path is
drawn, the thinner the path’s 4. Click the 5 pt. Flat brush in the Brushes panel to apply it to the pink paths.
stroke appears.
5. Change the Stroke weight to 6 pt, and change the Stroke color to White in the
Control panel. Press the Escape key to hide the Swatches panel, if necessary.

Adjust stroke weight. Revised brush stroke on the artboard.

6. Choose Select > Deselect.

7. With the Selection tool, click the smaller of the white paths (the path on the right)
that you just applied the brush to. Change the Stroke color to a light gray in the
Control panel, such as the color with the tooltip values C=0, M=0, Y=0, K=10.

Change the stroke color to light gray.

8. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save.

Drawing with the Paintbrush Tool

As mentioned earlier, the Paintbrush tool allows you to apply a brush as you paint.
Painting with the Paintbrush tool creates vector paths that you can edit with the
Paintbrush tool or other drawing tools. Next, you’ll use the Paintbrush tool to paint
waves in the water with a calligraphic brush from a default brush library. Your waves
won’t look identical to what you see in the lesson, and that’s okay—just have some fun.

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Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 TEACHING TIP

Try It! At step #7, encourage students to undo
and redo their wave strokes several times
1. With the Selection tool ( ), click the darker blue water shape below the ship. to get the feel of the calligraphic brush.
2. Choose Select > Deselect. Any students who do have experience
with calligraphy—or got the hang of the
The water shape is on a sublayer behind the ship. Selecting the water shape calligraphic brush on the practice docu-
selects that sublayer in the Layers panel, which means that all of the waves you ment—may be more comfortable adjust-
create will also be on the same sublayer as the water shape. ing the angle of their brush to 35° to 45°.
3. Select the Paintbrush tool ( ) in the Tools panel.
4. Click the Brush Libraries Menu button ( ) at the bottom of the Brushes panel,
and choose Artistic > Artistic_Calligraphic. A brush library panel with various
brushes appears.
Illustrator comes with a host of brush libraries that you can use in your artwork.
Each of the brush types discussed previously has a series of libraries to choose from.

Display the Brush Libraries menu. Note: This Calligraphic brush
creates random angles on the
5. Click the Artistic_Calligraphic panel menu icon ( ), and choose List View. Click paths, so yours may not look like
the brush named “50 pt. Flat” to add it to the Brushes panel. Close the Artistic_ what you see in the figures, and
Calligraphic brush library. that’s okay.

Selecting a brush from a brush library, such as the Artistic_Calligraphic library,
adds that brush to the Brushes panel for the active document only.

6. Change the Fill color to None ( ), the Stroke color to the swatch named
“Dark Blue,” and the Stroke weight to 1 pt (if necessary) in the Control panel.

Notice that the Paintbrush pointer has an asterisk next to it ( ), indicating that
you are about to draw a new path.

7. Position the pointer off the left side of the artboard, just below the ship. Paint
a long, curving path from left to right, stopping about halfway across the water
(see the figure). Try creating three more paths, painting from left to right, going
all the way across the water. You can see the figure for ideas.

Brush as shown by red arrow. Brush additional strokes.

8. Choose Select > Deselect (if necessary), and then choose File > Save.

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TEACHING TIP Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

Step #2 is worth undoing and redoing Editing Paths with the Paintbrush Tool
several times to get the feel of how paint-
brush paths behave when they’re edited. Now you’ll use the Paintbrush tool to edit one of the paths you painted.

Note: You can also edit paths Try It!
drawn with the Paintbrush tool
using the Smooth tool ( ) and 1. Select the Selection tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and click to select the first path
the Path Eraser tool ( ), located you drew on the water (the one that is just below the bottom of the ship).
under the Pencil tool ( ) in the
Tools panel. 2. Select the Paintbrush tool ( ) in the Tools panel. Position the pointer near the
right end of the selected path. An asterisk will not appear next to the pointer
when it’s positioned over a selected path. Drag to the right to extend the path all
the way to the right edge of the artboard. The selected path is edited from the
point where you began drawing.

Position the pointer at the end of the brush stroke. Continue brushing to add to the stroke.

3. Press and hold the Command (Mac OS) or Ctrl (Windows) key to toggle to
the Selection tool, and click to select another curved path you drew with
the Paintbrush tool. After clicking, release the key to return to the Paintbrush
tool.

4. With the Paintbrush tool, move the pointer over some part of the selected path.
When the asterisk disappears next to the pointer, drag to the right to redraw
the path.

5. Choose Select > Deselect (if necessary), and then choose File > Save.
Next, you will edit the Paintbrush tool options.

6. Double-click the Paintbrush tool ( ) in the Tools panel to display the Paintbrush
Tool Options dialog box, and make the following changes:

• Fidelity: Drag the slider all the way to Smooth (to the right).

• Keep Selected: Selected.

Adjust fidelity and choose Keep Selected.
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Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 Discussion Topic

7. Click OK. In step #10, what’s the point of the Keep
The Paintbrush Tool Options dialog box changes the way the Paintbrush tool Selected option?
functions. For the Fidelity option, the closer to Smooth you drag the slider,
the smoother the path will be with fewer points. Also, because you selected
Keep Selected, the paths remain selected after you finish drawing them.

8. Change the Stroke color to the swatch named “Medium Blue,” and change the
Stroke weight to 0.5 pt in the Control panel.

9. With the Paintbrush tool selected, paint three or four more paths from either left to
right or right to left across the water shape below the ship.

