Table of contents for No. 162 in Photoshop Creative

When we’re creating art, it’s impossible to work in a vacuum. We always take inspiration from things around us, whether it’s our environment, technology, politics, history, or the work of previous masters of art. And this issue, we’ll be focusing on the latter. Our big feature this month looks at the works of a few of history’s greatest painters and shows you how you can take inspiration from them, their style and their techniques, to create your own timeless digital art. Among our expert tutorials this issue, you’ll learn how to transform a dull city scene into an atmospheric composition (p44), create a beautiful pencil sketch (p38) and compose a stunning, realistic winter landscape. In addition, we have our regular great range of Elements tutorials, professional reviews and insightful interviews.…

There’s nothing more inspiring than surfing the internet and seeing what other artists are creating, and we always 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 out there. Alexis Goodwin alexisgoodwin.com This series of miniature dioramas in the shape of smartphones was commissioned to show the possibilities of Three Mobile’s unlimited data service. Created using CG and stock photography, the series shows unlimited travel, streaming live sport and unlimited music streaming. Bryan Plust www.bryanplust.com/ This piece was made in Cinema 4D using textures created in Photoshop. I created a complex stripe pattern with rectangles and used Photoshop’s colour correction tools to give it a colour palette. Aditya Aryanto instagram.com/ditpict I made…

Elevate your artwork to the next level with these masterful tips and tricks Some artists believe nothing is truly ever going to be new; we’re all just destined to create the same artwork, over and over again, spinning around in a creative hamster wheel. And it is true that sometimes it can be difficult to create something that feels truly original, but it can’t be denied that inspiration often comes from the artistic greats. Digital artists might well believe they’re the trendsetters and trailblazers of the new millennium, creating brand-new art and brand new styles for artists of the future to learn from. Either way, all artists owe something to those who came before them. If it wasn’t for Picasso and Dalí, who knows how surrealism would look? And if…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with What you’ll learn How to piece together a collage with layers, masks and blend modes Time taken 2 hours Expert Andre Villanueva Collage is probably my favourite visual style, and collaging on the computer is definitely more tidy for your personal environment. Also, with layering and the History palette always available, the digital workflow can be way more forgiving of your experimental compositional choices. So don’t hold back; layer away! Having a go at producing a collage can be a great excursion away from your routine creative endeavours. Those of you who’ve done collages (either on the screen or in the physical world) know the process can be more of a feel-your-way journey than a rigid step-by-step. As…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with What you’ll learn Apply filters and adjustments to manipulate an outdoor scene Time taken 2 hours Expert Simon Skellon This effect puts to good use some of those lesser-known filters and blending techniques you might never have thought of using. Also, creating rain and fog in Photoshop is a lot of fun! I’ve been working with Photoshop for as long as I can remember, but my techniques are constantly changing as I learn new tools and try out new effects. Did you know the Fibers filter in Photoshop is not only ideal for creating wood effects, but it’s also handy for conjuring a heavy downpour? Photoshop never ceases to amaze us with how its tools and commands can…

Use the Warp tool 01 Duplicate the ice crack layer, flip it horizontally (Edit> Transform> Flip Horizontal) and place it on the left side of the scene. Use the Warp tool (step 11) to set the shape. Set the tone 02 After placing the Left layer, link a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer (step 4) set at 55, 0 to establish the colour tone and apply the High Pass filter (step 3) set to 1px. Add shadows 03 Create a new layer (Cmd/ Ctrl+Shift+N), set the Foreground colour to black, use the Brush tool (B), change the blend mode to Soft Light and add some shadows behind the statue. Add more elements 04 Add the layer People from ‘people_river.psd’ and place it like shown. Apply a Feather (step 13) set to 2px…

About the artist I’m a 25-year-old graphic designer and illustrator based in Saint Petersburg, and I come from the small Russian town of Yoshkar-Ola. I love to discover beauty and diversity in the meanings of stories in books, films, among my surroundings, in illustrations and visual art. This is the reason I made my decision to become an illustrator. Name of the project Good Night’s Book “With imagination, everything comes to life and the world becomes an adventure full of miracles, magic and monsters,” says Anastasia Suvorova, about how she fuels her creativity. “In my work, I’m inspired by travelling, reading and exploring the world around me.” Anastasia’s Good Night’s Book project is one that combines this magical influence with the idea of creating something that children can settle down…

