Lately I have seen on a magazine a woman reflected on a broken mirror. The shot was supposed to be real, but it was a clear Photoshop job, and I felt like the magazine was cheating. So I thought, how could I make an artistic broken mirror effect? Introduction This is an artistic effect that gives the impression of an image reflected on a broken mirror, and it is done using Adobe Illustrator. To achieve this effect you will learn how to use Clipping Masks on multiple objects, to give a 3D effect and to use the Blob Brush Tool to add a shadowing efffect. For the purpose of this tutorial I am using a picture from Photodune . Step 1 In Illustrator, open the picture of a broken mirror to use as a reference (to do that: File > Open > Name of your file). Double click on its layer, rename it “Mirror” and lock it. Step 2 Now we will draw the fragments of the mirror on four different layers, so open four new layers and call them “Small”, “Large”, “Medium” and “Small2″. Step 3 Select the Pen Tool (P) and choose a color that will stand out from all the rest of the colors, such as green, blue or red. Select the layer “Small” and lock all the rest of them. Use the Pen Tool (P) to trace the borders of the smaller fragments. Don’t trace them all, as for the small fragments you have two layers. Notice that some fragments overlap. Continue tracing them imagining the shape they have under the piece of mirror that covers them. As this is just a guide, there is no need to be precise, and pay attention to the beauty of the composition, more than the …
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Quick Tip: How to Create a Broken Mirror Effect with Clipping Masks in Illustrator
