The image below was created using the Gradient Mesh tool in Adobe Illustrator. It is not a photograph or for that matter an edited photograph. It is a purely vector illustration which I created by hand. Some may ask, "Why bother when you have the photograph?" The answer is simple, being a vector image this can be enlarged infinitely with no loss of quality. The photograph, on the other hand, will lose quality rather quickly when enlarging it. This is one of the advantages to working with vector graphics.
Above: Vector Artwork created in Illustrator using the gradient mesh tool
Above: reference photo
Above: wire-frame of the gradient mesh, this one was much simpler than I thought it would be.
