- 1). Click the tool palette icon shaped like a paintbrush to run the Paintbrush tool, and then drag on the canvas to create a roughly circular curve.
- 2). Click the "Window" menu, and then click the "Symbol" item to display the window that holds symbols. Symbols are Illustrator graphics you can map to 3D objects.
- 3). Click the curve you made to select it, and then drag the mouse to bring the curve inside the Symbols window. Release the mouse to display a dialog box prompting you for the new symbol's name. Type "My Swirl" or another name appropriate for a swirl. Click "OK" to finish naming the symbol.
- 4). Click the tool palette icon shaped like a nib pen to run the Pen tool, and then drag on the canvas to draw a large curve shaped like a backward "C." This curve forms the cross section of the cylinder you will use to create a swirl from your first curve.
- 5). Click the "Effects" menu, and then click the "Revolve" command to display controls for turning 2D shapes like your cylinder cross section into 3D forms. Click the "Preview" checkbox so you can see how the cylinder will appear as you change its parameters.
- 6). Click the "Map" button to display tools for wrapping symbols to 3D forms. Click the right arrow of the Surface button repeatedly until the dialog box displays the front, curved face of the cylinder. Click the "Symbol" control to display a list of symbols you can apply to the cylinder. Click the item whose name is the name you typed in Step 3. Illustrator will wrap your curve around the cylinder's front face.
- 7). Drag the curve's handles in the dialog box's window. This will stretch the curve further across the cylinder's curved surface, giving your curve a swirly look.
- 8). Click "OK" on all open dialog box's to install the swirl on the canvas.
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