Continue to add paths. Note: When the Keep Selected
option is deselected, you can
Notice that, after painting each path, the path is still selected, so you could edit it edit a path by selecting it with
if you needed. the Selection tool ( ) or by
selecting a segment or point on
10. Double-click the Paintbrush tool in the Tools panel. In the Paintbrush Tool the path with the Direct Selection
Options dialog box, deselect the Keep Selected option, and then click OK. tool ( ) and then redrawing part
Now the paths will not remain selected after you finish drawing them, and you of the path with the Paintbrush
can draw overlapping paths without altering previously drawn paths. tool, as you saw previously.

11. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save. Note: The Preview window in
the dialog box (below the Name
Editing a Brush field) shows the changes that
you make to the brush.
To change the options for a brush, you can double-click the brush in the Brushes panel. Note: The edits you make
When you edit a brush, you can also choose whether to change artwork to which the will change the brush for this
brush has been applied. Next, you’ll change the appearance of the 50 pt. Flat brush document only.
you’ve been painting with.

Try It!

1. In the Brushes panel, double-click the brush thumbnail for the brush named
“50 pt. Flat” to open the Calligraphic Brush Options dialog box. In the dialog box,
make the following changes:
• Name: 30 pt. Flat
• Angle: 0°
• Choose Fixed from the menu to the right of Angle. (When Random
is chosen, a random variation of brush angles is created every time
you draw.)
• Roundness: 5% (the default setting)
• Size: 30 pt

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Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

Rename the brush and adjust its settings.

2. Click OK.
3. In the dialog box that appears, click Leave Strokes so as not to apply the brush

change to the existing waves that have the brush applied.

Choose not to apply the new settings to existing strokes.

4. Change the Stroke color to the swatch named “Light Blue,” and change the
Stroke weight to 1 pt in the Control panel.

5. Click the 30 pt. Flat brush in the Brushes panel to ensure that you will paint with
it applied. With the Paintbrush tool ( ) selected, paint three paths across the
water to create more waves, overlapping the existing waves. Use the figure as a
guide, if you like.

Add new paths with the adjusted brush.

6. Choose Select > Deselect, if necessary, and then choose File > Save.
The artwork should be deselected already, and, if it is, the Deselect command
will be dimmed (you can’t select it).

Removing a Brush Stroke

You can easily remove a brush stroke applied to artwork where you don’t want it.
Now you’ll remove the brush stroke on the cloud.

Try It!

1. Select the Selection tool ( ), and click the blue cloud with the white stroke in
the sky.

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Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 Discussion Topic

2. Click the Remove Brush Stroke button ( ) at the bottom of the What are two ways to remove a
Brushes panel. brush stroke?
Removing a brush stroke doesn’t remove the stroke color and weight; it just
removes the brush applied.

Click Remove Brush Stroke.

3. Change the Stroke weight to 0 pt in the Control panel.
4. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save.

Using Art Brushes

Art brushes stretch artwork or an embedded raster image evenly along the length of
a path. As with other brushes, you can edit the brush options to affect how the brush
is applied to artwork.

Art brush examples.

Applying an Existing Art Brush

Next, you will apply an existing Art brush to waves at the front of the boat.

Try It!

1. In the Brushes panel, click the Brushes panel menu icon ( ), and deselect
Show Calligraphic Brushes. Then select Show Art Brushes from the same panel
menu to make the art brushes visible in the Brushes panel.

2. Click the Brush Libraries Menu button ( ) at the bottom of the Brushes panel,
and choose Artistic > Artistic_Paintbrush.

3. Click the Artistic_Paintbrush panel menu icon ( ), and choose List View. Click
the brush named “Brush 3” in the list to add the brush to the Brushes panel for
this document. Close the Artistic_Paintbrush panel group.

4. Select the Paintbrush tool ( ) in the Tools panel.

5. Change the Stroke color to White (if necessary) and the Stroke weight to 1 pt,
and make sure that the Fill color is None ( ) in the Control panel.

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TEACHING TIP Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

It may take a few tries to get a realis- 6. Click the Layers panel icon ( ) on the right side of the workspace to open the
tic-looking spray where the ship meets Layers panel. Click the Spray/Tree sublayer so that the new artwork is on that
the water. Point out the tip in the yellow layer. Click the Layers panel icon to collapse the panel.
box—the precise cursor may help.

Note: With the Paintbrush pointer Select the Spray/Tree sublayer.
selected, press the Caps Lock
key to see a precise cursor (X). In 7. Position the Paintbrush pointer ( ) at the bottom front of the ship in the red
certain situations, this can help to area (marked with an X in the figure). Drag to the left along the bottom of the
paint with more precision. red strip on the ship, just along the water line. See the figure for ideas, and don’t
worry about being exact. You can always choose Edit > Undo Art Stroke and
repaint the path.

Begin your stoke at the “X.”

8. Paint a path from the same starting point (the red X in previous figure), but drag
to the right this time. Then paint a “U” shape around the starting point (from
left to right) to cover any red showing. The figure shows both paths. (See the
figure—start at the X in the figure for the “U” shape.)

Add another stroke with the brush.

9. Try adding a few more painted paths, always starting from the same point as the
end of the original path you painted.

The current appearance of the illustration.

10. Choose File > Save.

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622 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 TEACHING TIP

Creating an Art Brush Using a Raster Image Note: To learn about guidelines Encourage students to experiment with
for creating brushes, see “Create the Palm Tree brush they create on this
In this section, you’ll place a raster image, embedding it, to use in a new Art brush. or modify brushes” in Illustrator page. Just undo all but the first tree
When you create a new brush (for any of the brush types), it appears in the Brushes Help (Help > Illustrator Help). before moving on.
panel of the current document only.

Try It!

1. Choose File > Place. In the Place dialog box, navigate to the folder that holds the
data files for this chapter, and select the image named 24Tree.psd. Make sure to
deselect the Link option. Click Place.

