Creating a Tubular Copper G

In this exercise we will create a simple single stroke G letter, create a blend of two copper conical filled circles, apply the blend to the G-shaped curve, and add a verdigris finish.

Using the Ellipse Tool, and holding down the Ctrl key to constrain the ellipse to a circle, drag a 240 pixel circle (or a circle about the same size as the one shown here).

Select the circle and set the fill to none by clicking on the cross hatched box to the left of the screen palette with the left mouse button.

Select the circle and convert to editable shapes (Arrange > Convert to Editable Shapes).

Using the Shape Editor Tool (the squiggly line icon under the arrow tool), click where the 1 would be if the circle were a clock face. On the Infobar, click the Break at Points icon.

Select the control point at the 3 o'clock position and once again, click the Break at Points icon.

Select and delete the arc.

Select the arc with the Selector Tool (the arrow icon) then switch to the Shape Editor Tool. Click on the open end at the 3 o'clock position.

Click to the left to drop another line segment.

Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and drag the new control point towards the center of the G-shape. (Dragging while holding down the Shift and Ctrl keys constrains the line segment to either horizontal, vertical, or selected angles).

Create a 50 pixel circle, or one about the same size shown here. Select the circle with the Fill Tool and select Conical Fill from the drop down list of Fill Types on the Infobar.

Use the colors shown on the previous page by sampling them with the Color Picker in the Color Editor. To add new color stations along the fill path arc, double click on the arc where you want the new color station to appear. Select the color station box then drag the eyedropper to a color on the copper conical fill you wish to copy. Make a clone duplicate ( Ctrl k) and move it to the right as shown.

Select the Blend Tool. Click on the left conical-filled circle and without releasing the left mouse button, drag over the right conical-filled circle.

Release the mouse button. Change the number of Blend Steps on the Infobar to 500 and press Enter on your keyboard to apply the change.

Select the blend with the Blend Tool then click on the G to select it. Click the Blend Along Curve icon on the Infobar. The 500 step blend attaches itself to the G shape as shown.

NOTE: You can increase the number of Blend Steps to 999, the maximum for a smoother blend.

Make a clone duplicate of the G-shaped blend (Ctrl k). From the Arrange menu, select Convert to Editable Shapes.

From the Arrange menu, now select Combine Shapes... Add Shapes. This creates a single G-shape.

Apply a 2-color Fractal Cloud fill using the two colors from the previous page.

Select the Transparency Tool, then select the Fractal Cloud-filled G-shape and apply a Fractal Clouds, Hue transparency.

(Select Fractal Clouds from the Transparency Shape drop down list and Hue from the Transparency Type drop down list on the Infobar.

For a more aged copper look, use a duller copper Linear-filled circle instead of the bright copper conical fill.

The results are tubular.

And that is all for today boys and girls.

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