Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
7.
You can leave the top slider alone;
it's used for tone mapping, preferring
one color over the other in the
gradient. The bottom slider controls
the distribution (the contrast) of the
gradient; drag the slider left to about
-0.4, and then work with the size
of the elliptical gradient. Angle the
gradient until it's pointing toward the
upper right, and enlarge it a little from
its default position by dragging the
control handles.
Choose the Transparency Tool. Set
8.
the type of transparency to Elliptical.
Click the center transparency point
9.
and drag the Transparency amount
on the Infobar to 100%. Then click
the outer control point and drag the
Transparency slider from 100 to 0%.
Click the Profile icon. Drag the top
10.
slider (the tone curve, which gives
more emphasis to the start or end
points in the transparency) to
about -0.6. Notice how the lighter
areas of the gradient fill contribute
to the overall complexity of the
drawing: you now have both a center
and a lower-right transparency,
because the white in the gradient
appears to fade out more than the
color in the gradient.
To embellish your good beginning to the drawing,
you'll add shading and highlight objects to make the droplet
dimensional and truly glossy in appearance:
1.
Create an oval by using the Ellipse Tool, click on the
selected object with the Selector Tool to put it into
Rotate/Skew Transform mode, and then rotate it so its
width runs at about 8 o'clock to 2 o'clock.
Fill the object with white, no outline width.
2.
3.
With the Transparency Tool, drag, beginning just outside
the top left and finishing the drag just outside the oval at
