I began by creating an A4 portrait document set to CMYK, High (300 ppi); it is CMYK to allow it be printed and we need the document to be 'high' so that the document renders all the effects and filters applied in the document to the best quality. As in the workshop I was taught how to create a realistic object using tool, texture and gradients.
I began creating the realistic pear in Adobe Illustrator using tools and skills shown to me by my tutor. The first step was getting an image of a pear from the internet and dragging it in to illustrator; I reduced the opacity of the pear and locked the layer so it didn't move when I would be working on top of the image. On a new layer using the shape tool I drew a box (M) over the pear so that it was near enough covered. After that I used the mesh tool (U) and clicked on the box I had just drawn; using the direct select tool (A) I manipulated the anchor points so that they conformed to the shape of the pear more. Then going back to the mesh tool I added vertical and horizontal lines to the pear to create the 3D element to the mesh. I then began to add colour to the mesh; to do this I used the eye dropper (I) and direct select tools. In order for this to work I had to bring the pear layer to the front so that the colour picker could pick up the colour from the pear. For each anchor point I had created I used the eye dropper tool to select a colour for that point. As I went round the pear it was being filled to create a realistic pear with light and shade to create a 3D look. To make sure I hadn't missed any points I would bring the mesh back to the top to look for any areas that needed working on.
Next I moved on to making the pear looking more realistic with the aid of a texture; to do so I got a texture from the internet and then imaged traced the texture so that I was left with a black and white image. Then using the outline of the pear I made a clipping mask so that the image was now in the shape of my pear which would later be placed over the pear. To remove the white from the image I went on to the transparency options and changed it from normal to multiply. So that the black weren't as intense I reduced the opacity of the texture so that it blended in better with the pear; the last stage was to group the mesh and texture together to create my own realistic pear.
Here is the final outcome of the workshop; I will take away from this workshop the knowledge on how to create an outcome that looks realistic and therefore professional in design. From doing this workshop I have learn more about the Adobe Illustrator program which I thought I already knew a lot about; it just shows that the program has more to offer me in the future as a designer and I will used these tools when I feel that there is a need to do so.
