To create a realistic feeling of depth requires shading along the body of the red and cream of the van, and this can appear to be a daunting task. But there is actually a very simple and effective way to achieve this, again using Xara's wonderful layers. As you can see in Fig.7, the van's body (if we ignore intricacies like the trim, mirrors and handles) is made up of just three layers: the red area, the cream area and the shading. A fourth layer adds the reflection highlights but we can ignore this for now. The red and the cream are both single layers of one block colour each. The shadow layer is made up of a small number of semitransparent graduated fills which, when overlaid onto the red and cream achieve this wonderful feeling of depth. Imagine if these three layers were the first you had done. Now add the reflections layer - what a feeling of accomplishment, it looks like it just came out of the paint shop!