Mesh Coloring

[caketheory]

Hi I was wondering what the point of this tool is for complicated images like photos? It would take ages to do a face as the mouth and eyes are all seperate.

However using photoshop you get similar results with dodge tool and airbrush etc so why waste time in illustrator?

I understand the benefits of mesh tool for a simple objects like and apple but whats the point for complicated photos?

[deadking10]

@caketheory The reason and only reason is scaleability. I can enlarge a vector image without issue. Photoshop is constrained by resolution. But I would agree for the most part.

[JustK8]

oooo I can't wait to do this!!! :D

[jhauzeur85]

I love thistutorial, but.. what if i need the same and a good effect with the hair ?

[deadking10]

@jhauzeur85 Hair is made best with Brushes

[sashareds]

Great tut!

However I don't get how do you pick up a colour with the eyedropper from the node point! I am getting colour of the mesh grid, not an actual background. So, I could get it only if click it around the node, but not in the middle of node!

Is the any trick?

Thanks in advance!

Alex

[deadking10]

@sashareds I've only noticed that error on PC's.....Get a Mac

[vanlupique]

wonderful tutorial, gradient mesh just got a whole lot easier

[chris022390]

WOW that just made everything easier. I'm going for Graphic design and we had to to a picture painting in illustrator. Using only paint brush and blend tools. Wow was that hard. I did a picture of heath ledger as joker. I think im going to redo it after seeing this tutorial. U should do one of heath ledger as joker. The one I did is the 3rd picture in the top row. Check it out type heath ledger joker and it will be the 3rd one in the top row. Thanks again ur tutorial was awesome.

[conory]

Wow, it looks simply amazing. But sadly I haven't got the patience for that LOL

Its looks like its well worth the work though! :)

[WeNeverGiveUp]

thanks a lot man!!!!!

[SLOWLEARNER68]

Ey Luigi!! Who forces you to sample photos using the mesh tool? It seems purposeless... because it is purposeless!! by any mean it is!.... But the mesh tool is a terrific tool !! coloring node by node? who wants that? Who said it's the only way? There are people who finds joy in "sampling" pics.... well it's their right.... Have you tried to use it your own way? Forguet sampling....senselesss by any mean I agree....But the mesh tool is terrific! Just my opinion...

[deadking10]

@SLOWLEARNER68 Clients that want to scale an image 30 feet tall for billboards without memory issues. Otherwise I never use it.

[breal12989]

what if our not recreating an image, how would you pull the color into the mesh, with out it taking 100 hours

[deadking10]

@breal12989 I wouldn't use mesh in that instance

[shoogadigga]

Your videos are so helpful. I have to make a portrait for my Illustrator class, and I was still kind of confused about the mesh tool. But this video helped a lot. Thanks! :D

[ronnys1978]

Excelente tutorial!

[jingematz]

You saved my life

[jingematz]

Thanks for making this tutorial..you're awesome!

[junkiego]

excellent!

[1nglewattz1]

12hrs in clicking nodes. WTH! I feel you, and have to give you props for having zen like patience. After 4hrs, of point and click I deleted the the whole thing due I was cracking like a effin egg. lol Thanks for giving me a better perspective on the mesh tool.

[ScooterBoyEX221]

Hey, thanks so much for making this~ i was struggling on shaping it, now it makes sense, thanks!

[itailu]

insane :-)

cheers

itai lustgarten

illustgarten

[MazZTyN]

You are litteraly my hero :D belive it, you saved my (designer) life ! Thank you so much. Great work btw, loved the tut !

[718artem]

thnks alot dude.. very usefull tut.. 5 *'s

[richardhartzell]

again a great video...instructive, clear, to the point...thanks again

[Dholplayaxx]

amazingg!

[valleart]

no, no, no... thank YOU dude

[PolarDogBear]

Wow, so nice! I'm a super newbie with this stuff so quick question, when you say click, let go, eyedrop, are you first clicking with the eyedrop tool, letting go of it, holding down the apple button, and then clicking with the arrow tool?

And if you were to make the mesh more dense, would that create a better/more accurate effect in the end?

[deadking10]

Yes, the tighter the mesh the more details to pick up. Its good and bad because sometimes it picks up pixals you didn't want and becomes blotchy.

[deadking10]

@PolarDogBear Only if the photo is better. Less node the better unless you have no choice.

[pinkskylie1]

Thank you so much for this tutorial!! I've finally mastered the mesh tool!

[odisea2012]

Oh my God, Awesome, wonderfull georgeus, great, incredible, magnific, fantastic, beautiful, I hate illustrator, but it's cool, but THE FACES???

[Xtr4shX]

honestly, i love you! :D

you rescued my (digital) life, thanks for that! ;)

[masterxilo]

I don't know Illustrator too much. But why do you have to do this by hand? Looks like it's a useful technique, why can't the mesh be colored like it's background automatically?

[FlegDesigns]

Well that's when Photoshop comes in. :P

[luigidesigns]

I have never liked Gradient Mesh that much because it's nothing but a tool to sample a photo. The challenging part is to make the right grid, which is not that hard after a few trials, the rest is all Select point(A), Eyedropper (i) for the next few hours.

I did just one small project on my own, to test out the Mesh, but I got bored after that because well, it's nothing but a repeating pattern, and anyone with some time to spear can do it, really.

[deadking10]

You are soooooooooooooo right. Boring doesn't start to explain it. I am not a fan of it. I do just about all of my Illustrator renderings with blends and gradients, but this is simply a tutorial.

BUT, clients ask me for packaging renderings of images that they can blow up for billboards etc and it is a necessary tool.

but, I agree, it is a tool that duplicates a source image. as I explain verbally in this tutorial.

Thanks

[Ayejay5108]

Thanks a lot for making this :)

I already had an understanding of the gradient mesh tool, but couldn't work out how to put it into practice until i seen this, so thanks :)

[M0man]

That's WAY too many points, You should add points to fit curve and necessity, Not just over the entire surface.

[kwrbassist]

Very good! Thank you very much. I hate illustrator. To me it's the redheaded step child and good videos like this make it a lot better.

[geekowned]

Thanks a lot for the tutorial. Wish we could see the full girl :-)

[diegodaly]

thank you this tutorial is very good!

very clear

[nailgunacupuncture]

Just to let everyone know, this demo is for CS4... CS3 will not let you add colours in wireframe mode, sucking, considering I just learned essentially the best technique on how to do this and now it doesn't work in the version I have.

[ComSubPac2009]

I have CS3 and followed his steps and I am adding color just fine but it may not be in the true wire frame stage. I have the wires with the small white circles that tells me what has color and what doesn't. Adding color just fine.

[johnnycilantro]

Works for me in CS2.

[organdonor666]

yeah it does. You can do this on CS3

great vid

[Cho0Sen]

its really GREAT tutorial and it will help me alot. Thanks for posting such a great tutorial.

[robertokeyless]

You da man, great tutorial.. please post more.

[firebark]

great tutorial!

[vehura]

Thank you for this tutorial! I have been so frustrated with this tool for over a week. Your instructions are easy to follow. :)

[PavajMercedes]

Good tutorial, is in top 10 on youtube, for me.

[fauxx82]

You just saved my life on my upcoming Illustrator project.

[deadking10]

You can and maybe should use a mesh black and white shape as you mask to make it smoother. I like using black as the mask shape because it helps me remember as per Layer Masks in PS

[jahmodi]

Thank you again.