Make sure Link is not selected in the Place dialog box. Note: When dealing with
embedded images and brushes,
2. Position the pointer off of the artboard on the right. Click to place the image. there is a direct impact on the
Next, you will make an Art brush from the selected artwork. You can make an performance of the document in
Art brush from vector artwork or from embedded raster images, but that artwork Illustrator. There is a fixed limit to
must not contain gradients, blends, other brush strokes, mesh objects, graphs, the size of the embedded image
linked files, masks, or text that has not been converted to outlines. that can be used for a brush.
You may see a dialog box telling
3. Select the Selection tool ( ). Choose Window > Brushes to open the Brushes you that the image needs to be
panel and click the New Brush button ( ) at the bottom of the Brushes panel. resampled before you can make a
This begins the process of creating a new brush from the selected raster artwork. brush from it.

4. In the New Brush dialog box, select Art Brush, and then click OK.

5. In the Art Brush Options dialog box that appears, change Name to Palm Tree. Click OK.

6. Delete the image you placed off the right side of the artboard since you don’t
need it anymore.

7. With the Selection tool selected, click to select the curved black line to the right
of the ship.

8. Click the brush named “Palm Tree” in the Brushes panel to apply it.

Select the Palm Tree art brush.

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Discussion Topics Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

How is the palm tree different than it Notice that the original tree image is stretched along the shape. This is the default
would be if you’d just pasted it in? behavior of an Art brush.

What did steps #2 through #4 have on Editing an Art Brush
the tree? Edit > Undo and Edit > Redo if
you need to see the difference Next, you’ll edit the Palm Tree Art brush and update the appearance of the palm tree
on the artboard.
Note: To learn more about the
Art Brush Options dialog box, see Try It!
“Art brush options” in Illustrator
Help (Help > Illustrator Help). 1. With the curved path still selected on the artboard, double-click the brush thumbnail
to the left of the text “Palm tree” or to the right of the name in the Brushes panel to
open the Art Brush Options dialog box.

Double-click the Palm Tree brush thumbnail.

2. In the Art Brush Options dialog box, select Preview to see the changes as you
make them, and move the dialog box so you can see the curvy line with the brush
applied. Make the following changes:
• Stretch Between Guides: Selected
• Start: 5 in
• End: 6 in
• Flip Across: Selected

Select options to edit the brush appearance.

3. Click OK.
4. In the dialog box that appears, click Apply To Strokes to apply the change to the

curvy line that has the Palm Tree brush applied.

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5. Click the word “Opacity” in the Control panel, and choose Multiply from the Point out the yellow note at the bottom
Blend Mode menu. Press Enter or Return to close the Transparency panel. of the page and the location of the Bristle
Brush > Bristle Brush Library it references.
Select Opacity and change the blending mode.
Remember that you can press Tab to
6. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save. advance through the entry fields in the
Bristle Brush Options dialog box—or any
Using Bristle Brushes other dialog box.

Bristle brushes allow you to create strokes with the appearance of a natural brush
with bristles. Painting with a Bristle brush, using the Paintbrush tool, creates vector
paths with the Bristle brush applied.
In this section, you’ll start by adjusting options for a brush to change how it
appears in the artwork and then paint with the Paintbrush tool and a Bristle brush
to create smoke.

Bristle brush examples. Note: To learn more about the
Bristle Brush Options dialog box
Changing Bristle Brush Options and its settings, see “Using the
Bristle brush“ in Illustrator Help
As you’ve seen, you can change the appearance of a brush by adjusting its settings (Help > Illustrator Help).
in the Brush Options dialog box, either before or after brushes have been applied to
artwork. In the case of Bristle brushes, it’s usually best to adjust the brush settings Note: Illustrator comes with a
prior to painting since it can take some time to update the brush strokes. series of default Bristle brushes.
Click the Brush Libraries Menu
Try It! button ( ) at the bottom of the
Brushes panel, and choose Bristle
1. In the Brushes panel, click the panel menu icon ( ), choose Show Bristle Brush > Bristle Brush Library.
Brushes, and then deselect Show Art Brushes.

2. Double-click the thumbnail for the default Mop brush or double-click directly to
the right of the brush name to open the Bristle Brush Options dialog box for that
brush. In the Bristle Brush Options dialog box, make the following changes:
• Shape: Round Fan (the default setting)
• Size: 7 mm (The brush size is the diameter of the brush.)
• Bristle Length: 150% (the default setting) (The bristle length starts from the
point where the bristles meet the handle of the bristle tip.)

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TEACHING TIPS Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

If you can’t select the smoke layer, dese- • Bristle Density: 20% (The bristle density is the number of bristles in a specified
lect all, select the Ship layer in the Layers area of the brush neck.)
panel, and try again.
• Bristle Thickness: 75% (the default setting) (The bristle thickness can vary
In step #3 at the bottom of the page, the from fine to coarse [between 1% and 100%].)
button pictured is the Drawing Modes
button, which defaults to Draw Normal. • Paint Opacity: 75% (the default setting) (This option lets you set the opacity
Draw Inside is another option. What is the of the paint being used.)
third option?
• Stiffness: 50% (the default setting) (Stiffness refers to the rigidness of
the bristles).

Settings for the Mop Bristle brush.

3. Click OK.

Painting with a Bristle Brush

Now you’ll use the Mop brush to draw some smoke above the ship. Painting with a
Bristle brush can create an organic, fluid path. To constrain the painting, you will paint
inside a shape. This will mask (hide) part of the painting to be in the shape of smoke.

Try It!

1. Select the Zoom tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and click a few times, slowly, on the
smoke shape above the ship (not the cloud) to zoom in on it.

2. Select the Selection tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and click to select the smoke
shape. This selects the layer that the shape is on so that any artwork you paint
will be on the same layer.

