CS5: Coloring Anchor Points

Question

Hi there. I'm clearly missing some simple beginner thing. I'm working on a tutorial, and the directions I'm at are these:
Step 16:
Select the bottom shape and use the Mesh Tool (U) to add an anchor point in the left corner, exactly in the middle of the bottom shape as shown.
Paint all the bottom anchor points of this shape with R:0, G:0, B:0. And paint the top anchors points with R:135, G:96, B:66.
Here's the Tutorial if you want the visual reference: http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/how-to-make-a-magic-book-using-adobe-ill ustrator/
I'm creating a book, and this is at the base, so it was basically two rectangles with a half circle in the middle as a spine. I used the mesh tool to create a line that bisects the shape. I have to assume meshes behave differently, because I couldn't Divide the paths to make separate segments, and changing the fill of the shape ignores the mesh line. So I'm assuming right now a Mesh path isn't counted as a normal path. But it's telling me to paint all the anchor points, and in two different colors... How on earth do I do that?
I click the gradient tool, it doesn't seem to do anything but paste a gradient slider over things, that doesn't affect the fill color.
Grabbing the shape and changing it's color in the Color panel changes the entire shape's fill...
Selecting the group and trying to make it a gradient from the Gradient panel does nothing, it doesn't even register as a thing that can be filled.
So what exactly are those directions asking me to do?
Thanks so much!

Answer 1

Looks like the instructions is missing key information for people that aren't very accustomed to using Illustrator.
To add a fill to a gradient mesh point you need to first select the Direct Selection Tool, which is the A key, and then click on each point of the gradient mesh you want to change. To make this process quicker, click and drag across the points you want to include while holding the shift key. This way you don't have to select each point precisely and can be a little looser with what you're selecting. But keep in mind that any points you surround with the direct selection tool will be selected so depending on the shapes in your file dragging across them may not be the best option.
Then with the points selected you can go into your Color pallet and change the color of just those points. You'll know the points are selected because they'll be filled in with a solid color while non-selected points will be "hollow" which is just a fancy way of saying they'll be filled with white.