[tsu]

I find that most of my drawings have included metal in one way or another. Right now, my CG program is Painter 6.1 (sometimes Photoshop 6), using the simple water tool and the just add water tool both on cover. Now, my problems is that there isn't enough shine where the light hits. Anyone can help me with that?

[Ian Jones]

err.. I geuss you just add white!

[Anthony]

Almost-white; metal specular highlights are rarely pure white :]

[Jin]

quote:

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Originally posted by tsu:
I find that most of my drawings have included metal in one way or another. Right now, my CG program is Painter 6.1 (sometimes Photoshop 6), using the simple water tool and the just add water tool both on cover. Now, my problems is that there isn't enough shine where the light hits. Anyone can help me with that?

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Hi,

I'm not a metal painter myself, but maybe this will give you some ideas for using Painter's brush variants better. Adapt the suggestions to work best for you, or maybe they'll inspire some new tricks of your own.

Since the Just Add Water variant only pushes existing color around, try either of the following:

a.) Choose an Eraser, set the Opacity very low and with very light pressure remove color where you want the shine, then use Just Add Water to blend the color back in to the shine area until it looks right.

or...

b.) Choose a shine color and rough in the shine, then use Just Add Water variant to blend until it looks right.

You might also try experimenting with Layers and Composite Methods. Here's a way to use one of Painter's problem areas to your advantage. Before the steps, I'll explain the "problem area".

When we paint on a Layer using any of Painter's blending or smearing brush variants, they leave white on transparent areas of the Layer. This makes a yucky mess in most situations, but it might be a way for you to control intensity of your highlight/shine better:

1. Paint the main color on either the Canvas or a Layer.

2. Create a New Layer and set its Composite Method to Hard Light.

3. Make sure the New Layer is above the main painted area that's either on the Canvas or on another Layer.

4. Choose the Just Add Water variant and paint where you want the shine, adjusting brush Opacity and pressure as needed.

5. If the effect is too intense, lower the Layer's Opacity slider 'til it's right.

6. If you need to, switch to white as your Primary Color and paint on the Layer's associated Visibility Mask to edit the shine and hide painted areas. Paint with black to restore hidden pixels.

In a short test, I got a surprisingly good result in which the "shine" was visually blended with the main color below it.. easily, quickly, and more smoothly than if I'd painted directly on the main color.

If you don't like the darned thing, all you need to do is either close the "shine" Layer or delete it and your main painting is left intact.

I'd recommend working on a new Canvas (new image) when getting the hang of this technique.. so your real work won't be damaged.

Have fun.. hope this helps.

[ April 29, 2002: Message edited by: Jin ]