This tutorial uses vector shapes, masks, and layers to create an apple. By using a mask a smooth edge can be retained without having to use selections which often produce jagged results, even when feathered.

The Retouch tool will also be used throughout the tutorial to darken, lighten and blend colors in order and give the image a smooth, painted look. With each of the settings used, the opacity should be lowered so that the effects are subtle.

*Screenshots are greatly reduced in size and optimized for faster download times.

Create the Apple Mask

Open a new image 300 X 300 with a white background.

Under the "Styles" section of the color palette set the top button (stroke style) to "No Style". Set the bottom button (fill style) to "Solid Color" and right-click on the button to choose black as the fill color. See screenshot.

The buttons under the "Textures" section should be set to "No Texture" or "Null" and the "Lock" option should be checked.

Click on the Preset Shapes tool with the settings shown below and use the left mouse button to draw a circle based on the size of apple you want to create. The circle doesn't have to be perfect, because we are going to change the shape, but you do want to leave enough room at the top of the circle to add the leaf and stem.

Preset Shape - Tool Options Shape type: Ellipse Retain Style: Unchecked Antialias: Checked Create as vector: Checked Line Width: default Line Style: default	Figure 1

Select Objects > Align > Horz. Center on Canvas (this only works for vector objects).

Figure 2

Activate the Vector Object Selection tool, right-click on the image and choose "Node Edit" from the pop-up menu or you can click "Node Edit" in the "Tool Options" dialog box. Once this function has been activated you will see the circle as a series of nodes and curved line segments.

Add two new nodes to the shape, one on each side of the bottom node. To add the nodes, hold down the "Ctrl" key and hover your mouse over the outline until you see the word "Add" then click. See Figure 2.

The illustration does not show the addition of the second node. Don't forget to add it to your vector shape.

Double-click on a node to select all nodes (selected nodes will be black), then right-click on the image and choose Node Type > Asymmetric from the context menu.

Click on a blank area of the canvas to deselect all nodes then click on individual nodes and modify the shape by dragging the node itself or by pulling on the handles on either side of the control arm (arrow) that appears when a node is selected, Figure 3A. Repeat this process with each node until you have a shape similar to Figure 3B.

Asymmetric Node When editing an asymmetric node, the handles on either side of an node remain aligned with one another, but the distance between the node and each control arm handle can vary.

 

Figure 3A	Figure3B

Right-click on a layer in the layer palette and choose Merge > Merge all (flatten).

Create a new layer and choose Masks > New > From Image. When the "Add Mask From Image" dialog box appears use the following settings and click "OK." I create this new layer so that I will not have to redraw the apple shape should something go wrong during the painting process and so that I will retain a white background to clearly see what I'm working on.

Source window: This window
Create mask from: Source luminance
Invert mask data: checked

Choose Masks > Save to Alpha Channel and click "OK" through all of the resulting dialog boxes. This would also be a good time to save the image in PSP format.

Paint the Apple

Activate the Paintbrush tool and the Retouch tool, adjust the settings as shown below, and click on the "Style Switcher" arrows so that you will be painting with the left mouse button.

Duplicate the masked layer 3 times by dragging the layer onto the "Create Layer" button on the layer palette. Right-click on each layer and & rename from top to bottom "Speckling", "Shading", "Contour" & "Base color". See screenshot.

I use separate several layers so that if I don't like the results I can use Edit > Clear to clear the active layer, and reload the mask. This is easier than searching through the command history to undo changes, or recreating the image.

Save and open the color palette provided or drag it from this page into an open PSP window. Position the palette next to your image so that both are clearly visible in the workspace. The table below provides specific instructions for painting on each layer according to the layer name. To quickly select the colors used for each step, hold the Ctrl key (the cursor should change to an eyedropper) and click on the color palette provided.

Base Color Layer Flood fill the mask.
Contour Layer Paint in curved lines to give the apple shape then smudge . Notice in the example that the painted lines do not have to be perfect.
Shading Layer Activate the Paint Brush tool. Increase the brush size and add shading to the apple. Smudge the painted areas to soften and blend.
Speckling Layer Activate the Airbrush tool with the following settings and click on the image. After adding the speckling choose Effects > Blur > Gaussian Blur with a radius of 1.
Shape: Round Size: 270 Hardness:100 Opacity:100 Step: 25 Density: 1

After painting and smudging the layers, hide the background layer (see screenshot), right-click on a "visible" layer, and choose Merge > Merge Visible. Activate the Retouch tool, change the "Smudge" setting to "Lighten RGB" (do not change any of the other settings) and lighten the left side of the apple. See Figure 4.

	Figure 4

Create a new layer and set the blend mode to "Multiply." Choose Masks > Load from Alpha Channel. Activate the Paint Brush tool. Hold the Ctrl key and click on the yellow color in the tutorial palette, to make this your foreground color, then go back to the apple image & paint along the highlighted area. See Figure 5.

	Figure 5

Leaf & Stem

Create a new top layer named "Stem." Hold the Ctrl key and click on the beige color from the tutorial color palette to set it as your foreground color. Once set, click on the color button under the styles section of the color palette. When the Corel Color dialog appears move the "Light" slider to the left to darken the beige to brown.

Activate the Draw tool with the following settings and draw a bezier curve for the stem. If you created the "Rounded Ends" line style from either the Birdhouse or Basket tutorial you may wish to use it for the stem.

Draw - Tool Options
Type: Bezier Curve
Width: 8
Line Style: #1 Solid (or Rounded Ends)
Antialias: checked
Create as vector: unchecked
Close path: unchecked

To draw a bezier curve, click and hold the left mouse button and draw a straight line for the stem. Release the button. Choose an area about midway between the start and end point of the line, position the cursor slightly to the left of the line and click twice to create a small curve.

Hold the Ctrl key (the cursor should change to an eyedropper) and click on the green in the tutorial palette. Click on the "Style Switcher" arrows so that the color is used as a fill color, (see screenshot). Activate the Preset Shapes tool set to "Ellipse" and draw the shape by the stem to create a leaf. See Figure 6A.

Click the "Node Edit" button in the Tool Options palette. The ellipse should now be represented as a series of nodes and curve segments. Click on the node located on the right and pull the arrow handles inward, toward the ellipse, to create a point. Adjust the other nodes as needed to create a leaf shape, then click outside the image to exit "Node Edit". See Figures 6B & 6C.

Figure 6A	Figure 6B	Figure 6C

Right-click on this layer and choose "Convert to raster" from the context menu. Click & drag this layer below the "Stem" layer then activate the Retouch tool and alternate between "Darken RGB" and "Lighten RGB" to add shading and highlights to the leaf. "Lock transparency" for this layer (see screenshot below), then change the setting to "Smudge" and blend the colors to your satisfaction.

When using the "Darken RGB", "Lighten RGB" or "Smudge" settings for the Retouch tool, lower the opacity to make smooth transitions in your image.

Once you've completed the leaf, activate the "Merged" apple layer and use the Retouch tool set to "Darken RGB" to add some shading where the leaf falls over the apple.

The apple is now finished! To export the image as a tube, delete the "Background" layer, right-click and choose Merge > Merge Visible, then choose File > Export > As Picture Tube.

In the example below I used this same process to create several apples at once. I then exported them as a tube so that I could use them in baskets and other compositions.