Create a metallic star in Illustrator ~ Multimedia Tutorial

This tutorial will show a technique to create a segmented star that, when gradient fills are applied, takes on a basic metallic appearance. A future tutorial will take these same techniques and elaborate on them to create a more realistic looking star… if you think that’s possible.
1. Create the star
Create a new document that uses points or pixels as the unit of measurement. Select the Star tool and click in the document to display this tool’s options. Enter the values into the fields shown below and click OK.

2. Offset the star
Select the star and apply the Offset command (Object > Path > Offset Path) using the values shown. This will create a slightly smaller version of the star as seen below.

The smaller star should be selected so cut it from the layer using Edit > Cut. Lock the current layer and create a new one above it. Paste the smaller star into this using the Edit > Paste in Front command. Name the current layer “Segmented” and the layer below it “Offset”. Apply a color to the smaller star that contrasts with the larger star; this will simply make things easier to see as you continue.

3. Dividing lines
For this step, you’ll use the Line Segment tool to create a number of paths that span various parts of the star. You’ll definitely benefit from the guidance of Smart Guides (View > Smart Guides) so enable those now. Also, turn off the layer visibility for the Offset layer by clicking the eye icon next to the layer name.
Using the Line Segment tool, create the first line as shown below. With the aid of Smart Guides, you’ll be able to easily locate the starting and ending anchor points as an “anchor” label will appear as you hover over them.

Create 4 additional lines to achieve the results shown in the image. I’ve given each line their own color to aid you. Each line starts and ends at an anchor point.

Once you’ve created all of your lines, select the star along with the 5 lines and apply the Divide command from the Pathfinder panel. This will divide the star into 10 shapes based on where you positioned the lines.

Before moving on to the next step, apply the Ungroup command (Object > Ungroup) to the star and then click in an empty area of your document to deselect the shapes.
4. Adding dimension
For dimension, you need to determine how light hits the star. For this tutorial, I’m going to consider that light is hitting from the upper-left of the star. As such, I’ve selected five segments of the star – using the Selection tool – where light will be most intense and simply applied a lighter shade of gray. Instant dimension.

This is fine looking star as it stands but it can enhanced with gradient fills.
5. Applying gradients
I’m going to create two gradients for the star. One will feature lighter shades of gold while the other will use darker shades.
Select all of the light gray segments of the star and apply a gradient fill to them by clicking the gradient swatch at the base of the toolbar. At this stage, it doesn’t matter what the gradient looks like. That’s what we’ll be editing shortly.

Open the Gradient panel and set the gradient type to Linear. If you have more than 2 color boxes below the gradient bar, click and drag the extras off of the panel. Your Gradient panel should resemble the image below although your colors may be different.

Double-click the color box on the left of the gradient bar to edit the color. If you only see a white to black gradient bar in the pop-up that appears, click the pop-up’s option icon and select RGB from the menu that appears.

Once you see the 3 RGB color bars, enter the values shown.

Double-click the other color box and, if necessary, convert it to RGB and then enter the values shown.

The selected shapes on your star should update to the new gradient. We’ll finesse the gradients shortly but let’s get the right gradient colors applied to the darker segment shapes. Select those shapes with the Selection tool and apply a gradient fill to them. Below are the values used for the darker gold gradient.

At this point, I’ve got a pretty decent looking metallic-esque star but I can make adjustments to the gradients on the individual segments to affect more realism.

6. Adjusting gradients
If you select a segment and then switch to the Gradient tool, you’ll see an indicator showing the direction of the gradient. The image below show a left to right direction.

With the Gradient tool, I can click and drag in the direction I want the gradient to flow in the shape. The hollow circle in the image below shows where I started and the square with the cursor over it shows where I ended clicking and dragging.

In addition to using the Gradient tool, you can also affect the gradient in a shape by making adjustments within the Gradient panel. Here, I repositioned one of the color boxes and also moved the midpoint marker (the icon between the two color boxes).

Here’s what the star looks like after tweaking the star and turning on the visibility of the Offset layer (with modified fill color on this shape).

But I’m not quite yet done…
7. Optional enhancements
As I started writing this tutorial, this step wasn’t even in my mind. It was after experimenting a bit through the tutorial that I felt it a nice addition to the star. Select the 5 lighter colored segments of the star and then apply the Offset command (Object > Path > Offset Path) using the values shown to produce the smaller shapes within.

These new shapes should automatically have the gradient fill from the larger shapes applied to them. Make direction and flow adjustments with the Gradient tool or use the Reverse Gradient command on the Gradient to make an even quicker adjustment.