Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-on-One

Calligraphic

Scatter

Art

Bristle

Pattern

paths as something that you can paint with, the net result being

graphics along a path. The Symbols panel lets you create copies of

graphics that remain linked to the originals, so that you can edit

all copies in a single operation, much like switching fonts. Both

brushes and symbols represent powerful means of replication and

automation for the intrepid illustrator, which is to say, you.

Dynamic Brushstrokes

Illustrator CS5 offers fi ve varieties of brushes, samples of which ap-

pear in Figure 9-3, and all of which I document in Video Lesson 9,

“Freehand Painting” (see the facing page). You can either paint a

brushstroke using the paintbrush tool, in which case the brush will

respond to input from a pressure-sensitive stylus (if you have one).

Or you can apply a brush to a path drawn with any other tool, in

which case the brush behaves like a specialty stroke.

Two of the brush types, calligraphic and the new bristle brush (fi rst

and fourth in the fi gure), permit you to paint free-form artwork that

resembles traditional ink ( calligraphic) or paint (bristle). You cre-

ate brushes by adjusting a dizzying array of numerical options. If

you stroke a path with the brush before editing it, you can preview

the results of your modifi cations, which

makes the options a lot easier to suss out.

The other brushes paint graphics along

the path outline. The scatter brush repeats

a graphic, randomly sized, spaced, and

scattered (spaced from the path outline),

according to your specifi cations. The pat-

tern brush repeats the graphic with more

constraint, stretching and bending the

graphic to fl ow with the path outline. You

can also add graphics to accommodate

corners and endpoints, all housed inside

one brush.

The one that I examine in detail in this

lesson is the art brush, which stretches a

collection of shapes along the length of a

path. The result is an entirely new class

of graphics that you can bend and distort

merely by manipulating a central spine.

As a result, an art brush can look like a

charcoal stroke, as in Figure 9-3. Or it

Figure 9-3 .

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Dynamic Brushstrokes