I really, REALLY should not have spent time on this right now with all I have to do, but damn it! I'm so excited! And it's so helpful!
I do hope this is all easy to read and clear, sorry it's so large, but there is much I felt needed to be shared to get a lot of the potential Gradient Masks have!
As said, I will take Q/A to fill in blanks and change the file later on to reflect these gray areas. Enjoy, and I would LOVE to see what people do with this new knowledge!
EDIT:
HOLY COW! I did NOT expect this to get so popular and loved in just 3 days!
Thank you all! I'm so happy that this is something you all can find useful and learn from. All of the comments so far too; it's all very encouraging, and I hope to share more hidden tips and tricks to the power of art
`ChewedKandi has certainly gone out of her way to keep the vector community on the right path. Always making sure that her talents are infinitely scalable, Sharon has put her bezier curves to excellent use, and firmly anchored herself as an inspirational leader. We're absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for June 2013 to `ChewedKandi. Congratulations, Sharon! Read More
Sta.sh
It's just fantastic!
One thing I'd like to add is that instead of using a layer mask, you could just create a clipping mask with the gradient map on top
Thanks!