I recently mentioned one of my favorite additions to the Illustrator toolset - Editable Stroke Tool. While this is a sweet and salty treat in its own right, when combined with the Art Brush capabilities, WOW!!! - A Powerful Taste Explosion!

Check out this insanely complex homage to M.C. Escher. Created entirely in vector, it contains some 43,530 points. Another one of my overzealous endeavors, it proves to be the perfect testing ground for this exercise.

First, I created an Art Brush with the graphic. This was as simple as dragging the object into the Brush Library Palette. Next, I applied the newly created Escher Brush to a curvy line.

Now for the Payoff! You are able to use the Editable Stroke Tool ON TOP OF Art Brushes. And as if this wasn’t easy enough, Illustrator is robust enough to render it in the blink of an eye. I was fully prepared to sit back for a while and wait as Illustrator crunched the numbers, but there was no need. This is a VERY POWERFUL tool indeed.

WARNING!  The Editable Stroke Tool does not work with objects that contain clipping paths.

Check it out.

Till next time - Eric