How do I create this look in illustrator....

Question

I'm recreating some vintage art and am trying to get this spray paint look. Any suggestions on how to go about achieving this look (see photo) in illustrator?
I'm currently running CS4 (I'm on my work computer)....
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/23/aaaov.jpg/][IMG]http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4 728/aaaov.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
- I've tried looking in the preset brushes, no luck!
- I've tried creating my own brush using vector spray paint, no luck!
- I've tried looking for illustrator brushes online, no luck!
This seems like a very simple effect to do, I know how to create this look in photoshop but I need this to be vector. Any suggestions would be great!
Thanks guys!

Answer 1

First...
There is nothing wrong with a 1-bit diffusion dither object being raster, as far as printing results is concerned. Such images date back to the days of MacPaint and Hypercard. They are same-size (historically usually 1-point) pixels, randomly distributed at varying frequencies to suggest tones (as opposed to individual printer spots being combined to build varying size halftone dots).
So if the tiny squares are vector, yes, they are scaleable. But so are 1-bit pixels. When you scale a 1-bit raster, you're scaling square pixels, which are printed as squares. So a scaled 1-bit raster image is just as "resolution independent" as a bunch of vector squares.
Second...
This effect was employed in illustrations and designs since the very beginning of desktop publishing. For example, I frequently used it in the 80s thusly:
1. Draw a vector path of any shape in FreeHand.
2. Copy it to Photoshop. Blur it. Convert to 1-bit using diffusion dither. Save it as TIFF.
3. Import into FreeHand. Stack it below the object for which it served as a glow or drop shadow.
FreeHand had the ability to apply any color to a 1-bit or grayscale raster image, and the ability to set the white pixels of a 1-bit image to transparent. Illustrator didn't gain those abilities until decades later.
So it's not oppressively tedious to use that method nowadays, even in Illustrator. (And frankly, that's the way I'd do it.)
Third...
Illustrator sorely needs to provided a diffusion dither option in its Rasterize command for 1-bit color depth (as I've been arguing for years) instead of its lame pattern diffusion. Then this effect could be applied easily and quickly to any object, either as a "nailed down" rasterization, or as a live effect.
However...
You can simulate a vector diffusion dither pattern that you can apply to any path by combining several Scatter Brushes and storing their combined application as a Graphic Style:
1. Draw a 1 point square.
2. Store it as a Scatter Brush. Set the Spacing and Scatter settings to Random. To constrain the pattern to one side of the path to which it is applied, set the low limit of Scatter to zero.
3. Duplicate the Scatter Brush two or more times, changing the Spacing and Scatter upper limits in each duplicate so as to make each duplicate Brush increasingly sparse. In the example shown, the first Brush is named Scatter Brush 1 and has its upper limits for Spacing and Scatter to 300. This Brush was duplicated twice, and those two values doubled each time. But of course you can use whatever settings work for the effect you want.
4. Draw a temporary path with a 1-point stroke. Apply Scatter Brush 1. Select the Stroke Appearance and duplciate it. Apply Scatter Brush 2 to it. Duplicate the Stroke Appearance again, and apply Scatter Brush 3 to it.
5. Drag the whole path and drop it into the Graphic Styles palette to define a new Graphic Style. Now you can apply the whole Appearance stack to any other path(s) with one click.
Being Brushes, the fineness of the pattern can be adjusted by changing the weight of the strokes:
And, of course, you can apply other effects to the Brushes and strokes involved. For example, set the Colorization Mode of the Brushes to be able to change the color of the dither pattern; and/or apply Transform Effect to offset the pattern from the object to which it is applied (as for dithered drop shadows).
JET