N.S.L: WEEK 75 – Adobe Illustrator CS6: Gradient Mesh and 3D

I haven’t taken the Gradient Mesh Tool for a spin since NSL week 65. I wanted to jump back into it because I been walking around with this idea rattling around in my head:

“Chrome Faucet” Gradient Mesh and 3D

After using the Gradient Mesh Tool for NSL 65 on vegetables, I’ve been thinking about using it on metal surfaces. Almost every morning I look at my faucet and wonder how I could recreate it in Adobe Illustrator and above is what I came up with =D

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One of the coolest things I learned was how to use the Rearrange Artboards feature. In this image you can see the image I used as a template and others that I haven’t gotten to yet.

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If you made a custom shape using a drawing tool then wondered why you couldn’t apply a gradient mesh to it, you need to visit the Attributes Panel and show your center! =D

I tried making my own shapes with the drawing tools but I didn’t get great results. All the vids I saw suggest starting out with a circle or a square. I got better results when I did it that way.

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Mesh Only

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Adobe Illustrator Gradient Mesh Wire Frame

I figured I’d show you what the outline of the mesh looks like. It’s not pretty but it works. This was my 3th attempt at the same piece.

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I ended up adding some 3D to the sensor and I really like how it came out. It’s subtle but looks clean.

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In the final version of the image, I used a technique I saw on Twitter posted by @bojansavke. It’s the text effect that looks like a drop shadow on invisible text. It worked GREAT, check out the tutorial here:
How to simulate fill opacity with type (text) in Illustrator

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Most Helpful Video:Gradient Mesh Tutorial

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I got most of my info from Lynda.com
Illustrator CS5 One-on-One: Mastery
Illustrator CS6 Essential Training
Illustrator CS6 One-on-One: Advanced

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Checkout:
SebastianBleak.Tumblr
www.SebastianBleak.com

Twitter:
@SebastianBleak
#AdobeGrind #StayMuddyGetFly
If you look up #NSL75 you should be able to follow my week and all of the videos I studied for this one.

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I used Google Images to find the picture I used as a template for my gradient mesh. The image was from:
http://www.hygoletdirect.com/Water-Conservation-Products/c22/index.html

6 responses to “N.S.L: WEEK 75 – Adobe Illustrator CS6: Gradient Mesh and 3D”

I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
Did you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
Plz reply as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. appreciate it

sebastianbleak says:

January 29, 2013 at 3:46 pm

Thanks! I found the theme as a free theme through WordPress then made a few adjustments along the way.

Reply

Thnx for publicing this correct information. Keep up this great job. I’ll subscribe to your website also. Thnx!

What an awesome post. Thanks and keep up the good posts.

sebastianbleak says:

April 24, 2013 at 4:39 pm

Thank you!

Reply

Hello, Great Post! I was a Corel Draw user, and now already moved to Adobe Illustrator. I am still learning and making vector art for my WebSite. Your post helps me to understand more about gradient Mesh. Thank you very much 🙂

Sebastian Bleak

N.S.L: WEEK 75 – Adobe Illustrator CS6: Gradient Mesh and 3D

I haven’t taken the Gradient Mesh Tool for a spin since NSL week 65. I wanted to jump back into it because I been walking around with this idea rattling around in my head:

After using the Gradient Mesh Tool for NSL 65 on vegetables, I’ve been thinking about using it on metal surfaces. Almost every morning I look at my faucet and wonder how I could recreate it in Adobe Illustrator and above is what I came up with =D

I tried making my own shapes with the drawing tools but I didn’t get great results. All the vids I saw suggest starting out with a circle or a square. I got better results when I did it that way.

In the final version of the image, I used a technique I saw on Twitter posted by @bojansavke. It’s the text effect that looks like a drop shadow on invisible text. It worked GREAT, check out the tutorial here:
How to simulate fill opacity with type (text) in Illustrator

6 responses to “N.S.L: WEEK 75 – Adobe Illustrator CS6: Gradient Mesh and 3D”

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I haven’t taken the Gradient Mesh Tool for a spin since NSL week 65. I wanted to jump back into it because I been walking around with this idea rattling around in my head:

After using the Gradient Mesh Tool for NSL 65 on vegetables, I’ve been thinking about using it on metal surfaces. Almost every morning I look at my faucet and wonder how I could recreate it in Adobe Illustrator and above is what I came up with =D

I tried making my own shapes with the drawing tools but I didn’t get great results. All the vids I saw suggest starting out with a circle or a square. I got better results when I did it that way.

In the final version of the image, I used a technique I saw on Twitter posted by @bojansavke. It’s the text effect that looks like a drop shadow on invisible text. It worked GREAT, check out the tutorial here: How to simulate fill opacity with type (text) in Illustrator

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6 responses to “N.S.L: WEEK 75 – Adobe Illustrator CS6: Gradient Mesh and 3D”

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In the final version of the image, I used a technique I saw on Twitter posted by @bojansavke. It’s the text effect that looks like a drop shadow on invisible text. It worked GREAT, check out the tutorial here:
How to simulate fill opacity with type (text) in Illustrator