Plane art help needed

[scottott999]

While I wait for AE to make an appearance, I've been trying to improve my artistic talents. I decided to try and make some "what if" prototype aircraft but am having some difficulty getting the end results that I seek.

The top aircraft is an image that I came across that I cleaned up slightly. If has both a metallic finish and kind of gloss on the top to give the appearence of the sun shinning down on it.

Below are some line drawings that I modified and colorized but I can't seem to find a tool in either paint.net or Photoshop 2 that gives me that shine affect. I'm not sure if it's me or if the tools I'm using just don't have that functionality.

Any adivce would be appreciated.

[Cathartes]

I'm not familiar with paint.net and I don't really know what Photoshop 2 (2.0 elements?) is capable of, but if you can use layers to put the shine on an image. You will have more control over this effect and you can change it easily without changing your base image.  Your layer settings and the 'color' you use (probably white, but can depend) will be how you control your degree of shine.

[Crimguy]

What he said. I used to skin Jane's F18 and would make a shine layer. Use the airbrush tool and set the transparency to your taste. Merge your layers and your set.

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: scottott999

While I wait for AE to make an appearance, I've been trying to improve my artistic talents. I decided to try and make some "what if" prototype aircraft but am having some difficulty getting the end results that I seek.

The top aircraft is an image that I came across that I cleaned up slightly. If has both a metallic finish and kind of gloss on the top to give the appearence of the sun shinning down on it.

Below are some line drawings that I modified and colorized but I can't seem to find a tool in either paint.net or Photoshop 2 that gives me that shine affect. I'm not sure if it's me or if the tools I'm using just don't have that functionality.

Any adivce would be appreciated.

It's not fantastic, but it's a start. I'll pm you the paint.NET image so you can have a look at the different layers [:)]

[scottott999]

[font=arial]Thanks all for the quick reply!  I really appreicate the advice as I was definitely going down the wrong path trying to make adjustments all in the same layer not to mention the frustration.  [/font]
[font=arial][/font] 
[font=arial]Dixie, the PM you sent me was fantastic.  Actually seeing the different layers was extremely helpful[/font] with grasping the concept.    I tried looking though some of the previous forum threads for a tutorial on how you guys created your art but I didn't really find anything.  Perhaps you might want to post something of the sorts on your web site for us newer guys.  Even for the non-inspiring artist I think its pretty interesting to see the transformation from a line drawing to final artwork that ends up in the game.
 
By the way I think you did a great job on the Kaiser

[Akos Gergely]

Wow! Great to see someone doing art for my beloved never-were navy planes. Will be one of the first ones to add to my AE scenarios . Please keep us informed about the developements.

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: scottott999

[font=arial]Thanks all for the quick reply!  I really appreicate the advice as I was definitely going down the wrong path trying to make adjustments all in the same layer not to mention the frustration.  [/font]
[font=arial][/font] 
[font=arial]Dixie, the PM you sent me was fantastic.  Actually seeing the different layers was extremely helpful[/font] with grasping the concept.    I tried looking though some of the previous forum threads for a tutorial on how you guys created your art but I didn't really find anything.  Perhaps you might want to post something of the sorts on your web site for us newer guys.  Even for the non-inspiring artist I think its pretty interesting to see the transformation from a line drawing to final artwork that ends up in the game.

By the way I think you did a great job on the Kaiser

The pic is just an example of what you can do with it. With more time you could make a much better example, patience is the key here. Some of the stuff on the one I showed you was done far more quickly and is far more exagerrated than I would usually do. Hopefully it's shown you a way to do it, it's a slippery slope though...

[Akos Gergely]

Any news on these sides? I'd like to get permission to use these in an upcoming mod near you in the near future (after AE release ).

Also any planetops?

If there is any volunteer plane artist who is not completely overwhelmed with making AE to be the greatest wargame ever could lend us a heloing hand would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,