1 00:00:00.04 --> 00:00:02.08 - All right, so far everything we've drawn has involved 2 00:00:02.08 --> 00:00:05.03 corner points, which if nothing else, proves how 3 00:00:05.03 --> 00:00:08.03 extremely flexible corner points can be. 4 00:00:08.03 --> 00:00:11.01 But in this movie we're going to move on to smooth points. 5 00:00:11.01 --> 00:00:14.00 Specifically, we're going to draw the one element of 6 00:00:14.00 --> 00:00:17.08 this artwork that's exclusively comprised of smooth points, 7 00:00:17.08 --> 00:00:19.08 and that's the letter G. 8 00:00:19.08 --> 00:00:21.09 And it's a great exercise in drawing 9 00:00:21.09 --> 00:00:25.05 and positioning smooth points inside Illustrator. 10 00:00:25.05 --> 00:00:26.00 All right. 11 00:00:26.00 --> 00:00:27.00 So I'll go ahead and switch over to my 12 00:00:27.00 --> 00:00:29.01 illustration in progress here, 13 00:00:29.01 --> 00:00:31.03 and I'm going to create a new layer for the letters 14 00:00:31.03 --> 00:00:34.02 by Alt, or Option clicking on the little page icon 15 00:00:34.02 --> 00:00:35.09 at the bottom of the Layers Panel. 16 00:00:35.09 --> 00:00:38.02 And I'll go ahead and call this layer Letters 17 00:00:38.02 --> 00:00:40.09 and I'll change the color to Gold. 18 00:00:40.09 --> 00:00:42.09 And then I'll click Okay. 19 00:00:42.09 --> 00:00:44.04 All right, now what we want to do is 20 00:00:44.04 --> 00:00:47.00 zoom in on this second to last block, 21 00:00:47.00 --> 00:00:48.09 which is the one that contains the letter G, 22 00:00:48.09 --> 00:00:53.02 and we want to be able to see through all the other layers. 23 00:00:53.02 --> 00:00:54.05 And so we have one of two choices, 24 00:00:54.05 --> 00:00:56.01 one is to turn them off, 25 00:00:56.01 --> 00:00:57.09 which is not really the way we want to work 26 00:00:57.09 --> 00:00:59.05 because then we wouldn't be able to see 27 00:00:59.05 --> 00:01:01.01 the blocks that we've drawn. 28 00:01:01.01 --> 00:01:03.00 The other is to set these two layers 29 00:01:03.00 --> 00:01:05.03 to the Outline mode, and you do that 30 00:01:05.03 --> 00:01:06.08 by pressing the Control key, 31 00:01:06.08 --> 00:01:08.02 or the Command key on the Mac, 32 00:01:08.02 --> 00:01:12.03 and clicking on the eyeballs for each of these layers. 33 00:01:12.03 --> 00:01:15.01 So if I Control click the eye for the Blocks layer 34 00:01:15.01 --> 00:01:17.09 that's going to set that layer, and that layer only, 35 00:01:17.09 --> 00:01:19.02 to the Outline mode. 36 00:01:19.02 --> 00:01:21.03 And now I'll Control, or Command click on the eye 37 00:01:21.03 --> 00:01:23.04 for the Table layer, and it will be set 38 00:01:23.04 --> 00:01:25.02 to the Outline mode, as well. 39 00:01:25.02 --> 00:01:26.09 And you can see which layers are set to the 40 00:01:26.09 --> 00:01:29.08 Outline mode because they don't have pupils. 41 00:01:29.08 --> 00:01:31.08 They're little Orphan Annie eyes. 42 00:01:31.08 --> 00:01:34.06 All right, I'm going to zoom in just a little bit more here, 43 00:01:34.06 --> 00:01:36.01 and scroll up, as well. 44 00:01:36.01 --> 00:01:37.06 And I'm going o be drawing this shape 45 00:01:37.06 --> 00:01:40.05 in a counter clockwise fashion, by the way, 46 00:01:40.05 --> 00:01:43.00 that's going to turn clockwise at the end. 47 00:01:43.00 --> 00:01:44.05 But that is going to mean, of course, 48 00:01:44.05 --> 00:01:47.01 that as I continue to draw once I start, 49 00:01:47.01 --> 00:01:50.02 in a consistent direction, which is very important 50 00:01:50.02 --> 00:01:53.00 because we are trying to follow a path 51 00:01:53.00 --> 00:01:55.03 when we're drawing a Path outline. 52 00:01:55.03 --> 00:01:57.09 All right, now I'll go ahead and select the Pen Tool, 53 00:01:57.09 --> 00:02:00.01 which of course I can get by pressing the P key. 54 00:02:00.01 --> 00:02:02.02 And as you draw you want to think about 55 00:02:02.02 --> 00:02:06.03 the valuable lesson provided to us by a circle. 