Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Drawing Inside
Building with Multiple Construction Modes
Advanced Technique
Overview:
Create varying types of shading, texture, and detail within objects using
Draw Inside mode; alter basic shapes and prepare them for masking using Shape
Builder; add soft shading by using Blob Brush in conjunction with Draw Inside
mode.
Building and shading complex artwork in Illustrator can be a daunting task.
Thankfully, there are clipping masks. Chris Leavens employs a combination
of construction methods in his artwork, “The Gardener,” including
harnessing the artistic and organizational capabilities of both the Draw
Inside mode (to quickly create clipping masks) and the Shape Builder tool (to
combine objects).
1 Creating masks using Draw Inside, and beginning to add detail.
Using the Pen
tool, Leavens blocked in the composition by drawing basic, flat, colored
forms. He then selected the large cliff object (which spans the width of the
artwork's background) and changed the drawing mode to Draw Inside (Shift-
D). Upon entering Draw Inside mode, he deselected by holding /Ctrl and
clicking outside of the artboard and then added form-defining objects within
the cliff object using the Pen tool. He freely plotted new anchor points out-
side the boundaries of the cliffs, allowing the mask created by Draw Inside
mode to keep the edges clean and precise. After finishing the cliffs, Leavens
repeated the same steps on the other objects, adding both shading and detail.
1
The initial blocked-in artwork
