The whole thing about painting or drawing whether it's on a computer or not -- really has nothing to do with painting or drawing. It has to do with seeing. To achieve an image the artist must do one of three things: mimic the work of others, or mimic reality, or mimic what they see in their mind's eye. And really that just boils down to being able to see -- clearly -- what the vision looks like and what the finished work of art will look like. All else is accident. Of course you disagree with that. Right? ... Seeing is the most important phase of any creative act. (Or hearing when it comes to sound creation.) Seeing and interpreting.
	JP Giraud wrote the following letter: “I'm french, so please be indulgent with my trial english expression. Well, i'm looking for the technic to create a silver metallic object with photoshop. For an example, could you see the man at the MCM's Homepage. I'd like to realize exactly the same effect. Thanks looking for my need, GiPi." ... We "looked for" GiPi's "need" and indeed found MCM.fr a very nicely designed website. Isn't that a wonderful image? (shown at left) Do you suppose those things on the head grew there? (Too bad it's all in French, I'd love to know what they’re talking about! )
But you see GiPi's question is a perfect example of looking but not seeing. The silver metallic object turns out to be a severely lighted, high-contrast model shot converted to grayscale and then colorized (Image > Adjust > Hue/Saturation = colorize) slightly with a steel blue version of the background blue. (Actually could easily also be a duotone.) What makes it a hit is the right photograph... not the technique used to achieve the effect. First see what you’re looking at, or see what’s in your mind. <-- Back