Publisher Phaidon Price £29.95 / $49.95 Author Andrianna Campbell, Kate Nesin, Lucas Blalock, Terry Richardson Release date Out now “Stella now occupies a position similar to that of Kandinsky late in his career,” The New York Times once said of Frank Stella, a man frequently described as America’s greatest living artist. “He changed the history of art with his early work, but kept on moving.” Frank Stella the book is a wonderful tribute to Frank Stella the man. For many, it’s almost incomprehensible to imagine art after World War II in a world in which Stella had never existed. At a time when artists across all fields were attempting to reinvent wheels, from classical composers right through to the Beatles, Stella was one such figure who helped define the 1960s…

VictoriaObscure photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/Victoria%20Obscure I created this artwork back in 2014 as part of my series, The Fragile. The artwork was created in Adobe Photoshop, and it is a combination of photomanipulation and digital painting. Maurício Xavier photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/MauricioX This piece was created as part of my studies, as I’ve been mixing 3D with digital painting lately. I finalised the landscape with textures of rocks and plants and sharpened the entire piece with a High Pass filter. Sorin Ilie photoshopcreative.co.uk/ user/theusher I drew some shapes with the Pen tool before applying gradients, inner glows and inner shadows to create more depth. I then created the highlights and shadows by selecting each path and painting with a soft brush inside a new layer. Murilo Francisco photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/Mumu0909 This image was inspired by forests and valleys.…

Essentials Works with What you’ll learn How to create surreal paint effects using masks and layers Time taken 6 hours Expert Mark White I first saw an image a little like this a few years ago. I was only really a beginner with Photoshop back then, and couldn’t even imagine how to create such an effect. Even all this time later, it still took a lot of trial and error to end up with something that was presentable! As techniques editor on Photoshop Creative, I’ve learned all kinds of tips to help with even the most impressive-looking pictures. Sometimes in Photoshop, surreal images that you create don’t have to be outlandish scenes with impossible things hiding in every corner. Often, they only need to combine two ideas that really shouldn’t…

Apply filter 01 After placing and masking the model as described in step 4, click the layer thumbnail. Go to Filter> Artistic> Cutout. The filter dialog will appear. Configure Cutout 02 Recommended settings are: Number of Levels: 4, Edge Simplicity: 4, Edge Fidelity: 2. Of course, feel free to experiment. Click OK. Adjust filter blend 03 Double-click the small icon to the right of Cutout under the layer. Set Mode to Soft Light for a subtler blend. Click OK. Edit filter mask 04 Want to reduce the effect on the face (and other areas)? Click the filter mask and paint black to reduce and restore areas to their original splendour.…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with What you’ll learn Use the Brush tool along with opacity to create multi-tonal pencil sketches Time taken 9 hours Expert Mark White One of my favourite things about Photoshop is that it has a reputation for the outlandish and surreal, but ultimately, it’s a great tool for creating realistic art effects as much as anything. As Techniques Editor on Photoshop Creative, I’ve learned all kinds of quick tips to help with even the most impressive-looking pictures. Most artwork starts off with a pencil and paper, but isn’t a shame that so much artwork doesn’t end the same way? Pencil sketches may have become a forgotten art to you if you’re someone who ditched traditional drawing as soon as…

Apply Fibers filter 01 On a blank layer, press D to reset Foreground and Background colours, and then head to the Filter menu. Go to Render and across to Fibers. Set Variance to 50 and Strength to 32. Angle the rain 02 Change the blend mode to Soft Light and reduce its opacity down to 60%. Press Cmd/Ctrl+T to load up Free Transform and then enlarge and rotate to make the rain appear at an angle. Blend the raindrops 03 Add a Levels adjustment layer and clip to the rain layer (Layer> Create Clipping Mask). Set the markers (from left to right) to 0, 0.31 and 255. Set the Output Levels to 0 and 107. Blurry downpour 04 Soften the effect by going to Filter> Blur> Motion Blur. Set Distance…

