Conveying Wetness and Mist

[Dorkthrone]

I've got two questions for you guys.

1. What do you think is a good technique to try and convey a sense of wetness only using a regular pencil?

2. Just how in the hell do you draw mist?

[dose]

Wetness is largely about the highlight on an object. A solid matte object that is wet will be more "shiny" when wet, meaning the highlight is more visible and more solidly defined. I believe an already shiny object will appear largely the same. Note that if the material is absorbent, this won't apply. My recommendation: get two solid, non-absorbent objects- preferably similar or the same shape- one shiny, and one matte. Observe how the highlights behave and compare them to each other. Then dunk them in water and see how the highlights compare to each other, and how they were when they were dry.

As for mist, it's largely a matter of edges and atmospheric perspective. Atmospheric perspective in a misty environment will be much more pronounced than in a "regular" picture. The edges should be softer in general. However, you should still vary the edges of forms in relation to each other- hard edges should be eliminated and even firm edges should be used sparingly. Check out this post on edges:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51913

Check out Seurat's drawings if you can find them- a lot of them give the feeling of mist. Watch how he controls & defines edges.

[Flake]

Draw wet things.

[soulburn3d]

This is a 3d tutorial...

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/wet_materials/wet_materials.htm

But it discusses many of the properties that makes something look wet, which could certainly be adapted to 2d.

- Neil

[J Wilson]

Mist can be thought of as very dense atmosphere (possible localized depending on how low to the ground you want it compared to an over all misty quality). Basicly, use the same tricks you use to show atmospheric perspective, but you can crank them up a bit and make the effect noticeable sooner or closer to the foreground.

As for wet, as Dose said it varies a lot by the surface in question. A sponge looks wet when it's color darkens and the shape starts to sag more. On pavement the water will be reflective picking up many more cues from the surrounding colors, especially the sky in the daytime, or nearby bright light sources.

The answer to almost ANY question like this though is spend time observing. Observation and study answers almost any question like this.

[Dorkthrone]

Thanks for the help, guys. Soulburn, that link really helps me out.

[Dorkthrone]

Draw wet things.
Best response evar.