Still Life

**stygg2003** · 02 May 2006, 03:00 PM

Hi everyone,
posted my rendering of a pear, not bad for first attempt at fruit, but I'm not to happy about the raindrops, can't seem to get them right in Xara? Anyone got any ideas or a better way of creating them? All contributions welcome, because I'll never get in the Tate gallery with bad raindrops

**Ron Duke** · 02 May 2006, 04:11 PM

stygg2003,
Really nice job on the colors and shading of the pear. The stem is also drawn quite nicely. Were the veins on the leaves supposed to be geometrical?
ron

**-=Drifter=-** · 02 May 2006, 04:11 PM

i think it looks great, including the raindrops. If anything, you could add a curl to some of them... the stem of the drop need not be straight.

**masque** · 02 May 2006, 04:13 PM

Very simple basic Water drop:

Draw Elipse
Small elipse on top
Apply shadow to large elipse and convert to editable shapes
Ungroup
Combine alt delete elipse from shadow
place on background
Use smaller elipse as highlight

Different shapes with similar method produces more realistic drops

Derek

**Ron Duke** · 02 May 2006, 04:17 PM

beautiful derek.
ron

**Zenarcher** · 02 May 2006, 06:54 PM

That is fantastic!

**stygg2003** · 02 May 2006, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by knightedduke

stygg2003,
Really nice job on the colors and shading of the pear. The stem is also drawn quite nicely. Were the veins on the leaves supposed to be geometrical?
ron

I'm never quite sure what to do really with the veins, so I end up drawing straight lines, not very eye catching I know! got any suggestions?
Stygg2003

**stygg2003** · 02 May 2006, 07:49 PM

Thanks for the mini tut.The water droplet looks fantastic.
Stygg2003

**masque** · 02 May 2006, 08:56 PM

Have you tried using a bitmap fill for your leaf viens. The way I've used it is a bit exagerated to make it obvious.
Draw your leaf shape fill with a leaf bitmap from the fill gallery, duplicate and fill with a flat green colour and place that beneath the bitmap. make the bitmap fill partially transparent to allow the green to show through. Add fractal transparent colour patches on top between the viens and feather heavily and repeat the fractal shapes to build up a texture for the leaf.
Add a water drop or two; and then do it all again a little slower and more carefully than I have to make it all a lot better, by adding more shading to model the curve of the leaf etc..