We challenge you to:

Draw Something Metallic

Let's see what you come up with!

While we know we are going to get some stunning artwork, we also want to encourage beginners. If you are new to Inkscape, feel free to keep it simple.

Multiple entries are welcome, and please do stick around for the chat!

All abilities are invited to get involved. The complexity of your entry is down to you.

Please post your finished artwork below. 

IMPORTANT: If you would like to know what you could do to improve your artwork, add the phrase to your comment: "Brutal Feedback" --- only for those with nerves of steel! (Please include a brief description of your process, difficulties you have experienced and your desired outcome).

Because of limited resources, moderators may not always be able to give feedback.

All entries to be submitted by 31 December 2023.

Please spread the word!
#inkscapechallenge

Please see CHALLENGE RULES before submitting your artwork

Instructions/Information

• To submit your artwork, scroll to the bottom of the page and while logged in, click the paperclip (bottom-left) to upload your image, add a description in the text box (optional) and click "Submit Reply".
• If you'd like to post work-in-progress artwork, create a thread in the "Work in Progress" section of the forum, and post your images there, with the title "[Month] [Year] [Challenge Title] WIP - [your artwork title]" (you are welcome to ask for help there if you get stuck). When finished, post the final graphic to this thread.
• There are no winners (HOWEVER, YOUR ARTWORK SUBMISSIONS ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED INTO THE INKSCAPE ARTIST OF THE MONTH CONTEST). These challenges are intended to inspire, to encourage you to share your work and to build a supportive community.
• If you post your artwork here, you agree for us to share your artwork and use your artwork to create a banner (in the event that you win Artist of the Month) - to opt out, add "Please don't share" to your post.
• You're encouraged to discuss and offer feedback/constructive criticism to others, but please be respectful.
• Most importantly, be creative, give your best, and have fun!

We look forward to seeing your entries!

Challenge entries (so far)

Pendant. I started this one a few days ago, when Pacer advanced the topic of the challenge.

Wow @mrks9 !!

...and 3D. A nice finish!

I like the direction.

A christmas ornament, after all this' the season :) I stylized a bit. The reference photo: https://pixabay.com/photos/christmas-christmas-tree-3809544/

(Edit: the background mesh is not appearing here. I do not know why.)

@mrks9 Very nice work! Impressive.

@devviktoria It looks great!

Hoping to join in again. Can't decide whether to do something Christmas-y or something else. I am impressed by the reflections showing in all the submissions so far. Not sure if I'm up to that... 😱😆

@pacer @z3z Thanks, glad you both like it. @z3z In case it helps, for the reflections of the part and the sphere I used images with a mask. For the effects of the holding piece and the chain I have used both gradient and mesh gradient objects. Always playing with the layer blending modes and transparency.

@devviktoria Nice work 👏 The background does not come out I guess because you have applied some filter and the image is an svg. If you save it as an image file (png or jpg, etc) we can see the image with the background.

@mrks9 Thanks for the tip. :) I guess I leave my entry as is for this challenge. But next time if I have a complex background then I am going to upload a jpg.

Hmm this may need some update.

Throwback to the bauble challenge. https://inkscape.org/forums/competitions/inkscape-challenge-1-december-2021-31-december-2021/

Edit: full size image is available here -> https://www.deviantart.com/lazururh/art/Christmas-baubles-902312136

There are some metallic items in my gallery that might fit the theme, but I thought it would be better to make a new one. Maybe it's not boring yet, but I also made a christmas bauble. :) A gift for the holidays.
The reference image for the pen is came from a webshop. Partly... (Bamboo Company)

@razr Nice work. I really like that hatching striped shading effect. The The fountain pen looks fantastic and that logo addition, great idea 👏

@mrks9 Thank You!  Maybe the transition could be better but overall I'm still satisfied with it.

edit: I just found a simpler solution. I overthought it a bit. With one mask, the result is closer to what I wanted to achieve.

I uploaded the svg files to my gallery.

Just a cube.

@razr Incredible! I love your work. Encore!

@mrks9 Wow again! I like the direction you are taking. It looks to me like your artwork is becoming more daring. The second graphic... Curious... Was that a gradient map?

Thanks, @pacer No, it's treated in Gimp with various filters, levels, etc. As I always say, I still can't get it to my liking in Inkscape, so I tweak it in Gimp. That's why I upload two images.

Piece based on the Celtic trisquel.

@mrks9 The pendant is beautifully "crafted". The cubes are also nice and kind of surrealistic - I like that. Of the Celtic trisquels, I prefer the golden one. Keep up the good work, Marcos!
@devviktoria Nice one and as Marcos said, next time try to upload your work in PNG or JPEG format. Better in JPEG because it’s more compressed than PNG and takes up fewer KBs/MBs from your quota.
@Lazur Oldie but still goodie!
@razr Excellent work!

This is my contribution so far. It’s not just a case for the lighter, but a full metallic Bic lighter.
Unfortunately, I had to switch back to Inkscape 1.2, although I love 1.3. This is because I can’t work without a proper “stroke to path” function, and I also miss the “Raster” extension.
As a reference image for the lighter, I used this one: https://www.goodfellascigarshop.com/products/bic-lighters
The BIC logo is taken from: https://companieslogo.com/bic/logo/
The cozy background image is mine.
Copyright Disclaimer:
This image was created by the user (Inkonic) and is not affiliated with or endorsed by BIC. The user does not have the rights to the BIC trademark and created this image for educational purposes only.
A small video about my work: https://youtu.be/eJT8ngahNmc

@Inkonic Excellent work! The metallic look is very accomplished and I love the smoothness of the curves on the top pieces. Thanks for sharing 👏

@Inkonic Beautiful work. The lighter blends nicely with the scene. Thanks for another great entry.

I'm loving the standard of artwork I am seeing from everyone.

@pacer , @mrks9  Thank you both for your kind words and for motivating me to create things with Inkscape; otherwise, I wouldn’t have done!❤🙂🖖

It will be the last entry of the year. I'm very bad with filters, but well, we keep on learning 😉

This was another challenge that I could not resist. I had mad a watch years ago but I wanted to try to do a new one to see I could do better. I think I did. I post the older watch later.

@Boxcutter Great work! Thanks for sharing 👏

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays! Best wishes to all of you and to the Inkscape team that makes all this beautiful magic possible!
*Jacob Marley is the name of the first ghost that visited Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.

How to x-mas ball

Happy New Year!

Squeezing this in. Took way more than anticipated. 

Design is a throwback to 2021 -used it for the glass challenge too.

@Lazur Fantastic! Happy New Year to you too.

Thank's @mrks9! 

Honestly that was a bit rushed version.

Not exactly how it was planned but as always it got out of hand and hit limitations. 

Thus made revisions although can see a few issues here and there. 

Attaching the newer version. 

Large image with more details is available here:

https://www.deviantart.com/lazururh/art/metal-ring-1007174486