How to Make a Disco Ball in Illustrator

Creating a disco ball is a cool yet simple way to introduce yourself to different functions in Adobe Illustrator. You'll learn to make a texture, apply it to a shape and add some impressive bling to bring the graphic to life.

Instructions

Create Texture

1. Turn on the grid by going to the "View" menu and selecting "Show Grid." You'll also want to turn on "Snap to Grid" from the "View."

2. Use the Rectangle Tool to draw a gray square with a one-pixel white stroke. Use the Selection Tool to select the square, then press Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) and drag the square to either side. This will create a duplicate square.

3. Press Command + D (Mac) or Ctrl + D (Windows) to create a row of 20 squares. As in Step 2, press Option or Alt to duplicate the row. Press Command/Ctrl + D until you've created a 20-by-20 set of gray squares.

4. Use the Selection Tool and the Shift key to randomly select a handful of gray squares scattered around the grid. Fill them in with a dark blue or blue-green color. Repeat this four or five more times with different shades of dark blues, greens and grays.

5. Select all the squares and press Option or Alt and drag them to the side. You have just duplicated the multicolored grid. Go to the "Window" menu and select "Symbol" to open your Symbols Palette. Finalize your texture by dragging all the squares into the Symbols Palette.

Create a Sphere

1. Use the Circle Tool to draw a circle. Then draw a vertical rectangle that is larger than the circle. Move the rectangle over the circle so the long side bisects the circle through the middle.

2. Open the Pathfinder Palette. Press Option or Alt and click on "Subtract from shape area" to create a semicircle.

3. Make sure the semicircle is selected and go to the "Effect" menu. Select "3D" then "Revolve." Click the "Map Art" button to select the texture we created under "Symbol." Click the "Scale to Fit" button then click "OK."

4. Select "No Shading" from the Surface drop-down menu at the bottom of the 3D Revolve Options window. Also, be sure the Preview box is checked on the right-hand side. Choose the angle you want by turning the ball in the preview window and click "OK."

Add Glitter

1. Draw a circle about half the size of the disco ball. Fill it with Radial Gradient. On the Transparency Palette, change the drop-down menu from "Normal" to "Screen."

2. Use the Star Tool to create a simple star. Without releasing the mouse button, use the up arrow to add more points to the star. Next, draw a circle and fill it with Radial Gradient. Align the star over the center of the circle and select "Screen" from the Transparency Palette.

3. Duplicate the star and circle and place them over different parts of the disco ball to create glitter.