Painting in Adobe Illustrator
The painting feature in Adobe Illustrator allows us to add visual interest to our artwork. It provides scatters, art, calligraphic, pattern, and bristle brushes. It also allows us to use the Live Paint feature and shape builder tools to paint different path segments and fill enclosed paths with different colors and patterns.
Paint an object
We assign a fill or Stroke to an object when we draw. We can then draw different layers of objects that we paint similarly to other objects that each new object on top of the previous ones. Finally the artwork will look exactly same as any collage made out of shapes cut from colored paper.
Paint a Live Paint group
The live Paint method is used to color the object with the traditional coloring tool without considering the stacking or layering orders that make the more natural workflow. The objects are treated as they belong to the same flat surface, inside the Live Paint Group. It means that we draw the face and then color each area separately. We can also assign the strokes and weight to the color of a path between interactions that are called edges.
Painting Method
In Adobe Illustrator, there are two methods of painting – we can assign a fill, or Stroke, or both to an entire object. The object can be assigned a fill or Stroke to the separate edges and face of the path converted to a Live Paint group and.
- Fills: It is a gradient or color pattern inside an object. We can apply fills to face the live Paint groups and for the opening and closing of the object.
- Strokes: It is the outline of the path, object, or edge of a Live Paint group that is visible.
Fill and Stroke controls
The following are the control for the fill and stroke setting that is available in the Tools panel.
Fill button: This button is uses the Color Picker to select a fill color.
Stroke button: It can be used to choose the stroke color using the Color Picker.
Swap Fill And Stroke button: 
We can swap the colors between the fill and Stroke using this button.
Default Fill And Stroke button: 
We will return to the default color settings when we click on this button.
Color button: 
It can be used to apply the last-selected solid color to the artwork with a gradient fill.
Gradient button: 
It can be used to change the currently selected fill to the last-selected gradient.
None button: 
This button can be used to remove the selected object’s fill or Stroke.
You can also specify color and Stroke for a selected object by using the following controls in the Control panel:
Fill color: 
It can be used to open the Swatches panel or we can use this button with Shift to open an alternate color mode panel, or choose a color.
Stroke color: 
It can be used to open the Swatches panel or it an be used to open an alternate color mode panel, and choose a color.
Stroke panel: It helps the word Stroke to open the Stroke panel and specify options.
Stroke weight: It can be used to choose a stroke weight from the pop-up menu.
Gradient
The gradient fill is used to create smooth color graduation across one or more objects. We can use a gradient as a swatch to easily apply the gradient to multiple objects. It is defined as a series of stops along with the gradient slider in Illustrator.
Gradient panel overview
Following tools are available in the gradient panel.
Gradient Fill Box: It displays the current gradient colors and the gradient type. When we click on it, the selected object on the artwork is filled with the gradient.
Gradient menu: It lists all the default and saved gradient.
Save Gradient: It can be used to save the current gradient setting as a swatch.
Gradient Slider: We can add more color boxes by clicking anywhere along with the gradient slider.
For the gradient annotator to show and hide follow these steps, choose View → then Hide Gradient Annotator or View → Finally Show Gradient Annotator.
Apply a gradient using the gradient tool
Step 1: Go to the tools panel then select the Gradient tool .
Step 2: Now on the Artboard, click on the object that you want to apply the gradient.
Step 3: Double click on the gradient stop below the gradient bar to define the color of a gradient.
Step 4: Now, drag the square icon located above the bar to adjust the midpoint between two gradient colors.
Step 5: After that, position the gradient tool at the beginning of the gradient annotator in the object to change the origin of the gradient and drag it to the desired location.
Step 6: To save the new or modified gradient as a swatch, click on the New Swatch button in the Swatch panel.
Apply a gradient using the Gradient panel
Step 1: Open the Artboard and select the object to which you want to apply a gradient.
Step 2: Go to the Windows menu and click on the gradient to open the gradient panel.
Step 3: Near the sample, click the triangle to pick a preset gradient fill.
Step 4: Select an option from the Type menu in the gradient panel to determine how the starting point and ending point affect gradient appearance.
- Linear Gradient: It is the shade from the starting point to the ending point in a straight line.
- Radial Gradient: It is the shades from the starting point to the ending point in a circular pattern.
Step 5: You need to specify an Aspect Ratio value other than 100% in the gradient panel to create an elliptical gradient after choosing Radial from the Type menu.
Step 6: Type a value for Angle to adjust the gradient angle.
Step 7: Drag a color in the panel to define the color of the gradient.
Step 8: Now, to save the new or modified gradient as a swatch, click on the New Swatch button in the Swatches panel.
Apply a fill color to an object
Step 1: Open the Artboard and select the object using the Selection tool or the Direct selection tool.
Step 2: Now, go to the Tools panel and click on the Fill box to indicate that you want to apply a fill rather than a stroke.
Step 3: After that, select a color from the Color Picker by double-clicking the Fill box.
