- [Deke] In this movie, we're going to
light up the forward section of the car.
The area around the grille here.
And we're going to do so by blending
multiple mesh objects together.
I'm going to start things off by switching
to my documented progress.
You want to make sure your mesh's layer is twirled open
and then go all the way to the bottom
at which point you'll see this object
right here called front.
And I'm going to target it as well
by clicking on its meatball
and you can see that it covers
the front of the car.
I'll just go ahead and twirl open the clipping group
right here and target this guy.
The reason that we need this object
is because we just can't create any vertical columns.
They would end up crossing both
the existing rows and the sideways columns
which is impossible where a gradient mesh is concerned.
So we're going to take advantage of this guy instead.
So I'm just going to make a copy of this item
by clicking on it here inside the layers panel
and then I'll Alt or Option + drag it
to this point right here in between the clipping mask
and the gradient mesh object
that we finished in the previous movie.
And now I'll go ahead and make a copy
of this item so that we don't harm the original.
And now, I'll turn the original off.
Alright, let's go ahead and zoom in here,
so we can better see this path outline.
I've created another diagram that I have opened
inside Photoshop that shows the four row lines
that we need to add as well as the four column lines.
Now this diagram's a little simpler
because I'm not labeling every single blue one point.
I'm just showing you the points
that are something other than the blue one
which includes these guys right here.
And did I say four column lines?
Apparently I can't count, because we have
two more over here for a total of six.
Alright, I'll switch back over to Illustrator
and I'm going to select my mesh tool,
which you can get by pressing the U key.
And I'll start by creating the columns.
So I'll just go ahead and click here
in order to create this very smooth column,
and I'll create another one at this location
so that both of the columns
are to the left of the headlight.
Now I'll create another column right through
the middle of the headlight like so
and another one next to the grille.
Now this guy I want to move a little bit,
I want to create a different angle,
but if I press the Shift key as I drag it,
the other set is snapped into alignment
with the point next door.
I don't know why that is but that's not what I want
so I'll go ahead and just drag this guy over
to about this location right here
and I'll also move the control handles a little bit
so that we have a smoother transition.
And I'll go ahead and drag this guy
without pressing the Shift key
because that's giving me disastrous results.
And then I'll create a new column over here
so I'll click right about at this location
and again this is not where I want this point
so I'll move it over to about here let's say,
and then I'll drag this control handle upward
and I'll drag this one down a little bit
and I'll go ahead and drag these control handles up
so that we're not reshaping the path
at such a dramatic extent
although the core shape of the path
doesn't really matter all that much.
Alright, now let's go ahead and add a final column line
right there and that looks great.
Now we need to create a few rows
and the first one should be right there
and actually that looks really nice.
And then I'll drop down to about this location
and click to create another row.
And I want to create a row right about here above the bumper
but I'm not going to be able to click at this location
because the control handle's in the way
so I'll click over on this column line instead.
And then I'll click at this location right there.
Everything's working out pretty hunky dory.
Now I'll press the A key to switch to my white arrow tool
and I'll go ahead and select this mesh point
right there and I'll Shift + click
on the one above the bumper.
And with both those points selected,
I'll make sure the fill is active here
in the swatches panel and then I'll select blue four.
Right, now I want to select this guy, right here,
and I'm also looking to Shift + click
on each one of these mesh points
so we're looking at the second row
up from the bottom and I'll go ahead and fill them
with blue three in order to create this effect
and now I'll select these two mesh points right here,
so click on one, Shift + click on the other.
And then, I'll Shift + click on these two,
and I'll Shift + click on this guy over here as well.
And then I'll move up to this mesh point,
Shift + click on it, and Shift + click on this one,
and I'll assign them blue two.
Alright now, if I click off the object,
you can see that we have a pretty harsh
transition in the top left corner.
So I'm going to try to soften things a little bit
by dragging this top left point farther up like so
and then I will drag this guy
to let's say about this location
and I'll drag its control handle down as well.
And then I'll go ahead and move this guy up.
I do want to confirm that all of these points
right here are set to blue one, which indeed they are.
Now I want you to notice what's going on here.
We have a very sharp edge along the top of that path
and we've got another sharp edge over here.
So what we need to do is blend this mesh object
with the object below by targeting it
here inside the layers panel once again.
Then, I'll press Control + H, or Command + H
on the Mac so I can better see what I'm doing
and I'll go and scoot this guy over as well.
I might normally recommend that you click
on the word Opacity and then change
the blend mode to Screen, but notice that
that uses all the colors to brighten
the colors in the background.
We want blue one to be neutral,
so it's not brightening anything at all,
while permitting the other colors to brighten,
and to make that happen, you want to change
the blend mode to Lighten, and that's going to
give you this absolutely seamless effect right here.
After which point, I'll press Control + H
or Command + H to bring back the selection edges
and I'll press Control + Shift + A or Command + Shift + A
in the Mac in order to deselect my artwork.
And that's how you can paint in additional
highlights in any direction you like
by creating a new mesh object and blending it
with an existing one here inside Illustrator.