Project files, desktop

designs, stock art…

ISSUE 40

3DDESIGN
WORKSHOP
3D design | Master Channels | Comic-book style | Colourful spacescapes | Interview: Ray Caesar

EXPERT ADVICE
COMIC
• Interview with 3D master Ray Caesar
• Use Poser models to create a cyborg
• Videogames artists share their tips
STYLE Design a golden-age
comic-book hero with
• Realistic lighting to create depth retro halftone textures

40 G ES OFES,
PA NIQUD
H
TECTIPS ATNS MASTER
HIN
CHANNELS
Technical advice for selecting,
splitting, merging and distorting
Channel information

HOW TO…
Create a colourful spacescape
Become a professional artist
Design a moonlit fantasy scene

SHAREYOUR
ARTWORK NOW
VISIT OURWEBSITE AT
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk

www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
ISSUE 40
ISSN 1748-7277 £5.99
40

9 771748 727009

GET ON OUR COVER MIXED-MEDIA MONTAGE

Upload to our website for a Blend stock photos, fractals and
40
UE

chance to see your image here! brushes into a mono work of art
ISS

001_AVP40_Cover1Light.indd 1 10/1/08 15:49:14

 Cover

Cover image
“After getting an Art A-Level at high school, I moved
across Germany to start training in a video company
where I did mainly 3D animations with Cinema 4D. Imageer:
Next, I moved to a photo studio where I can turn out ANDRÉ KUTSCHERAUER
my main passion for pictures with the creation of 3D
stills. I do mainly design visualisations, web design
and some 3D real-time applications. Outside of work
I try to realise as many ‘free’ ideas as possible. One of
I TRY TO REALISE
these ideas is the cover of this issue.”
/
AS MANY ‘FREE’ IDEAS
AS POSSIBLE
www.ak3d.de

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 Keeping an eye on the latest trends in contemporary photography, art
and design, Insight sets out to snapshot innovation in the making

New kids on the block

A new year offers everyone a fresh start and hopefully
recognition for some of the freshest talents with big
futures in the design arena. That’s right: it’s showtime
again at the D&AD Student Awards. This year the awards
are celebrating their 30th anniversary.
This show’s purpose has stood the test of time,
highlighting the best emerging talent within the design,
advertising and communication courses worldwide.
D&AD strives to promote such talented creatives to a
global industry clientele. It’s little surprise that winning
yourself a Yellow Pencil Award is seen as a perfect way
to kick-start a budding creative career.
So how do you get involved in such a prestigious
event? It couldn’t be simpler. By visiting the official
website, you simply download, fill in and send off the
appropriate forms. Entrants should be studying full or
part time, but needn’t be on a creative course, although
this might help. Individual and team applications are
welcome, but teams should consist of no more than
five individuals.
You’ll be up against some stiff competition though,
which really raises the bar for all those participating.
Last year 42 nations were represented in the
competition including Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and
Singapore. But all the more exciting the challenge, we
say, and one that should be accepted.
First and second places receive the coveted Yellow
Pencil, a real symbol of achievement. However, first
place holds that little bit extra, being put forward for the
Student of the Year Award, the winner of which stands
to win a cash sum of £2,000.
Entry costs £15, and all entries must be in by 20 March
2008. For more information on briefs and other entry
requirements, visit the website below.

www.dandad.org/studentawards08

ACCOLADE: Appearing in the

D&AD Student Annual Awards
or winning a D&AD Student
Yellow Pencil is widely regarded
as one of the best ways to kick-
start your career within the
creative industries

CHEAP AS CHIPS (TOP): With entry costing a

mere £15, this seems a worthwhile outlay
considering the accolade up for grabs

SCOPE (ABOVE): With 12 briefs to choose from,

there is something to suit everyone’s taste,
revealing the creative scope of this event

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 Winter wonderland
02.08
Over the Christmas period, extremely cool and creative
‘renovations’ transformed the flagship Carhartt store in
HOT
or
Covent Garden. Of course, this was in no small part due to the
imagination of the McFaul creative crew.
A 15k budget, three-month action plan and three-day

NOT
installation time bore fruitful results, as McFaul created its own
magical Ice World.
John McFaul, creative director at McFaul, says: “We were
introduced to Carhartt, who threw down the gauntlet to do its

HOT
shop fit for the winter. It’s that simple. The budget was tight so
we had to rein in those ideas, but as Carhartt devotees
ourselves, we wanted this friendship to blossom and therefore
we needed to create something a little special.”
All are welcome, and you really should visit this amazing KAPITZA LIMITED
example of illustrative installations and pick up a few presents.
McFaul will be producing three limited-edition print jobs,
EDITION PRINTS
£80/$162
available only at the store and McFaul site. Fifty of each design www.kapitza.com
will be available. Keep your eyes peeled for price updates on More fresh and funky designs from
the Advanced Photoshop website and at www.mcfaul.net. the Kapitza crew, these will be sure to
shake the winter gloom and introduce
a sense of spring come early.
www.mcfaul.net NOT SO BLACK AND WHITE: Don’t be fooled by its black-
and-white simplicity… There are some genius printing
techniques in among all of this FLATTEN ME
£16.29/$33

Let’s go Ballistic www.flattenme.com

Exposé 6 is on its way and offering artists the chance to be
showcased worldwide. That’s right: global opportunities
are provided and all you have to do is submit your images.
Brought to the appreciative masses by Ballistic Publishing,
this sixth annual title serves to celebrate the creative
talents of digital artists around the globe.
So don’t dally – this provides you with the chance to get
involved with one of the digital art world’s premiere
publications. All are welcome to submit, as images can be
created in any 3D or digital application you like.
Photomanipulation and Photoshop work is also open for
those deemed to be the cream of the crop will be put forth
for the Exposé 6 Awards. This awards ceremony celebrates
the highest artistic achievement in a diverse range of
categories, demonstrating an outstanding fusion of artistic
and technical excellence. Those involved have the chance
to receive Master (gold) and Excellence (silver) awards,
given for categories such as Cityscapes, Concept Art and
Fantasy, among many others.
Your chance to enter expires on 25 February at midnight
– so what are you waiting for? For more information visit
A great creative treat for children or
the big kid inside us all. Time to shine
in your very own fantasy story. Great
for birthday gifts.
FINALCRIT FORUM
A site for pros and enthusiasts alike
www.finalcrit.com
This site offers a place to house your
designs, as well as providing job
opportunities and some nice creative
commodities for purchase.

NOT
the website below.
inclusion. Digital fine art, be it for personal or commercial
use, 2D or 3D, is all encouraged. This leaves the door wide
open for almost all digital masters out there.
There are no fees or limitations on entries. All those www.ballisticpublishing.com
included will get a complimentary copy of the title, and MINI ‘MOB’
MOBILE PHONE
£160/$320.69
www.gadgetsarcade.com
Some things are best left dead and
buried. No matter how small this
Eighties-style brick mobile, it’s still an
assault on the aesthetic senses.

SMART DRINK
COASTERS
DIY: Visit the site and build your own
http://blog.sentilla.com
Fun in principle yet practically
redundant. These wouldn’t last five
minutes in a heavy social session,
unless waterproof (and batterproof).

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 insight
Added confidence
Innovation is the name of the game between leading
independent colour management experts Colour
Confidence and X-Rite’s colour experts. I1 Defined

DIARY is a brand new training package exclusive with all

Eye-One Solutions.
This ground-breaking system provides colour made easy

DATES
for all users, through an interactive guide plus an easy-to- ATTRACTIVE PROPOSITION: “When compiling the new
follow overview of the essentials in colour management. accessory kits, our aim was to add genuine value to these products,
Those purchasing professional level Eye-One solutions are and with the addition of i1 Defined, we feel the Eye-One range is
now an even more attractive proposition for colour professionals,”
treated to an enhanced version of the package, including says Geoffrey Clements, managing director, Colour Confidence
Personal Color Trainer sessions. This PCT enables users to
tailor i1 Defined support to their own specific needs via director of Colour Confidence, shares his enthusiasm by
PHOTOGRAPHIC an hour-long, one-on-one web-based session with an saying: “Eye-One solutions have always combined user-
PORTRAIT PRIZE X-Rite trainer. friendliness with professional standard features, and the
2007 This includes day-to-day activity and the potential role
of the Eye-One system within it, how to create the best
extra support from i1 Defined takes this to a new level. i1
Defined offers much more than the standard manual or
24 Feb 2008
profiles and implement them through desktop CD-ROM; it gives users the chance to understand just how
National Portrait Gallery, London,
applications, and ways to avoid costly mistakes. It comes their Eye-One system can benefit their specific workflow,
England
standard with all Eye-One Photo, Photo SG, Proof and and therefore maximise the return on their investment.”
XT packages.
21ST CENTURY If this isn’t enough then listen up: Colour Confidence is
WATERCOLOUR supplying these solutions with a range of free accessory
www.colourconfidence.com
www.xrite.com
9 Mar 2008 kits, some worth over £100. Geoffrey Clements, managing
Bankside Gallery, London, England

LUCY MCKENZIE
24 Feb 2008
Colour me pink
San Francisco Museum of Modern The saying ‘Colour me pink’ sums up the latest creative
Art, USA entertainment produced by global authority on colour,
Pantone Inc. myColor myIdea is a community site with a
THE ANATOMY OF difference. Visitors explore the true expression of colour, as

MELANCHOLY leading lights throughout the creative communities

respond to the phrase: ‘The colour of my idea is…’.
16 Mar 2008 Essentially, this site allows visitors and design enthusiasts
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, USA
to explore an interactive community which reveals the
colours that inspire some of the most celebrated icons in
PHOTOGRAPHS the graphics, fashion, beauty, architecture and interior
16 Mar 2008 design industries, plus many more.
Saint Louis Art Museum, St Louis, USA You can rub shoulders with professionals and fresh
talents alike, and express your own imagination and ideas
through the medium of colour. Visit www.mycolormyidea.
com and select ‘Post your color idea’. Here you can select
the colour that means most to you, your own bio, what your
idea is and promote your images and website. All for free.
Contributors to this entertaining cause include Stefanie
Hermsdorf, creative director at Method, inspired by
PANTONE 38-1-5 C, and Patricia Field, fashion designer/
stylist, world-renowned for her work on Sex and the City,
inspired by PANTONE 138-2-1 C. myColor myIdea celebrates
the recent launch of the PANTONE Goe™ System, the first
completely new colour inspiration and specification system
for the graphic arts industry since the introduction of the
PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® 45 years ago. The new
system includes 2,058 new colours for graphic designers.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “The colour of my idea is PANTONE

www.mycolormyidea.com 138-2-1 C. In this colour, I feel most balanced. It makes me feel
calm. It makes me feel natural. It makes me comfortable. It
makes me feel oxygen. It makes me feel life,” says Patricia Field,
fashion designer and stylist

