Illustrator Basics

Lecture 2 Excerpt

Live Paint

Now that you know how to do some basic painting and erasing, let's look at an even more intuitive way to paint objects (aside from the freeform Blob Brush tool): Live Paint.

With Live Paint, you can paint empty areas of space that you've created by with shapes or paths-even if those paths have small gaps. Below, I created a simple butterfly illustration with the Pencil tool. It's created from several individual paths and there are a number of gaps throughout.

Prior to Live Paint, this illustration would have been impossible to apply color to. Illustrator doesn't see this as something it can fill with color, by default, since it's not a closed shape. And let's not forget the gaps!

With Live Paint, we can force Illustrator to recognize this as art it can color. To do this, a Live Paint group—consisting of all of the paths that make up this shape—needs to be defined.

I've selected all of the paths with the Selection tool and I then switched to the Live Paint Bucket tool (K) . (For CS5 users, this tool is hidden beneath the Shape Builder tool.) In the image below, the Live Paint Bucket tool is positioned over the selected artwork. Since I've yet to click on the artwork, the cursor displays the following: "Click to make a Live Paint group".

After I click to create the Live Paint group, I can move the cursor within the artwork and see highlighted areas show up. These are areas I can apply color to. One such area is highlighted below.

If you don't see highlighted areas in your artwork, or in parts of your artwork, you'll need to edit the paths to eliminate gaps as much as you can. To help identify gaps in your artwork, view it in Outline mode (View > Outline). I identified a gap on the butterfly head that prevented me from coloring that area in. Don't forget to switch back to the default view mode (View > Preview).

After editing the path to close the gap, I was able to color this area in. By the way, you can also use gradient and pattern fills to color in your artwork.

If you're coloring your artwork and the following message appears, don't be alarmed.

The main reason this appears is that the Live Paint group wasn't selected and you were trying to color in an area of your art that didn't have any color in it yet. I say this because you can color in previously colored areas of your artwork even if the Live Paint group isn't selected. Opt not to show this message again (or not) and click OK.

By the way, have you noticed the special looking bounding box around artwork in a Live Paint group? If not, here's a peek (right). This bounding box is used to merely differentiate it from artwork that isn't inside of a Live Paint group.

There are a few more things to show you. For example, you can also color the strokes in your Live Paint group using solid colors, patterns and gradients. Double-click the Live Paint Bucket tool to display its options and make sure Paint Strokes is enabled. While you're here, you can make other adjustments to the tool.

When painting strokes in a Live Paint group, look for the cursor to change from the bucket to a small paintbrush . Color strokes just as you would the other areas of the group by choosing colors, patterns or gradients from the Swatches panel. And don't forget the Color panel as well as double-clicking either the Stroke or Fill box in the toolbar.

If you've been working with Live Paint for a bit now, you may have noticed the cursor showing three color swatches above it. These colors correspond to colors found in the Swatches panel. As you work with Live Paint, you can tap the right or left arrow keys on your keyboard to quickly cycle through colors in the panel.

There may be situations where the Swatches panel doesn't have any swatches in it. In that case, you'll only see the currently selected Fill (or Stroke) swatch color appear above the cursor.

I mentioned earlier that Live Paint group shapes can be painted even if there are gaps present.

Live Paint is able to tackle most small gaps in a group but there may be times that you need it to recognize larger gaps. If that's the case, go to Object > Live Paint > Gap options to make adjustments. Select from Small Gaps, Medium Gaps, Large Gaps or define a custom value up to 72 pixels. Enable the Preview option to see what gaps Live Paint will be able to handle or, outside of these options, select View > Show Live Paint Gaps.

If Live Paint still struggles with a gap, consider editing the paths to minimize the gap or eliminate it altogether.

I mentioned Isolation mode earlier in my discussion about grouping. It has relevance here as well. If you need to change or move an object while it's in a Live Paint group, simply double-click it with the Selection mode and make your changes. Exit Isolation mode the same way by clicking an empty are of the status bar.

When in Isolation mode, you can also add new shapes. When you exit this mode, those shapes are part of the Live Paint group.

To remove a Live Paint group from grouped artwork, select Object > Live Paint > Release. This eliminates all fill colors and leaves you with .5pt stroked shapes or paths.

Another option is to expand the Live Paint group (Object > Live Paint > Expand) which turns all of your filled objects into regular objects outside of a Live Paint group. Apply the ungroup command (Object > Ungroup) a few times to select the various shapes individually.

