Tutorial How To Draw Glossy Button With Shadow

There are many techniques to draw a glossy button, but I will explain to you the easiest one.

First of all, draw a blue circle with RGB 0, 128, 255.

Blue circle.
RGB 0,128, 255.
Size 90px x 90px.

After that, draw a smaller circle with Linear Gradient from top to bottom with the gradient of RGB 0, 128, 255 and RGB 255, 255, 255.

Gradient circle.
RGB 0, 128, 255 to 255, 255, 255.
Size 60px x 60px.
Gradient angle 90 degree.

Centered both the circles like the below.

Adjust the height of the Gradient circle and push it to further top. See below for example.

Now you have got a glossy button, and it is time to add some shadow to it. Just draw another circle with the same size as the bigger circle with the gradient of RGB 0, 192, 255 to RGB 255, 255, 255. Adjust the location of the gradient angle to have more white color.

Gradient circle.
RGB 0, 128, 255 to RGB 255, 255, 255.
Size 90px x 90px.
Gradient Angle 90px.
Gradient position: Adjust it to have more white.

Move the new gradient to the bottom of the glossy button and this will be the shadow of your glossy button.

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Tutorial How to Draw a Clock Face with Adobe Illustrator

Drawing a clock with Adobe Illustrator can be very difficult if you do not know the trick and technique. Here, in this tutorial, I will explain to you how to do it the simple way. 

First, draw 2 rectangles like the below. They must have the exact X coordinate. These rectangles will represent the hour of a clock.

Group them and Rotate it by 30 degree. Remember to use Copy function instead of just rotating it.

To repeat the rotation and Copy, go to Object > Transform > Transform Again. Repeat this until you get all the 12 rectangles.

Now, repeat the above steps for the minutes. Instead of rotating it by 30 degree, you should rotate this by 5 degree because these rectangles will represent the minutes. You may want to use a small rectangle for a better visual.

After you have successfully adding the minutes, you should now put the numbers. See the below for example. Remember, the number (text) should be Aligned Center. To do this, go to Window > Type > Paragraph.

 Using the same method, rotate the group by 30 degree to get the below.

Change all the numbers accordingly.

Now, you will have to rotate back the numbers to straight view. In order to do that, you will have to rotate them manually one by one using Object > Transform > Rotate. The below list may help you.

Hour 1 = 30 degree
Hour 2 = 60 degree
Hour 3 = 90 degree
Hour 4 = 120 degree
Hour 5 = 150 degree
Hour 6 = 180 degree
Hour 7 = 210 degree
Hour 8 = 240 degree
Hour 9 = 270 degree
Hour 10 = 300 degree
Hour 11 = 330 degree

After you have rotate them, you may notice that the alignment of the numbers and the clock are not accurate.

So, what you can do is to Expand the numbers into object. In order to do that, select all the numbers and go to Object > Expand. Once all your number is Expanded and Grouped, align them accordingly with the feature Window > Align. I believe you have no problem doing this, right?

To add the hands of the clock, draw the below. Yes, together with the blue circle outside the clock.

The usage of the blue circle is for you to rotate the hands. How you are going to do this is to Select both the circle and the hands - and Rotate them together.

My tutorial on how to draw a clock face ends here. If you have any question, please write in the comment :)

Below is an example of a vector watch I draw for IStockPhoto. For the details of pricing and number of downloads, please go to http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=15216729

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