Shading Shapes

[Michelle_McKinnon@adobeforums.com]

Can you help?

I have drawn a shape using the pen tool that looks like a curled hose. I want to add some shading and highlights to it to make it look 3D. In photoshop I would just use the airbrush to add the desired shades but I can find a simple equivalent in Illustrator. I have tried to use a mesh but I cant seem to get it to adapt to the shape. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Michelle

[Philip_Peterson@adobeforums.com]

This doesn't actually answer your question, but is a good way to get a hose look.

Draw a circle, give it a linear gradient.

Draw a second circle, give that a different linear gradient.

Draw a spiral with the spiral tool.

Blend the two circles, using a couple of hundred steps.

Select the two blended objects, and the spiral. Choose Object>Blend>replace spine.

That ought to give you what you are looking for.

[Michelle_McKinnon@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for that I'll try it tonight.

I have been playing around with the blends and found the closest I can get is to draw the hose and then draw a narrower one and put it on top and use the blend function. This seems to be OK but I still need to play with the ends as the blend dosnt seem to want sit straight.

Cheers
Michelle

[Philip_Peterson@adobeforums.com]

Remember that even if it doesn't sit straight, you can always go back and use the "replace spine" command to fix things up.

The two differently made gradients makes pretty effective shading for this sort of thing.