Texturing a Gondorian Shield

Nertea

Category:	Graphics
Level:	Intermediate
Created:	Sunday June 10, 2007 - 23:51
Updated:	Monday June 11, 2007 - 0:24
Views:	8731
Summary:	Basic shield skinning tutorial

Rating

Staff says

4.3

Members say

4.4

Average

4.4/5.0

8 votes

Page 1 2 3 4

The Tree

The one remaining major component of the shield is of course the White Tree of Gondor. Now, at first glance, this is quite difficult to draw accurately. The first glance is correct. First, you'll need to grab a good reference. The best I found (took me all of 30 seconds) is HERE. Create a new layer, names "tree". Use a very light grey brush with 100% hardness for this. Size will vary. Remember, you only need to draw half the tree. I'll provide a few pictures of the stages my tree went through. The undo key is your friend.

Used a size 9 brush for the trunk, size 3 and 1 brushes for the roots.

Used sizes 5, 3, and 1 for the branches.

Used sizes 3 and 1 for the leaves.

You could also just copy the picture... or trace it... but it's more rewarding to say "Yes, I drew that." to someone who asks.
Now, apply a bit of noise to the tree layer.
A few highlights will also help the tree blend in. Use a dodge brush to apply the same pattern of higlights as you did to the front of the the shield. You can also use the burn tool set on highlights to darken the tree where it crosses the wood panel lines.

This here is the finished version. I've done a bit of further work, mainly just touching up the highlights with Dodge, Burn and Desaturate. Again, this is subjective. Once you have something that looks right, stop. Now you can UV map it to your shield model and use it. There's even a bit of space left on the texture for straps and buckles, if you're modelling those as well.

Comments

Display order: Newest first

Yarrum - Sunday February 28, 2010 - 21:02

Excellent tutorial. In case you weren't aware though, the Gondorian shield is actually wood faced with leather, not painted wood.

Go to top

"One site to rule them all, one site to find them,
one site to host them all, and on the network bind them."

14:53:05