Complete Noob effort

[Maxz1985]

Hi everyone, visited the site for the 1st time and today and I was astonished to see how many talented people are involved in this hobby.
I just started a few days ago with my 1st attempt, unaware that I missed some crucial points (which I found out just by viewing some pages here).I decided to scan a technical drawing of an Avro Lancaster and trace it bit by bit so as to have a sort of outline:



Document measures 3700x2000px @ 72ppi (completely wrong I guess).

I felt like to stop and ask some questions before continuing:

How do you create the basic shadow and lighting? Do you use any layer styles like drop shadow/bevel & emboss?

At my current stage, how many layers should I consider just for the outline?

How do I get the exact colours for the aircraft I'm drawing? Is there a reference palette lets say for RAF colours, USAAF, etc?

I'm doing some research in the threads and I was very happy to notice that people are encouraged to do profiles.I find it incredibly interesting and I'm looking forward to do some good practice with my first attempts.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

[gamary]

Welcome MAxz1985!

Avoid using automatic effects such as these, except for specific details. The only way you can draw the shading and lighting is with a soft brush at low opacity. Add a tiny bit of light/shadow, look at it and compare with pictures and then add some more. Keep doing this until you're satisfied with the results. It can be a long process to get the lighting and shading right but it is probably one of the most important so you should be patient.

In general, use as many layers as your computer will handle (many layers = larger filesize). I assume you're using Photoshop or Gimp. BTW 3700 px wide is good enough IMHO. I work at that width. I can print in A3 and I still lose much of the details, so don't bother with anyhting higher for the moment.

There are colours palettes available on the site. You can also ask John (JMSmith), our local guru. You might start by asking him whether that Lancaster plan is valid or not. It seems a bit "fat" to me but I might be wrong.

Practice makes good. Practice, practice, practice, practice,practice, practice and then more practice makes perfect.

Good work and keep us posted!

[Supah]

I always do shading with gradient fills and selections, way faster then painting them with a soft brush and the results are just as good.

[gamary]

Yours are very good indeed, but most people who use them do not necessarily have your skill and sort of ...screw up things with gradients.

[Maxz1985]

hi again everyone and thank you for the quick replies.Today I managed to find some time and continued my first attempt.

I haven't finished yet the outline but I wanted to focus on giving the fuselage some basic color and shading.It looks very dirty but I'm starting to get the concept a little.
In this case I used both gradient fills / selections as well as brushes with low opacity.I enjoyed using both techniques.

Yes, I'm using photoshop CS3, however my skills & knowledge are far from good.I'm glad to know 3700px is a good size.In regards to layers, I noticed I have done a big mistake, which is leaving the outline as one single layer.
Perhaps I should have split the fuselage,engines,wings etc in different layers.

Glad to know I can find the color palettes I'm realizing now that this site is truly a great source for these profiles.Keep up the great work

I'm a fan of the avro lancaster, however I'm starting to think I should have chosen something easier for my 1st attempt.However I won't give up on this and no matter how ugly it will look in the end, my hope is to finish it the best way possible.

Also I'm following this page for reference:
How to create profile art in six easy steps!

On Step 4 it says:

Could someone please tell me exactly what steps are required to remove all the heavy pixelated black outline and keep a nice smooth soft outline? Thanks again!