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 Letters
Mailbox
Do you have a question or opinion about the
magazine? Email your thoughts to
advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk
or visit www.advancedphotoshop/forum
SOFT FOCUS: If you are missing the above image
from your issue 38 CD, please email
advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk and
we’ll send it out to you
SUBJECT: Missing CD files
FROM: Ian Galletly, via email
As a recent discoverer of magazines for
Photoshop, I purchased Advanced Photoshop
(issue 38) more to see what the skill level was
than believing I was in any way ‘advanced’ when
it came to Photoshop.
The first project I looked at was the ‘Focus
on soft focus’. My initial thought after reading
the opening question actually was ‘spherical
aberration’, but what the hell? Whoever said you
had to forget everything from your past just to
learn something new? My main problem was
with step one. Image ‘SoftFocus01.jpg’ was not
on the CD and the files that were there bore
little comparison to those used in the project.
While I agree with your recurring comment that
you wish to encourage your readers to try
applying the techniques to their own images, if
you say a file is on the CD it should be there.
These sorts of errors are just poor editing.
Having checked your website, it seems that you
only have files for back issues. Perhaps I should
just wait two months and have a look at the
projects then?
14
Advanced Photoshop
014-015_AVP_40_Letters.indd 14
I have recently started subscriptions to other
magazines in this genre, but at the moment I
will hold off subscribing to Advanced
Photoshop until I find out how many editing
errors there are in it and the CD.
Editor replies: We’re sorry that your first
experience with the magazine has not been
wholly positive. The missing file from your CD
has been emailed to you, and any other readers
that require this image should email the team
and we will forward this to you immediately.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience that this has
caused you.
SUBJECT: Forum workshops
FROM: John White
Hi Advanced Photoshop. I am a big fan of the
magazine and have recently starting using your
website too. There are some amazing images
on there and I thought that it would be great if
you could find out how some of them are done.
Maybe it could be like Peer Pressure, but broken
down more. Just a suggestion anyway.
Editor replies: Thanks for your suggestion, John.
Great minds think alike, as they say, and from
this issue we’re going to be getting workshops
written by our website users, so the world can
AP GALLERIES: The website is full of great images
and we want to know how they are done!
find out how their images are created. Turn to
page 66 for first instalment! If there are any
other website users out there that would like to
show off the techniques that they use in their
gallery images, please get in touch to find out
the full details of submission.
SUBJECT: Concept art
FROM: James Browning
I am fascinated by concept art, so much so that
it’s what I hope to get a career in when I leave
college next year. My dream is to design sci-fi
and fantasy landscapes that can then be
translated into films. As such, I just had to get
Advanced Photoshop issue 38, thanks to its
promise of a ‘six-page masterclass’ on concept
designs. I wasn’t disappointed – the tutorial by
Mike Corriero was really interesting to read
through, and I tried it out on some of my own
sketches. Thanks for giving me exactly what I
needed – I’ll be getting the magazine again!
Editor replies: Thank you for your praise – we’re
glad that you liked the magazine. Here at
Advanced Photoshop we aim to find the best
artists around and get them to show us what
they can do, which is why you get illustrations
to the high standard that Mike Corriero
demonstrated in issue 38. Why not upload some
of your tutorial results on our website at www.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk?
14/1/08 16:15:08
 GO METAL: Find out more about MetalFX at www.
metal-fx.com
SUBJECT: MetalFX
FROM: Sarah Hardy
I bought issue 37 with the hope of creating the
cover, only to find myself disappointed that not
all the source files were on the supplied CD.
However, I saw this explained in issue 38. While I
am still miffed that I have to pay for the pleasure
of using the MetalFX solution and think that it is
pretty poor editing to imply something that
wasn’t included, I am pleased to see that the
company offered a massive discount on the
product. If only all companies were so
understanding and generous.
Editor replies: Once again, we express our
apologies regarding the issue 37 cover tutorial.
The miswording in the introduction has caused
a couple of you to write in, but MetalFX’s 50 per
cent discount has definitely helped many of
you to complete this professional-level tutorial.
SUBJECT: Which Photoshop version?
FROM: Imran Siddiq
The magazine is brilliant; keep up the good
work. I am looking to purchase software that
will allow me to draw images and to edit them,
not too dissimilar from the approach that you
use. However, I am confused over which
software to use, ie, CS2, CS3, etc… I won’t be
creating movies or extensive 3D models – all I
want is to create characters/settings and
provide some realism to them with colours,
shading, etc. Any ideas?
Editor replies: Other than enhanced
functionality and a cleaner workspace, there’s
little you can do in CS3 that you can’t do in an
earlier version. If you decide to go for CS3, then
go for the basic version – you won’t find much
use for Extended unless you plan on using 3D,
motion graphics or measurement/analysis tools.
“WE’RE GOING TO BE GETTING
WORKSHOPS WRITTEN BY
OUR WEBSITE USERS”
014-015_AVP_40_Letters.indd 15
CONCEPT ART: Our tutorial in issue 38 struck a cord
with one reader, who went on to try out the
techniques on his own images
CS CHOICE: CS3 Extended is great if you are planning
on using 3D images or motion graphics; otherwise,
stick with the basic version
On the
forum
SUBJECT: Help please
FROM: rebeccapoppy
I am completely new to this, so if I use some
incorrect terms please forgive me.
I need some help. My brother is currently in
the US and is moving back here in July. He
has asked me to look about for him for
some work. He has extensive Photoshop,
Flash and Dreamweaver experience and he
would like to train people to use it. He has
done training in the US and also does
retouching. Could anyone advise on
websites I could check out for jobs in the
Surrey/London area? Thanks!
FROM: chris_m_atl
This thread should give you some useful
information: http://advancedphotoshop.
co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=63.
I’m not sure about the policies in the UK,
but you might want to try posting some
flyers around your local universities offering
tutoring services. Maybe speak to one of
the resource officers? If your brother is
beyond tutoring, see about teaching
opportunities within the college?
Also, there is a local program in the town
where I live that is set up to help some of
the low-income youth (high-school age).
The small school has purchased Photoshop
and Illustrator and teaches design, which is
an opportunity they would otherwise not
be able to find. I have visited the class a few
times to help them and they are some
wonderful kids! Occasionally, their designs
will go into the local newspaper and it gives
them something to be proud of. Maybe
your brother can set something like this up?
FROM: Nick S
Also try professional training companies
like www.corps.co.uk. They are London-
based I think but they may be able to point
you in the right direction; good trainers are
hard to come by.
FROM: rebeccapoppy
Thank you very much! Very helpful, I will
check these ideas out.
Join the debate at
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum
15
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14/1/08 16:15:30
 insight
GAIA: “Eighty per cent of the work here is Photoshop. Except
for the female model, which was done in Poser. I got a draft
render of the girl from Poser and I worked over, in Photoshop,
with brushes, colour corrections and some painting work”

Cristiano Siqueira
Cristiano Siqueira is an artist who’s taken that step beyond, leaving
behind the comfort of an art director’s position, with the vision of
making an impression in the freelance arena. With such experience as
a professional, this seems a natural progression for Siqueira.
Enjoying the pleasures of drawing throughout these tentative years,
he later took these skills seriously, enrolling in the Carlos de Campos
course, a technical Communication Design course. Siqueira explains: “I
studied for four years on this course and it changed my life forever.
Getting such a strong background, I could start working professionally
at the end of the course, but I didn’t start as an illustrator.”
Instead he took up a trainee position at a graphic design studio, but
it wasn’t long before Siqueira reached the position of art assistant and
then art director. He moved to a bigger studio, creating packages for
food, toys and home utilities. “By doing the toys work I could finally
use some of my illustrations and get recognised,” he says, and this
gave him the confidence to tackle the freelance arena alone.
Over the past three years, Siqueira has expanded his client network
as he has his own style, technique and application: “It’s hard to
describe my style. I don’t know if I already have one because I like to
surf in different media to do my work.”
One thing Siqueira is certain of is his affection for the digital
medium, not forgetting the values of the traditional practices he has
learnt. Translating drawing, shading, perspective and tone, all his work
starts on paper: “Then I use the computer to ‘build’ the illustration.
Photoshop is the program I use to do at least 70 per cent of the work. I
use the brushes so much to colour my drawings and features like
Liquify, Distort and other filters to create effects. To finish the whole
work I use the colour correction tools, so I can blend the colours and
make a few corrections.”
Where does Siqueira see himself progressing? “I feel I’m in transition.
I’m trying to get into the editorial and advertising market, trying to sell
my whole work, not just my technique.” So Siqueira simply wants to
expand his horizons. We have a feeling they’ll be on the bright side.
/ www.crisvector.com
COLLAPSED
UNIVERSE: “The tiny
line effects were done in
Illustrator using the
Blend tool and exported
to Photoshop, so I could
fit them in and use colour
to make them blend
with the background”

RPHOSIS:
METAMO ask me
op le
“Some pe
e 3D
if I used som work.
is
effect for th rised
rp
They are su
this is
when I say p”
ho
just Photos

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 NUCLEAR NIGHTMARE: “All textures and colour
effects I did in Photoshop. The fragmentation of the
body I did using the Liquify filter and other effects
using brushes, painting directly over the picture”
02.08

OIL PLANET: GHOST BALLERINA: “I

“I got a rough ren got the female figure from
from Poser and de opened it in Photoshop doin Poser and I
I went to Photos r g lots of ‘post work’ with
brushes
and worked th hop and colour corrections. The
e major things. dress was done in Illustrat
mask was paint The the Blend tool and exporte or using
ed using some d to Photoshop to apply
references. The photo the effects”
oil effect I did wi
some spots and th
Liquify distortion
s”

the
with lines with
M : “T he dr ess was done d exported to
MAD A tor an
plied in Illustra and
Blend tool ap shading was retouched p”
ho p. Th e Photosho
Photos e br us he s in
ing som
reinforced us

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 insight
VISA: “The Toronto CARROT: “The burning carrot was originally done in airbrush
skyline image was
shopping promotio created for a Visa for the Carrot Magazine, Toronto. I reproduced it digitally later
n in Toronto. All ele
in separate files an ments were create in my own time to have more fun with the flames, smoke,
d then placed into d
I used a very cool filt the main file to kee water and effects. What can I say – I love my job!”
er for the water cal p the size down.
use filters often, bu led Flood by Flami
t that one is great an ng Pear. I don’t
d well worth the mo
ney”