Note: To learn more about the Select the shape in which to paint.
drawing modes, see Lesson 16,
“Using Shapes to Create Artwork 3. Click the Draw Inside button ( ) at the bottom of the Tools panel.
for a Postcard.”

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Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 TEACHING TIP

4. With the smoke shape still selected, change the Fill color to None ( ) in the The second part of step #5 is important.
Control panel (press the Escape key to hide the Swatches panel). Leave What do you see onscreen?
the stroke as is.
Note: If the Tools panel appears
5. Choose Select > Deselect to deselect the smoke shape. as one column, click the Drawing
The dotted lines on the corners of the shape indicate that any paths you paint Modes button ( ) at the bottom
will be masked by the smoke shape. of the Tools panel, and then
choose Draw Inside from the
6. Select the Paintbrush tool ( ) in the Tools panel. Choose the Mop brush from menu that appears.
the Brush Definition menu in the Control panel, if it’s not already chosen.

Select the Mop brush on the Control panel. Note: If you want to edit paths
as you draw, you can select the
7. Make sure that the Fill color is None ( ) and the Stroke color is White in the Keep Selected option in the
Control panel. Press the Escape key to hide the Swatches panel. Make sure that Paintbrush Tool Options for the
the Stroke weight is 1 pt in the Control panel. Paintbrush tool or you can select
paths with the Selection tool.
8. Position the pointer at the top of the largest smokestack. (See the red X in the You don’t need to completely fill
following figure.) Drag up and then down and to the left to loosely follow the the shape.
edge of the smoke shape. Release the mouse button when you reach the end of
the smoke shape. Note: If you don’t like what you
just painted, you can choose
When you release the mouse button, notice that the path you just painted is Edit > Undo Bristle Stroke.
masked by the smoke shape.
Note: In the first part of the
9. Use the Paintbrush tool to paint more paths inside the smoke shape, figure, the shape paths are
using the Mop brush. Try drawing from each of the smokestacks, following dimmed so you could more
the smoke shape. The idea is to fill up the smoke shape with the paths easily see the smoke paths.
you paint.

Paint the first path. Note the result after painting more.

10. Choose View > Outline to see all of the paths you just created when painting.

11. Choose Select > Object > Bristle Brush Strokes to select all of the paths created
with the Paintbrush tool using the Mop brush.

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Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

12. Choose Object > Group, and then choose View > GPU Preview if supported or
View > Preview On CPU if not.

Note: If the Tools panel appears View the artwork in Outline mode. Note the result in Preview mode.
as one column, click the Drawing
Modes button at the bottom of 13. Click the Draw Normal button ( ) at the bottom of the Tools panel.
the Tools panel, and then choose
Draw Normal from the menu 14. Select the Selection tool in the Tools panel. Choose Select > Deselect.
that appears.
15. Double-click the edge of the smoke shape to enter Isolation mode. Click the
edge of the same smoke shape to select it. Change the Stroke color to None ( )
in the Control panel.

Note: You can also double-click Change the Stroke color to None.
away from the artwork to exit
Isolation mode. 16. Press the Escape key several times to hide the panel and to exit Isolation mode.

17. Click the Layers panel icon ( ) on the right side of the workspace to open the
Layers panel. Click the eye icon ( ) to the left of the Spray/Tree sublayer name to
hide the artwork on that layer. Click the Layers panel icon to collapse the panel.

Hide the artwork on the Spray/Tree layer.

18. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save.
When saving, you may see a warning dialog box indicating that the document
contains multiple Bristle brush paths with transparency. As mentioned earlier,
painting with a Bristle brush creates a series of individual vector paths with the
brush applied. This can lead to issues with printing or saving to EPS/PDF or legacy
versions of Illustrator documents. In order to reduce the complexity and number
of the Bristle Brush paths, you can rasterize paths with a Bristle brush applied.
Select the path(s) with the Bristle brush applied, and choose Object > Rasterize.

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Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 REVIEW THE
VOCABULARY
The Bristle Brush and Graphic Tablets
Tile A separate section of pattern.
When you use a Bristle brush with a graphic tablet, Illustrator interactively
tracks the movements of the stylus over the tablet. It interprets all aspects of TEACHING TIP
its orientation and pressure input at any point along a drawing path. Illustrator
provides the output that is modeled on the stylus’s x-axis position, y-axis Point out the yellow note and, if time
position, pressure, tilt, bearing, and rotation. permits, open and browse the built-in
pattern brushes in Brush Library > Arrows >
—From Illustrator Help Pattern Arrows, Brush Library > Borders,
or Brush Library > Decorative menus.
Using Pattern Brushes Tile
A separate section of pattern.
Pattern brushes paint a pattern made up of separate sections, or tiles. When you
apply a Pattern brush to artwork, different tiles of the pattern are applied to different
sections of the path, depending on where the section falls on the path—the end,
middle, or corner. There are hundreds of interesting Pattern brushes that you can
choose from when creating your own projects, from grass to cityscapes. Next, you’ll
apply an existing Pattern brush to a path to create windows on the ship.

Pattern brush examples. Note: Just like other brush
types, there is a series of default
Try It! Pattern brush libraries that come
with Illustrator. To access them,
1. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window. click the Brush Libraries Menu
button ( ) and choose a library
2. In the Brushes panel, click the panel menu icon ( ), choose Show Pattern from one of the menus (the
Brushes, and then deselect Show Bristle Brushes. The Windows brush that ap- Decorative menu, for example).
pears in the Brushes panel is a brush saved with the file.
Next, you will apply a Pattern brush and then edit its properties.

3. With the Selection tool ( ) selected, Shift-click the two black paths on the or-
ange shape of the ship to select them both.

Apply the Windows pattern brush.

