More on Rendering Chrome

Chrome is a three dimensional mirror-like reflective surface. Chrome adopts its color entirely from its surroundings.  To render chrome from imagination you must choose the environment surrounding the object being constructed.

Blue sky and asphalt reflect clearly on the surface of chrome.

Since we usually see chrome on cars and since cars are usually outdoors and on the street, we commonly see the asphalt on the ground plane and blue sky above reflected onto the surface of the metal and reflected sharply back to our eyes.  A different environment would create a different colors.  For example, our car was parked in a grassy park during sunset (see below).

left to right: sunset w/grass, snow w/blue sky, and sunny day at the beach

The brightest light reflects of upward facing surfaces from the sky. The sun, if visible, creates a bright white highlight. On downward facing surfaces we see the ground reflected.  Distant objects reflect dramatically less light than the sky and appear almost black; the ground closest to the tire reflects light of brighter value, but still much darker than the sky.

Real world reflections are almost always more complicated than this since since any nearby object could be visible on a surface.  When rendering from photo reference or from real life, this knowledge can help you understand and even simplify your observations.

Now that we've talked about chrome, we can begin to talk about how reflective, colored surfaces react to their environment.

Try it out!

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View more of my artwork at: www.spencerhallam.com

Reflective Surfaces: Chrome and Automobile Paint Jobs

To render chrome effectively you must first choose an environment to be reflected onto the surface of the chrome.  In the photo above you can clearly see the earthy color of the road below and the paler blue sky above.  Downward facing surfaces will reflect the ground and upward facing surfaces will reflect the sky.  Look closely at each ring on the hub cap and guess the angle by what is being reflected.

A reflective colored surface will do the same, but the effect is dramatically influenced by the local color beneath the reflection. A darker color will reflect its environment more clearly than a lighter finish, especially white.

All the lighter shapes on the surface of the above vintage automobiles are reflected images of the sky above.  The local color is shifted toward a blue hue (making it more  red-violet or violet) and lightened (desaturated with white) where the reflection is visible. These details are hard to invent, but we can begin to make some generalizations.

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View more of my artwork at: www.spencerhallam.com