- In the real world, a brush is a tool that you use
to lay down paint, but in Illustrator, a brush is yet
another variety of vector-based path outline.
In its simplest form, it's one path stretched across
the length of another.
In its more complex forms, a brush is many paths
stretched or repeated across the length of another.
Which is to say, you can select the Paintbrush tool
from the toolbox, select a brush from the brushes panel,
and brush away.
That's one way to work, anyway.
But it gets even better.
You can take any existing path outline drawn with any tool
that you like and then apply a brush from the brushes panel
in the form of a stroke.
You can apply a brush to the outline of live editable type
or if you like, you can turn the type into a brush
and stretch it across the path outline.
Plus, brushes respond to variable width input
which you assign either by drawing with a tablet
equipped with a pressure-sensitive stylus,
or with the help of the width tool.
As usual, brushes are amazingly versatile and powerful
as I'll demonstrate at length in the following movies.