Mike Carter
Mike Carter worked as an airbrush illustrator in the advertising and design
HEART: field for about ten years before switching to digital in 1997, spurred on by
“The healthy heart
image was used the purchase of a Mac 8500. However, he didn’t fully commit to digital until
for an agency 2000, working in both mediums for a time.
concept pitch to
a pharmaceutical
Carter is an old hand at the illustration game, having got his first
company commission in 1974: “ I got my first commission at the age of 14 through my
in Canada” brother. It was a traditional job of course – I did a backdrop for a ski
company for its trade show booth in Montreal, Canada.”
From there Carter studied the arts at college: “I did my art foundation
year at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and then moved
to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to complete my studies in Visual
Communications at the Alberta College of Art.”
These skills combine to give the amazing results that you see over these
two pages. Photoshop equates for most of the work done, as Carter
explains: “These days everything is done in system – I don’t even buy
pencils any more. If I’m not drawing in Photoshop directly with my Wacom
tablet, then I’ll be doing linears in Illustrator and pasting them into
Photoshop as paths. It really depends on how technical the illustration is.
For instance, I’d never do a linear of people or animals in Illustrator. I’ll do
colour work in Illustrator only if the client has specified that I use a vector
application (usually for massive scaling purposes). All other colour work
happens in Photoshop – I’d say that 95 per cent of my work happens there. I
shoot my own reference images with a Canon G5 or I will search the internet
for hard-to-get photo references.”
Carter’s images have been used in advertising and packaging in Canada
and the US, which suits the style of his work he describes as “very realistic,
although I do like to produce different styles when art directors and
designers request it.”
So what does the future hold for this talented artist? “I’m doing quite a bit
of photo retouching these days and aim to do much more in the future. I
find it very interesting and is very similar to doing realistic illustration, but
with a more technically challenging aspect to it. I would love to do some
matte painting for feature films, and have been studying the Gnomon
Workshop DVDs on matte painting by Dylan Cole and Dusso.”
/ www.mikecarterstudio.com

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 TCH:
BAY WA t I’d include
h
“I thoug romotion
-p
this self show my
image to g roots.
in
02.08
airbrush one on
sd
This wa h airbrush
it
board w c. My main
li
and acry n switching
e
goal wh was to make
l
to digita the look of
t
sure tha idn’t
d
my work he Mac is
.T
change l, after all”
o
just a to

PUPPY: “The pu
ppy was produc
for a pet health ed for a Christm
product. I find th as display
how the brush is
engine in Photos is a perfect example of
control you jus hop gives a softn
t don’t get with
how it’s so easy traditional media ess and
to make depth- . I also like
the Gaussian Blu of-field effects
r filter when yo with
attention to a sp u want to draw
ecific part of th more
e illustration”
ROM: “The ROM illustrat
ion was created this past
the Royal Ontario Museum summer to announce the
, Toronto. The image was opening of the Michael Lee-
line work was created in created from scratch in Pho Chin Crystal at
Illustrator and represents toshop and has hundred
the original building tha s of layers. The
t is now joined to the crys
tal addition”

21
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 insight THE DYING DREAM: “From the
sketches to the finished work, this
took around 14 hours. I didn’t use
too many brushes or layers, and
the process felt like I was working
in the traditional medium, but
only in the computer. One of the
PS works that I’m proud of”

THE COLOSSUS: “A mag

e controlling the
giants and defending him
self from invaders.
These were completely don
e in Photoshop,
including the sketches. I
spent around 12
hours on this. There is a seri
es to this”

ct to
“This was a proje ound
WATERFALL: ar
en t wi th brushes. It took
ex pe rim it, there’s
s. No w that I look at
th ree ho ur perspective,
problems in the
definitely some it’s wh at ma de it cool”
sa id
although many

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 02.08
WITCHERY: “Using Photoshop for
characters is more new to me, I always
feel that the people I draw in Photoshop
lack a certain amount of character.
Perhaps in the future when I draw
humans, I’d reference some photos”
GRAVE OF SOULS: “An
piece, depicting a bloody
experimental landscape
road paving the way to Hell
som e brig ht colo urs”
.

Although in contrary I used

END OF GODLIN
Kuang Hong focused on portrayin
characters and the
ESS: “At this period
g the harmony bet
ir surroundings. To
, I was more
ween the
think about
it, this was probably
Kuang Hong is a renowned illustrator and concept artist from China, currently another experiment
al piece”
working as an art director in a Beijing games company on an MMORPG. He was
an early starter in the digital arts in comparison to his contemporaries, as he
explains: “I’d liked drawing since a very young age. I was among the first batch to
come in touch with digital arts in the country back in 2000, when I first joined a
Taiwanese games company. I was extremely attracted to digital drawings – it was
easy and fast. I was attracted by the brushes that seemed so real.”
After discovering this passion for the digital arts, Hong used the power of the
internet to get his work known: “[I got my first commission] from posting on
forums and art websites, probably from huoshen.com , before I came in touch
with CGTalk. The first commission was a magazine cover illustration after the
company had seen my work online.”
Now his work has been featured in some top publications, including:
“Spectrum 14, Fantasy Art Now, ImagineFX, Exposé 2 and 4, Exotique 1, 2, 3, Fantasy
Magazine (Chinese), KIkan-S (Japanese), some cards from Sabertooth Games and
Tenacious Games, and exhibitions like Adapt ‘07 Painter exhibits, CGOverdrive
2006, 2007.”
Hong is surprisingly self-taught for the most part, commenting: “There were
generic art classes in middle and high school, but they were the very basic
traditional drawing trainings. Design, illustration and digital things were all
self-taught.” Photoshop is the first program that Hong came into contact with
when he began experimenting with computer-aided designs, and it still plays a
large part in his images now: “For more traditional-looking illustrations I usually
start sketching with a blue pencil, scan in and then colour. If not, for more
realistic, environmental or concept stuffs, I’d just sketch directly in Photoshop
depending on the style I’m going for. Blocking in PS can sometimes give better
dimension and control.”
Hong’s style is unique and recognisable, something that he himself
acknowledges: “[My style is] individualistic... a little strange and a little dark. I
don’t know actually, it’s hard to put forth with words, but I do hear that people
recognise when it’s a painting by me even if they’ve not seen it before.”
/ www.zemotion.net

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 Letters

On the web
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
Our website and readers’ forum is perfect for
showing off Photoshop creations. We present
the best images on the site this month. Log on
and upload to get your images here next issue!
FLOWER PRINCESS
ARTIST: Dimitar Hristov (54ka)

COSTUME: Mira Bachvarova
EMAIL: 54ka@pimdesign.org
WEB: www.54ka.org
“This image is inspired by the
abstract clothes of a friend of
mine and is a result of the
combination of photography
and computer manipulation.”
You can also see this image on
the cover this month.
SPLASHING BEAUTY
ARTIST: Caroline Waller
EMAIL: contact@fromtheshadows.co.uk
WEB: www.fromtheshadows.co.uk
“At the moment I’m trying new ideas and
experimenting to find a technique that
works really well for me. This was the initial
sketch towards a final idea, which will be a
portrayal of Countess Báthory. It started as
a pencil sketch. I wasn’t happy with a
couple of things: the right shoulder was
slightly dropped and the right eye was
smaller – both I corrected on Photoshop.
I then added further shading and
highlights, keeping the sketch look. The
water was added separately, adding
further droplets and splashes to give the
water movement.”
Readers’ challenge
THE RESULTS – NOVEMBER
Due to popular demand, you can now take part in a monthly
online readers’ challenge. Take a trip to our forum website at
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum and scroll down to
the Peer Pressure section. Keep an eye out for the most
recently announced challenge. Readers are welcome to post
one Photoshop creation up in response to the theme, and all
visitors are invited to cast their vote for the winning design in
our online poll. We’re pleased to announce the winner of our
‘A fresh start’ theme, Chris Martin. Here’s a bit about the piece
from Chris.
“When deciding on a concept for ‘A fresh start’, I’ve always
considered change for the greater good is not without its
sacrifices. In this piece, the young family is on the path toward
a Utopian city. I wanted them bringing only the clothes on
their back and looking as though they stopped everything in
their life suddenly in order to follow this passage. The father is
about halfway down the bridge, running. What could have
caused this desperation? The layout is a photomontage with
the foreground elements sourced from www.sxc.hu. Fire, fog
and shading was brushed in Photoshop and Mountains/
Sunset rendered in Vue 5 Infinite.”
www.chrismartindesign.com

EUPHORIA
ARTIST: Lee Gough
EMAIL: leegough@fluidwebdesigns.co.uk
WEB: www.fluidwebdesigns.co.uk
“I got my inspiration for this image by
randomly flicking through a dictionary
and picking a word – I got the word
‘Euphoria’. I challenged myself to create
an image using only the word as the
main aspect of the image. The image
was created using CS3 and I used
about 30 different fonts until I reached the desired effect.
Illustrator was also used to create the vector images by making custom brushes
and then importing the paths into Photoshop.”

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 Inter
view
RAY CAESAR
We open up Caesar’s head and
crawl inside to see what makes
his creative mind tick

R
ay Caesar, on several occasions FLY TRAP: “I think
mistaken for a dog (www.raycaesar. the only reason I do go
outside is that my dog
com/pages/bio.html), is in fact a loves a good walk. The
fine contributor to the creative community. sky just seems so huge
and overwhelming to
At the age of 49 Caesar, or Marmalade to his
me, especially on full
closest friends Crumpet, Teabag and Tim (no, cloudy days when you
really), finds himself artistically engrossed on a can see their vastness
and enormity. It feels
daily basis, serving up some of the most like something will just
substantial vivid delicacies to worldwide reach down and
appreciation from the comfort of his sitting snatch you away”
room. Cataloguing such caprices in paper and
ink, and presently on the digital canvas, has
always been a habit of Caesar’s, much like his
inguish art
love for eating raw vegetables. CASTOR: “I don’t really dist me there is
con tem pora ry or not… for
as
Caesar was born in the UK and now happily t criterion I use is
just ‘art’ and then the nex
resides in Canada, with his wife Michiko (aka ther I like it or not. Even tually I like all
whe
to find the
Jane) and dog Bonnie. Caesar attributes the art, but with some I have
can take time”
doorway into it, and that
move to a ‘Jack the lad’ in his family who thought
it would be amusing to impersonate a member
of the Royal Family and place bets on horses
back in 1966. “It’s amazing what you can get
away with when you’re dressed as a Viscount and
tell people you left your wallet back at the hotel
and could they spot you five quid,” he says.
“Surprising, that in this day and age an entire
family can be exiled and never allowed back in
the country again.”
As you can tell, Caesar is a witty individual,
always ready to tell a good story, whether it’s in
the oral or pictorial sense, true or false. However,
knowing what is quip and what’s reality is neither
here nor there for a rich character such as Caesar,
which speaks volumes when presenting the
‘realities’ within his eloquent compositions. “For
me, my work is about the inside world, what
goes on in my mind and all the little dark corners
of that strange hilltop mansion overlooking the
sea I visit in my dreams,” explains Caesar. “I

