salt & pepper ! (re-visited)

[Big Frank]

I didn't see this thread for a while, but now that I have, I'd like to make few observations. I've started a new thread because the original was getting lost in etymology and I wanted to get back to Jens' original artwork.

Jens, whilst your illustration is a great work of Xart (and a great design... you should patent it! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] ), there are a few observations I'd like to offer the forum regarding the representation of shiny metals such as your salt and pepper shakers. In a thread some while ago (or it may have been the guest tutorial in the Xaraxone) I mentioned that it impossible to draw chrome. It is, really! Chrome (or polished brass, whatever) is nothing more than the reflection of the environment in which a shiny object is placed.

Therefore, your representation of the shakers in your image is short of the mark as they don't reflect anything. This is made more apparent with the observation that your brushed metal holder does have reflections.

I have added my version of your salt 'n pepper shakers to show you what I mean. It was designed and rendered in trueSpace. I have a picture of the inside of a kitchen which I used as a global environment, and placed the objects on a smoked glass table. There were two light sources, an ambient one and a diffused spotlight behind and to the left of the camera.

As you can see, the salt 'n pepper shakers have reflections mapped onto them of the environment, the holder and each other. This demonstrates that creating something that is intended to look like shiny metal needs to be thought out before one puts pen to paper, as the position of your object(s) will determine the shape, position and colour of the reflections, and it is the complex relationships between these factors that will eventually determine how well your drawing represents shiny metal.

Apologies if this sounds pompous and condescending. It's not meant to! One thing we don't like round here is pompous people - just ask Gary! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] The subject of 'chrome' is one that is often re-visited here and I hope the above explanation and the drawing below illustrate that this is not a black art and is perfectly possible for anybody with the patience to experiment.

This one's for everybody: use your eyes [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img] , draw what you see and you will be well rewarded! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

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Big Frank was