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TEACHING TIP Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

Point out that when you create a 4. Choose the Windows Pattern brush from the Brush Definition menu in the
pattern brush, all you need to define Control panel or the Brushes panel to apply the Pattern brush.
is the content of a side tile. Illustrator Next, you will edit the brush properties for the selected paths.
automatically uses it to generate the
corner tiles you need. 5. Choose Select > Deselect.
6. Click the bottommost path with the Windows brush applied to select it.
7. Click the Options Of Selected Object button ( ) at the bottom of the Brushes

panel to edit the brush options for only the selected path on the artboard.

Note: To change the size of Click Options of Selected Object.
the windows, you can also
change the stroke weight of the This opens the Stroke Options (Pattern Brush) dialog box.
lines on the artboard, with the
brush applied. 8. Select Preview in the Stroke Options (Pattern Brush) dialog box. Change the Scale
to 110% either by dragging the Scale slider or by typing in the value. Click OK.

Adjust Scale to 110%.

When you edit the brush options of the selected object, you only see some of
the brush options. The Stroke Options (Pattern Brush) dialog box is used to edit
the properties of the brushed path without updating the corresponding brush.

9. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save.

Creating a Pattern Brush

You can create a Pattern brush in several ways. For a simple pattern applied to a
straight line, for instance, you can select the content that you’re using for the pattern
and click the New Brush button ( ) at the bottom of the Brushes panel.
To create a more complex pattern to apply to objects with curves and corners, you
can select artwork in the Document window to be used in a pattern brush, create
swatches in the Swatches panel from the artwork that you are using in the Pattern
brush, and even have Illustrator auto-generate the Pattern brush corners. In Illustrator,
only the side tile needs to be defined. Illustrator automatically generates four different
types of corners based on the art used for the side tile. These four auto-generated
options fit the corners perfectly.
Next, you’ll create a Pattern brush for the border around the poster.

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Try It! All of this page is creating a rope-
patterned Pattern brush.
1. Choose View > Pattern objects. This should show you a zoomed-in view of the
life preserver and the rope off the right edge of the artboard. Note: You’ll find Pattern Objects
at the bottom of the View menu.
2. With the Selection tool ( ) selected, click to select the brown rope group.

3. Click the Brushes panel icon ( ) to expand the panel, if necessary. Click the
panel menu icon ( ), and choose Thumbnail View.
Notice that Pattern brushes in Thumbnail view are segmented in the Brushes
panel. Each segment corresponds to a pattern tile. The side tile is repeated in the
Brushes panel thumbnail preview.

4. In the Brushes panel, click the New Brush button ( ) to create a pattern out of
the rope.

Click the New Brush button. Note: Some brushes have no
corner tiles because they are
5. In the New Brush dialog box, select Pattern Brush. Click OK. designed for curved paths.

A new Pattern brush can be made regardless of whether artwork is selected. If
you create a Pattern brush without artwork selected, it is assumed that you will
add artwork by dragging it into the Brushes panel later or by selecting the artwork
from a pattern swatch you create as you edit the brush. You will see the latter
method later in this section.

6. In the Pattern Brush Options dialog box, name the brush Border.

Pattern brushes can have up to five tiles—the side, start, and end tiles, plus an
outer-corner tile and an inner-corner tile to paint sharp corners on a path.

Tile options for a new pattern brush. Note: Position the pointer over
the tile squares in the Pattern
You can see all five tiles as buttons below the Spacing option in the dialog box. The Brush Options dialog box to see
tile buttons let you apply different artwork to different parts of the path. You can a tooltip indicating which tile it is.
click a tile button for the tile you want to define, and then you select an auto-gen-
erated selection (if available) or a pattern swatch from the menu that appears. Note: Selected artwork becomes
the side tile, by default, when
7. Under the Spacing option, click the Side Tile box (the second tile from the left). creating a Pattern brush.
The artwork that was originally selected is in the menu that appears, along with
None and any pattern swatches found in the Swatches panel. Choose Pompa-
dour from the menu.

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TEACHING TIP Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

Look ahead to the top image on page 639
to see where these steps are headed.

Select the artwork for the side tile.

In the Preview area below the tiles, you will see how the new artwork affects a path.
8. Click the Side Tile box again, and choose the Original option.

Note: To save a brush and reuse Select the artwork for the outside corner tile.
it in another file, you can create
a brush library with the brushes 9. Click the Outer Corner Tile box to reveal the menu.
you want to use. For more The outer-corner tile has been generated automatically by Illustrator, based
information, see “Work with on the original rope artwork. In the menu, you can choose from four types of
brush libraries” in Illustrator Help. corners that are generated automatically:
• Auto-Centered. The side tile is stretched around the corner and centered on it.
• Auto-Between. Copies of the side tile extend all the way into the corner, with
one copy on each side. Folding elimination is used to stretch them into shape.
• Auto-Sliced. The side tile is sliced diagonally, and the pieces come together,
similar to a miter joint in a wooden picture frame.
• Auto-Overlap. Copies of the tiles overlap at the corner.

10. Choose Auto-Between from the menu. This generates the outer corner of any
path that the Pattern brush will be applied to from the rope.

The new brush in the Brushes panel.

11. Click OK. The Border brush appears in the Brushes panel.

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Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 TEACHING TIP

Applying a Pattern Brush In the Editing the Pattern Brush Try It!
Activity at the bottom of the page, step
In this section, you’ll apply the Border Pattern brush to a rectangular border around #3, the life preserver image is grouped, so
the artwork. As you’ve seen, when you use drawing tools to apply brushes to artwork, you can click anywhere on it to move it.
you first draw the path with the drawing tool and then select the brush in the Brushes
panel to apply the brush to the path.

Try It!

1. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.

2. With the Selection tool ( ) selected, click the white stroke of the rectangle on
the border.

3. In the Tools panel, click the Fill box, and make sure that None ( ) is selected.
Then click the Stroke box and select None ( ).

