Connecting existing paths in illustrator CS5

[jibberishballr]

Hi my names Josh. I've been using illustrator for a while now but can't figure this one thing out that really frustrates me. Most of the work i do comes from photos that i trace with the pen tool then enhance them with illustrator. I'm working on a drawing of myself currently. When i draw the Hair It becomes a path. Then i draw the outline of the face. The problem is that I cant use things like "fill" or mesh gradient because outline on the face doesn't have its own "fill area." I've uploaded a pic to better illustrate the problem.

 

[jibberishballr]

bump!

 

[apepp]

...from the image provided it looks like you have drawn around the sides and the chin but the top edge of the White area (under the eyes) is not a closed path. To check, select the path edge of the White area with the direct select tool (White arrow tool, not the black arrow tool). Short cut is the A key.

...you should then see the nodes on the path, hold shift key and select the two nodes at the end of the paths. Then press command/control + J to join the open ends together.

..another way is to use the pen tool (p key), then press and hold command/control key to switch to the select tool, then select the path edge (not the inside of the shape just the edge). Release to revert back to the pen tool then by just clicking on one open node of a path and then clicking on the other open node you can close the path. When you hover over the nodes you will see the pen tool cursor change to indicate you are on a node.

andrew

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