The Xara Trompe L'Oeil Room Page 8
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Center the iris on the center of the round portion of the bulb.

Looks like we've used too much Visine. The white portion of the eye/bulb is too white.

We can change that.

Thanks to the new Stroke Shape capabilities added in Xara X, using the Freehand Tool, drawing tapered lines is now easy.

With nothing selected, select the Freehand Tool. From the Select an Existing Stroke Shape/ Pressure Profile (they couldn't have just called it Stroke Shape?) drop down list, select one of the tapered stroke shapes, such as the Iron shape shown here. Select the Selector Tool (the arrow pointer) and click on the page to deselect. Now right click on the red color on the screen palette. We have just made the default line a red, tapered line. Select the Freehand Tool. Move the Smoothness slider to 10%. Draw a series of small red blood vessels. Not too many, but enough to add a touch of realism.

To avoid the temporary state of insanity that results from having every new object and text object's outline and every line being red and tapered, reverse the process. With nothing selected, select the Freehand Tool, then select the Constant (the name for the default non-shaped line) from the drop down list. Deselect everything. Right click on your choice of outline color.

As you know, outlines cannot be filled with anything other than a flat color. It would add believability if the lines had a circular fill to make them conform to the shape of the eye.

Xara X's new Convert Line to Shape feature (Arrange menu) is just what the Eye Doctor ordered. (You listening Joel?)

Select all the blood vessel shapes, select Convert Line to Shapes (Arrange). Before you deselect the lines, Combine Shapes > Add Shapes to make all the red lines one continuous (and fillable) shape.

 

Select the lines and apply a three-color Circular Fill using the colors shown. Now the lines appear to wrap around the shape of the eye.

 

And that is the end of Part II. If you have gotten this far, give yourself a big pat on the back, save your file, and take a break. The best (and hardest) is yet to come.