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 Ray Caesar

BLESSED: “I am truly not very

good at knowing the conceptions
and ideals of those that view my
work. I see my work as a personal
journey with absolutely no care
about how it will be seen by others”

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 Inter
view
SUDDENLY: “I had given up making pictures
and painting many years before, as I was sort of
obsessive about it and it didn’t seem a healthy
thing I was doing at the time, as it made me
very frustrated and almost angry”
kept my work hidden in a closet for over 25 years.
It’s now seen all over the place, but I convince
myself this isn’t the case, that all the attention I
get is really an illusion, just as much of the world
sees their dreams as an illusion and their waking
conscious life as the reality. For me, there is an
equal and concrete reality in my subconscious.”
The ‘inside’ is something Caesar knows about
all too well. Living day to day as an agoraphobic,
he also suffers from sleep paralysis, where upon
waking he can’t move. During this time Caesar
commonly experiences visions. He explains: “I am
told by medical types that they are
hallucinations… but I can assure you they are no
such thing. It’s a common condition actually, and
everyone experiences it a few times in his or her
life, and I believe it’s related to narcolepsy. I find it
a great doorway to lucid dreaming and out-of-
body experiences of which I have had several so
far.” As Caesar says, other than that, he’s a pretty
normal guy with a comfy home life, putting his
adversity to good use: “I suppose my artwork just
gives me something to do while I am indoors a
lot, and it helps that I love doing it.”
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028-033_AVP_40_Interview.indd 30
Life experience
With over 30 years’ experience as a designer and
graphic designer, Caesar worked as an animator
and special-effects artist before his career
changed to freelance. There was also a brief stint
working for a casino games company, but Caesar
simply had to leave, “because there was a
massive and irritating overuse of the word ‘dude’.”
The film industry was of more interest and saw
him creating animated city scenes for projects
such as Total Recall 2070, Stargate and Relic
Hunter. This at the time was a great vocation for
Caesar, as he explains: “They let me work nights,
as I was already beginning to get worse forms of
agoraphobia, which manifested itself as a fear of
the daytime sky. I liked working on the kinds of
cheesy science-fiction shows whose low
budgets allowed me freedom to create
something completely different from what they
asked for and show it to the producer.”
Throughout these in-house years, Caesar also
worked in the art and photography department
of a hospital, and this is something he feels is
important for viewers to record when observing
EBBTIDE: “I have all the ‘self’ problems you can
imagine: self-critical, self-conscious, self-centred, self-
doubting… I had a very hard life growing up, but since I
worked at the kids’ hospital I no longer have the worst of
‘self’ problems: self-pity”
his work. “I worked for 17 years in a children’s
hospital in the art and photography department.
We documented anything from child abuse to
reconstructive surgery, burn wards and animal
research. They were hard years and I learned how
cruel man and nature can be, and that miracles
are made by sweat, hard work and passionate
people who believe in kindness and hope.”
Hard work and passion are virtues Caesar has
never failed to embrace since, as he reveals: “I
don’t think I’ve ever really had a comfort zone. I
find every new piece I work on terribly hard. I
find them hard to start, hard to keep going and
really hard to finish. Perhaps because the nature
of my work is digital, I can never rely on myself to
stick with the original idea or concept, and after
a while the piece takes on its own energy and
POLLUX (RIGHT): “If you’ve been given the blessed
and golden chance to have a life, do something with it!
Create something! Make art or music or make a child, or
make people well, or make the world a kinder place”
SWEET VICTORY (FAR RIGHT): Caesar’s
images start life as 3D models, which are imported into
Photoshop and painted over
14/1/08 16:27:09
 Ray Caesar

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 Inter
view
HALLYLOU: “By making my work I
don’t want to challenge anyone or even
create a stir. I just made it because that’s
what I love to do. I love to make pictures”

MANIFESTATION (ABOVE): “The only way I can

judge interest in my work is by email. I get thousands a
week from all over the world, many in other languages
and many requesting work. Most go unanswered, as I’m
just a quiet guy sitting in my living room making pictures”

OH SWEET VANITY (RIGHT): “Art to me is like a

mirror and it often shows more about you, as the viewer,
when you let others know how you feel about that picture
hanging on that wall”

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 Ray Caesar
COMING UNDONE: “I am a pretty
WILD STYLE: Pencil, watercolour ink, Photoshop
normal guy and live with my wife Michiko
Private work © 2006 – “She’s longing to be a fashion model
and my dogthat is in a brick house on a
Bonnie
tough and with a wild look. However, she’s stilldead-end
a young pretty
street girl”
near a railroad track. I eat
mainly raw vegetables and absolutely
love avocados and walnuts”
CHEMICAL SWEET GIRL: Pencil, watercolour ink, Photoshop
Private work from 2006 © – “This was inspired by Black Strobe’s dark electro
house. This illustration will be sold as T-shirt 2008 from 2K by Gingham (US)”

YOU ARE BORN WITH YOUR VOICE, you. It doesn’t matter if folk think it’s good or bad;
it just matters that you create what you love, and

IT’S THERE RIGHT INSIDE YOU if you keep doing that, using it as a compass,
your voice gets louder and starts to sing.”

direction, and at that point I must relinquish
control and let the piece become what it wants
to become. Sometimes it decides it’s not ready
to be finished and asks me to wait, sometimes
years, and then one day out of the blue it nudges
me again and eventually allows itself to be
finished. I think if I ever found a comfort zone, a
big clock would strike 12. Bong! A crow would
caw and I would leave this life for the next world.”
Resurrection
Caesar’s sobering experience, laced with
personal tragedy, has been a major catalyst in his
own creative path. Caesar lost several members
of his family, including his mother and sister,
sadly to cancer. The visions returned at this point:
“As a child I had friends no one else could see. I
still remember them and how they were so
funny and kind, and they eventually went away
without me noticing. All that came back and I
started having visions of my mother as a child
showing me galleries of work and rooms with
open doors that led to rooms with more open
doors, and in each room were paintings and
pictures on the walls that I felt I could step into.”
At this point something changed inside
Caesar. Having put to rest his obsessive impulses
to paint and make pictures, a lost creative
passion was resurrected: “I can remember the
morning I woke up after a particularly vivid
dream/vision, and phoned in and quit my job,
and stayed in my house and started making my
work. I used the only tool I had – my computer.”
Answering a calling no less, Caesar experienced a
valuable lesson: “I learned that life will continually
kick you in the teeth unless you follow that single
path you’re supposed to follow. You have to let
yourself make that attempt at doing what you
love, to work towards that every day. Deviate
from that path and it’s going to get tough.”
Caesar believes his experiences bear influence
on his artwork, but curiously, he doesn’t believe
much in the word ‘style’: “I think I had a ‘style’ or
way to my work since I first picked up a pencil,
and even though I tried very hard to change that
way, to change my ‘style’, it never worked. It’s like
trying to change your voice when you hear it on
a tape recorder for the first time. You hate it and
try to talk a bit more like Cary Grant, but you
forget yourself and your own voice is what it is. I
often hear people saying to young artists, ‘You
have to find your voice’. I think that’s cruel. You
are born with your voice, it’s there right inside
you waiting for you to accept who it is and you
don’t have to go looking for it and you don’t
have to develop a style. Just make what’s inside
Boundless
If this is the case, Caesar sure can hit the high
notes, but he’s one of those who likes to use his
‘voice’ in the shower. What we mean is, Caesar
prefers dark corners to the spotlight. He’s just a
simple guy with a few not-so-simple problems,
who does what he loves for that reason alone. “I
have made my work since childhood,” says
Caesar. “Many years ago I put a few pieces up on
the wall and a man laying carpet in our house
looked at it and called it ‘the art of the dead’.
I received a few more comments like this, so I
took them off the wall more than 20 years ago
and put them in a closet. Soon as I made another
piece it would go in a closet too, and sometimes
I would sand down a perfectly good painting on
wood and repaint another on top.
I never collected much in my life other than
memories, which I drew in endless sketchbooks,
so I don’t understand the need to have things
like painting or art. I only understand the need to
make them. I’m surprised when people want my
pictures and truly haven’t a clue why; at one time
I thought them worthless and now some people
find worth in them – maybe in time they’ll be
worthless again or maybe the opposite. I don’t
know. All I know is I’ll continue to make them.”
Thank goodness, is all we can say.

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 MASTERCLASS

Create a cyborg
Use photos of everyday objects, 3D renders and Photoshop artistry to create a cyborg

ON THE DISC
You will find a whole host of source files for
this tutorial, including Poser renders and
photographs of wires and chips.
OUR EXPERT Mark Mayers
Mark Mayers is a freelance illustrator and designer based in
Cornwall. Recently, he was awarded Designer of the Year by
MetalFX Technology. To see more of his work visit www.
markmayers.co.uk.
I
f you thought cyborgs belonged solely in the realms of science-fiction, think again. Many scientists say we
are all cyborgs to some extent, especially as our daily lives become increasingly connected to technology.
Cybernetics is with us now in the form of artificial limbs and organ supplements, and also the implantation of
biocompatible computer chips and stem-cell research. So how will our species adapt to change – will the future of the
human race ultimately be a fusion of microchips and living cells?
In this tutorial you’ll discover how to incorporate mundane, everyday objects into your artwork. Combining
household objects with 3D renders is a technique that can have interesting results. This will also give you an
opportunity to get to grips with the Pen tool, the Dodge and Burn tools and blending modes, as well as the Transform
and Warp functions to make it even more realistic. All of the source material has been supplied on this issue’s CD, but
why not be inspired and shoot some of your own material and see what you come up with?

1 Smudge and blur

Make a start by opening the ‘Cyborg_render.png’
supplied on this month’s CD and create a new layer.
Using the Smudge tool, with the Sample All Layers
option selected, smooth out any rough areas using a
medium, soft-edged brush with Opacity at 10%. When
you’re happy, hit Cmd/Ctrl+E to merge the layer.

2 Add some shadows

Darken the nostril areas by drawing closed paths
with the Pen tool. Make a path-based selection and
feather it by 1 pixel. On a new layer set to Multiply, use a
medium, soft-edged brush, and with a low Opacity
paint within the selection. Adjust the layer Opacity to
suit and merge the layer again.

