Shiny vs Velvety

Eluzyion was asking tonight how to make shiny textures; so I put together this tutorial explaining the differences in contrast.  Contrast is light compared to dark.  The bigger the difference, the higher the contrast.  If you have an image that is black and white, it's high contrast.  If it's mostly medium gray, it's low contrast.

When an artist shades a drawing or painting, they pay attention to what is called the Value Scale.  Some will draw some color dots or a sketch line showing the lightest light, the darkest dark, and the medium colors as a reference point.

Velvety textures have low contrast, and shiny textures have high contrast.  When I did Lucky tonight, I made her look velvety.  I went back and gave her some really dark darks and some bright highlights and suddenly she's a lot shinier.  If you look at the value scale dots underneath, you can see the difference.  On the shiny version, she's almost 70% dark.  On the velvety version, she's about 50/50.

It's a lot more clear that the shiny Lucky is very dark when we make them gray. Hopefully this helps explain contrast and values. This is a very simple writeup and explanation, and with practice, it can get very complex - and very beautiful. Good luck!