Essentials Time taken 5 hours Expert Rebekka Hearl I’ve been using Photoshop since my teens, and it is still a vital part of my workflow to this day. Combining my knowledge of the program with my cartooning skills was a fun exercise. I adore my Cintiq 13HD, and my favourite Photoshop tool is without a doubt the Brush tool. Taking artificial assets and making them look convincingly present in a real world setting is a very common practice in special effects and video editing, as part of a process called compositing. Colour grading comes next: adjusting the lighting, shadows, saturation and brightness to make the artificial object look like it has been affected by the colour and lighting of the environment it has been placed in. We’ll be studying a…

Essentials Works with What you’ll learn How to edit on the move with Lightroom Time taken 10-15mins Expert Rebecca Greig Being able to edit images to a high standard and quickly is very important to me, and Lightroom for mobile is the perfect solution. I’m a Bookazine Editor and passionate photographer with a love of visual art in every form. Adobe Lightroom for mobile is a powerful photo-editing app that includes all of the essential features found in the desktop version, which will enable you to edit your images with absolute ease. Not only can you edit your smartphone captures, but you can also sync the app with your desktop Lightroom CC application and finish your edits on the go. In this tutorial we’ll look at the basics of the…

Publisher Ryan Pyle Productions Price £34.99 Author Ryan Pyle Release date September 2017 Few ever get the chance to visit the legendary Tibetan mountain range, and even fewer have the opportunity to trek them. TV presenter and speaker, Ryan Pyle, is one of these lucky elite. Back in 2015, Pyle published word of his treks in a brief account, Sacred Mountains of China. Generally receiving positive feedback, there were calls for more photographs to accompany the text. Pyre delivered two years later with Sacred Mountains, a premium photobook brimming with captures from his treks around the Tibetan mountains. It’s a sizeable addition to any bookshelf – unconventionally, it’s 38 centimetres tall and 24 centimetres wide, setting it apart from most other books. It’s also extremely premium, with a solid hardback…

Esther Byrt Overload This image is a representation of modern life and the brain overload that comes with that. The image was created largely with stock photos, including the subject, the nebula and the buildings either side of his arms. We challenged you... In Issue 160, we challenged you to get creative with the set theme of ‘Human’. You were allowed to create whatever you wanted, so long as it incorporated the theme somehow. This issue’s challenge... Think you can do better? Prove it! Next issue, the theme is ‘SNOW’. We don’t mind how you incorporate it into your image, just be as creative as you possibly can! Head to www.photoshopcreative.co.ukand simply hit the Challenge link. Closing date: 14 February 2018. THE PRIZE… AKVIS MakeUp 5.0 This issue, one lucky…

Essentials Time taken 2 hours The artist Marcio Arkanjo My name is Marcio Arkanjo and I’ve been working with Photoshop for two years now. I love art, and I first discovered Photoshop when trying to expand my creative ww .the possibilities xe ositess . I now .com aim @thepixel to create os pieces tes that enchant viewers and awaken feelings. I mainly create photomanipulations, but I also like to retouch photos. You can see more of my work at www.behance.net/marcioarkanjo “I wanted to portray the importance of caring for marine life with this image, as well as the exploration of unknown places,” reveals Marcio Arkanjo, an artist from Brazil. “The main idea was the concern for the environment, due to the accumulation of waste in the ocean, for example.” Marcio’s…

Creating a painted dress like this can be a bit of a lottery; you’re never going to end up with the same image twice, simply because there are so many different combinations of paint that you can use on the same image. When editing it all together, though, it’s important to use paint textures that feel like they are similar. With our image, we used stock images that were taken together, which meant the paint had the same texture, consistency and colour. Make sure you don’t just choose random paint texture that you like the look of, regardless of whether or not they will fit the intended look of the image.…

Essentials Time taken 3 hours The artist Murilo Francisco I’ve always been passionate about art, mainly digital art, and I’ve been using Photoshop for three years. I study graphic design and have learned a lot from tutorials and doing photomanipulations. I love this software and everything it is capable of doing; you can find more of my work at mumu0909.deviantart.com Watery compositions are very tricky. The way water reacts with land is a test of your editing skills; the gravity, the masking, the objects you blend and, of course, the water itself, is difficult to judge. For Murilo, the task presented him with a chance to “create something unusual. I wanted to make a room immersed in the ocean, from the fish to the world outside the window.” Photomanipulations rely…