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Quick
masking
Quick Mask mode lets you create a mask without
using the Channels palette. By default, a colour
overlay (similar to a rubylith) covers and protects
the area outside the selection. To change these
settings, double-click the Quick Mask mode
button in the toolbox. You can toggle between
Standard and Quick Mask modes by hitting Q.
But remember, Quick Masks are temporary and
lost once deselected. To keep a permanent Alpha
Channel, switch to Standard mode and click Save
Selection as a Channel in the Channels palette.
5 Blend in
Add a layer mask and use a soft-edged brush to
blend the remaining skin. Vary the brush Opacity as you
work, leaving the eyes, eyebrows and lip areas. Next, add
a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer while holding Alt and
check the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask
option. In the Edit drop-down list set all the colours to
-100 Saturation except the Cyan.
034-039_AVP_40_Cyborg.indd 35
“INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF
CYAN BY ADDING A COLOR
BALANCE ADJUSTMENT LAYER”
4 Human qualities
To add some human features, open the ‘Skin_
render.png’ file and Shift-drag into your working
document as a new layer, setting the blending mode to
Hard Light. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+U to access the Lasso tool and,
ensuring the Add to Selection option is selected,
roughly select the eyes and lips. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I to
inverse the selection and hit Delete.
3 Contrast and colour adjustments
Add more contrast by duplicating the
background layer and setting the blending mode to
Soft Light. Next, increase the amount of Cyan by adding
a Color Balance adjustment layer using the drop-down
Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the foot of
the Layers palette. Set the Red to -24 in the Midtones
and merge the layer.
7 Closed path
Use the Pen tool with the Paths option selected to
draw around the head areas as shown. Use the Alt, Ctrl
and Shift modifier keys as you work. Remember, you can
fine-tune your path by holding the Cmd/Ctrl key to
access the Direct Selection tool to adjust the direction/
anchor points later. Ensure the Pen tool options are set
to Add to Path Area and continue around the shoulders.
6 Selective corrections
Reinstate selected colour areas by targeting the
adjustment layer’s mask and use a soft-edged brush to
paint out the eyes and lips. Your cyborg’s face should
now resemble a hybrid of flesh and plastic. By default an
adjustment layer comes with a mask, which is great for
carrying out this type of selective correction.
8 Float the selection
Shift-click all the layer thumbnails and merge
them as before. Next, switch to the Paths palette and
generate a selection, return to the Layers palette, hit
Cmd/Ctrl+J to float the selection as a new layer and
name it ‘Face/torso’. Now target the original layer, make
a layer-based selection, fill with 100% black and name
it ‘Black’.
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14/1/08 16:32:27
 MASTERCLASS
9 Brain power
Open ‘Brain.png’ and Shift-drag into your working
document as a new layer, flip it horizontally then rotate
10 Shadow areas
Position the ‘Brain’ layer under the
‘Face/torso’ layer and hit Cmd/Ctrl+U to access
and transform. Also, use the Transform>Warp functions Hue/Saturation. Enter a Hue of +45 and a
to make it fit neatly inside the cavity. Next, hit Cmd/ Saturation of -68. Next, create a new layer above
Ctrl+L to access the Levels and adjust the Midpoint the ‘Brain’ layer and set its blending mode to
slider to 0.28, then name the layer ‘Brain’. Multiply. Using a medium, soft-edged brush, with
a low Opacity add some shadow areas, adjust the
Opacity to taste and name it ‘Brain Shadow’.

11 Paint inside the selection

Generate a selection from the
bottom ‘Black’ layer and create a new layer
under the ‘Face/torso’ layer. Pick a mid grey/
blue and using a large, hard-edged brush at
100% Opacity, paint inside the selection.
Delete any underlying overlaps by generating
a selection from the ‘Face/torso’ layer and
hitting Delete. You should now just have the
top portion of grey remaining. Name the layer
‘Brain Dome’.

12 Gradient effect
Generate a selection from the ‘Face/torso’
layer, target the ‘Black’ layer and use the Eraser tool with
a medium, soft-edged brush to create a gradient effect
within the ‘Brain Dome’. Next, inverse the selection and
switching to a large, hard-edged brush erase the whole
of the neck area. We’ve disabled the visibility of some Be
layers for clarity in this screengrab.
inspired
In order to find inspiration for this project, have
a look around in your home for objects that can

13
Highlight details
Target the ‘Brain Dome’ layer and set the
blending mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to around
75%. Now, using the Dodge tool set to Midtones and
with a large, soft-edged brush, add some highlight
details. It’s best to use a fairly low Opacity of around 40%
to build up the highlight strength until you’re happy.
be used. The wires and circuits used for this
tutorial came from a couple of discarded
computers; other items included part of a child’s
toy, a shower hose and a flexible torch.
Remember, almost any found object can be the
starting point for some creative, lateral thinking!

14 Inner workings
Open ‘Inner_workings.png’ and
drop it in as a new layer, position above the
‘Black’ layer and name it accordingly. Now,
generate a selection from the new layer and
using a large, soft-edged black brush blend the
top of the neck into the head. Again, we’ve
disabled the visibility of some layers for clarity
in this screengrab.

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 15 Dodge and Burn
Open ‘Pipe_1.png’ and Shift-
drag into your working document as a
16 Pipe work
Follow the same techniques for the
remaining pipe images (‘Pipe_2.png’ through to ‘Pipe_
new layer above the ‘Inner Workings’ 6.png’), scaling, flipping and rotating them to fit. The
layer. Scale/position and use the Layer aim here is to get all the elements looking as if they all
Matting options (Defringe and Remove belong within the composition, so adjust each
White Matt) to remove any unwanted accordingly using a combination of Levels, Hue/
halo edges. Next, using the Eraser tool, Saturation adjustments and the Dodge and Burn tools.
delete the bottom section with a small,
soft-edged brush. Make the pipe blend
with the rest of the composition by
adding highlight and shadow areas
with the Dodge and Burn tools.

“FINE-TUNE YOUR PATH BY HOLDING THE CMD/CTRL

KEY TO ACCESS THE DIRECT SELECTION TOOL”
17 Wire it
Open the ‘Wire_1.png’ through to ‘Wire_6.
png’ images and drag/drop as new layers, again
adjusting each layer’s colour and tone accordingly. Now
duplicate some layers, flip them so as to avoid repetition
and move their hierarchy within the layer stack to hide
areas. You can also generate selections from other layers
and delete areas not required.

18 Highlight and shadow

Open the ‘Wire_7.png’ file and drag and drop
as a new layer, then scale and position. Generate
selections from some of the pipes and wires and, with
the new layers targeted, hit Delete. Don’t forget to use
Dodge and Burn to add highlight and shadow on any
underlying wires. Generate a selection from the ‘Face/
torso’ layer, target all ‘Pipe’ and ‘Wire’ layers you want
hidden and hit Delete.

19 Warp factor
Open the ‘Circuit_1.jpg’ image and
then copy and paste above the brain. Hit 20 Mask the brain
Open the ‘Circuit_3.jpg’ and then copy
Cmd/Ctrl+U and set the Hue to 0, Saturation and paste under the ‘Face/torso’ layer, setting the
to 16 and Lightness to +35. Go to Edit> blending mode to Screen and the Opacity to 50%. Use
Transform>Warp to fit over the brain. Scale the Warp transformations to roughly follow the contours
and rotate until you’re happy and set the of the face, then use an inversed selection from the
blending mode to Soft Light. Open ‘Circuit_2. ‘Face/torso’ layer to delete areas. Add a layer mask and
jpg’, scale, warp, then rotate and position, use a large, soft-edged brush on the right-hand side.
setting the blending mode to Luminosity and Add a mask to the brain and repeat. Finally, set the
the Opacity to 40%. Now blend both layers Opacity of the ‘Face/torso’ layer to 87% to reveal the
with the Eraser tool using a medium, soft- detail. We’ve disabled the visibility of some layers for
edged brush. clarity in this screengrab.

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 MASTERCLASS
21 Add noise
You’ll notice the ‘Inner Workings’ layer has a
hard-edged 3D rendered look. Eliminate this by going
22 Thick skinned
Create a thickness to the cyborg’s
‘skin’ by generating a selection from the ‘Face/
to Filter>Noise>Median and enter a value of 3 pixels. torso’ layer, add a new layer above it and
Next, adjust the layer’s Hue/Saturation by entering +22 nudge 5 pixels left and 3 down, then fill with a
under the Master Hue/Saturation slider, and in the pale blue. Generate a selection from the ‘Face/
drop-down menu set the Blues to +15. Now use the torso’ layer again, ensure the new layer is
Burn tool to create shadows that correspond with the targeted and hit Delete. Use the Marquee tool
pipes and wires. around any areas not required (temple, ear
and jaw line) and hit Delete. Now use Dodge/
Burn and adjust the layer’s Opacity to taste.

23 Bevel and Emboss

Open the ‘Screw_head.
jpg’ file and use the Marquee tool
to draw a central selection. Feather
by 5 pixels, and then copy and
paste at the top of the layer stack.
Scale non-proportionately and
rotate, duplicate the layer a few
times, then merge them and set
the blending mode to Hard Light
and the Opacity to 70%. Next, add
a Bevel and Emboss layer style
as shown.

24 Fit the graphic

Open the ‘Head_graphic.png’
and drag/drop as a new layer at the top of
26 Blur the hard edges
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+E to Merge Visible and
create a new layer underneath. Pick a pale blue for the
the layer stack, setting the blending mode to background and a slightly darker blue for the
Multiply and the Opacity to 50%. Next, go foreground, then add a linear gradient. On the merged
Filter>Distort>Spherize and enter a setting of layer select Quick Mask mode (double-click on the Quick
80%. (You could also use Photoshop’s Warp Mask icon and ensure Selected Areas is checked), and
transformations to achieve a similar effect.) using a medium, soft-edged brush paint over some of
Now scale and rotate the graphic to fit the the hard edges. Exit Quick Mask and add a Gaussian Blur
angle of the head. of 2 pixels.

25 Check for imperfections

Zoom in and check the image for any small
imperfections. The ‘Skin Depth’ layer we created in step
22 needs a little retouching around the collar area, so
draw a closed path around the missing area and
generate a path-based selection. Next, use the Clone
tool with Sample All Layers unchecked and use a small
brush to fix it.

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 “ENTER A GRIDLINE FOR EVERY 100
PIXELS WITH A SUBDIVISION OF 1”
27 Define a grid pattern
Now to create the ‘blueprint’ background.
With the grid visible, go Photoshop>Preferences>
Guides, Grids & Slices and enter a gridline for every 100
pixels with a Subdivision of 1. Create a new channel and
zoom in. Ensure Snap is selected under View and draw a
The pen is square with the Marquee tool anywhere and fill with

mightier white. Nudge the selection twice down and twice right
and fill with black. Now nudge it back to its original
position and go Edit>Define Pattern.
There’s no Selection tool that can offer the same
level of control as the Pen tool. The Pen tool
creates vector paths, which means the edges
of your selections will always be smooth. The
Pen tool causes the most fear and frustration
among new users, but at the same time is

28
revered by
Pattern fill
those who
have taken Create a new layer above the background
a little time and go to Edit>Fill>Pattern. Ensure your pattern is
to get to selected under Custom Pattern, then set the blending
know it. mode to Screen and the Opacity to 40%. Screen Mode
does the opposite of Multiply, so any black areas will
not be visible on this layer. You can now disregard the
extra channel.

