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Gradient mesh tool took me 8 hours for one tiny leaf
I kept seeing tutorials make it look so easy, but my first attempt at a simple gradient mesh in Illustrator turned into a whole evening of fighting anchor points and getting weird color banding. I finally realized the issue was my starting shape was too complex, I should have used a simpler path first. Anyone else waste a whole day on what should be a 20 minute task?
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finleybutler1mo ago
The "too complex starting shape" thing is real and it's the exact trap almost everyone falls into, but here's the part nobody talks about: the mesh tool doesn't just punish complex shapes, it punishes shapes where you haven't planned your grid lines yet. I spent way too long one night on a simple apple because I was dragging mesh points around trying to fix colors, when the real problem was that my rows and columns didn't line up with where the actual color changes were. You have to look at your shape and think "where does the light hit, where does the shadow start" and build the mesh to match that, not just slap a default 4x4 grid on it. If your grid lines cross a flat area, the tool has nothing to do and you get that ugly banding you're talking about. It's honestly more like painting with a plan than drawing, and nobody says that upfront.
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