From the course: Deke's Techniques (2018-2021)

816 Blending line textures in Illustrator

From the course: Deke's Techniques (2018-2021)

Start my 1-month free trial

816 Blending line textures in Illustrator

“

Remember last week, the Adobe Illustrator cubicle Gobstopper? Okay, so you don't think it looks like a Gobstopper. We don't have to agree. It's a vector-based design. Can we agree that it's a cool design? And that it would be even cooler I'm going to start things off by clicking on this shape right here with the black arrow tool and I'll right-click anywhere inside the document window, choose Arrange, and then choose Bring to Front, or you have that keyboard shortcut of Control + Shift + right bracket, that's Command + Shift + right bracket on a Mac. All right, now I'll go up to the Select menu and choose Deselect, which has a keyboard shortcut of Control + Shift + A or Command + Shift + A on a Mac or deselect all. And now what you want to do is switch to the white arrow tool, which Illustrator calls the Direct Selection Tool, but it has a keyboard shortcut of A for arrow. And now you want to click on the top edge right here of that rectangle that we just moved to the top of the stack. And if you do things right all of the anchor points will appear hollow. Now you want to Shift + click on this bottom line segment to add it to the selection. It's not going to look any different, but you've now selected two segments independently of the other two. Now you want to press Control + C or Command + C on a Mac in order to copy those segments to the clipboard and then press Control + F or Command + F on a Mac to paste them in front. And we'll end up with this effect here. All right, now I want you to notice that we have a black stroke, which is great, two points thick, that's exactly what we want. However, I do not want this fill. And so I'll click on this first color swatch on the far left side of the control panel and I'll change it to None. Next, we want to blend between these two lines and you can do that by going up to the Object menu, choosing Blend, and then choosing Make. But in my case I get this kind of hourglass effect and that's because the top segment is going in the opposite direction of the bottom segment and as a result Illustrator is blending from the top left anchor point to the bottom right one and from the top right anchor point to the bottom left one. Which is the opposite of what we want. And so if you get that effect as well then just press Control + Z or Command + Z on a Mac to undo that blend and switch to the dedicated Blend Tool, which has a keyboard shortcut of W for whatever. And now notice that the hotspot of the cursor is that tiny white square, but it lights up and it becomes a black square as soon as you hover over an anchor point. So you want it to be a black square, by the way. At which point click. Now move your cursor over this anchor point right here, so in other words we're starting with the top right anchor point and we're moving down to the bottom right anchor point, so that we have parody. Notice that the square has turned black once again and I have a plus sign. That's exactly what you want. At which point click and chances are good that you'll end up filling up that slanted rectangle with black and that's because we have too many steps. In order to change the number of steps just press the Enter key or the Return key on a Mac and thanks to the fact that the Blend Tool is active down here toward the bottom of the toolbox that brings up the Blend Options dialog box. Change Spacing to Specified Steps. I'm looking for a total of 10 steps, then press and hold the Alt key or the Option key on a Mac to get a double arrowhead cursor, which tells you that you're going to create a copy of that horizontal line, like so. Now go ahead and Shift + click on the first line and we want to blend between these two guys, we might as well do it with the Blend Tool, so I'll go ahead and select that tool. It has a keyboard shortcut of W once again. And move your cursor over that anchor point right there, so that that tiny white square, which is the hotspot of the cursor, changes to black, and then click. And now move the cursor over this anchor point here, so that you're seeing a black square once again, along with a plus sign and click. And that'll go ahead and create a blend with way too many steps. To change the number of steps press the Enter key or the Return key on the Mac to bring up the Blend Options dialog box. Switch Spacing to Specified Steps and we're looking for a total of 10 steps, as you may recall, however if I enter that value and turn on the Preview checkbox you can see that we have way too few lines. What we actually need is 10 at the top of the cross, 10 in the middle, and 10 down here at the bottom, and so I'll add times three to that value in order to multiply 10 times three, in order to multiply 10 times three, which gives us 30 steps. which gives us 30 steps. That, as you can see, is slightly too many steps, That, as you can see, is slightly too many steps, because you'll notice that we have some bad alignment here. because you'll notice that we have some bad alignment here. And that's because this top line is technically a step, And that's because this top line is technically a step, so we need to take it out of the mix so we need to take it out of the mix by entering negative one once again. by entering negative one once again. So 30 minus one, which gives us 29 steps So 30 minus one, which gives us 29 steps and we also have perfect alignment. and we also have perfect alignment. At which point go ahead and click OK. At which point go ahead and click OK. All right, now we need to mask All right, now we need to mask this blend inside of the cross, this blend inside of the cross, so press Control + X or Command + X on a Mac so press Control + X or Command + X on a Mac in order to cut that blend to the clipboard, in order to cut that blend to the clipboard, then press the V key to switch to the black arrow tool then press the V key to switch to the black arrow tool up there at the top of the toolbox up there at the top of the toolbox and click on this purple cross to select it. and click on this purple cross to select it. Now I'll go ahead and switch to the double column toolbox Now I'll go ahead and switch to the double column toolbox by clicking on this double arrow icon right there, by clicking on this double arrow icon right there, so I can gain access to this icon, so I can gain access to this icon, which switches you to the Draw Inside mode. which switches you to the Draw Inside mode. At which point you'll see dashed corners At which point you'll see dashed corners surrounding the selected shape. surrounding the selected shape. Then you want to go up to the Edit menu Then you want to go up to the Edit menu and choose Paste in Place and choose Paste in Place and that'll go ahead and paste the blend and that'll go ahead and paste the blend inside of the cross, inside of the cross, thereby delivering a clipping