<p>The key to rendering gold and other metallic surfaces is that metal's appearance is completely dependent on the objects around it. Visually metallic objects are the reflections of other objects and/or the light from the environment around it. Gold adds a yellow orange hue to those reflections but what you see is still just reflected things. The distortion of those reflections across the surface helps give shape to those metal objects when you reproduce them in your painting.</p>
<p>If the metal surface is dull or has a satin like finish then the reflections will be blurry, less defined. A very rough metal will just show areas of light and dark. The shinier and smoother the metal the more crisp and defined the reflections become until they are truly mirrored in the surface.</p>
<p>In the second image above, which appears computer generated, you can see how that works. There are no definable objects in those reflections but you still get the impression that there are things being reflected (likely it is what is called a reflection map: a 2d image with bright and dark areas that when projected on the object simulate objects in space around it). Except for the apple stem those reflections are not accurate but they still give the impression of a real gold object because they simulate reflected objects/light distorted by the apple's round shape.</p>
<p>Thus using gold metallic paint will not by itself give you gold looking objects, you need to represent in some way the environment around them when rendering the surface of those objects.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-16T20:51:45.120Z
That you are painting a simulation may in some way work against its being convincing, but as you improve the proportions and tonality of the objects it will look more gold like. For it all to work together the gold parts should share the same light and dark areas, distorted by their individual surface shapes and positions in space. They all reflect the same environment.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-18T11:50:54.650Z
Good point about the reflection map as well! The image could also have been cropped from a background or rendered on a transparent background, but, in any case, the golden apple reflects things that aren't depicted which adds to it looking fake (to a certain degree). @Artsywolf To improve your understanding of how it works (and so how it should be rendered photorealistically), it might be better to copy from a "complete" image of a golden object, i.e. including the background and other reflected objects.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-16T20:38:54.660Z
2024-08-16T20:47:30.440Z
2024-08-16T20:47:30.440Z
rebusB
<p>I am an amateur artist and struggle a lot with painting gold metallic objects. I've seen a few tutorials online but I still have difficulty painting a reflective surface. I am currently trying to paint a gold apple using acrylics. I have attached the template and what I managed to paint. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to paint a &quot;shiny&quot; gold surface on the apple?</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/TMpzNcoJ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Photo of the artist's attempt to paint a golden apple"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/TMpzNcoJ.jpg" alt="Photo of the artist's attempt to paint a golden apple" title="Photo of the artist's attempt to paint a golden apple" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lVRvAN9F.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Image of a golden apple for artistic reference"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lVRvAN9F.png" alt="Image of a golden apple for artistic reference" title="Image of a golden apple for artistic reference" /></a></p>

<painting><paint><acrylic-paint><technique-application>
Painting gold metalic objects
Artsywolf
# Painting gold metalic objects

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-16)

I am an amateur artist and struggle a lot with painting gold metallic objects. I've seen a few tutorials online but I still have difficulty painting a reflective surface. I am currently trying to paint a gold apple using acrylics. I have attached the template and what I managed to paint. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to paint a "shiny" gold surface on the apple?

[![Photo of the artist's attempt to paint a golden apple](https://i.sstatic.net/TMpzNcoJ.jpg "Photo of the artist's attempt to paint a golden apple")](https://i.sstatic.net/TMpzNcoJ.jpg "Photo of the artist's attempt to paint a golden apple")

[![Image of a golden apple for artistic reference](https://i.sstatic.net/lVRvAN9F.png "Image of a golden apple for artistic reference")](https://i.sstatic.net/lVRvAN9F.png "Image of a golden apple for artistic reference")

**Tags:** painting, paint, acrylic-paint, technique-application


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-08-16. Score: 4

The key to rendering gold and other metallic surfaces is that metal's appearance is completely dependent on the objects around it. Visually metallic objects are the reflections of other objects and/or the light from the environment around it. Gold adds a yellow orange hue to those reflections but what you see is still just reflected things. The distortion of those reflections across the surface helps give shape to those metal objects when you reproduce them in your painting.

If the metal surface is dull or has a satin like finish then the reflections will be blurry, less defined. A very rough metal will just show areas of light and dark. The shinier and smoother the metal the more crisp and defined the reflections become until they are truly mirrored in the surface.

In the second image above, which appears computer generated, you can see how that works. There are no definable objects in those reflections but you still get the impression that there are things being reflected (likely it is what is called a reflection map: a 2d image with bright and dark areas that when projected on the object simulate objects in space around it). Except for the apple stem those reflections are not accurate but they still give the impression of a real gold object because they simulate reflected objects/light distorted by the apple's round shape.

Thus using gold metallic paint will not by itself give you gold looking objects, you need to represent in some way the environment around them when rendering the surface of those objects.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: That you are painting a simulation may in some way work against its being convincing, but as you improve the proportions and tonality of the objects it will look more gold like. For it all to work together the gold parts should share the same light and dark areas, distorted by their individual surface shapes and positions in space. They all reflect the same environment.  
> **username_2**: Good point about the reflection map as well! The image could also have been cropped from a background or rendered on a transparent background, but, in any case, the golden apple reflects things that aren't depicted which adds to it looking fake (to a certain degree). @username_0 To improve your understanding of how it works (and so how it should be rendered photorealistically), it might be better to copy from a "complete" image of a golden object, i.e. including the background and other reflected objects.  

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