In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the Mesh Tool in Adobe Illustrator to create a beautiful abstract background!
1. How to Draw the Background
We will begin by drawing the biggest two background pieces with Mesh. Piece 1 is the simplest, so let's start with it!
Draw a rectangle and fill it with
#FFFCFA color. Grab the Mesh Tool (U) and create a Mesh Grid in the rectangle by clicking where you want to place your nodes.
Try to mimic the Mesh Grid in the screenshot.
Next, select the bottom edge nodes and recolor them all to
#FF7220. Continue similarly, by creating more nodes and recoloring the selected ones.
Use these colors:
Finish the background piece in a similar fashion. You will need these colors:
Let's begin drawing background piece number 2! This one will be quite a bit trickier.
Continue using the Mesh Tool to create Mesh Nodes and recoloring them as in the screenshot below.
Finish the second background piece.
2. How to Draw the Curves
Now that we have drawn both big background pieces, let's start on the curves in the foreground!
Begin drawing the first curve just as we did before.
Finish the curve with these colors:
Start drawing the second, smaller curve.
Finish it with three more recolorizations.
Move the curves together and make sure they fit one another. Change the shapes a bit if they don't.
3. How to Draw the Foreground Piece
On to the final piece of this background!
#FFD28C rectangle, modify its shape by dragging the nodes around with the Mesh Tool, and then add some
#BA5507 streaks to the shape.
Continue recoloring the final piece.
Finally, add some finishing touches!
Now, add all the pieces together!
Pieces 1 and 2 are in the background, 3 and 4 are on top of piece 2, and piece 5 is in the front.
Let's 'crop' our background!
Draw a rectangle outline over the shapes that would contain everything you want to show. Then, select all elements, right-click, and choose Make Clipping Mask.
This is how your background should look after applying the Clipping Mask!
Congratulations, You're Now Done!
Thank you for following along, and please
feel welcome to post your result in the comments. I'll be looking
forward to seeing it!
In this tutorial, you learned how to
create a modern and abstract gold background using the Mesh Tool.
hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and learned how to use Gradient Mesh for the future! Check out some of my other vector tutorials on my instructor profile.
Subscribe below and we’ll send you a weekly email summary of all new Design & Illustration tutorials. Never miss out on learning about the next big thing.Update me weekly
Envato Tuts+ tutorials are translated into other languages by our community members—you can be involved too!Translate this post