Creating photorealistic vector graphics is a challenge. I recently attempted such a challenge by creating a photorealistic watch. Here's a little bit of my process.

Of course, I started with skecthing. I knew highlights and shadows would be a key part of this project, even more than shapes, so that's what I tried to focus on in my sketching process. I sketched transitions from light to dark, shapes of shadows, and anything I could think of that would help me create realistic-looking shapes later. It is a good thing that the shapes didn't matter a ton in the sketching process - well, they did, but not having perfect circles or lines - because I can't draw perfect circles or straight lines! I got the shapes the best I could and focused on shading. 

On the left is the watch I attempted to imitate. On the right is the beginnings of my process. I did it piece by piece, one little bit at a time, so I could focus on getting the highlights and shadows just right. I used clipping masks in Illustrator to isolate parts of the watch so I wouldn't be distracted by the task of the whole thing. 

To create shapes, I usually started with an existing basic shape, like a rectangle or circle, and then I used my shape builder tool and my direct selection tool to get the actual shape I needed.

To accomplish the look of metal and that hard plastic stuff (the face) I used gradients, gaussian blurs, and combinations of the two. Nearly everything on this watch has multiple layers of the same shape with different gradients or blurs on them. In the example above, the very inside watch face is made of 7 shapes, the rectangle metal part has a shape with one or two gradients of different opacities on top, and the wristband is one or two main shapes with multiple layers of gradients on it. 

Here's are more examples of clipping masks, one of which when I was getting close to the end. I used clipping masks to isolate each of the four very similar metal joining pieces to make sure I got each one's colors, shadows, and highlights right and distinct from the others. 

The bulk of creating a photorealistic watch came from what I described above. To get specific shapes of highlights and shadows I often used my pen tool, or just my direct selection tool to manipulate regular shapes. I put gradients on EVERYTHING (well, almost:). I eyedropped the original picture a lot too!

The final step in this project was to add a texture to the wristband. I downloaded a texture from Unsplash and took it into Photoshop. I adjusted the threshold, then copied it into Illustrator. I then did an "image trace" function on it and applied it to my wristband with another clipping mask.

The result? A photorealistic watch made of hundreds of shapes.

This was definitely an experience. I learned a lot about Illustrator and about my own capabilities. I feel a lot more confident in my ability to use Illustrator to do whatever I want or need it to do. I feel a sense of accomplishment in seeing what I created with this project!