How to fill in shape made with brush tool Illustrator CS6

Question

I would like to make a complex shape using the brush tool and then use stroke and fills to create color.

I started with one shape made from 8 brush strokes

I selected all of the strokes with the direct selection tool

I am left with a fill that looks like this:

I've tried grouping the brush strokes (right click-group) first with little difference. I've tried converting my shape into a vector (expand appearance) and then applying the fill but Illustrator maintains no fill to the object.

Note: this picture is just an example. The real problem is in a much larger piece that does not lend itself well to the pen tool.

Answer 1

If I am understanding your question … Maybe try using the Live Paint Bucket and Shaper Tools.

1. Draw you shape with brush tool:

   

2. Select all the overlapping lines and click with Live Paint Bucket tool:

   

   Use your arrow keys to select a swatch color and click in the middle of your shape to fill with chosen color.

3. Use the Shaper tool to clean up your leftover lines:

   

4. Finally, optionally, expand the shape to get full control over stroke and fill:

   

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Another way could be to use the “Pathfinder effects” found in the Pathfinder palette. For example, here’s “Divide” in action:

YMMV. :)

Answer 2

When looking at the above picture you've shared, it could also help to join the paths and create a single path which you can fill pretty easy.