The companion tool to the Live Paint Bucket tool is the Live Selection tool (Shift+L) which lets you select individual filled areas and strokes within a paint group without having to enter Isolation mode. Options for this tool—accessible by double-clicking it—are similar to those for the Bucket tool.

This tool may not seem all that special but it's great for making new shapes such as a donut, for instance. In the image below, I created two circles and stacked them together and converted them to a Live Paint group.

With the Live Paint Selection tool, I selected the smaller circle. Selections with this tool show up with a semi-opaque checkerboard pattern over them.

With the selection made, I tapped the Delete key on my keyboard and the shape disappeared. I added the stars in behind the shape to show that the middle is indeed empty and transparent. Cool and easy!

Now let's recap all that you learned about Live Paint in the following video tutorial:

Running Time: 4:00 Read the Transcript

Layers
Layer Overview

The more you learn to draw and paint, the more complex your work will become, necessitating better organization. The most essential organizational feature within Illustrator is layers. One way to describe layers is to think of clear sheets of plastic stacked one on top of the other that you can see through.

Objects remain visible as long as objects on layers above do not hide them. To take full advantage of layers, use the Layers panel (Window > Layers).

When you create a new document, Illustrator starts you off with a single layer (Layer 1). Layers can contain any number of objects and can be hidden from view or locked to prevent editing. Every single object you create in a document can be accessed through the Layers panel.

This project was a collaboration between myself and another designer and it was necessary to have practically every element on its own layer to facilitate quick changes to the illustration. It was also a "design by committee" project, which meant not only quick changes, but many of them.

Each layer features a thumbnail image that represents the contents of the layer. To the side of the thumbnail is an arrow that expands the layer to show you every object you have on the layer.

To add another layer to a document, click on the Create New Layer icon at the base of the panel. New layers, by default, are added above existing layers. A layer above another layer is higher in the layer stacking order. That is, artwork on Layer 2 appears above any artwork on Layer 1.

Delete a layer by selecting it and clicking the trash can on the panel or by dragging the layer onto the trash can.

Timesaver Tip To create a new layer below another layer, select the layer you want the new one to appear below, and press Ctrl/Command+Alt/Option as you click the Create New Layer icon.

Rename layers by double-clicking them. Additional options available control how artwork on the layer will appear in a document. Disabling Preview, for example, displays the artwork on the layer in Outline mode.

If you disable the Print option, artwork on the layer won't appear when you send your document to a printer.

The Color menu controls the color of bounding boxes, and selected points and paths in a layer. A new color is assigned to each new layer your create. This menu allows you to specify your own color though. Use a preset color or choose Other to define your own.

You'll want to change the Layer's Color option if the color is similar to a lot of your artwork on a layer. If you have a lot of blue shapes, you might want to change the layer color to blue or green so you can easily see your selections.

Handling Multiple Layers

To move a layer within the Layers panel, click and drag it to where you want to position it and then release the mouse button. To help guide you as to where the layer will appear, look for some double lines to appear between layers as you hold the mouse button.

If you see two arrows on a layer facing inward, this indicates that, if you release your mouse button, the layer will be dropped into a layer and become a sublayer (more on that in a bit).

As you work with multiple layers, you may find that you need to hide layers in order to focus on a specific area of your document. If so, disable the layer's visibility by clicking the eye icon on the left of the layer. Restore visibility by clicking the area where the eye was.

You can keep a layer visible but lock it so that you don't inadvertently select or modify objects you're not currently focused on. Do this by clicking the empty area to the right of the eye icon. A lock will appear . Click the lock to unlock the layer.

To view artwork on a layer in Outline view, hold the Ctrl key down (Command key on Mac) and click on the eye icon. Repeat this to return to regular Preview mode. When in Outline view, the eye icon appears hollow .

Recall that for a global Outline view, you can choose View > Outline.

 

Exercise 2 Excerpt

CD Selections

My jazz CD cover uses basic shapes and lines and some freehand painting.

In Lecture Two, you covered a number of handy tools and drawing aids to make your Illustrator work go more smoothly and precisely—tools like the Direct Selection tool, Guides, and Layers. You also had the opportunity to learn some fun and useful freehand tools like the Paintbrush, Blob Brush, and Pencil. Let's not forget Live Paint either!

You'll combine these techniques with your knowledge of drawing tools from the first lecture to create two CD covers. Perhaps jazz is your thing. If so, use that music genre as inspiration for your covers. Or mix a jazz cover with a rock cover. Each cover must be unique, but they should share some similar elements so that they look like they're part of a series. A consumer should be able to see a relationship between the two covers.

