Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Paidrick finds that adding a mesh to a rectangle, which she then reshapes, gives her
more control over mesh points than if she added mesh to a path drawn with the Pen
tool. Therefore, she always begins her gradient mesh objects by drawing one small
rectangle with the Rectangle tool. To create the red globe portion of the vase, she
drew a rectangle, filled it with a bright color, chose Object> Create Gradient Mesh,
and specified 1 row, 1 column. With the Direct Selection tool (A), she moved points to
stretch the rectangle to the edges of the vase base, and eventually the top and
bottom. With the Gradient mesh tool (U), she added more rows and columns. She
continued to enlarge the mesh object and contour it into the desired shape by press-
ing U to add mesh points, then A to adjust the points. Paidrick added individual
mesh points with the Add Anchor Point tool to further define the shape of the object.
She Direct-Selected points and made adjustments to refine the contour of the object
and its mesh to closely follow the shading of her reference photo.
1
Making guides on top of the photograph in the template layer
2 Coloring the mesh objects.
To color individual mesh points, Paidrick clicked on a
mesh point with the Direct Selection tool (A), then switched to the Eyedropper tool
(I) and filled that point with a color sampled from the photograph. She continued to
color the mesh points by pressing /Ctrl to temporarily switch to the Direct Selec-
tion tool from the Eyedropper tool, picking up color from the photo, until a pixel in
the photograph matched the color she wanted.
