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Objective: Use Illustrator's tools, menus, and palettes to create a complex vector image. Re-create at least two smileys from the "Have a Nice Day" calendar. You will NOT be tracing them, but you will "eyeball" them. Choose one smiley that is moderately easy to do, and one that is challenging. Your challenging smiley must include gradients, feathering, or transparency or both, or should have lots of shapes, or involve using the pathfinder palette. You may choose to do two challenging smileys, but they should be completed within five class periods. When you choose a smiley to recreate, keep the printed copy in the cubby under your keyboard. Any other printed ones must be returned to the table near the door. When you finish the smiley, please return the printout to the table. The smileys will be graded based on illustrator technique. Use of complete shapes, smoothness of curves. Look in the "Old Smiley" folder to identify projects that have been done well. Make sure your smileys fit within the margins of the page. They should also fit as much of the page as possible. You must add text as well. The text must be centered on the page. "Comic Sans" is a good font to use. Please add your name to the canvas- years from now I won't remember who did which smiley. Finished smileys must be grouped and flattened. When graded, the teacher will give each smiley a difficulty rating (50-100). You will be given a grade based on your illustrator technique and attention to detail. The two grades will be averaged. The hard smiley is worth 70%. The easier smiley will be worth 30%.
Tips and suggestions: Grid: In the VIEW menu, choose SHOW GRID. This will help to draw shapes in precise locations.
Knife tool For the segmented tubey thing on both sides, draw the outside shape and fill it with a radial gradient. Then use the knife tool to cut it up into segments.
The knife handle was sliced up using the knife tool (obviously).
Draw the cracks with the knife tool, that way they will become part of the shape, rather than separate lines.
You'll have better luck drawing separate shapes to get the edges, rather than using the knife tool.
Copying and pasting To create braids, make one braid, then copy and paste it- many times.
Since this one is symmetrical, it was only necessary to draw half of it. A lot of the shapes are the same and can be copied and pasted.
How many threads did Matt Hart draw? He copied and pasted the same two and then used the warp tool to adjust each of them slightly.
Using transparency and gradients, drop shadows will give your smiley a higher difficulty rating.
If you have a round shape, don't forget the radial gradient.
Pay close attention to which shape is on top of which shape. Make use of that layer palette.
A slight drop shadow adds a lot of depth.
Creating a chain is fun.
Some smileys just take a long, long time.
Gradient mesh Radial and linear gradients can be a bit boring. You can create custom gradients using the gradient mesh.
The gradient mesh tool fills your shape with a grid. You can then select anchor points within the grid and choose a fill color of your choice. Use the lasso tool to select multiple anchor points. Use the arrow keys to move them around.
Compound paths will also increase the difficulty rating.
Did Nik draw a bunch of short lines, or one long dotted line?
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