mask. thereby delivering a clipping mask. All right, now I'll go ahead All right, now I'll go ahead and switch back to the Draw Normal mode and switch back to the Draw Normal mode and I'll switch back to the single column toolbox. and I'll switch back to the single column toolbox. All right, now at this point All right, now at this point I could try to draw angled lines inside of the blue shapes, I could try to draw angled lines inside of the blue shapes, but that would be a little tricky but that would be a little tricky and it's also unnecessary, and it's also unnecessary, because all we have to do because all we have to do is duplicate the stuff we've created so far. is duplicate the stuff we've created so far. And so I'll go ahead and select this blue cross right here And so I'll go ahead and select this blue cross right here and I'll press the Backspace key and I'll press the Backspace key or the Delete key on the Mac to get rid of it. or the Delete key on the Mac to get rid of it. Notice that that thick stroke right there Notice that that thick stroke right there is now tracing differently around the outside edges is now tracing differently around the outside edges of our artwork of our artwork and that's because that eight point stroke and that's because that eight point stroke is assigned to the layer itself is assigned to the layer itself and the shape of the layer has changed. and the shape of the layer has changed. Now you want to go ahead and select all the blends, Now you want to go ahead and select all the blends, so click on the bottom edge of this guy right here so click on the bottom edge of this guy right here and you'll know you've selected the blend and you'll know you've selected the blend and not the shape itself, and not the shape itself, because you'll see the word Blend because you'll see the word Blend over here on the far left side of the control panel. over here on the far left side of the control panel. Then Shift + click on the top of this guy Then Shift + click on the top of this guy and Shift + click on the bottom of this guy and Shift + click on the bottom of this guy and if you've done everything correctly and if you've done everything correctly you'll still see the word Blend over here you'll still see the word Blend over here on the far left side of the control panel. on the far left side of the control panel. Now go ahead and Shift + click anywhere Now go ahead and Shift + click anywhere inside the purple cross inside the purple cross in order to select that clipping mask, in order to select that clipping mask, and so now, because I've selected three blends and so now, because I've selected three blends and one clipping mask this item over here and one clipping mask this item over here on the far left side of the control panel on the far left side of the control panel reads Mixed Objects. reads Mixed Objects. All right, now we need to rotate a duplicate All right, now we need to rotate a duplicate of all of these paths of all of these paths and you can do that by switching to the Rotate Tool, and you can do that by switching to the Rotate Tool, which you can get by pressing the R key, which you can get by pressing the R key, and now you want to Alt or Option + click and now you want to Alt or Option + click at this point right here, at this point right here, the rear point of that implied cube right there, the rear point of that implied cube right there, that cubic hole that is to say, that cubic hole that is to say, so Alt or Option + click to bring up the Rotate dialog box. so Alt or Option + click to bring up the Rotate dialog box. Change the Angle value to 120 degrees. Change the Angle value to 120 degrees. My Preview checkbox is on, My Preview checkbox is on, so that I can see that this is the exact angle so that I can see that this is the exact angle I'm looking for. I'm looking for. And now I'll click on the Copy button And now I'll click on the Copy button in order to create a copy of those paths. in order to create a copy of those paths. Finally, we want to change the color of this right hand cross, Finally, we want to change the color of this right hand cross, so I'll press Control + Shift + A so I'll press Control + Shift + A or Command + Shift + A on a Mac to deselect all, or Command + Shift + A on a Mac to deselect all, then press the V key to switch to the black arrow tool then press the V key to switch to the black arrow tool and click on that path in order to select it. and click on that path in order to select it. And now we want to change the color of the fill. And now we want to change the color of the fill. It's a little bit hard to get to that fill however It's a little bit hard to get to that fill however unless you isolate the clipping mask unless you isolate the clipping mask by double-clicking on it. by double-clicking on it. And you'll know that it's isolated, And you'll know that it's isolated, because everything else will be dimmed. because everything else will be dimmed. Now click somewhere inside that purple shape Now click somewhere inside that purple shape and go ahead and change its fill up here and go ahead and change its fill up here in the control panel to that dull blue. in the control panel to that dull blue. And we'll end up with this effect here, And we'll end up with this effect here, at which point you can press the Escape key at which point you can press the Escape key in order to escape out of that isolation mode. in order to escape out of that isolation mode. All right, now I'll press Control + Shift + A All right, now I'll press Control + Shift + A or Command + Shift + A on a Mac or Command + Shift + A on a Mac in order to deselect my artwork. in order to deselect my artwork. And that is how you add blended line textures And that is how you add blended line textures to your cubical everlasting Gobstopper to your cubical everlasting Gobstopper here inside Illustrator. here inside Illustrator. If you're a member of LinkedIn Learning If you're a member of LinkedIn Learning I have a followup movie I have a followup movie in which I show you how to combine object blends, in which I show you how to combine object blends, like these line textures, like these line textures, along with a repeating tile pattern, along with a repeating tile pattern, like we're seeing in the background here. like we're seeing in the background here. Which looks great, Which looks great, but it involves a little bit of a compromise. but it involves a little bit of a compromise. Then we'll add some color, along with a gradient glow, Then we'll add some color, along with a gradient glow, if only for the sake of variety. if only for the sake of variety. If you're looking forward to next week If you're looking forward to next week we'll carve cubicle holes, see the difference? we'll carve cubicle holes, see the difference? No holes, holes, into our cubicle object. No holes, holes, into our cubicle object. Deke's Techniques, each and every week, keep watching. Deke's Techniques, each and every week, keep watching.

Contents