Johanna's Paint a Pear Tutorial for PI10

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Tutorial: Paint a Pear Title: Digitally Paint a Realistic looking Pear Software: Ulead PhotoImpact 10 (version 6-XL is here) Skill Level: Intermediate Author: Johanna If you have a Stylus Pen & Tablet, go ahead and pull them out - this tutorial is perfect for using them.
	Standard Mode vs Basic Mode PhotoImpact 10 has two work modes, Basic and Standard. Basic Mode features a simplified workspace with larger buttons and the most common functions whereas the Standard Mode displays all of the functions. You will be using the Standard Mode in this tutorial. To check your mode, click Workspace on the Menu Bar. If the Standard Mode is greyed out, that means you are already in the Standard Mode. If not, click Standard Mode now. Warning: If you switch from Standard to Basic Mode, and you have custom settings, you will lose all your custom settings.
To Start, Create a New Image - Canvas White/Single Colour 300 pixels W by 300 pixels H. Click OK. Create your OWN pear shape using the path drawing tool. *Click here for a larger graphic* to show you where you can find the tool. It's under Path Drawing Tool / Freeform Shapes / FREEHAND. In the pop-up Panel, under the Shapes tab, set the accuracy to 10. 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).
Under Mode, change it to 3D Round. You adjust the "3Dness" by clicking on the Material Button on the Attributes Bar and choosing the Bevel Settings Tab. Change the Border to 99 (Smooth Spine), depth=30.
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.
To add the first layer of contour colour, click on Paint Tool/Airbrush. Select these settings: Shape=Round Size 30 Transparent 75 Soft Edge 50. Right click on the Colour Box and choose Ulead Color Picker. Enter the RGB numbers: R=194, G=206, B=153 (Hex #C2CE99). 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.
The second layer is to bring out some highlight. Select the Retouch Tool/Dodge Size 40 Transparent 50 Soft Edge 50. 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.
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 Size=40 Colour=Burgundy: R 119, G 43, B 26 (Hex #772B1A) Transparent=95 Soft=50 Gently Airbrush as shown to the Left. Colour the stem in while you're at it. When done, Blur the whole thing in a circular motion.
It's looking pretty green so we need to "yellow" it up a bit. Go to Photo/Color Balance and choose the second row, last one. Click OK. Click the Dodge Tool, Level 10 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. Repeat the Photo/Color Balance one more time and Blur again. At this point, you may need to even out the highlights and shading. To do this, just choose the Airbrush and cover the whole body of the Pear in circular motions using it's original yellow colour with the following settings: Shape=Round Size=40 Colour=Yellow (246, 252,39 = Hex #F6FC27) Transparent=95 Soft=50 When done, Blur. Repeat the yellow layer Airbrushing and blurring until you have the shade you like.
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!
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. Apply the the speckles sparingly all over the Pear. Retouch/DODGE the whole Pear to tone down the speckles using the settings Shape-100, Level 25, Soft Edge-50. Retouch/Burn the stem a little and add a bit of black paint using the paintbrush to the tip and right side. Blur. Set the Blur tool to Shape 40, Level 1, Soft Edge 50 and GENTLY blur the whole pear being careful not to blur in all the speckles.
To finish it off, we're going to add a 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.
Right-Click, Select All Objects, choose the Crop Tool, then click the Crop Image button to clean up extra White Space around the image.
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 :) Try using the Easy Pallette/Special Effects Gallery/Lighting 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: When creating files, use all lower case, no spaces and as little digits as possible. Hyphen may be used in place of a space. EXAMPLE: painted-pear.jpg or for the BW Projects: project-number-yourname.jpg)
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