Table of contents for No. 140 in Photoshop Creative

Painting in Photoshop can be daunting, especially if you’ve never painted in the real world. However, it’s not as tricky as you might think, as this issue’s main feature will demonstrate. Just as traditional artists use photos as references, that’s exactly what we’re going to do in Photoshop. The great thing about digital painting is that you can even use the photo in the artwork itself by painting over it. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve with a few of Photoshop’s brushes, so turn to p.16 and see for yourself. If manipulating photos is more your style, you’ll also learn how to add realistic light and shadows to surreal compositions; turn any portrait photo into a mechanical robot; and even create text effects using photos of everyday objects.…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with Elements CS CC What you’ll learn Add realistic shadows and highlights using basic lighting techniques Time taken 3hours Expert Daniel Sinoca “I love working with light and shadow, as it adds drama and realism to my images. Thanks to Photoshop, I can easily add and control the light to change the mood of any composition. “I started to get involved in the digital world more than 10 years ago and have been working as a freelance artist ever since, creating all kinds of multimedia projects and tutorial guides.” Everything that you see reflects light and projects shadows. Visually, light and shadows define an object. They are responsible for creating a sense of perspective, dimension and even texture. Perhaps…

Enhance the details 01 Gear shadows To give more depth, add some shadows above the gears. Select black as your colour and with the Brush tool, make the shadows and change the layer blend mode to Overlay. 02 The nose effect Create a new layer and with the Pen tool, draw the top of the nose and paint it with the colour #9ea181. To add realism, draw highlights and shadows. 03 Face highlights Follow the instructions of step 14 to make a bevel and emboss effect on the face edges. Remember that the robot face must have a glossy style of lighting. 04 Top screw To give the impression that the screws are raised, add the ‘Robot eye.psd’ and place as shown above. Put the layer in a group folder…

Adjust your sketch 01 Very Smart Objects Changing part of your sketch is easy with Smart Objects. You can change the original sketch at any time, without having to redo the whole illustration. 02 Lasso the element Double-click a Smart Object to open it. Go back through them until you’re at the sketch. Select the Lasso tool (L) and then draw around what it is you wish to modify. 03 Transform your selection Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to transform the selected area; rotate, position, scale and so on, and hit Return when you have finished. Be careful when scaling to not lose quality or create pixilation. 04 Save your changes When you’re happy with your modification, hit Cmd/Ctrl+S to save. Go back through your subsequent Smart Object canvases, saving as you go…

About the artist Gábor Balogh www.behance.net/ baloghgabor @gabor_tweets A successful designer for 20 years now, Gábor Balogh has been the Head of Design for GNEO, cofounded Unihome and worked as a freelance designer, despite never studying for a design degree. He first used Photoshop 3.0 before he even owned a computer of his own and has since explored all kinds of software packages. Name of the project Smartwatch Concept Photoshop isn’t just a program used to edit photos or paint stunning artwork – it’s also a pretty versatile tool for bringing a wild imagination to life. Gábor Balogh’s dream of a smartwatch that marries tradition and technology is perhaps the perfect example of this. “I saw lots of futuristic designs on the internet,” says Gábor. “They were nice, but only…

Elements has the power to create all kinds of posters. There are so many genres and styles for which using a computer can be useful, but creating a poster that looks centuries old is a challenge. The fun side of creating a Wanted poster in Elements, though, is that it involves a lot of vintage elements. The font looks fantastic, the sheriff stars look tarnished and old, and even the edges of the poster look realistically worn; if you wish to print out your poster, simply cut along the torn edges you’ve created. While you might have seen design projects that involve tea-staining your paper to give it the weathered look, this whole project just involves masks, layers and a couple of handy resources. Of course, this poster is completely…

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There’s nothing more inspiring than surfing the internet and seeing what other artists are creating, and we encourage you to do so. Here are some of our favourite pictures that caught our attention recently, from some of the world’s most exciting artists and designers. Alexander Zienko www.artstation.com/artist/alexanderzienko This is one of my first personal, non-commercial paintings, which was created using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and sketch brushes, which I collected from the internet. I used a Wacom Intuos 5 tablet and made the image on an old laptop. Annie Newton www.behance.net/ izabellagoba2d In this image, I was trying to visualise that through music we can be transported to any corner of the world. This is the header of a concept I made for a music website – Burns Music College. Meike…