29 Snap to the grid

Open the ‘Logo.png’, drag and drop it as a
new layer above the grid, setting the blending mode to
31 Final stage
To further the ‘blueprint’ effect, add some
new layers above the grid and fill segments with white
Multiply and the Opacity to 50%. To make the keyline and shades of grey – experiment with blending modes
borders, create a new layer above the grid, and with the and levels of Opacity. You can also use selections from
Paths option selected use the Pen tool to draw a closed your paths to erase areas. To finish off, we added a white
path, snapping it to the grid as you work. glow around the cyborg, desaturated the main logo
slightly and added some small print details.

30 Stroke the path

Select a 10-pixel, hard-edged brush and
ensure that White is set as the Foreground Color. Target
your path and click on the Stroke Path With Brush icon
at the foot of the Paths palette. Click the Create New
Path icon also at the foot of the palette and continue
making the inner shapes. Change the brush Size to 5
pixels and stroke the path.

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 Feature

“IF I WAS AN ASTRONAUT, PHOTOSHOP WOULD

BE MY SPACE SUIT. PHOTOSHOP ALLOWS ME
TO DO EVERYTHING I NORMALLY DO, BUT IN A
BETTER AND QUICKER FASHION” Gustavo H Mendonca
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Virtual worlds
Photoshop and the art of videogames
From concept through design to high-street stores and your own home,
videogames travel a long creative path to completion, as Nick Spence discovers
A
mong the best-selling and most sought-after
Christmas gifts of 2007 were videogames
consoles. Fuelled by cheaper, bigger, HD-ready
televisions, higher-spec computers and the promise of
online gaming, the virtual worlds of computer games
had never seemed so real or appealing.
Enter 2008 and gaming, no longer the reserve of
adolescents, now permeates across generations and
cultures. Vast virtual multiplayer online communities
such as Second Life and World of Warcraft already attract
millions of players each month, generating millions
more in revenue. We’ve come a long way since Atari’s
Pong, a rudimentary table tennis simulation.
With rival platforms and companies like Microsoft,
Nintendo and Sony all competing for market share and
the hearts and minds of gamers worldwide, the stakes
are high. Behind every game unleashed on the public,
dedicated teams will develop everything from gameplay
to point-of-sale graphics to ensure it’s a hit. Vital to any
success is the way a game looks, from character designs
to the boundless landscapes that help define virtual
gaming worlds. Normally the work of concept designers
and artists, it’s a job that requires hard work, dedication
and a vivid imagination. “It basically involves space
travel, bending time and space. One day I’m a World War
soldier and the next I’m a professional race car driver,”
says Gustavo H Mendonca (www.brushonfire.com), a
concept designer for Electronic Arts. “It involves building
a state of mind full of freedom and courage to explore
ideas that others may never think about, all while
maintaining a sound understanding of the industry.”
In technical terms, Mendonca’s primary role is to
create a large variety of conceptual and visual directions
which will establish the visual style for nearly every
040-046_AVP_40_Feature.indd 41
Virtual worlds
CASE STUDY
SONG © Oddworld Inhabitants
ENGINE:
A conceptual Raymond Swanland
design for Being primarily self-taught from an early
the mystical
ancient
age has helped Raymond Swanland define
Mudokon his whole outlook on art and life in
race of the general: “I do not believe I would be the
Oddworld
videogame artist I am today if I didn’t take the road of
universe, by personal exploration to create my skills
Raymond and techniques.” Rather than ‘studying’ art,
Swanland
Swanland loved to visit museums, dig for
fossils, disassemble machines and
electronics – preferring to figure out how
natural and complex human creations
worked without having it told to him.
Any camaraderie and motivating
competition that comes with learning as a
collective that he might have missed out
on was soon compensated for when he
joined a fledgling videogames company
game platform available on the market. This means
straight from high school. “I started my
Mendonca designs everything from characters,
career as a production artist in the field of
creatures and environments, to vehicles and props, as
videogames and had to learn very quickly
well as being responsible for creating design guidelines,
what it was like to collaborate on a very
which support the work the modellers have to do.
large scale,” says Swanland.
Among his creative tools to help achieve all this,
Today, although the technical process of
Photoshop is essential. “Well, let’s just put it this way: if I
creating art doesn’t change much when
was an astronaut, Photoshop would be my space suit.
working collaboratively or independently,
Photoshop allows me to do everything I normally do,
the approach and mindset are distinctly
but in a better and quicker fashion,” enthuses Mendonca.
different: “When working with other
“It makes it possible for me to create almost as fast as I
artists, I intentionally create milestones
can think. Photoshop is also a great communication tool.
throughout the process of designing in
I often do my concept presentations with a copy of
order to create ideal ‘forks-in-the-road’ in
Photoshop and my files open, so I can incorporate
which I can absorb and explore input and
feedback from producers and art directors on the fly.”
hopefully inspire others.” When working
independently on a piece Swanland is his
own judge and critic, challenging himself
to explore new areas creatively: “Ultimately,
working on a piece by myself requires me
to get very deep, analytically, into my own
head and, in some ways, requires a higher
level of concentration compared to the raw
energy of collaboration.”
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 Feature

© Andy Park/Sony Computer Entertainment America © Tom Johnson/Electronic Arts

skate concept Combine 2D with 3D

Mole Cerebus (right): Mole Cerebus by Andy
Park, part of the bestselling God of War II videogame for
PlayStation 2
© Gustavo H Mendonca
(above): Concepts Mendonca will frequently combine Photoshop with
and designs from Tom
Johnson, who has been
other 2D and 3D applications, creating visual targets and
fortunate enough to lighting options for characters and environments which
have worked for usually involves an ‘artistic dance’ between Photoshop
both film and
videogames companies and other 3D applications such as Maya or 3ds Max.
god of war II “Since I have an extreme passion for variety, EA also
(left): Striking allows me to work in several different areas of the games
imagery from Andy Park we make, while maintaining my role as a concept artist,
for God Of War II, copies
of which include a which is the main focus of my daily work,” explains
behind-the-scenes diary Mendonca. “For example, I frequently help with the
of the games production development of front-end visuals, cinematic,
on a second disc
storyboards, matte paintings and, most recently, I
designed, directed and art directed the video
presentation of the racing tracks for our new title Need
for Speed Pro Street, on the PSP.”
Originally from Brazil and now working in the US,
Mendonca believes those wanting to work in the
videogames industry should first broaden and diversify
their inspirational resources: “Nowadays it’s very easy to
find information, and therefore there are a massive
number of artists looking at the same things. This can
easily be noticed in portfolios of young and aspiring
concept artists.” Google, image bank sites and CG forums
© Andy Park/Sony Computer Entertainment America are all great places to seek inspiration and feedback, but

ex700
(above):
Originally from
Brazil, Gustavo H
Mendonca is a
concept artist
working for
Electronic Arts

Wipeout
speed
concept (55
minutes)
(right): In his
work Gustavo H
Mendonca will
combine
Photoshop with
other 2D and 3D
tools to produce
the right effect © Gustavo H Mendonca

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hands-on experience is always preferred, especially
when you travel outside your comfort zone. “There is
something special about being in a place and
experiencing a culture [as opposed to] seeing it in a book.”
As well as seeking new experiences and influences,
keeping track of the games industry and technological
and software advances will also help you keep in step
with an often cutting-edge industry. “Those starting out
should also keep up to date with the ever-changing
technological advances. I personally love it when the
tool I’m using lets me forget my technique and focus on
the design being formed in front of me,” says Mendonca.
“That basically means I’m not fighting the medium, so
working towards that can be very beneficial as well.”
With online gaming set to thrive as broadband
penetration, speeds and prices improve, and talk of Web
2.0 technologies helping to facilitate creativity,
collaboration and sharing between users, the future for
gaming looks bright. “I personally believe these
technological advances can affect, in a good way, the
gaming industry more than most of us might like to
admit,” enthuses Mendonca. “They have affected how
information goes around and therefore they also affect
how customers interact with developers, and how
developers interact and compete with each other.”
Because of technological advances, the consumer in
general will have a much stronger voice in the future of
gaming, helping to shape gameplay by offering valuable
user feedback. “When you go to a web forum and post
your opinion about a game, those lines you write help
shape the perception of that product within the
industry, and that’s something quite powerful. I
personally love that concept because when I’m
designing a game I always keep in mind that the players
“Having a strong 2D portfolio
combined with solid 3D models will
make you unstoppable” Christopher P Legaspi
040-046_AVP_40_Feature.indd 43
Virtual worlds
© Image by Daniel Dociu. Guild Wars content and materials are trademarks and/or
copyrights of ArenaNet, Inc. and/or NCsoft Corporation, and are used with permission
are my co-designers,” says Mendonca. The potential of
touchscreen interactive surface technology, currently
case study
Daniel Dociu
being developed by companies like Microsoft and
Having worked for some of the biggest
Apple, will also help shape the future of gaming,
videogames companies in the industry,
believes Mendonca: “Surface technology will eventually
including SquareSoft and Electronic Arts,
change the way we interact with digital information and
Daniel Dociu has seen first-hand how
how we design interfaces. If you can touch information, I
studios tackle projects differently. “There
can only imagine what that could possibly mean for
are more differences than similarities in
game design. When analysing these concepts closely, I
the way developers architect their art
just wish I could in fact travel through time, because the
pipelines and processes,” explains Dociu.
future will be one exciting place for game development.”
“Since the industry is relatively young,
Currently working at BottleRocket Entertainment, a
there’s a great deal of improvisation,
game development studio in beautiful Solana Beach,
flexibility and experimenting in the hope
California, Christopher P Legaspi (www.freshdesigner.
of finding ideal development models.”
com) is another respected concept artist and modeller.
Now employed by Arenanet in an art
For Legaspi, who also includes games giant THQ on his
director and lead concept artist role, Dociu
résumé, the role of the concept artist in the games
has also had experience of freelancing:
industry is varied: “There are many tasks. This could vary
“There’s plenty of pressure in both
from designing characters to establishing mood and
scenarios, just different flavours of stress.
colour palettes. My first priority is to establish the vision
As a freelancer you worry about lining up
for the game’s art style and overall art direction; second
your next client. Then you commit to more
is to generate lots of ideas visually.” Producing games for
work than you can handle and worry about
popular platforms, including the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii,
how to manage your time. As a full-time
work will include creating thumbnails, quick sketches
employee you’d better not screw up – or at
and comps – the final step being to revise, refine, polish
least not repeatedly. You don’t lose just a
and render the conceptual art.
client but your job if you do. However, as
Photoshop flexibility long as you do your best every day you
don’t need to worry about where your next
For any designer, one of the strengths of Photoshop is
pay cheque comes from.”
the endless creative variation it offers, allowing a level of
Building a body of work you can be
flexibility and experimentation that would be time-
proud of requires commitment, as Dociu
consuming and almost certainly expensive if done
suggests: “Build a competitive portfolio.
traditionally. “When working as a production and
Don’t assume somebody will realise your
conceptual designer, Photoshop is not only an excellent
potential based on a handful of sketches. If
your current job or college commitments
don’t allow you to build one, a much safer
bet is getting a foot in the door as a 3D
modeller or production artist, and
patiently creating the opportunity for
yourself once you’re already in.”
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 Feature

