Illustrator® CS4 Bible

Chapter 4. Understanding Drawing and Painting Techniques

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Working with paths

• Understanding anchor points and control handles

• Drawing paths with the Pencil and Pen tools

• Using the line tools

• Using the Paintbrush tool

• Working with other brushes

In this chapter, you learn about paths, which are the basic lines that make up the various objects. This chapter also covers using Illustrator's drawing tools, including the Pen, Pencil, and Paintbrush tools, to create these paths. And I talk about the techniques behind many cool effects that you can create by using these tools.

Working with Paths

The most basic element in Illustrator is a path. A path is what Illustrator calls the black line segment that appears when you draw a line. When you select a path, its anchor points appear. A path must have at least two anchor points, which appear as small squares along the path and control which way the path goes. Paths look different in Preview and Outline modes. In Preview mode, you actually see the line weight, dashed style, color, and any effects applied to that line. In Outline mode, you simply see a thin line. Without two anchor points, you can't draw a path like the one shown in Figure 4.1. Conceptually, there's no limit to the number of anchor points or segments that you can have in any one path. Depending on the type of anchor points that are on either end of a line segment, you can make a segment straight or curved. A single anchor point never prints anything.

Note

For more on Preview ...