56 00:02:06.03 --> 00:02:09.06 So a circle has a point right at its apex, 57 00:02:09.06 --> 00:02:12.06 at the very top, it has another point way at the bottom, 58 00:02:12.06 --> 00:02:14.06 it has a point at the far left side, 59 00:02:14.06 --> 00:02:16.08 and the far right side, just four smooth points, 60 00:02:16.08 --> 00:02:17.08 and nothing more. 61 00:02:17.08 --> 00:02:21.01 So that's what we need to trace this G, as well, 62 00:02:21.01 --> 00:02:23.00 so we're going to start up here at the top 63 00:02:23.00 --> 00:02:25.05 of the inside, and I'm pressing the Shift key 64 00:02:25.05 --> 00:02:27.08 as I drag so I'm constraining the angle 65 00:02:27.08 --> 00:02:31.03 of those control handles to exactly horizontal. 66 00:02:31.03 --> 00:02:33.09 Now I'll choose the farthest left point, 67 00:02:33.09 --> 00:02:35.05 which would be right about here, 68 00:02:35.05 --> 00:02:38.03 and I'll drag down while I again, 69 00:02:38.03 --> 00:02:41.06 press the Shift key and that's going to give me 70 00:02:41.06 --> 00:02:44.08 this nice, prefect arc right here. 71 00:02:44.08 --> 00:02:46.09 All right, I don't want to see a Fill at this point, 72 00:02:46.09 --> 00:02:50.00 so fortunately my Fill is active here in the Swatches Panel 73 00:02:50.00 --> 00:02:51.06 which means I can click on None, 74 00:02:51.06 --> 00:02:54.01 or just press the Slash key. 75 00:02:54.01 --> 00:02:56.07 All right, now we don't want to move halfway down here, 76 00:02:56.07 --> 00:02:58.06 that's not the way a circle works. 77 00:02:58.06 --> 00:03:02.00 We want to move all the way down to the very bottom, 78 00:03:02.00 --> 00:03:03.08 at which point you can go ahead and drag 79 00:03:03.08 --> 00:03:05.04 while pressing the Shift key. 80 00:03:05.04 --> 00:03:07.02 And then because we don't want the control handle 81 00:03:07.02 --> 00:03:09.00 under the cursor to be this long, 82 00:03:09.00 --> 00:03:11.08 I'll add the Control key, or the Command key on the Mac, 83 00:03:11.08 --> 00:03:13.08 and move it back, like so. 84 00:03:13.08 --> 00:03:16.09 Which because we have that Control or Command key down 85 00:03:16.09 --> 00:03:19.06 does not modify the position of the control handle 86 00:03:19.06 --> 00:03:22.01 on the other side of the anchor point. 87 00:03:22.01 --> 00:03:24.00 All right, now I want to modify some of these 88 00:03:24.00 --> 00:03:27.02 control handles a little bit and I like to work on the fly, 89 00:03:27.02 --> 00:03:28.07 you may want to come back later 90 00:03:28.07 --> 00:03:30.00 after you're done drawing, 91 00:03:30.00 --> 00:03:31.09 but I like to update everything as I go. 92 00:03:31.09 --> 00:03:34.02 And so I'm going to press and hold the Control key, 93 00:03:34.02 --> 00:03:35.06 or the Command key on the Mac, 94 00:03:35.06 --> 00:03:38.01 but that gets me the black arrow, which is not what I want. 95 00:03:38.01 --> 00:03:41.06 So I'll press Control Tilda, or Command Option Tab on the 96 00:03:41.06 --> 00:03:43.06 Mac to switch to the white arrow tool. 97 00:03:43.06 --> 00:03:45.07 And I'll go ahead and drag this guy down 98 00:03:45.07 --> 00:03:48.01 while pressing the Shift key, and then I'll move it back up. 99 00:03:48.01 --> 00:03:49.07 I just wanted to move it sufficitently far down 100 00:03:49.07 --> 00:03:51.01 so I can see what I'm doing, 101 00:03:51.01 --> 00:03:53.06 so I can see the template in the background. 102 00:03:53.06 --> 00:03:55.07 And the other option is to change this layer 103 00:03:55.07 --> 00:03:57.04 to the Outline mode, as well. 104 00:03:57.04 --> 00:03:58.09 I just don't want to do that. 105 00:03:58.09 --> 00:04:00.06 And now I'm just going to drag this guy out 106 00:04:00.06 --> 00:04:03.05 just a little bit, this handle, that is, to the right. 