My sources for real metal included dirty, stained, aluminum cooking utensils or kitchen appliances. Cookie sheets, toasters, cappuccino machines, bread makers, coffee pots. Most used cooking supplies - even ones that are still in commission - have amazing scratches, dents, stains and colors. Especially aluminum pans that have been washed with harsh detergents. I also dug through scrap yards for sheets of rusted metal... Car parts, truck parts, an old metal cash box (Empty. Unfortunately). I also dug up a few actual train parts.
In most cases these pieces of metal were placed directly on a large format scanner and scanned at a high resolution. Some of the odd-shaped pieces were photographed.
Here are some of the metal images:
Next: Painted textures. Oil, Acrylic, Ink... anything and everything. Some of these textures were made in a calculated way - with intentional shading, brush marks, and color changes.... some of them are palettes that I liked the messy, random look of... and some of them are scans of original paintings from the From Inside graphic novel.
Here are some painted textures:
The image below shows some of the textures which are the result of combining the paint and the metal. Again: I've tried to make them look like real metal, but at the same time have a painted, hand-made feel.
Here are some shots of the 3D texturing when it was in-progress. My favorite parts of the textures are the ink splatters you can see here and there.