© Tom Johnson/Electronic Arts

case study
Tom Johnson
© Tom Johnson early skate concept
(above): Recent work from
Tom Johnson includes designs
Tom Johnson is fortunate enough to have for EA’s Skate, a revolutionary
worked extensively in both the film and, skateboarding videogame for
more recently, videogames industry. With PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
film credits for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Buildings speed
Within, The Fifth Element and Batman concept (58 minutes)
(right): Gustavo H
Forever under his belt, he’s spent the last Mendonca has collected 12
five years concentrating on videogames international awards in the past
design: “For games, the ‘script’ or blueprint few years for his striking concept
designs and appeared in
is always changing and you’re designing countless publications
within a moving blueprint.” ocean in basement 8
At first, working for videogames (left): Tom Johnson also
company Electronic Arts, Johnson found indulges in personal projects
the constantly shifting design
considerations challenging. “Concept and
finishing tool, it’s the core of my flexibility,” explains combine 2D with 3D to great effect, using Maya to
production design-wise, games are way
Raymond Swanland (www.raymondswanland.com), a model 3D mock-ups of architecture and complex
more rewarding than film if you’re into
renowned concept artist with the gaming company environments when needed. “If you are serious about
architecture and creating worlds, because
Oddworld Inhabitants. Swanland will generally sketch working in games it’s critical to know at least how to
it isn’t locked into 2D. You get to move
out the early stages of an idea in good old-fashioned model in Maya or 3ds Max. It also helps you as an artist
around and through an environment as
pencil and paper for the fluid organic feel of the physical because you’ll learn what the 3D artists and modellers
much as you want from any direction, so as
medium. “Yet, when it comes time to truly visualise an need from you during the production of a game.”
a designer your mind is working at a
image or design in its final colour form, Photoshop
different level and more in line with
architects in the real world.”
allows me the freedom to sketch colour thumbnails at Study and practice
any scale necessary.” From there Swanland will push the Along with software skills, it’s vital you develop good
Johnson will do drawings and
composition as well as run through several colour drawing skills. Fleshing out concepts will be a lot easier if
sometimes sculptures, then work in
variations for the sake of exploration. “Finally, I can take you have some knowledge of anatomy and perspective,
Photoshop. The digital sketch can involve
the rough colour image, zoom in and simply add the and can visualise without resorting to reference
between one and two hundred small
necessary detail in as many layers of experimentation as materials. “First and foremost, draw and paint and study
drawings: “I scan in the final paper sketch.
I desire. All these stages form a very efficient and clean the figure. When I say draw and paint, I mean with
It may be done on toned paper so that I
process that provides a comfortable flow to my cycle of traditional mediums like charcoal and oils,” stresses
can put lighting in with pastel chalk and
exploration and completion.” Legaspi. “Go to life drawing workshops, mentor with a
coloured pencil and marker.” A ‘texture
As with Mendonca and Swanland, Photoshop plays master and get mileage. Life drawing is the greatest
map’ is then built up in Photoshop using
an essential daily role in producing artwork, including teacher of visual art fundamentals. Having strong
his own textures and those found on sites
cleaning up scanned drawings, for Legaspi. “Photoshop fundamentals will make you stand out and get noticed.
like Flickr. “It’s similar to matte painting in
plays a huge role. I generally use the software more than Having a strong 2D portfolio combined with solid 3D
film. The overall Photoshop process can
half of every production day. Besides rendering finished models will make you unstoppable.”
take as little as half a day, but if it’s a new
illustrations, I use Photoshop to ‘clean up’ scanned Andy Park (www.andyparkart.com), originally a
concept idea, about three days to a week
drawings and make quick corrections.” Working on a renowned comic book artist for Marvel on award-
depending on the extent of the work.”
custom built PC with twin monitors, and using winning titles such as Uncanny X-Men, also puts drawing
m

Photoshop, Painter and a Wacom tablet, Legaspi will skills first. Now working as a concept artist and visual
.co
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 Virtual worlds

© Gustavo H Mendonca

© Thierry ‘BARONTiERi’ Doizon

acre market (above): fangus © Oddworld Inhabitants

Assassin’s Creed concept art by (right):
Thierry Doizon. In the game the Revisualisation of an
player assumes the role of unused character and
Desmond Miles, a seemingly game design concept
normal bartender who is also the for Oddworld
most modern member of a long Inhabitants by
family tree of assassins Raymond Swanland

development artist on critically acclaimed videogames
such as God of War II for PlayStation 2, Park sees first-
hand the power of observation. “Being a concept artist
requires a strong drawing foundation. It also requires a
strong ability to paint or colour, either traditionally or
digitally, though it’s pretty standard that one knows how
to paint digitally.”
Working at Sony Computer Entertainment America,
Santa Monica, California, Park believes as a concept artist
you will more than likely specialise in one or two areas,
so it’s essential you develop and perfect your strengths:
“Study everything around you. Learn how to draw the
human figure. Learn about colour and light. Learn how
to draw animals, environments and architecture. A
professional concept artist usually specialises in one or
two areas: characters, environments, etc. So see where
your strengths and interests lie and learn as much as you
can about those areas. Studying and practising are
definitely the keys to growing as an artist.”
Hands on
Although software applications such as Photoshop offer
a wealth of creative possibilities, a good videogames
concept artist won’t rely on computer technology alone.
Along with the ability to draw, understanding depth and
perspective and how light works will give real presence
and power to your characters and environments. Tom
Johnson, who works for games giant Electronic Arts
(www.ea.com), has recently worked on EA’s Skate, a
revolutionary skateboarding videogame for PlayStation
3 and Xbox 360. Johnson combined the computer with
his own props, working in a garage studio. The results,
once roughed up, were photographed and used as
textures. “I enjoy being able to get physical with the
work then using digital as a final polisher,” explains
Johnson. “In the industrial design studio we would build
models in a shop, photograph them, then paint on them
in Photoshop, then make a marker sketch and return to
the drafting table or computer – always moving, always
thinking about what we were doing, what to do next.”
“The online gaming community has
an increasing desire for expansion
and customisability that opens
the door for artists to create
their own content” Raymond Swanland
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 Feature
© Images by Daniel Dociu. Guild Wars content and materials are trademarks and/or copyrights of ArenaNet, Inc. and/or NCsoft Corporation, and are used with permission
For some wanting a creative career in the videogames
industry, the learning curve can seem daunting at best.
Thankfully, a whole support network of dedicated sites,
forums, books, DVDs and workshops has developed to
offer advice and learning. Thierry ‘BARONTiERi’ Doizon
(www.barontieri.com) is a regular contributor to CG
forums and events like Gnomon Workshop Live!, as well
as producing training DVDs. “I hope I can answer some
of the questions people keep asking me about
techniques, processes, software preference, study
background, etc,” explains Doizon. “I would say that
Photoshop is definitely the main 2D software I use in
production – it’s fast, easy and efficient. We’ve been
developing new techniques with the custom brushes
the past few years, and there is still a lot of space for
improvement. I only wish we at Steambot Studios could
be beta testers on the next Photoshop version.”
Events like Gnomon Workshop Live! offer a unique
opportunity to meet and hang out with some of the
industry’s stars, as well as learn from some real-life
interaction. “During a workshop everyone can learn new
techniques, get some tips from pros and meet fellow
artists. A Gnomon event is quite small in comparison
with other art conferences, which makes it more
intimate and accessible,” says Doizon.
Experimentation and finding new ways of working is
all part of the creative process. “Today I keep learning
and sharing. That’s what you do at school, and this is the
“Photoshop is definitely the main
2d software i use in production –
it’s fast, easy and efficient” Thierry Doizon
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040-046_AVP_40_Feature.indd 46
© Gustavo H Mendonca/Electronic Arts
period when you learn the most. Creativity is a mental
process that involves the creation of new ideas or
concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or
concepts, and this is something you can learn,” says
Doizon. “I’m a concept designer and I try to be creative in
my job as well as in my life, so my advice is to be
passionate about what you do, curious and dedicated,
then to experiment, learn and share with others – and
especially, have fun.”
Future gaming
The future of gaming, particularly online gaming, could
see a move away from large studios to an emphasis on
individual players crafting their own worlds. Second Life
has already generated income for some cyberspace
inhabitants, and the future looks bright for those with
carvings (above): Daniel
Dociu has worked for a number of
different games companies, and has
seen how each tackles a brief
kite final(above left):
More of Daniel Dociu’s work for the
videogames industry
pro street (left): In his
role at EA, Mendonca has the
freedom to work on different
aspects including front-end visuals,
storyboards and matte paintings
imagination. Rather like MySpace has shaken the record
industry from slumber, online gaming could make stars
of individuals and communities. “As I see the technology
and connectivity of the videogame industry exploding
into huge communities on the internet, I see a
tremendous opportunity for production designers like
myself and the designers of the future,” suggests
Raymond Swanland. “The online gaming community
has an increasing desire for expansion and
customisability that opens the door for artists to create
their own content, separate from the corporate entities.”
The move could, suggests Swanland, encourage
designers to develop their own style of character, object
and environmental design. It’s a bold vision that could
also see the new stars drawn from the ranks of gamers,
as communities develop organically. “In the future of the
online gaming community, artists could become their
own brands that are bought and sold among admirers,
independent of the original game creators,” says
Swanland. “This freedom could create an ever-
expanding bridge directly between gamers that allows
them to collaborate with each other, creating a
changing organic experience with fewer limits than the
real or commercial world.”
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 MASTERCLASS

