Okay here is 3 images i took of my computer screen with my cell phone. The top image is an image of the lines consisting inside of my drawing (the person, the bricks, the claw machine). The middle image is the error message that LIVE PAINT is giving me (mind you, id rather not use live paint, I would like to color with my selection tools. Its a process that is better for me but im willing to try anything at this point for my client). The bottom image shows one of the IMPORTED DRAWINGS with its "drop-arrow" extended so you can see that it was imported with all of its individual strokes & not as a solid image.
To give you more backround on those images.... I did draw them in a separate illustrator files. Im treating them as my own stocks, therefore, I can use them again if I have to. Once I drew them, I colored them in their own respective file. I colored using the process I always use, which is, with my selection tool, using the "expand, merge, rectangle, send to back, select, merge, isolate selected groups" method. Once they were colored I went back to my original file. Where the claw machine is. I created a new layer. Then, from there, I dragged & drop each separate image into the ORIGINAL FILE onto that layer I had just created. & I repeated that process per each individual item. Some of those items I had to duplicate in order to fully fill the claw machine. So for each duplication, I created a new layer. I think "The Stack Of Money" you see has 23 individual layers. Because there is 23 stacks of money inside of the claw machine.
I know for a fact, I am only having difficulty coloring because of these imported images. But it just doesnt make sense to me that Illustrator really hits you with a dead-end like this. I feel like there has to be a way to color. I the begining I imported just one image that i drew separately & i tried to color it & it worked. That was my trial period to make sure my method would work. It did. So I continued for 6 more hours adding in the rest of the images & organizing them to be on top of each other. Some of them had to be "on top of" the claw machine layers. Other items had to "under" the claw machine. Once I got done with the organization, It would not let me color no more. I feel this is a huge flaw with the vector art in illustrator.
I think I have to start over & put the items I drew in the claw machine before drawing. Then trace the whole image as one. It sucks & I shouldnt have to do that but I think im going to. & this coloring issue is the only reason Im not a huge illustrator fan. I love everything else about it, but coloring shouldnt be this hard. Or have this many stand-stills.
I hope this response help you to get a better idea of what I have going on. I really appreciate you taking your time to help. If I didnt answer your questions thrououghly just let me know & I will include as much more info as I can. Again, Thank you!
ps: maybe the "compound paths" is what is keeping me from coloring with the imported images. I just noticed those paths in the bottom image transfered in as a "compound path".
