Windows Adobe Illustrator Lighting / Texturing

As part of my college work, I have to design a gun in Illustrator.

My progress so far....

(Sexy r700)


However, I am kinda stumped on how to go about lighting and texturing it to make it look more 3D.

I'm specifically having trouble with the stock (because of it's awkward shape).

The level it is at currently is more than enough for college, but I just want it to look better

Any ideas / tips?

Thanks

 

Run a dark gradient along the mid line of the whole gun, it'll make the flat surface "pop" more.

Also some pure white strokes, to create the highlights

 

Thought I would show rather than leave it in text



Break up each component and apply better gradients

 

Thanks for the reply.

I've been playing with some gradients and got this far.

 

You need to think where your light source is coming from, the reason it's not looking right is because you've got highlights where shadows should be, and shadows where highlights should be.

So ontop where the behind the bolt, it should be a highlight that fades to a shadow as it wraps the grip.

Your best bet right now would be exporting to Photoshop/Gimp and use a brush tool to quickly paint the highlighs and shadows from a fixed light source.

Then use that as a guide in your vector image (illustrator/Inkscape).


Edit:

look at this ruger and how the highlights and shadows work

 

I was using this as a reference.


I've added some more shadow at the left of stock.

 

Pretty much done... I think


Anything else I should do?

 

Looks great, only concern is the palm area. The gradient is very linear considering its a curved surface.

Also flip the image so the gun is pointing to the left. Its a technique many digital artists use to give them a fresh look at what they've done. (The flip is only a working method, not final layout.) As soon as you've flipped it you'll notice things

 

Alright, cheers.

I'll have a bash.

Edit: Tomorrow

 

You've come along way since your first post! 9/10, that last tweak will be a 10/10

 

I know it's that way in the source image, but the scope doesn't quite look right. I think it's the double highlight that's going on. You might also want to add a bit more detail to the clip - it looks a bit flat compared to the rest.

I'm in awe though - I could never even start something like that, so kudos for getting far further than I ever could!

 

I think the double highlight itself is okay, but you are right, it needs something doing to it. I'll fiddle with the gradients and I think darken the bottom one.

I wasn't really sure what to do with the clip since it is kinda flat.... Maybe a highlight next to the groove.

Usually I would never start something like this either, but I had to start it for college and I'm finishing it (properly) cos I'm a perfectionist and it was annoying me.

 

Done...






Thanks for the guidance

 

Perfect! 10/10