107 00:04:03.05 --> 00:04:06.04 All right, now somehow I've lost my rubber band, 108 00:04:06.04 --> 00:04:09.03 as you can see here, although I seem to still have an 109 00:04:09.03 --> 00:04:13.00 active Path outline, as indicated by the lack of asterisk. 110 00:04:13.00 --> 00:04:15.06 So I'll just go ahead and drag up, like so, 111 00:04:15.06 --> 00:04:18.07 at this location, and everything's working out just fine. 112 00:04:18.07 --> 00:04:21.09 So now I'll drag right about there, and I'm pressing 113 00:04:21.09 --> 00:04:24.02 the Shift key each and every time 114 00:04:24.02 --> 00:04:27.03 in order to constrain the angle of my control handles, 115 00:04:27.03 --> 00:04:29.09 either so they're vertical, or horizontal. 116 00:04:29.09 --> 00:04:31.09 Now notice that I could put another smooth point 117 00:04:31.09 --> 00:04:34.00 right about there, but I don't want that. 118 00:04:34.00 --> 00:04:36.04 I'm just going to Control, or Command drag 119 00:04:36.04 --> 00:04:41.02 this handle upward so that I have a little bit of a crimp. 120 00:04:41.02 --> 00:04:44.01 So it's not like you always want super smooth stuff. 121 00:04:44.01 --> 00:04:46.03 Sometimes you do want a little bit of flex 122 00:04:46.03 --> 00:04:47.08 in your Path outlines. 123 00:04:47.08 --> 00:04:49.05 All right, now I'll Control click on this guy 124 00:04:49.05 --> 00:04:51.02 and I'm going to nudge him downward 125 00:04:51.02 --> 00:04:53.04 by pressing the down arrow key a couple of times 126 00:04:53.04 --> 00:04:56.01 and that will deactivate my path, as indicated 127 00:04:56.01 --> 00:04:58.05 by the asterisk next to the cursor. 128 00:04:58.05 --> 00:05:00.09 So I'll go ahead and drag out from that smooth point, 129 00:05:00.09 --> 00:05:04.07 to again, activate the path, and then I'll drag upward. 130 00:05:04.07 --> 00:05:06.07 And I am not sure why I'm missing my rubber band, 131 00:05:06.07 --> 00:05:08.09 but that's okay, we don't really need it. 132 00:05:08.09 --> 00:05:11.01 And now I'll drag up here 133 00:05:11.01 --> 00:05:13.04 in order to create a big, long control handle. 134 00:05:13.04 --> 00:05:14.09 I don't want it to be quite this long 135 00:05:14.09 --> 00:05:16.02 over on the right hand side 136 00:05:16.02 --> 00:05:18.07 so I'll hold the Control key, or the Command key on the Mac, 137 00:05:18.07 --> 00:05:22.00 and back it off a little bit, to about there, let's say. 138 00:05:22.00 --> 00:05:26.04 And now I'll drag down on the far right side of the G 139 00:05:26.04 --> 00:05:29.01 right here, and now I'll Control, or Command drag 140 00:05:29.01 --> 00:05:31.00 this handle back even further. 141 00:05:31.00 --> 00:05:32.08 All right, now I want a point right there, 142 00:05:32.08 --> 00:05:35.07 so I'll go ahead and drag a very small control handle. 143 00:05:35.07 --> 00:05:38.01 And then I'll draw another one at this location, 144 00:05:38.01 --> 00:05:41.08 because this is the far left side of the lip of this G. 145 00:05:41.08 --> 00:05:43.01 Now this control handle has to be 146 00:05:43.01 --> 00:05:45.02 much larger than this, so I'll go ahead 147 00:05:45.02 --> 00:05:47.04 and Control, or Command drag it down. 148 00:05:47.04 --> 00:05:50.04 And then I'll draw another smooth point 149 00:05:50.04 --> 00:05:52.02 way down here at the bottom of the G, 150 00:05:52.02 --> 00:05:55.00 so again, we're going for the extreme sides. 