4. With the rectangle selected, click the Border brush in the Brushes panel.

Border brush applied to the rectangle. Note: For more information on
creating pattern swatches, see
5. Choose Select > Deselect. “About patterns” in Illustrator
The rectangle is painted with the Border brush, with the side tile on the sides and Help.
the outer-corner tile on each corner.

Editing the Pattern Brush

Now you’ll edit the Border Pattern brush using a pattern swatch that you create.

Try It!

1. Click the Swatches panel icon ( ) to expand the Swatches panel, or choose
Window > Swatches.

2. Choose View > Pattern objects to zoom in to the life preserver off the right edge
of the artboard.

3. With the Selection tool ( ), drag the life preserver into the Swatches panel. The
new pattern swatch appears in the Swatches panel.

Drag the pattern object to the Swatches panel.

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TEACHING TIP Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

On this page, you’ll create a new corner After you create a pattern brush, you can delete the pattern swatches from the
tile out of the life preserver. Swatches panel, if you don’t plan to use them for additional artwork.
4. Choose Select > Deselect.
5. In the Swatches panel, double-click the pattern swatch that you just created. In
the Pattern Options dialog box, name the swatch Corner, and choose 1 x 1 from
the Copies menu.

Select options for the corner pattern.

6. Click Done in the gray bar, along the top of the Document window, to finish
editing the pattern.

7. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.

8. In the Brushes panel, double-click the Border Pattern brush to open the Pattern
Brush Options dialog box.

Note: You can also change the Select the new corner tile pattern.
pattern tiles in a Pattern brush by
pressing the Option (Mac OS) or 9. Click the Outer Corner Tile box, and choose the Corner pattern swatch from the
Alt (Windows) key and dragging menu that appears (you’ll need to scroll). Change the Scale to 70%, and click OK.
artwork from the artboard onto The figure shows choosing the outer-corner tile.
the tile of the Pattern brush
you want to change in the 10. In the dialog box that appears, click Apply To Strokes to update the border on
Brushes panel. the artboard.

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Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 TEACHING TIPS

11. With the Selection tool selected, click to select one of the paths that contains a Step #11 demonstrates how the rope pat-
row of windows. Click the Border brush in the Brushes panel to apply it. tern brush looks like without any corner
angles. You’ll undo the step after you’ve
seen it.

The checkmark illustration is important.
Be sure students understand the differ-
ence between a wide paintbrush path and
a shape created with the blob tool.

Border brush applied to a straight stroke. Note: Earlier in the lesson, you
learned how to remove a brush
Notice that the life preservers are not applied to the path. The path is painted from an object by clicking the
with the side tile from the Border brush. Because the path does not include sharp Remove Brush Stroke button
corners, outer-corner and inner-corner tiles are not applied to the path. ( ) in the Brushes panel. In this
case, you chose Edit > Undo
12. Choose Edit > Undo Apply Pattern Brush to remove the brush from the path. Apply Pattern Brush instead,
because clicking the Remove
13. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save. Brush Stroke button would strip
the previous formatting from the
Working with the Blob Brush Tool path, leaving it with a default fill
and stroke.
You can use the Blob Brush tool ( ) to paint filled shapes that intersect and merge
with other shapes of the same color. With the Blob Brush tool, you can draw with
Paintbrush tool artistry. Unlike the Paintbrush tool, which lets you create open paths,
the Blob Brush tool lets you create a closed shape with a fill only (no stroke) that
you can then easily edit with the Eraser or Blob Brush tool. Shapes that have a stroke
cannot be edited with the Blob Brush tool.

Path created with the Shape created with the
Paintbrush tool. Blob Brush tool.

Drawing with the Blob Brush Tool

Next, you’ll use the Blob Brush tool to create part of a cloud.

Try It!

1. Click the Layers panel icon ( ) on the right side of the workspace to expand the
Layers panel. Click the eye icon ( ) to the left of the Ship sublayer to hide the
contents of the layer. Click the Background sublayer to select it.

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TEACHING TIP Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

If you don’t see—or can’t access—the Hide the Ship layer.
blob brush tool hidden under the paint
brush tool, save your document and 2. Change the Fill color to the swatch named “Light Blue,” and change the Stroke
try again. color to None ( ) in the Control panel.
When drawing with the Blob Brush tool, if a fill and stroke are set before
drawing, the stroke color becomes the fill color of the shape made by the Blob
Brush tool. If only a fill is set before drawing, it ultimately becomes the fill of
the shape created.

3. Click and hold down on the Paintbrush tool ( ) in the Tools panel, and se-
lect the Blob Brush tool ( ). Double-click the Blob Brush tool in the Tools
panel. In the Blob Brush Tool Options dialog box, select the Keep Selected
option, and change the Size to 70 pt in the Default Brush Options area.
Click OK.

Note: You can also change Adjust settings for the Blob Brush tool.
the Blob Brush size by pressing
the right bracket key ( ] ) or left 4. Position the pointer to the left of the little blue cloud in the sky. Drag to
bracket key ( [ ) several times to create a cloud shape that doesn’t touch the little cloud to the right of it
increase or decrease the size (see the figure).
of brush.