You've already learned everything you'll need to put it together, so now you can practice what you've learned and get creative.

Project Brief: CD Covers

A music company has assigned you the task of designing CD covers for two upcoming compilation releases. The client would prefer to retain a few common elements between the two designs as they are part of a related series of releases. The imagery you evoke with these designs can range from smooth and sultry to bright and brassy—the choice is yours.

As this is a vector basics course, you are strongly encouraged to create your images entirely within Illustrator. If you use any pixel/raster based imagery, please limit its use to no more than 25% of the overall cover(s) design.

The design element tying these covers together is the layout. Everything else from the typeface to the illustrations is unique to the covers, and yet they clearly look like they are part of the same series.

Use your knowledge of advanced selection techniques, drawing aids, freeform drawing tools, and layers, plus the experience you gained from Lecture One, to create these two cover designs. By creating two distinct but somewhat related covers, you demonstrate your ability to adhere to design standards while also letting loose your creativity—a quality that potential clients and employers will value.

Let's take one more look at how to use layers before you begin your designs...

Running Time: 4:15 Read the Transcript

For ideas and inspiration, check out the Web sites for record companies in the genre of your choice, or use Amazon.com to look up CD covers. If you have iTunes, there are also plenty of album covers to peruse for ideas.

Since typographic tools and commands aren't discussed until Lecture Five, it's not necessary to include text elements in your designs. If you wish to make the CD titles an integral part of your covers or simply feel the cover lacks that special something without it, skip ahead to the text lecture for an overview.

The sample CD cover I created is for a west coast jazz compilation. If you strip away the text and logo, it's a relatively simple design.

By using the Paintbrush tool with a bristle brush, I was able to create a "hand-drawn" look for the outline of the states. For the interior of the states, I simply used the Blob Brush tool and drew blob-like, loose shapes. Where necessary, I applied the Smooth tool to some of the lines to eliminate any unnecessary points or harsh angles.

For your work, you are required to use at least one freeform drawing tool and at least one of the five brush types discussed in the lecture: art, bristle, calligraphic, pattern, or scatter.

Need to refresh your memory on freeform drawing (and the inevitable erasing) in Illustrator? Check out this Review Kit:

CD Cover Templates

CD cover templates are provided in the course download area. Download the file titled cd_template.zip. It uses multiple Artboards and contains two templates; one for each CD cover.

If you happen to be using an earlier version of Illustrator, download the cs3_cd_template.zip file. It contains the above mentioned templates as two individual files. The files contain guidelines for the CD cover and displays crop marks (these are non-printing elements and are not part of your design). If you place elements outside of the crop mark boundaries, they will not be visible when you save the file in the PNG format for upload to Sessions.

Saving Your Files

If you have not done so already, be sure to save your CD covers using File > Save from the menu bar or by pressing Ctrl/Command+S. Choosing this command will save the file as a standard Adobe Illustrator file with the .ai extension. It is wise to always maintain an editable version of any artwork you produce for later editing if necessary.

Before submitting your files to the Dropbox for review, save them in PNG-24 format. The PNG files will not be editable, but will be viewable on the Web by your instructor.

To save your files, follow the steps below.

1. Choose File > Save for Web & Devices from the menu bar.

2. In the Save for Web & Devices dialog that appears, locate the Preset dropdown menu just below the "Done" button. Select PNG-24 from the list as shown:

3. In the settings for the PNG-24 format, turn off Transparency by clicking once on the Transparency box. This will remove the check.

4. Click the Save button.

5. Choose a location to save the files. Name the files with the genre(s) you chose, for example "westcoastjazz" and "newinblue" and click Save.

Grading Criteria: What your instructor expects you to do:   Create two CD cover designs based on the genre(s) of your choice. Design two distinct cover designs that are, in some way, visually tied together as part of a series. Use specialized selection techniques, drawing aids, layers, and a supplied template for the construction of each CD design. Use at least one freeform drawing tool to create attractive illustrated effects on each CD cover. Use at least one of the five brush types discussed in the lecture: art, bristle, calligraphic, pattern, or scatter. How to Post: Once you're done, go to the Dropbox for this exercise and attach both of your PNG files with a brief comment. Remember to post your work as PNG files, not Illustrator (AI) files! If you have a question before sending your completed exercise for grading, use the Send Mail area to contact your instructor. I look forward to seeing your work!