[apiro]

being able to shade my pictures with much texture has always been a problem for me.. but i'm here to learn! so i pose my question to you all.. i was wondering how you usually go about shading metal/leather/wood? i've got this picture here.. i've only done VERY preliminal shading, but once i hit the machete, i was struck with "how the heck am i going to make this look like real metal?" so here i am. lol.

another thing.. i can't seem to make the eyes look like they're a part of the face. i've resorted to simply outlining them with black.. but i dunno. any tips? what i really need is a reference pic.. but i can't seem to find any that suit my purposes.. ach!

anyway.. constructive criticism needed! (ie - comments that tell me what sucks and hwo to improve upon it. thanks!

[Sukhoi]

I would say that the smoother the surface the brighter and claerer the highlight...
For instance if you have a used belt. The highlights are brighter and sharper around the areas where the belt is in constant contact with the buckle. So the lighting can even vary on the same material!
The same with metal. If it's clean, it will shine abright, but if it's rusty and it's surface is dirty, the highlights will fade and the light will be cast into many different directions.

I'd say that you just need to think of the texture of the material you're going to paint.

There are people on this board who can explain these things in great detail and muck better, and I surely hope I'm right about this, hehe. (if I'm wrong or you guys have something to add, please say so)

Hope that helps

Sukhoi