Need to Erase Certain Parts of Background and Make Them Transparent

Question

Hello! I have this picture here that I've drawn up in Illustrator and I'm looking for a way to remove pieces of the background, specifically the gradient rectangle I have on my top layer. I still want that top layer there, but I'd like to remove some of it (I've circled some of the pieces I want to remove in the second picture). So essentially I want to the gradient to cover the brushstrokes I have in the background, but I want the white space and the rectangle shape to be transparent. I hope this makes sense, I struggled with finding a good way to word this haha.

I'm self-taught and I've only been using Illustrator for a little over a year. I would really appreciate any help!

-Ash

Monika Gause · Accepted Answer

You could:1. select all the artwork except the gradient rectangle2. Edit > Copy3. Lock all the existing artwork4. Edit > Paste in front5. (This depends on the nature of the strokes) While the artwork is still selected: Object > Expand appearance (might give an error that there is nothing to expand) Object > Path > Outline stroke (might also give an error because strokes are already expanded)6. Pathfinder panel: click on the "Unite" button (top left)7. Fill with black (in case it's an RGB file: RGB 000)8. Unlock all9. Select the gradient rectangle and the black shape and in transparency panel click on "Make mask" button.10. Check the option "Invert", uncheck "Crop"

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