Create a background 01 Place images Search for quality source images and place them into your canvas. Use the Free Transform tool to resize each image, and try to add a sense of depth. 02 Create a mask Add layer masks to blend the images. Choose a large soft brush and paint over the mask. Vary the brush opacity or pressure in order to gradually create the mask. 03 Make adjustments Use the Levels adjustment to correct the tones. Add the Hue/ Saturation to adjust the colours. Always clip the layers (Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+G). 04 Create a snapshot Create a snapshot by clicking Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+E. Add some animals or other images to complete the composition. Use the layer adjustments to enhance the image. Now save as JPG.…

Essentials Works with Elements CS CC What you’ll learn Create a bright Arctic scene using photo editing and photomanipulation Time taken 2hours Expert Mark White “If like me you’ve always wanted to visit the Northern Lights, then this is the tutorial for you! As well as my love for bright colours, I love using animals in my work, and I think this technique would be great for adding to all kinds of animal shots. “As senior staff writer on Photoshop Creative, I’ve learned all kinds of quick tips to help with even the most impressive-looking pictures.” The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, is a natural phenomenon that captivates many. It transforms a night sky with bold colours, and is perfect for re-creating in Photoshop. The basic idea behind creating the…

Essentials Time taken 18 hours The artist BaoLuu “I am 21, was born in Vietnam and have wanted to be an artist since I was a child. I taught myself how to digitally draw by watching tutorials and studying famous artists’ work to see how ww they us i ed pr cosit our andm light @ h . I’i m now lp living te in the US and it’s my dream to become a professional artist.” See more of Bao’s art at https://www.behance.net/baoluu. Digital artists can find inspiration from all kinds of places and use all kinds of techniques to bring their artwork to life. For student Bao Luu though, research was key in creating his cartoony Blue Ocean image. “ Blue Ocean is imagination, a beautiful ocean and a…

Infographic design – or information architecture, as it is otherwise known – is an art form as much as any other. This amalgamation of statistics and graphics demands a heightened imagination to be able to make sense of, and see the beauty in, inherently colourless code. Infographics give us visual frames of references on how data, numbers and figures all add up. But it’s much more than that. From style and colour, to storytelling and narrative, it is a combination of all these aspects that makes one infographic more appealing than another one. So how is all this possible? We talk to the best artists in the business about how they use Photoshop for creating memorable infographic designs. While many tend to associate infographic creation with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop has…

Essentials Time taken 3hours The artist Bram Vanhaeren “I’ve been a digital artist since 2004 and fortunate enough to work on all kinds of projects. I have had the pleasure of working with the likes of Adobe, Estrella Damm, ESPN, the BBC and many more. I am currently working for KBC, to improve the online banking experience and design new mobile applications.” View more of Bram’s work at www.bramvanhaeren.com. My teachers told me I was by far the worst illustrator of my year – my portraits got rated 3/20,” says 24-year-old digital artist Bram Vanhaeren. “I failed my class and was asked to leave the school. That left me with two options: a) Find a new passion or b) Prove them wrong. I decided to prove them wrong.” It’s quite…

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR USING LENS FLARES? Lens flares are simple but effective effects that can brighten up your photos with just a few clicks. But given that they are applied directly onto the layer, rather than non-destructively, it can be nearly impossible to edit them once they’re added. To have better control over your lens flares, create a new layer in your image and fill with black. Head to Filter>Render>Lens Flare and apply the style of flare you wish to use. Set your layer to Screen and all the black will be removed, leaving you with a layer with a lens flare applied, ready to be transformed any way you like. You may wish to use the Transform tools (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to manipulate the lens flare and move…

Millions have seen Anthony Dart’s work, and it’s no surprise. His powerful mixed-media pieces are eye-catching to say the least, so it’s hard to believe that he only discovered Photoshop in his first job. But what are the secrets of his exciting style? What’s your background in art and design, and how did you first discover Photoshop? I come from probably the last generation where computers were not a prerequisite. When I finished studying art I had zero computer experience, so when I was lugging around a physical portfolio, people told me that I had talent but they required computer skills. I eventually landed a job at a small graphics studio; they had a Mac but nobody knew how to use it, so I set about learning about it. That…