Paint with the brush in the direction shown.
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Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 TEACHING TIP

When you draw with the Blob Brush tool, you create filled, closed shapes. Remember that you can Edit > Undo or
Those shapes can contain any type of fill, including gradients, solid colors, use a keyboard shortcut to undo your last
patterns, and more. Notice that the Blob Brush pointer has a circle around it step as you experiment with the com-
before you begin painting. That circle indicates the size of the brush (70 pt, bined cloud shape here.
which you set in the previous step).
Note: To learn more about Blob
Merging Paths with the Blob Brush Tool Brush tool guidelines, search for
“Painting with fills and strokes” in
In addition to drawing new shapes with the Blob Brush tool, you can use it to inter- Illustrator Help (Help > Illustrator
sect and merge shapes of the same color. Objects merged with the Blob Brush tool Help). On that Help page, go
need to have the same appearance attributes, have no stroke, be on the same layer to the section titled “Draw and
or group, and be adjacent to each other in the stacking order. merge paths with the Blob Brush
Next, you will merge the cloud you just created with the little cloud to the right of it tool.” 
to create one big cloud.
Note: In the figure, the cloud
Try It! you drew has a blue outline. You
may not see that, and that’s okay.
1. Choose Select > Deselect.

2. With the Blob Brush tool ( ) selected, drag from inside the cloud shape you
created to the inside of the little cloud to the right, connecting the two shapes.

Drag with the Blob Brush tool to merge the new path with an existing one.

If you find that the shapes are not merging, it may be that they have different
strokes and fills. You can select both the cloud you created and the small cloud
with the Selection tool ( ) and ensure that the Fill color is the light blue swatch
and the stroke is None, in the Control panel. Then you can select the Blob Brush
tool and try dragging from one cloud to the other.

3. Continue drawing with the Blob Brush tool to make the two clouds look more
like a single cloud.

If you find that new shapes are being made instead of the existing cloud shape
being edited, undo what you’ve created. Then, with the Selection tool ( ),
reselect and deselect the cloud shape and continue.

4. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save.

Current appearance of the clouds.

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LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 637

TEACHING TIPS Lesson 24 Using Brushes to Create a Poster

Point out the second sentence of Note: As you draw with the Editing with the Eraser Tool
step #1—selecting the shape(s) before Blob Brush and Eraser tools, it
erasing limits the Eraser tool to erasing is recommended that you use As you draw and merge shapes with the Blob Brush tool, you may draw too much
only the selected shape(s). shorter strokes and release the and want to edit what you’ve done. You can use the Eraser tool ( ) in combina-
mouse button often. You can tion with the Blob Brush tool to mold the shape and to correct any changes you
At step #5, you can still use the blob tool undo the edits that you make, don’t like.
to edit the background cloud shape—now but if you draw in one long
that you see it in its layered order. stroke without releasing the Try It!
mouse button, an undo removes
the entire stroke. 1. With the Selection tool ( ), click to select the cloud shape.
Selecting the shape(s) before erasing limits the Eraser tool to erasing only the
selected shape(s).

2. Double-click the Eraser tool ( ) in the Tools panel. In the Eraser Tool Options
dialog box, change the Size to 40 pt, and click OK.

Adjust settings for the Eraser tool.

3. Position the pointer over the edge of the cloud shape and, with the Eraser tool,
drag along the bottom of the cloud shape to remove some of it. Try switching
between the Blob Brush tool and the Eraser tool to edit the cloud.

The Blob Brush and Eraser tools both have pointers that include a circle, indicating
the diameter of the brush.

Drag the Eraser tool to remove content.

4. Choose Select > Deselect.
5. Click the Layers panel icon ( ) on the right side of the workspace to expand

the Layers panel, if necessary. Click the visibility columns to the left of all
the sublayers to ensure that they are all showing. Click to select the main
layer named “Mask” at the top of the Layers panel. Click the Make/Release
Clipping Mask button ( ) at the bottom of the Layers panel.

638 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

638 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Using Brushes to Create a Poster Lesson 24 Discussion Topic

Create a clipping mask. At the end of step #5 at the top of the
page, what happens when you click the
By clicking the Make/Release Clipping Mask button, you are taking an existing Make/Release Clipping Mask button?
rectangle shape and using it to mask content.
6. Click the Layers panel tab to collapse the panel group. Comprehension Check
7. Choose Object > Show All to show some poster text.
8. Choose Select > Deselect. 1. When painting with the Paintbrush
9. Choose File > Save, and close all open files. tool, if you choose a brush in the
Brushes panel and draw on the
The final appearance of the illustration. artboard, the brush is applied di-
rectly to the paths as you draw. To
Comprehension Check apply brushes using a drawing tool,
you select the tool and draw in the
1. What is the difference between applying a brush to artwork using the Paintbrush artwork. Then you select the path in
tool ( ) and applying a brush to artwork using one of the drawing tools? the artwork and choose a brush in the
Brushes panel. The brush is applied to
2. Describe how artwork in an Art brush is applied to content. the selected path.
3. What must be done to a raster image in order for it to be used in certain brushes?
4. For which brush types must you have artwork selected on the artboard before 2. An Art brush is made from artwork
(vector or embedded raster). When
you can create a brush? you apply an Art brush to the stroke
5. What does the Blob Brush tool ( ) allow you to create? of an object, the artwork in the Art
brush, by default, is stretched along
LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 639 the selected object stroke.

3. In order to be used in certain brushes
(Art, Pattern, and Scatter), a raster im-
age must be embedded.

4. For Art and Scatter brushes, you need
to have artwork selected in order to
create a brush using the New Brush
button in the Brushes panel.

5. Use the Blob Brush tool to edit filled
shapes that you can intersect and
merge with other shapes of the
same color or to create artwork
from scratch.

LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 639

FOCUS AND ENGAGE Lesson 25 Exploring Creative Uses of Effects and Graphic Styles

Introduce the Lesson Lesson 25 Overview

As you review the skills listed in the In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do the following:
Lesson 25 Overview, share that in this
lesson students will learn to apply attrib- • Work with the Appearance panel. • Apply a variety of effects.
utes that affect the look of an object
but not its basic structure. You’ve used • Edit and apply appearance attributes. • Save and apply an appearance as a graphic style.
some attributes before—like fills, strokes,
and drop shadows. You’ll find these • Copy, disable and enable, and remove • Apply a graphic style to a layer.
and more grouped together in the appearance attributes. • Scale strokes and effects.
Appearance panel. • Draw an anatomical figure.
• Reorder appearance attributes.

