How many levels of posturization best for realism?

[Saigokarasu]

Okay, I found a solid reference for tones. I thought of using the Posturize tool in Painter to get more solid tones yet I don't know how many would be sufficient for realism. How many would you reccommend?

[kev ferrara]

Depends on the effect you want. If you want a highly graphic look, use very few, like 2 or 3. If you want smooth gradations a la Caravaggio, use more.

[Saigokarasu]

Depends on the effect you want. If you want a highly graphic look, use very few, like 2 or 3. If you want smooth gradations a la Caravaggio, use more.

Like how many more?

[vandalrat]

Like, put a BIG number in there and see what happens, then put a BIGGER number and see how it changed, then keep putting more numbers until you start getting close to what you want.

[Saigokarasu]

Like, put a BIG number in there and see what happens, then put a BIGGER number and see how it changed, then keep putting more numbers until you start getting close to what you want.

I've tried 6 but it felt too basic and I tried 7 yet there seemed to be many tones in between the basic shades and such and I was unsure how I'd include them all.

[Saigokarasu]

Hello?

[Dizon]

What do you mean by posturization?

[rattsang]

if you are talking about posterizing a photo to then try and copy the tone in the photo for your own skin tones any thing between 4 and 8 is fine usually altough sometimes you need more depending on the other colors in the photo. just try and think of it as trying to make enough levels to turn the form.

posterizing color photos can be confusing though as changes in saturation and hue are much more obvious in the filtered version

[Jem'ennuie]

What you're asking is picking colours to bypass some of the work, it just won't work because you'll get flat and boring artwork.

Your question won't get an answer because what you're asking is like asking how many pencils you need to use to get a realistic drawing, aka it's dumb. Know your subject and learn to judge colour by the eye.

It's fine to use a certain pattern imo, but you're asking picking colours and the minimum needed, why not use a colouring book then where the numbers show you what colours to use? It depends on what you draw and most artists have at least 40 or more picking colours.