Illustrator 7: Claustrophobia

Greetings,

My name is Brian (a few of you insist on calling me fusion, and I have no
idea why *L* :) I help out occasionally on this list, and sometimes prefer
the simple side of graphic design. Or, just in case Bart (captain
shortcuts:) is listening, I make things much more difficult than need be
<grin>. Just picking, Bart.

Back to the story...errr, I mean TOPIC.=20

First, I'd like to say that this has been an inspiring week, as far as new
media is concerned. I also feel rather humbled [syn: CRUSHED] after seeing
gabocorp.com <sigh> and a few others; namely, www.homewrecker.com and
www.access1.net/marku/. The after-effects of these fateful surfing sessions
will be noted shortly...

Now, to explain my subject line:=20

I have a question regarding the dread Illustrator 7.

I am a faithful Photoshop user. I feel I know the program pretty well. BUT..
Lately, when I open it, to begin creating my next masterpiece, I begin to
feel a bit claustrophobic (artistically); everything is angled and stiff.
Do you ever get that un-flowing feeling? *L*

<after-effects>
So, I want to put the curves back into my work. (no pun intended)
</after-effects>

I realize that Illustrator is a very powerful program; from what I have
seen, that others have done with it, I feel that it is *much* more powerful
than Photoshop.
(I do realize that they use two different image formats: Illustrator
(Vector), PS (Raster(?)).

If, I hope, there are people on this list who know the program well, how
did you overcome the steep learning curve?

History: I purchased Adobe Illustrator 7 a little over half a year ago. I
installed it, messed with in day after day for about two weeks. I finally
uninstalled it due to frustration. I can't create diddley-squat in it. Give
me a sketch pad and pastels! But.....this new medium has me in a bind.

Soooooooo..

<Long Shot>
Do any of you know of any *excellent* tutorials concerning Illustrator 7?
</Long Shot>

I know, people in hell want a glass of ice water, but they don't get it.
Although, Bill Gates could very well be passing out martinis in hell, but
that is another mailing list entirely.

(1) Are there any Illustrator tutorials (good ones) on the net? URLs? PDF's?=
=20

(2) Do you have any excellent book recommendations?
I have never been the type that likes to follow '1,2,3- do this and do
that' books.
I'd rather jump right in an figure it out myself, but, obviously, that
didn't make the cut.

(3) Are there any Internet classes for Illustrator? (classes actually taken
on-line, not, "Hey, my brother teaches gwafixs! in Omaha" :)

(4) Do YOU have something that might help? Second-hand book you'd like to
sell at a reasonable price? PDF documents? Tips?

(5) Anyone do house calls? (joking)

(6) Finally, would you like to beat me with a knobby stick for wasting your
mailbox space and bandwidth?=20

Ok, before someone asks for the rights to the movie, I'll wrap it up.
Thanks for reading, and if you can help I would be greatly appreciative.

Warm regards,

b.j.
=20




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science ~ arts ~ graphic design
http://www.ais-gwd.com/~fusion
  brian j. | i c q: 1057986

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