Of course original paint is best, but sometimes it is gone. or a previous owner already trashed it. This technique uses 2 pieces of free image editors. PhotoScape and PhotoFiltre.
The attached pics show the procedure from color .jpg to finished sketch with a preliminary paint job.
load your bike pic into PhotoScape, crop and change pic size to 1000 px wide.
Use PhotoScape's threshold (low) command.
Then use PhotoScape's Edge command setting 3.
Finally use PhotoScape's bloom command on low. then save the file and leave PhotoScape. Open PhotoFiltre and open the saved pic.
Use the drawing tools to clean up the frame and fork. Clean up the seat, tires and hand grips.
Use the "fill" command to try frame areas for "leaks" in the boundarys. Undo the fill and repair with the "line" command. Save the file. Now add boundary lines for the darts and other paint features. Save pic before adding colors if you want to try several options.
And save any color combos you like.
The attached pics show the procedure from color .jpg to finished sketch with a preliminary paint job.
load your bike pic into PhotoScape, crop and change pic size to 1000 px wide.
Use PhotoScape's threshold (low) command.
Then use PhotoScape's Edge command setting 3.
Finally use PhotoScape's bloom command on low. then save the file and leave PhotoScape. Open PhotoFiltre and open the saved pic.
Use the drawing tools to clean up the frame and fork. Clean up the seat, tires and hand grips.
Use the "fill" command to try frame areas for "leaks" in the boundarys. Undo the fill and repair with the "line" command. Save the file. Now add boundary lines for the darts and other paint features. Save pic before adding colors if you want to try several options.
And save any color combos you like.