151 00:05:55.00 --> 00:05:57.07 That appears to leave too long of handle over 152 00:05:57.07 --> 00:06:00.07 on this side, so I'll Control, or Command drag it up. 153 00:06:00.07 --> 00:06:04.04 And I'll Control, or Command drag this one outward, like so. 154 00:06:04.04 --> 00:06:05.05 All right, now we want to create another 155 00:06:05.05 --> 00:06:08.05 smooth point over here, so I'll drag a big one, 156 00:06:08.05 --> 00:06:11.04 and I'm pressing the Shift key, incidentally, 157 00:06:11.04 --> 00:06:14.02 in order to make my handle nice and long. 158 00:06:14.02 --> 00:06:15.06 It needs to be longer than that, even, 159 00:06:15.06 --> 00:06:18.04 so I'll Control Shift drag this handle downward, 160 00:06:18.04 --> 00:06:20.04 maybe not that far, maybe right to there 161 00:06:20.04 --> 00:06:23.01 because I've got to move this guy out. 162 00:06:23.01 --> 00:06:24.09 And so you see how I'm compensating 163 00:06:24.09 --> 00:06:26.09 for the curvature of these segments? 164 00:06:26.09 --> 00:06:29.04 And now I'll Control, or Command Shift drag 165 00:06:29.04 --> 00:06:32.05 this guy up, very important to have the Shift key down, 166 00:06:32.05 --> 00:06:34.09 and I'll go ahead and Shift drag a new handle up here. 167 00:06:34.09 --> 00:06:37.07 I'll press the Control key, or the Command key on the Mac, 168 00:06:37.07 --> 00:06:39.09 to bring this handle back a little bit, 169 00:06:39.09 --> 00:06:43.06 so a lot of pressing of keys when you're working 170 00:06:43.06 --> 00:06:46.03 with the Pen Tool inside of Illustrator. 171 00:06:46.03 --> 00:06:48.02 All right, I'll create another guy right there 172 00:06:48.02 --> 00:06:51.04 so you can see that was the bottom of that little flex, 173 00:06:51.04 --> 00:06:52.08 and this is the top of it. 174 00:06:52.08 --> 00:06:55.08 This is the only time I'm going to violate my rule. 175 00:06:55.08 --> 00:06:57.01 I'm going to put this handle over 176 00:06:57.01 --> 00:06:59.08 a little bit on the side, like so, 177 00:06:59.08 --> 00:07:02.06 and I'm not pressing the Shift key this time, 178 00:07:02.06 --> 00:07:04.06 I'm just dragging out the control handles. 179 00:07:04.06 --> 00:07:07.06 And then I'll Shift drag down here at the bottom, 180 00:07:07.06 --> 00:07:09.01 this guy doesn't appear to be long enough, 181 00:07:09.01 --> 00:07:11.08 so I'll Control, or Command drag him outward. 182 00:07:11.08 --> 00:07:13.03 The reason I'm pressing the Control key, 183 00:07:13.03 --> 00:07:15.01 or the command key on the Mac, once again, 184 00:07:15.01 --> 00:07:17.04 is to get my white arrow tool. 185 00:07:17.04 --> 00:07:18.09 And then I'm going to finish things up, 186 00:07:18.09 --> 00:07:20.05 I'm actually going to Control, or Command drag 187 00:07:20.05 --> 00:07:21.07 this guy out a little bit, 188 00:07:21.07 --> 00:07:24.03 and then I'll finish things up here at the top 189 00:07:24.03 --> 00:07:27.04 by Shift dragging the segment outward. 190 00:07:27.04 --> 00:07:29.03 And I went too far with this guy so we'll Control, 191 00:07:29.03 --> 00:07:32.07 or Command drag him back in a little bit, 192 00:07:32.07 --> 00:07:35.01 and I'll Control, or Command drag this guy out 193 00:07:35.01 --> 00:07:37.00 a little bit, as well. 194 00:07:37.00 --> 00:07:38.08 And that pretty much finishes up the shape. 195 00:07:38.08 --> 00:07:40.05 So I'll just go ahead and give it a Fill 196 00:07:40.05 --> 00:07:42.02 so we can see what it looks like 197 00:07:42.02 --> 00:07:45.09 by selecting this second to brightest Gray, 198 00:07:45.09 --> 00:07:48.06 which has R, G, and B values of 230, 199 00:07:48.06 --> 00:07:50.04 and produces this effect right here. 200 00:07:50.04 --> 00:07:51.09 And then I'll press Control Shift A, 201 00:07:51.09 --> 00:07:53.03 or Command Shift A on the Mac, 202 00:07:53.03 --> 00:07:54.07 to deselect the G. 203 00:07:54.07 --> 00:07:56.09 And that is how you create a complex, 204 00:07:56.09 --> 00:08:00.06 real world shape that entirely comprises smooth points 205 00:08:00.06 --> 00:08:03.09 here inside Illustrator.