This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Final Thoughts
From a distance (or zoomed out), the lanyard should look very close to photo-realistic. Enlarged, however, the illusion of a photograph might not hold up. We built a quick sketch to present an idea; if your illustration is destined for high-resolution work or print, spend a little more time on the shading. I would also strongly recommend working more with the scribbled pattern, varying its colors and texture to look more realistic—perhaps through multiple meshes with their own blending modes. Giving your lanyard volume by thickening the edges shown to the viewer by folds or rotations would also go a long way toward creating realism. That too can be accomplished easily by layering multiple mesh objects with slight fluctuations in their shapes.
Now that you know how to do the Monster Mesh, look back on your jar and mug projects. Could a mesh have helped you with those? What about some of your recent Photoshop projects—could they have been created with Illustrator’s meshes, with the freedom of live effects, easy changes, and the resolution independence of vectors?
Curious how I created the ring and clasp at the end of the lanyard (see Figure 3.14)? Check out the Project-How to Draw the Clasp.pdf in the Extras folder in this chapter’s resource files!
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FIGURE 3.14 Don’t forget the details! What good is a lanyard without a clip?