Adobe Illustrator CS3 Tip – Alter Your Brush After You Paint

 
 

I saw an interesting illustration that contained a three dimensional globe with all of the water areas of the Earth missing. It looked as if all the continents were mapped to an invisible sphere. You could even see the reverse side of the continents on the far side of the globe. How was this done? Here's what I did to recreate it. I saved a flat outline tracing of the continents as a Symbol, by selecting the entire map with the Selection tool (V), and choosing New Symbol from the Options menu of the Symbols panel. Then I drew a circle by clicking and dragging the Ellipse tool (L), while holding down the Shift key. Next, I selected the left anchor point of the circle with the Direct Selection tool (A) and deleted it. I Filled the semicircle that remained with an existing blue Swatch and no Stroke from the Swatches panel (Window>Swatches). To apply a 3D Effect, I went to the Effects menu>3D>Revolve. Now the fun part – I pressed the Map Art Button, found the Continents Symbol from under the Symbol popup menu. Then I checked Scale to Fit, and Shade Artwork to give it a 3D shaded look. But how did I make the Water part of the Earth invisible? To see for yourself, check Invisible Geometry, the Preview button and OK.