The threads are looking good, but I think they need a little color.Let's make the threads copper or brass rather than just gray. Go to Colors:Colorize. Set the Hue to 21 and the Saturation to 214.
 
 
 
 

The base of the threaded section  isn't quite finished yet. Tofinish it off we're going to borrow a piece from the bulb. Go to the Layersmenu and click on the first layer (background). using the Shape selecttool set to rectangle, select the bottom part of the bulb section. Selectfrom the bottom up to the point where it starts to curve out. Copy thissection (Edit: Copy). Now Paste it back into the graphic as a transparentselection (Edit, Paste: Paste as a Transparent Selection.) Move it downso that it sticks out just a bit below the base. This part may be a bitlarger or smaller than the base of the threads. Use the Interactive deformationtool to resize it properly so that it will fit.
 
 
 

To make the last part match the rest of the threads, first Colorizeit (Colors: Colorize. same settings as used previously). After that's done,add a cutout shadow so that it matches the rest of the threads (Image,effects: Cutout. Set the Shadow Color to black, the opacity to 100, blur2.4, Vertical offset 1 , Horizontal offset at -1.)
 
 

Now we add the elements inside the bulb. (If you plan on significantlyshrinking your bulb, you may want to leave these steps until after thereduction). Create a new top layer (Layers:New). Click on your line tooland and set the width to 1 pixel, antialias off, Type Normal. Make yourforeground color Black. Draw two short parallel lines coming up the neckof the bulb. The one on the right should begin and end a bit higher upthan the one on the left. These are the wire leads into the bulb.
 
 
 
 

Next, click on your Paintbrush tool. Set shape to Round, the width to1 pixel, the opacity and density to 100, the hardness to 0, and the stepsto 1. In the tool controls be sure no paper texture is selected (None).Draw an irregular shape just above the lines with two or three small lumpson top. This is the start of the glass insulator that holds the wires apart.
 
 
 

Select the inside of your shape with the magic wand. Now add a cutout(Image, Effects: Cutout). Set your Opacity to about 88, the Blur to about12, and the verticl and Horizonatal Offsets to -5. With the selection stillin effect, copy the shading you just made (Edit: Copy)
 
 
 
 

The edges that we drew for the insulator are too harsh, so deselect(Selections:None) and use the eraser brush  (Pencil eraser) to removethe whole insulator. Now paste in the shading you just copied. (Edit, Paste:Paste as a New Selection).
 
 
 
 

Next use your Line tool to draw in the rest of the wire leads that holdthe filament. Different bulbs are built in different ways. One configurationis shown below. After you draw the lines, we're going to thicken them abit by adding a Soften Blur. Use your Freehand Selection tool (Lassoo)to draw around the leads. Then go to Image, Blur: Soften.
 
 
 

Finally, use your paintbrush to draw in the little curlicue of the filament.
 
 
 
 

To make the elements appear as though they are inside the bulb behindthe frosted glass, we adjust the opacity of the layer (Layers:Properties).Set the Layer Opacity to about 50.
 
 
 
 

Now to free our bulb from that black background. First, merge all yourlayers (Layers, merge: Merge All (Flatten). Then click on the Magic wandand set the tolerance to 10. Click somewhere on the black background. Nowfeather the selection (Selections, Modify: Feather. Set the number of pixelsto 2.) Whatever you want the background color of your graphic to be, setit in the Colors Palette now. Here I've selected white. Finally, hit yourdelete key twice.
 
 
 
 

Almost done. All the bulb needs now is the little connector at the bottom.Zoom in on the bottom part of the threads. Click on your Lassoo tool andset the selection type to Point to Point. Use this to draw the little shapeat the bottom of the base.
 
 

Finally, feather the selection by 1 pixel (Selections, Modify: Feather)and color it in black with your Airbrush.
 
 

There you have the finished lightbulb. you can now save it as a transparentGIF. I chose to use the bulb as part of an animation. I first duplicatedthe image in PSP (Window:Duplicate). Then I saved the bulb as a GIF witha transparent background (bulboff.gif). I took the duplicate image andadded a bright lensflare in the middle of the bulb and saved that as bulbon.gif.Paint Shop Pro 5 comes with a great prgram called Animation Shop. I simplyused the animation wizard to combine the two images into the animationyou see below.
 
 

 

Email me at  State_of_Entropy@hotmail.com