Any good tutorial on Gradient Mesh?

[SebastiaoV]

Hi guys,

I would like to do a gradient for a large 6 meters wide (20 feet) billboard. This is the sample image.

http://www.guoguiyan.com/gradient-wallpapers/69010779.html

I believe is better done with Gradient Mesh, right? I thought Photoshop could be also a good to provide a richer gradient color variation than Illustrator but i am not. The drawback with Photoshop is that if my final artwork is a large billboard the JPG might be too big to have the correct resolution, right?

Any advice is Gradient Mesh is the best way to go for reproducing this image? Should i do it in Illustrator or Photoshop for a 6 metres wide billboard? If gradient mesh is the way to go could you advice me on a good tutorial do reproduce this effects?

Thanks 1000!

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

It should not be too difficult to create your example with the Gradient Mesh.

The Help file gives a good description of the tool:

Create and edit mesh objects in Illustrator

In my example, I created a rectangle and picked up the dark blue color from the image wit the Eyedropper ( I )

I switched to the Gradient Mesh tool ( u ) and clicked in the rectangle to add a mesh point.

Switched back to the Eyedropper to pick up a color from the image at a corresponding location.

I kept selecting mesh points and switching back and forth to pick up colors.

Be careful with adding too many points.

[SebastiaoV]

Thanks for the good tips Ton! i will try that approach.

Cheers,

[Ton Frederiks]

Good to hear that, thanks.

[jeffreytopping]

How would i go about creating a gradient mesh like this one?

[Ton Frederiks]

Try a gradient along a stroked path and Outline Stroke