Curves 01 Tweak the main channel as well as the red, blue and green strands to alter the tone of the image as a whole and give it more warmth. Threshold 02 Set a Threshold adjustment, with a Level of 172, to Soft Light and reduce the opacity to around 20% to darken the darker areas further. Gradient Map 03 Set a dark grey to white Gradient Map adjustment to Color and leave at 50% opacity in order to achieve a realistic pencil colouring. Photo Filter 04 By no means essential, a warm or cold filter can simply add a touch more colour tone to your image.…

Neutral layers 01 Press Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+N. Name it Shadows. Check ‘Use Previous layer to create clipping mask’. Choose Mode: Overlay, check ‘Fill with Overlay-neutral colour (50% grey)’ and click OK. Burn Tool 02 Grab the Burn tool (O). In Options, choose Range: Midtones, set Exposure to 50%, then use a soft brush to start painting the shadows along the body. Paint the highlights 03 Create a new neutral layer. Grab the Dodge Tool (O). Keep the Range to Midtones and Exposure to 50%. Paint the highlights, especially under the neck and back. Repeat the steps 04 Create an additional neutral layer for the other dinosaurs and repeat the steps above to add the shadows and highlights. Finally, reduce the layer’s opacity to 60-70%.…

Cold and warm 01 Applying some basic colour theory can really boost your painting’s colours. We applied a warm yellow overlay here because it suits the pink shade and also mimics sunlight. Apply widely 02 The light direction is in the top right of the canvas, but don’t take that too literally. Apply the ‘sun’ overlay anywhere the light would touch, including the cartoon’s face. Cool shadows 03 We applied a desaturated blue/ purple here because they are cold colours, and contrast with the warm orange. This colour contrast is pleasing to the eye. Deepen shadows 04 As with the ‘sun’ overlay, don’t just shade one half of the cartoon. Use it to deepen the shadows on the face and beneath the ears. This creates a more interesting colour composition.…

Average blur 01 You can create your own average colour by making a selection and going to Filter> Blur> Average. Now pick colours from specific places across your photo; do this on a duplicated layer if you don’t wish to ruin the original photo. Brushes 02 Sometimes a project uses the same few colours over and over. Creating a colour palette is the best solution for this; on a new layer, grab a brush and make dots with your colours. Now just colour pick these dots. Adobe Color 03 Adobe Color (color.adobe.com) is a really useful resource for any artist needing to create a colour palette from scratch quickly, especially if you’re looking for the all of your colours to follow a specific colour rule.…

A week after the Prisma app was launched, it had clocked up an astounding 7.5 million downloads. Apps that thrive on the hype rarely last long, but is Prisma a flash in the pan or a genuine digital art tool? The honest answer is; a bit of both. Prisma filters kind of date your pictures now as much as adding a caption that reads ‘YOLO’, but provided you don’t care, or you’re not just using Prisma as a quick fix, it’s not an issue. Because when used subtly, when combined with other painting apps, and when used as a start point for a digital painting, Prisma still has great potential to be used in your artwork. These filters are really well made, meaning Prisma is still a useful app that…

David, Bruno and Victor are three friends from Brazil who bonded over their love of design, retro art and Japanese culture. All students of design, they set up the Ilustrata studio in 2013 and have gone on to create some fantastic pieces of art: the irony of it all? They found Photoshop “disappointing” when they started learning it… How did you guys meet? The three of us studied at the same university [on the] design course: we all wanted to find a way to combine our passion for illustration with a job that made us enough money to support ourselves. Design was, back then, the best choice. We live in a small town in Brazil and in 2013, in the second year of our undergraduate course, we made the decision…

HARD FIGHT I shot this model myself, but I edited her into the image. DARK POETRY This picture was inspired by a fantastic artist, Jenny Le, from Hanoi. Reader Tip I advise beginners to make creativity a daily habit. A good start is to read tutorials. Look at featured images, find out how others think and work, keep doodling; get a notebook and pencil to generate new ideas. My name is Mehdi Mostefaï, and I live in Paris, France. I create mainly cinematic photomanipulations in Photoshop, and I always try and focus on the emotions of the subjects. I like to fix the lighting in post-production and with all of my artwork, I want to be able to tell a story. Making art is hard even for the best: try…