Layers Magazine » meghan murphy

Night Lights: Creating a Glowing Neon Effect in Illustrator

meghan murphy — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:15:43 +0000

Create a glowing neon effect in your illustration that can grab an audience’s attention with its beauty and uniqueness.

This compelling effect really draws in the eye. Using a technique that emulates glowing neon in your illustration can do exactly what a real neon sign is designed to do-grab an audience’s attention with its beauty and uniqueness. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun to play around with!

1

A black, or otherwise dark-colored, background will set off the neon effect very nicely. Create a black background by drawing a rectangle with the Fill set to Black. Using the Pen tool (or if you prefer to draw free-handed, the Pencil or the Brush tool), create a simple outline shape. For this example I’ve drawn a flamingo. Make the Stroke White for now, and the Fill should be set to None.

2

Select the new shape with the Selection tool. Go to Object>Path>Simplify. In the Simplify menu, click the Preview option, then experiment with the Curve Precision percentage till your shape is smooth like neon tubing. In this example, I set the Curve Precision to 60%.

3

Select the layer in your Layers palette that contains your shape, and then click on the small triangle in the upper right hand corner. In the menu that opens, select the Duplicate option. Repeat this step one more time, so you end up with three separate layers with your shape on each one. Name these layers 1, 2 and 3, with 1 being the second to bottom layer, then 2, then 3 as shown here..

4

Toggle off the visibility for Layers 3 and 2 by clicking on the eye icon in front of them in the Layers palette. Select the shape on layer 1 (using the Selection tool), and change the stroke color to a deep and saturated hue. In this example I choose a dark pink. Then increase the stroke’s width to 9 points with the Stroke palette (Window>Stroke).

5

Select your shape, and then go to Effect>Blur>Gaussian Blur. In the Gaussian Blur dialog, set the Radius to 2 and click OK. This will provide the glow for your neon shape.

6

Toggle on the visibility of Layer 2 now. Select the shape on this layer, then change its
stroke width to 4 points and the color to a lighter version of the one you selected in Step Four.

7

Now toggle on the visibility of Layer 3. Select the shape on this layer-you may need to zoom into the art to select the line. Change its stroke width to 1 point and the color to an even lighter version of the one you selected in Step 4.

8

Using the same technique it is now easy to build up a more complex image, with all the elements having their own striking neon glow.

Creating a Quick and Easy Glass Bowl in Illustrator

meghan murphy — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 20:49:19 +0000

With just a circle, a few ovals and the Inner Glow effect, you can create a quick and very useful glass bowl image in Illustrator. And once you master this technique, it can be easily adapted for many different uses.

1

Create a circle with the Ellipse tool. Hold down the Shift key while dragging open your circle to keep it perfectly round. Change the Fill to blue and Stroke to None (/).

2

Again using the Ellipse tool, create an oval that slightly overlaps the edges of your initial circle as shown here.

3

With both the circle and the overlapping oval selected with the Selection tool (Shift-click each or drag a selection around them), go to the Pathfinder menu (Window>Pathfinder if it’s not already open) and click the Divide button.

4

Go to Object>Ungroup to separate the newly divided shapes.

5

With the Selection tool, select the top of the circle and the oval (and any other small pieces that may have been created in the division process) and press Delete (PC: Backspace). This should leave only the main bowl shape.

6

Now with the bowl shape still selected, go to Effect>Stylize>Inner Glow. In the Inner Glow menu, double-click on the color square and choose a medium blue from the Color Picker (write this color name down; for example, 09B1CC; we’ll need it later). Set the Mode to Normal, the Opacity at 35%, and Blur at 35 pt. Make sure the Edge button at the bottom of the Inner Glow menu, not the Center button, is selected, and click OK.

7

To make the bowl’s rim, first make an oval with the Ellipse tool that fits right on top of the main bowl shape like shown here. Then change the oval’s Fill and Stroke color to White if it is not already. With this oval selected, go to Effect>Stylize>Inner Glow. In the Inner Glow menu set the Mode to Normal, the Opacity at 20%, and the Blur at 11 pt. The color should be the same blue you used for the main bowl shape.

8

Create one more oval; this one goes in the middle of the one created in Step Seven. Select this oval, change its Fill and Stroke to White if it’s not already, and then go to Effect>Stylize>Inner Glow. Set the Mode to Normal, the Opacity at 35% and the Blur at 20pt.

9

Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and click-and-drag this new oval and move it to the bottom of the bowl shape. This duplicates it. While holding down the Shift key to maintain its proportions, scale down the oval till it sits comfortably at the bottom of the bowl.

10

Add some shine to your new bowl with white circles placed in the top left and bottom right of the bowl.

11

I’ve added a few fish using the Pen tool.