Deka Marques photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/DekaMarques Image of the issue I worked on the lighting in detail and tried to give sensitivity to the scene with shadows and mists. Plug-ins were used to soften lines and give a sense of illustration. Blue and orange were used to harmonise the scene. Deividas Nadeika photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/dnjimage I was doing a personal photo shoot for a girl and decided to express her feelings in a creative way. There were three pictures used: the girl, the lake and the sky. I enhanced everything with colour corrections and added the reflection. Théo Dé www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/theo When I saw this character, I had this impression that it was flying. So, I decided to create a soothing and dream-like world around it. To create something light, I used light flares and the…

Essentials Works with Elements CS CC What you’ll learn Use the basics of digital painting to turn a reference photo into brushed artwork Time taken 6hours Expert Geneva Benton “I really love the themes of nature in drawing, particularly flowers. I also love messing around with colours and creating soothing themes with a bit of clash. “I’m a full-time freelance illustrator based in the United States. I have been drawing for over a decade and have been using Photoshop ever since. I love colour and the myriad of ways it can be mixed for different moods.” In this tutorial, you will learn how to take the bones of a reference image and completely transform it into an original piece of artwork. In this case, it is a simple photographic portrait…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with Elements CS CC What you’ll learn Use lighting, bevel and embossing techniques to create a robotic portrait Time taken 6hours Expert Rodrigo Marinelli “I have always appreciated movie posters. I used to think it was incredible how they could manipulate a photo and make something so realistic. There’s nothing better than using Photoshop to create a cool sci-fi image. “I’m an art director and have 11 years of experience in advertising agencies. I learned and am still learning to use Photoshop through following tutorials.” It’s common to see a movie poster and wonder how the artist managed to transform a simple image into something so amazing and unexpected. The answer to this is simple – they used Photoshop!…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with Elements CS CC What you’ll learn Combine sketches, filters and Smart Objects for seamless repetition Time taken 30 minutes Expert Jenni Sanders “The discovery of Smart Objects was a pivotal point – being able to adjust filters at any time and keep all the adjustments preserved gives you so much control over your work and makes projects like this so simple. “From the moment I saw my dad manipulate photos as a child, I was hooked and have since worked entirely within the industry of photography and Photoshop.” This digital illustration starts as a sketch, which is scanned into the computer and edited in Photoshop. The pencil lines are turned into bold digital strokes using a combination of…

Essentials Works with Elements CS CC What you’ll learn Enhance a portrait with colour using blend modes, masks and adjustments Time taken 1-2 hours Expert Andre Villanueva “When I am designing for corporate clients, I usually have to be careful and conservative with the usage of colour. I relish any opportunity to just go crazy and create visuals with no set palette in mind (at least at the outset). “I discovered Photoshop when studying web design. I’m now art director for a tech company, soothing my inner instructor by sharing techniques with readers.” Ready to bust loose with colour? It’s time to get chroma-crazy! During this tutorial, you’ll extract a model using the Quick Selection tool followed by Refine Edge. After saving the model, you’ll open the starting backdrop and…

ENHANCE TOOLS Use various tools for some subtle effects such as shadows and highlights, blurry areas and more. GLOWING EDGE FILTER Explore the Filter Gallery to discover beautiful effects and then adjust their settings in order to get the very best results. HUE/ SATURATION Use a Hue/ Saturation adjustment layer to make tonal corrections, change colours and fine-tune the image. GRADIENT TOOL Open the Gradient Editor to create your own gradient or choose from a variety of presets to create cool effects. CLONE TOOL Vary the brush size and sample the image several times to fill a selected area of an image. BLEND MODES The overall effect on an image can be dramatically changed just by switching the layer’s blending mode. MASKS Apply layer masks to show or hide areas…

Raqee S. Najmuldeen has been using Photoshop for more than 15 years but says that he’s still learning new things. “My knowledge of Photoshop increases as I explore creative concepts,” he says. “Viewing images on social media simply enhances the visual dictionary of the designer.” We caught up with Raqee to discover his tips and tricks for Photoshop. You have a PhD in Graphic Design, Raqee. Would you say you are a naturally creative person? Definitely. I doodle, I have a notebook and a pencil, which I keep near my bed at night, and sometimes I use mind mapping to generate ideas. I always strive to be original and I research topics thoroughly. What advice would you give to Photoshop beginners? The first thing I advise them is to make…