 Johanna's Place |
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Tutorial:
Paint a Pear Title:
Digitally Paint a Realistic looking Pear Author:
Johanna Special Note: this tutorial was written for PI V6 but with a couple of small variations, can easily be used for PI8, Pro & XL. |
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To Start, Create a New Image - Canvas White/Single Colour 300 pixels W by 300 pixels H. Click OK. If you have a Stylus Pen & Tablet, go ahead and pull them out - this tutorial is perfect for using them. |
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 Download
this Pear Path Shape
(332KB - .ufo) and put it in your Custom Shapes Library. If you're
not sure how to add to the library, you can follow
this tutorial to learn how. Even better
yet, start from scratch and make your own.Using the Path Drawing Tool, click on Shape/Custom Shape and scroll down until you see your new Pear shape. Select it and click OK. Drag till it almost fills the canvas. In Mode, make sure it's set at 3D Object. Border=99 (smooth spine), depth=30. You can adjust the Border by clicking on the Material Button on the Attributes Bar and choosing the Border/Depth Tab. Right click on the Color box and choose Ulead Color Picker. Enter the RGB values R=246, G=252, B=39 (Hex #F6FC27, it's a bright yellow for the Pear's body). |
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 The
picture is still a Path Object, but in order to do things to it, we have
to change it to an image first. On the Menu Bar, click on
Object/Convert Image Type/From Path to Image.
You'll notice that the shape has creases all over it. This is because the Border is set so high. We're going to get rid of them by blending them in using Retouch Tool/Blur. We're going to be using this tool A LOT, so remember where it is. Select the Blur Tool and just start rubbing it all over the Pear shape. Go in circular motions and keep going until all the creases are gone. You'll now have a nice smooth shaded Pear to paint. Now comes the cool part - bringing the Pear to Life!. The key to making the Pear look "real" is to use layers of translucent colour blended together. |
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Using a circular motion, Airbrush around the perimeter of the pear gently...you don't want it tooooo dark! When you're done, select the Blur Tool and using a circular motion, blend it all in avoiding the center strip. |
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 The
second layer is to bring out some highlight. Select the Retouch
Tool/Dodge and go up and down the center strip of the Pear in
circular motions. Not toooo much, just until you can see the white
dodging showing up slightly.
When you're done, select the Blur Tool and using a circular motion, gently blend it all in. You should be able to see a real shape now - almost 3D looking.
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 The
next layer is to add a bit of a Ripened look to the Pear. Click
the Paint Tool/Airbrush and choose the following settings:
Shape=Round Gently Airbrush as shown to the Left. When done, Blur the whole thing in a circular motion. |
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 It's
looking pretty green so we need to "yellow" it up a bit. Go to
Format/Color Balance and choose the second row, last one. Click
OK. I don't usually do this step with my fruits, but in this case, it
works out really well!
Click the Dodge Tool and
gently add a layer of white dodge to the whole body of the Pear, adding a tiny bit
more to the center strip. Blur the whole thing. |
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| Your Pear should be all contoured and smooth now. It's almost done. But REAL pears aren't perfect like that. They have little speckles all over them. We're going to use the Splatter tool to do that using three colours - Medium Olive, Burgundy and Light Olive. | |
 To
add the first layer of speckle colour (medium olive), click on Paint Tool/Chalk.
Select these settings: Shape=Round Size=42 Transparent=50 Preset=Splatter from the drop-down box Right click on the Colour Box and choose Ulead Color Picker. Enter the RGB numbers: R=194, G=206, B=153 (Hex #C2CE99). (The Preset will go back to None, but the settings will still be in effect) Now SPARINGLY click in spots around the perimeter of the Pear. Do a couple in the center. Do the second layer of speckles using the same settings, but change the colour to the Burgundy again (Hex #772B1A) and change Transparent to 90. Apply the speckles in the areas where you Airbrushed the Burgundy colour before. (a couple of spots on it's left side and all down the right side and bottom). Do one or two at the top but be careful that you don't add too much!
Apply the the speckles sparingly all over the Pear. Retouch/DODGE the whole Pear to tone down the speckles. Retouch/Burn the stem a little and add a bit of black paint using the paintbrush to the tip and right side. Blur. |
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 To
finish it off, we're
going to add a drop shadow to the Pear to give it some
dimension.Right click on the Pear and from the menu, choose Shadow. click on the second-to-last choice, Tilt Angle 55, Perspective 60 and click OK. Add your Watermark signature.
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Try using the Magic Light on it. The effects are really neat! Experiment and HAVE FUN! Now that you know the technique for painting fruit, take a look at what else you'll know how to paint yourself.
TIP -
The CORRECT way to name
your files:
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To
add the first layer of contour colour, click on Paint Tool/Airbrush.
Select these settings: 
Repeat
for the last layer of speckles using the same settings, but
change the colour to the light olive colour in the colour pallet
(R-213, G-226, B-176 = Hex #D5E2B0) and change Transparent back to 50.
Now that you
understand how shading and highlighting brings out the contours and adds
a 3D look, you can go to town using this technique to make all kinds of food. You'll find that
no two Pears will look exactly alike, just like REAL Pears :)