• Apply and edit an effect.

You can change the look of an object without changing its structure simply by applying attributes, such as
fills, strokes, and effects, from the Appearance panel. And because the effects themselves are live, they can
be modified or removed at any time. This allows you to save the appearance attributes as graphic styles and
apply them to another object.

Note: You will need an Internet Opening the Project File
connection to sync the font.
In this lesson, you’ll change the appearance of artwork using the Appearance panel,
various effects, and graphic styles. Before you begin, you’ll need to restore the
default preferences for Adobe Illustrator.

Try It!

1. Start Illustrator and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or
Command+Option+Shift (Mac OS) to reset the default settings.

2. When prompted, click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the Adobe Illustrator
Settings file.

3. Choose File > Open, navigate to the folder holding the data files for this chapter,
and double-click 25Start.ai to open it.

4. In the Missing Fonts dialog box that most likely will appear, click Sync Fonts to
sync all of the missing fonts from the FranklinGothicURW-Hea family to your
computer. After it is synced and you see the message stating that there are no
more missing fonts, click Close.

Use the Missing Fonts dialog box to sync fonts in the document.
640 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

640 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Exploring Creative Uses of Effects and Graphic Styles Lesson 25 REVIEW THE
VOCABULARY
If you can’t get the fonts to sync, you can go to the Creative Cloud desktop
application and choose Assets > Fonts to see what the issue may be (refer to Appearance attribute A property that
the section “Changing font family and font style” in Lesson 21, “Adding Type affects the look of an object but not its
to a Poster,” for more information on how to resolve it). basic structure.
You can also just click Close in the Missing Fonts dialog box and ignore the
missing fonts as you proceed. A third method is to click the Find Fonts button Discussion Topic
in the Missing Fonts dialog box and replace the fonts with a local font on your
machine. You can also go to Help (Help > Illustrator Help) and search for “Find What is an attribute when you’re talking
missing fonts.” about a person?

5. Choose File > Save As, navigate to the location where your instructor directs you Note: If you don’t see Reset
to save files for this chapter’s projects, and rename the file 25End_xx.ai. Leave Essentials in the workspace
the Format option set to Adobe Illustrator (ai) (Mac OS) or the Save As Type switcher menu, choose
option set to Adobe Illustrator (*.AI) (Windows), and then click Save. Window > Workspace >
Essentials before choosing
6. In the Illustrator Options dialog box, leave the Illustrator options at their default Window > Workspace >
settings, and then click OK. Reset Essentials.

7. Choose Reset Essentials from the workspace switcher in the Application bar to Appearance attribute
reset the workspace. A property that affects the look
of an object but not its basic
8. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window. structure.

Using the Appearance Panel Note: Depending on your
operating system, the selection
An appearance attribute is an aesthetic property—such as a fill, stroke, transparency, color of objects (the bounding
or effect—that affects the look of an object but does not affect its basic structure. box) may be different colors, and
Up to this point, you’ve been changing appearance attributes in the Control panel, that’s okay.
Swatches panel, and more. These attributes and more can also be found in the
Appearance panel for selected artwork. In this lesson, you’ll focus on using the
Appearance panel to apply and edit appearance attributes.

Try It!

1. Choose Window > Appearance to see the Appearance panel.

2. Select the Selection tool ( ), and click to select the largest of the shapes that
make up the trumpet (see the arrow in the next figure).
The Appearance panel shows what the object is (a Path) and the appearance
attributes applied to it (Stroke, Fill, Drop Shadow effect, and Opacity).

Select the largest shape.

LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 641

LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 641

TEACHING TIP Lesson 25 Exploring Creative Uses of Effects and Graphic Styles

Point out options in the Appearance panel The different options available in the Appearance panel are described here:
that let you try on different attributes.
You can apply one, then turn it on and off A A. Selected object and G. Add New Effect
to compare—or even delete it entirely—
without changing your original artwork. B thumbnail H. Clear Appearance

C B. Attribute row I. Duplicate Selected

D K C. Visibility column Item

D. Link to options J. Delete Selected Item

E. Add New Stroke K. Indicates an effect
F. Add New Fill applied

E FG HI J

Appearance panel tools.

The Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) can be used to view and ad-
just the appearance attributes for a selected object, group, or layer. Fills and
strokes are listed in stacking order; top to bottom in the panel correlates to
front to back in the artwork. Effects applied to artwork are listed from top to
bottom in the order in which they are applied to the artwork. An advantage
of using appearance attributes is that they can be changed or removed at any
time without affecting the underlying artwork or any other attributes applied
to the object in the Appearance panel.

Editing Appearance Attributes

You’ll start by changing the basic appearance of artwork using the Appearance
panel.

Try It!

1. With the trumpet shape still selected (see steps in previous section), choose
Select > Same > Fill Color to select the rest of the black trumpet shapes.

Note: You may need to click the Select all trumpet objects.
Fill box more than once to open
the Swatches panel. The first Notice that the same appearance properties are listed in the Appearance pan-
click on the Fill box selects the el. If you were to select multiple objects that had different fills, for instance,
Fill row in the panel, and the next the Appearance panel would show “Mixed Appearance,” indicating that the
click shows the Swatches panel. selected artwork has at least one appearance attribute that is different.

2. In the Appearance panel, click the black Fill color box in the Fill attribute row
until the Swatches panel appears. Select the swatch named “Trumpet” to
apply it to the Fill. Press the Escape key to hide the Swatches panel.

642 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

642 LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION