Pluginless Chrome effects

**Nostaw** · 16 April 2009, 12:57 PM

hey thanks everyone for your comments!

tutorial.. hmm.. well i did the thing really intuitively, i couldn't recall the exact steps. i'm no good at tutorials but i can tell you the thoughts after watching and reading some of the posts here and after googling this image:

the idea was to seperate 'clearly' the brightness space:
-all fades use dark to mid grey colors
-use highlights (white) to be used as sparely as possible and only around the edges to give it hard contrast to the dull fades
-focus on details around the edges
-keep simple fades inside' on the flat surface' (a bold font for big grey space)

i just started with a grey box and created two fades: a dull grey one used for mainly all the objects and one containing a stripe of white/light grey. scroll to the right of the image in the xar, that's where both fades are placed.

'white' should be sparely used and just around the edges where the light hits. there is a strong light from above (you see the thin white border on top the letters, like a bevel) and dark-mid shades anywhere else. the white bits really define the contour and there are (only) 2 white shapes defining it. take the white shapes away and it looks dull..

the rest is really playing around with fades and shapes cut out from each other.

**AndFarr** · 16 April 2009, 05:15 PM

With reflection.

**AndFarr** · 16 April 2009, 05:16 PM

Oops, sorry for the duplicate post.
I was trying to edit the original and repost.

- Andy

**gdavidson** · 17 April 2009, 01:38 PM

Not been here in ages - great to see some familiar faces! I remember my lesson in Chrome from Klaus Nordby many years ago (2002?) which resulted in these...

**Soquili** · 17 April 2009, 01:52 PM

Great to see you again Graeme.

I remember Klaus' lesson and the need to include colours from the surroundings.

I don't think I ever got any results a good as yours though.

**jvila** · 17 April 2009, 01:54 PM

Great drawing.
Where do We get that tutorial.
Un abrazo

**Soquili** · 17 April 2009, 02:06 PM

Javier see the thread http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=17445

It isn't a tutorial but a verbal admonition.

**gdavidson** · 17 April 2009, 02:14 PM

Good to see you too Soquili! It seems my vector skills were all rather "flash in the pan" as I drifted off to photography instead. I was trying to find out how long ago it all was and was shocked it was indeed 2002(!) as evidenced by the date on the almost designed-by-committee padlock work below. I don't think I have done anything serious since which is sad really.

Jvila, sadly it would rather a tall challenge for me to make tutorials for those works. If memory serves, most of my metal work effects relied on complex gradient fills overlaid with transparent copies of the object with stained glass colour gradient/plasma fill transparencies. The key thing I kept in mind is that chrome has no colour - it merely bends and mirrors a reflection of the environment back towards you. I would then draw to mimic that.