In this Illustrator
tutorial we will use several different techniques
to create a pool 8 ball. We start by choosing
the 'Ellipse Tool' from the main Illustrator
tools panel, click with the mouse and drag,
if you hold down the 'shift key' while dragging
it will constrain the circle, giving the same
height and width.
Now we
need to fill the circle with black see this
illustrator
tutorial for more details on adding
colour.
To make
the ball realistic we need to add a shadow
under the ball, select the circle copy it
(Ctrl + C) and then Paste it in front (ctrl
+ F) this keeps the new circle in line with
the original. Now add a radial gradient to
it, I'm using the default black and white
from illustrator CS swatches panel and altering
it, or you can make your own illustrator gradient.
If you
select the shape containing the gradient and
press F9 it gives you an option panel where
you can alter the settings if the gradient
as seen below, For this shadow all we need
to do is click and drag the colours to swap
the black and the white around.
Now the gradient
should look like this, the next thing
to do is to position it. Again select
the gradient circle and drag the shape
from either the top or the bottom center
points (see where red arrows are) we
want to create an oval shape. Then we
need to position it behind the original
black circle, the fastest way is to
press (Ctrl + [) or go to objects >
arrange > send backwards. Once the
oval is positioned and sent backwards
it should look like the image below.
Click here for
page two of this Illustrator
tutorial. Where we add highlights
and the rest of the graphics.