Apply a stroke color
Step 1: Open the Artboard and select the object you want to apply the stroke color.
Step 2: Go to the Tools panel and click on the Stroke box to apply a stroke rather than a fill.
Step 3: From the Color panel, select a color or swatch from the Swatch panel.
Convert strokes to compound paths
When we convert a stroke to a compound path, it allows us to modify the outline of the strokes with different width, or we can divide the strokes into pieces.
Step 1: Go to the Artboard and select the object for which you want to edit the strokes.
Step 2: Now, select the outline stroke of the path.
In the above figure, the first one applying a stroke to an object and the second image in for converting a stroke to a compound path containing two sub-path.
Brushes in Illustrator
We can stylize the appearance of the path using the brush tool. We can also use the paintbrush tool to draw a path and apply a brush stroke simultaneously.
Type of brushes in Illustrator:
Calligraphic brushes: It can be used to create a stroke that looks similar to point drawn using the calligraphic pen.
Scatter brushes: It creates the disperse copies of an object according to the path.
Art brushes: It can be used to stretch the object shape or brush shape evenly along the length of the path.
Bristle brush: It can be used to create a brushstroke with the appearance of a natural brush with bristle.
Patter brushes: It can be used to paint a pattern because its Stroke is made of individual tiles.
Live Paint group in Illustrator
It is an initiative way to create a colored drawing in Adobe Illustrator. It allows us to color our artwork freely. When we create any live Paint Group, each path remains editable. These paintable parts are known as edge and faces in the Live Paint group.
For example –
How to create a Live Paint Group in Adobe Illustrator
Step 1: Open an artboard and create one or more paths.
Step 2: After creating paths, select the path or compound path, then perform one of the following.
Step 3: Choose an object → Live Paint → Make OR Click the selected object after selecting the Live Paint Bucket tool.
Transparency and blending mode in Adobe Illustrator
Transparency in Illustrator is used to add transparency to our artwork without realizing it. Whether Blending modes is the way that the color of objects blends with the colors of underlying objects. The effect of the blending mode is seen on any objects that lie beneath the object’s layer or group when we apply a blending mode to an object.
Transparency: A – Underlying objects, B – Opacity mask artwork, C – Masking object filled with black-to-white Gradient, D – C moved over the area of B and masking B
Blending: Topmost object with Normal blending (left) compared to Hard Light blending mode (right)
A: Base colors in underlying objects at 100% opacity
B: Blend color in the topmost object
C: Resulting colors after applying the Hard Light blending mode to the topmost object
Steps to create an opacity mask in Illustrator
Step 1: Open the Artboard and select the single object or group of objects.
Step 2: Now, open the transparency panel.
Step 3: On the right side of the thumbnail, double click directly. When you click, an empty mask is created, and Illustrator automatically enters mask-editing mode.
Step 4: After that, go to the Tools panel and select the drawing tool to draw a mask shape.
Step 5: Now, go to the transparency panel and click the masked artwork’s thumbnail to exit mask-editing mode.
Steps to change the blending mode of artwork in Illustrator
Step 1: Open the Artboard and select the single object or group of objects.
Step 2: Now, open the transparency panel and select the blending mode from the pop-up menu.
Step 3: Now, select the target icon to the right of a group or layer in the Layers panel that contains an object using a blending mode to isolate the blending mode.
Stroke Object in Adobe Illustrator
The stroke panel can be used to specify whether a line is solid or dashed. We can apply a stroke option to an entire object, or we can apply different Strokes to different edges within an object using the Live Paint group.
Applying a stroke color, width, or alignment
Step 1: Open the Artboard and select the object.
Step 2: Now, go to the Tools panel and click the Stroke box to apply a stroke rather than a fill.
Step 3: After that, go to the color panel and select a color.
Step 4: Select a weight in the Control panel.
Step 5: Choose an option from the stroke panel to align the Stroke along the path if the object is a closed path, Align Stroke to center, Align Stroke to inside, or Align Stroke to outside.
Meshes in Adobe Illustrator
Meshes are the multicolor object on which the color can flow in multiple directions and transition smoothly from one point to another. Mesh lines can be used in the criss-cross form and provide a way to easily manipulate color transition on the object when we create a mesh object.
Step 1: Go to the Tools panel and click the Mesh tool 
and select a fill color for the mesh point.
Step 2: Now, open the Artboard and click where you want to position the first mesh point.
Step 3: To add additional mesh points, continue clicking over the Artboard.
Step 4: Hold the shift button while clicking to add a mesh point without changing to the current fill color.
Create and edit patterns in Illustrator
Step 1: Select the artwork on which you want to create a pattern, then choose Object → Click pattern → Edit pattern.
Step 2: Double-click over the pattern in the pattern swatch to edit an existing pattern. Choose an object → Click pattern → Edit Pattern.
Step 3: Now, modify the other option that is available in the pattern Option dialog.