Illustrator Induction

I've never used Illustrator before - so was interested to see what could be done with it and what effects it could produce. I still am attempting to get to grips with it, as i find the pen tool quite fiddly - yet can see how it is of use to create quick, clean images. 

This picture to the right is a combination of some of the practice exercises we completed. - It shows a use of the pen tool (attempting to create smooth curved lines), Live Paint, and the 'Gradient Mesh Tool' as is probably evident I have a little trouble with the gradient mesh tool - not really creating a subtle effect which I know is possible.

I also created my character in illustrator (with a sketch to guide me - and 'trace' off of). This proved quite time consuming due to the detail (compared to the picture of Totoro) and strange curved of such things as the hair -etc. I managed to colour her mostly - though for some reason (perhaps my lines not being right) some areas didn't fill. The right image shows an attempt at using the Gradient Mesh Tool - but this again proved difficult and only worked on certain areas - and causes me to prefer the left image.

At some point I may transfer this into Photoshop and edit her - but I'll leave her for now.