Coloring Metal

Metal Is Mostly Reflections

Metal can look intimidating because we think we need to somehow draw “shininess.”

But shininess isn't really a color.

It's contrast.

A shiny metal surface reflects its surroundings strongly, creating sudden changes between very bright highlights and very dark reflections. Unlike the gentle transitions we might use on skin or soft fabric, polished metal can jump rapidly from nearly white to nearly black.

That's one of the biggest clues that tells our eyes:

This is metal.

Don't Automatically Reach for Gray

Silver metal may contain gray, but it can also reflect:

• blue from the sky,

• brown from a table,

• green from nearby foliage,

• red from a flower,

• yellow from a lamp,

• or virtually any other color in the scene.

Gold isn't simply yellow either.

It might contain cream, yellow, ochre, orange, brown, and even deep violet in the shadows.

Copper can contain peach, orange, terracotta, red-brown, burgundy, and dark brown.

The metal has a base color, but its surroundings do much of the decorating.

Try It: The Shiny Sphere

Draw a circle.

Instead of creating the smooth light-to-dark transition we used for an ordinary three-dimensional ball, divide this one into several irregular reflective areas.

Leave one narrow section white.

Place a dark band beside it.

Add a medium-value area.

Then another sharp light reflection.

Use some soft transitions, but keep several edges surprisingly crisp.

Now compare it with your smoothly shaded sphere.

The first may look like a matte ball.

The second should begin looking more like polished metal.

Same shape.

Different behavior of light.

Sharp Contrast Creates Shine

This is probably the most useful metal trick to remember.

Put your lightest light beside a very dark value.

That abrupt contrast creates sparkle.

Imagine a silver spoon. A narrow strip of untouched white paper beside charcoal or deep blue-gray can look far shinier than an entire spoon carefully blended from pale gray to medium gray.

Don't be afraid of strong darks.

Metal needs them.

Without dark reflections, your highlights have nothing to shine against.

Reflections Follow the Shape

Reflections aren't random stripes pasted onto an object.

They wrap around its form.

On a cylindrical metal cup, reflections often travel vertically while curving subtly around the cylinder.

On a metal sphere, reflected shapes bend around the round surface.

On a spoon, reflections distort dramatically as the surface curves inward and outward.

On a sword or flat metal blade, reflections may remain relatively straight.

Ask yourself:

What shape is the metal underneath the reflections?

Then make the reflections follow it.

Try This: Matte vs. Shiny

Draw two identical spoons, ornaments, bells, or metal cups.

Color the first with smooth gradual shading.

For the second, use much stronger value changes:

• bright preserved whites,

• narrow dark reflections,

• crisp edges,

• and a few environmental colors.

Use approximately the same overall palette.

If the second object looks shinier, you've demonstrated that shine depends more on contrast and reflection patterns than on the color of the pencil.

Silver Metal

For silver, start with the colors of the environment rather than assuming everything must be neutral gray.

You might use:

white paper,

cool gray,

blue-gray,

indigo,

charcoal,

and reflected colors from nearby objects.

Keep some areas nearly untouched.

Make others surprisingly dark.

A little blue often works beautifully in silver because we frequently associate cool reflections with polished steel or chrome.

But silver beneath warm indoor lighting may contain cream, gold, brown, or even red reflections.

Silver doesn't insist on being cold.

It reflects whatever you've placed beside it.

Gold Metal

Gold needs warmth—but yellow alone won't create convincing gold.

Try building with:

cream,

yellow,

gold,

ochre,

orange,

warm brown,

and deep reddish brown.

Preserve small bright highlights.

Place rich dark browns beside them.

You may even add tiny amounts of violet or deep blue-violet into the darkest shadows to increase contrast.

The strongest yellow doesn't necessarily belong in the darkest or lightest area.

Often the beautiful saturated gold appears in the middle values, between the brilliant highlight and deep reflection.

Copper and Bronze

Copper is an excuse to use a wonderfully rich palette.

Try:

peach,

orange,

terracotta,

rust,

red,

burgundy,

brown,

and deep violet.

For aged copper, introduce muted greens or turquoise to suggest patina.

Bronze may lean more toward muted gold, olive-brown, ochre, and deep brown.

Again, don't make the entire object one metallic color.

Metal becomes convincing through variation.

Old Metal Is Different From Polished Metal

Not every cauldron has recently emerged from the metal-polishing department.

Old, weathered, rusty, or tarnished metal should behave differently.

Reduce the sharpness of some reflections.

Introduce irregular color.

Add:

• rust,

• scratches,

• tarnish,

• patina,

• dark pits,

• worn edges,

• uneven patches.

You can still preserve a few sharper highlights on areas that remain smooth.

That contrast between rough and polished sections can make aged metal particularly interesting.

Mini Challenge: The Three Cauldrons

Draw or trace three identical cauldrons.

Make the first new polished iron.

Use strong white-to-dark contrast with cool blue-gray reflections.

Make the second old blackened iron.

Use charcoal, indigo, brown, and softer irregular highlights.

Make the third ancient and weathered.

Add rust, scratches, uneven dark patches, and perhaps subtle reflected firelight.

Same cauldron.

Three entirely different histories.

One presumably makes soup.

One probably makes potions.

The third should not be opened under any circumstances.

Metal Reflects Nearby Objects

Suppose a silver goblet sits beside a red apple.

You don't need to draw a miniature perfect apple in the goblet.

A small distorted patch of red may be enough to suggest its reflection.

Place a green object nearby and introduce a narrow green reflection.

Set the metal beside a candle and add warm gold or orange along the illuminated side.

These reflected colors connect the metal to the rest of the picture.

Without them, the object may look shiny.

With them, it begins looking shiny inside a particular environment.

Don't Outline Every Edge

Highly reflective metal can contain lost edges just like glass.

A bright edge against a bright background may nearly disappear.

A dark reflected edge may become extremely strong.

Instead of tracing the entire metal object with dark gray or black, vary the boundary.

Let some edges be crisp.

Let others soften.

Allow a few bright sections to disappear into the surrounding light.

The eye will still understand the shape.

Edenglow Studio Tip

For shiny metal, exaggerate the difference between light and dark.

Preserve your brightest whites. Build your darkest reflections. Let environmental colors appear between them, and make those reflections follow the object's form.

If your silver spoon looks gray and dull, it may not need more gray.

It probably needs something much lighter sitting beside something much darker.

That's where the shine lives.