Tuesday, November 17, 2009

How to create a basic cross hatch pattern


1. Create a
new document with the size: 600pt x 600pt.
2. Using the "Line Tool", click in the bottom-left corner of the artboard.
Insert the values below. (
Length 600pt, angle 90°). Do the same for the bottom-right corner.
You should now have 2 vertical lines.
3. Change the stroke colour to an Orange and 12pt stroke weight.
4. From the appearance panel, select "Add New Stroke" and Choose Yellow & make the stroke weight 3pt.
5. Make sure "Path" is selected in the Appearance palette then go to the Transparency palette and change opacity to 40%.
6. Go to Object > Blend > Blend Options. Change to "Specified Steps" and "20"
7. Go to Object > Blend > Make
8. Go to Transform > Rotate. Enter 90°, press copy
9. Thats it. Throw a box in the background and your done.

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Friday, November 13, 2009

First Post

First of many posts. I'll start off with an example of how i like to work.
Well, firstly, it starts in my head, if i can't see the image in my head, there is no point in even starting, because it just isn't going to materialise.

I will usually have a basic idea and over a couple of days the image will just build up.
1. I'll start of with basic shapes
2. Flesh everything out
3. Add detail
4. Lastly, reduce detail.

Your probably asking yourself why am i adding detail, then removing detail. When i add detail the first time, it is usually too much, the illustration becomes cluttered and messy and distracting for the viewer. By removing details, i can draw focus to what i want.

Why not do that in the first place?It's nice to have options and i find it easier to work this way.

This is what something looks like at step 3.

After removing detail, i'm left with this.