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Depth of field
made easy
Add depth of field to a piece, and see how much
it can really emphasise your focal point. The
easiest way to achieve it is to simply duplicate
your base layer and apply a heavy Gaussian Blur
(20-30px). Add a layer mask, and drag out a
Black to White Circular gradient that finishes at
just past the end of the image. You can now fine-
tune the amount of blue in places by editing the
mask, and also reducing the overall opacity of
the layer itself.
ON THE DISC
‘levitation.jpg’, ‘OBJ.psd’, ‘gate.psd’,
‘brushes.psd’ and ‘balloon_lowres.jpg’
(get the full-res version from www.sxc.hu,
image number 714875, photographer
Nick Ray)
OUR EXPERT Justin M Maller
Justin Maller is a graphic artist from Melbourne, Australia. He
is currently working as a full-time freelance graphic artist,
while also creatively directing the crew over at depthcore.
com. Check out his personal folio at superlover.com.au.
1 Etching
First things first, open up ‘levitation.jpg’ on this
month’s CD, a wonderful shot taken by Holly Bynoe of
hbynoe.com. The first thing we need to do here is to
extract the model from the background, a process
commonly known as etching. Zoom in nice and tight on
the photograph, around the 400% mark should do the
trick nicely. Now, get out the Pen tool (P) and start
carefully tracing around the model. The more anchor
points you use, the better.
048-053_AVP_40_Montage.indd 49
Use stock images, photography and custom brushes to
create a unique monochrome photomontage
Mixed-media
montage
C
reating mixed-media montage-style pieces in Photoshop is good fun. The satisfaction that comes from
taking the time to thoroughly blend and integrate myriad disparate elements into one cohesive composition is
quite wonderful; we’d take the feeling of leaning back and knowing we’ve meticulously crafted something out
of nothing over most anything.
The biggest challenge (after coming up with a solid concept) is finding unique and interesting things to utilise
within your work. In this tutorial, we’ll have a look at ways to get the most out of stock imagery, as well as how to best
prepare prior to commencing blending. We’ll also run through the oft-neglected Define Brush function of Photoshop,
and examine a couple of nifty tricks we’ve stumbled across for creating some useful brush sets, so we can add some
original stroke effects to our piece to break up the photo-based work.
One of the most important techniques we’ll work with is the methodology behind integrating illustrations into
photographs by using the photos as texture and opacity masks to increase unity between media. Let’s get at it!
2 Make a selection
Once you have made an accurate
selection of the model, complete your work
path by re-clicking on the original anchor point.
The accuracy of this trace is of utmost
importance, so make sure you’ve done a
thorough job before proceeding. When
satisfied, right-click in the centre of your path
and hit Make Selection. Ensure the Feather
Radius is set to zero and that the New Selection
radio button is checked.
3 Save and paste
Once you’ve made your selection, save it
(Select>Save Selection) as ‘Model’ in a new channel – this
will make life easier later on for masking and texturing
purposes, and is a generally good habit
to get into with any piece. Now simply
copy and paste into a new layer – let’s
get creative and imaginatively title the
new layer ‘Model’.
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14/1/08 16:54:09
 MASTERCLASS
“YOUR GOAL IS ALWAYS TO
ACCENTUATE, NOT DOMINATE”
5 More objects
Duplicate in the ‘Upper
OBJ’ and ‘Lower OBJ’ layers from
the ‘OBJ.psd’ file, and position
them behind the Central layer. It’s
important to remember when

4
doing this work that your goal is
Introducing objects always to accentuate, not
Open up ‘OBJ.psd’ from this month’s CD. dominate – you don’t want what
Duplicate the ‘Central OBJ’ layer into our main is already present in the work to
composition and position it behind the ‘Model’ layer. be drowned by your additions.
This is a 3D form we rendered off to match the
model’s general movement and natural lines – you can
feel free to use your own shapes or illustrations instead if
you prefer.

6 Masking
Masking is an essential part
of successfully integrating mixed
media. There are a variety of
ways to go about doing it, the
simplest of which is usually just
adding layer masks. We’re going
to do it differently; duplicate the
background layer and position it

7
over the OBJ layer. Add a layer
mask and fill with black. Start brushing
Start brushing in areas around the extreme
bottom of the object to integrate it smoothly with the
grass objects. Working in black and white makes this a
lot easier, but take your time; alternate between hard-
edged 100% brushes in areas where no illustration is
required and soft, more opaque tips for fade effects.

9 Reposition the texture

Set the blending mode to Lighten – the fine
blades of grass will now texture mask the shadowed
recesses of the illustration and cohesively pull it in as
part of the piece. This generally will not work effectively
without you repositioning the texture layer to ensure
that only desirable texture lies over the object. Add a
layer mask and use large, soft brushes to constrict the
texture to your desired areas of the object.

10 And repeat…

8
Repeat this technique several times until you
Texture masking have carefully texture masked each object. Two hints to
This is where things get interesting – we’re going make this easier: first, Ctrl-click each object to get its
to commence a process we call texture masking. selection and use that as a base reference in a layer
Duplicate your base layer and drag it over the top of mask pre-filled with black to restrict the technique to
your OBJ layers again. Position the layer so that the the object and not splash onto the base photography.
detailed grass section at the bottom of the photograph Second, try distorting by resizing and or rotating the
lies over the space where the OBJ layers begin. Lighten texture layer to get a more varied texture result.

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 11 Brushes
Okay, now we’re
going to have fun and mix up
some custom brushes – literally
– by creating some funky
textures and converting them.
What you’ll need: olive oil (or Adjustment layers
similar), balsamic vinegar, one
small white dish, one wooden
skewer, one camera and a clear
are fun
It’s possible to get effective and instantaneous
space nowhere near your results by simply applying adjustment layers to
computer. If you can’t get this your finished composition. Whether you are
stuff, we’ve included everything wanting to deliver a variety of looks to a client,
from our shoot on ‘brushes.psd’ or simply take a look at some different options
on this month’s CD. for your finished piece, adjustment layers are a
great way to quickly obtain different versions of
your piece. Especially effective for dramatic

12 Oil and vinegar

Pour half an inch of oil into the bottom of
your dish. Now, get your balsamic vinegar out and shake
results are the Channel Mixer and Gradient
Overlay options, which will create awesome
alternate colour versions. Everyday staples
include Levels and Color Balance – no piece
a few drops into the oil. Snap a shot or two, then add should ever be
more vinegar and shake things up a bit. For the first few released without
shots you’re aiming to just get individual drops to float these in place to
in the oil, so pour very carefully, a drop at a time. tweak and unify.

13 Mix it up
Use the skewer to mix things up a bit and
make the vinegar look like a useful grunge type brush.
Poke, tease, play, experiment; start over and remix to
get a variety of effects. You may want to try adding
other things to the mess – have fun with it, unleash
your creativity!

14 Import the pics

Import the photographs onto your
computer. Open the best ones up in Photoshop – if you
15 Define Brush
Get out the Elliptical
Marquee tool (M) and make a
are using CS2 or 3, simply add a Black & White selection of the most detailed
adjustment layer, otherwise add a Hue/Saturation section of the photograph. The
adjustment layer and slide Saturation down to 0. Now selection will need to be a perfect
add a Levels adjustment layer, and crank the contrast all circle, so hold Shift to restrict the
the way up, so that only black and white remain. You dimensions of your selection, or
may need to dodge in places manually. else just use any rectangular
marquee. When satisfied, simply
click Define Brush Preset and save
under your desired name. Repeat
for each of your shots until you get
a nice, diverse set.

“CREATING EFFECTS USING YOUR

OWN CUSTOM BRUSHES IS BOTH
SATISFYING AND WORTHWHILE;
YOUR EFFECTS WILL BE UNIQUE”
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 MASTERCLASS
16 Brush texture
Duplicate the base layer again and reposition
over all others, except for the ‘Model’ layer, with a black
layer mask. Now, use your newly created brushes to
texture mask again, this time with a funky grunge brush
feel – if you’ve made them yourself, the effects you’ll be
Sharp achieving here will be totally unique.

it up!
We spend a lot of time working at print

17
resolution, but because we like to get feedback
on images in progress from friends, it is often Paint splash
necessary to produce work in progress shots at Add a splash of white paint here or there
screen resolution to upload and send around. with your new brushes. To get an extra detailed effect,
Print res does not always translate perfectly to first brush a spot with white using one brush, then get
screen, as many details and edges can get lost out the Eraser and take a chunk out of it using another.
and blurry. Therefore, after you size your piece Keep repeating to get a fine effect.
down, duplicate the layer and apply a Custom
Sharp (Filter>Other>Custom) filter to it. Reduce

18
the opacity to a level that avoids pixelation but
Building up
still achieves an effective sharp – add a layer
mask to fine-tune in places where necessary. the background
We’re now going to start building
up the elements behind our model.
There are two files on this month’s
CD: ‘gate.psd’ and ‘balloon_lowres.
psd’. We’ve been kind enough to
etch ‘gate’ out for you ahead of
time, so go ahead and duplicate
that back into our main
composition. The balloon image is
courtesy of Nick Ray at stock.xchg.
To download the full-res version, go
to www.sxc.hu and search for
image number ‘714875’.

20 More objects
Drag the ‘Cathedral’ layer behind your
objects in the Layers palette and position it so that its
base is just behind the model at about knee height to
suggest some depth of field. Return to ‘objects.psd’ and
duplicate in the last form – ‘Rear OBJ’, and position that
behind the cathedral.

19 Cathedral building
Reduce the saturation on the ‘Cathedral’
21 Out to the sides
Duplicate the ‘Cathedral’ layer and resize it to
around 40%. Drag it behind the main ‘Cathedral’ layer in
layer to 0, and adjust the levels to give a dramatic effect the Layers palette and rename it ‘Left Cathedral’.
(ie, bump the Shadows and Highlights slider towards Reposition it so that it now flanks the main cathedral on
the centre). You want the contrast of each layer to match the left-hand side and spreads the thrust of the
nicely, so base your levels on those present in the structure. Repeat on the right-hand side, this time with a
Objects and base photograph. different reposition.

52
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 “THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORK THAT HAS
BEEN HASTILY CUT OUT AND WORK THAT HAS
BEEN THOROUGHLY AND METICULOUSLY
ETCHED IS IMMEDIATELY APPARENT”
22 Grass detail
24
That left corner is looking
very stuck on; fortunately, Photoshop
Hot air balloons
Return to ‘balloons_lowres.jpg’. We need to
etch these out, but rather than use the slightly painful
handily includes a ‘Hair’ brush preset Pen process we were forced to use earlier, try just using
that does very realistic grass effects. the Magic Wand (W) tool with a tolerance of 40 and the
Set a mid-grey as your Foreground Contiguous button unchecked. Duplicate the ‘Balloons’
Color and a black as your Background. layer into your main composition. Using a basic
Select the Hair brush and resize it to Rectangular Marquee, copy and paste each into their
around 90 pixels. own layer, and position them to your own satisfaction
around the cathedral structure. When you’re done,
add them all to their own Layer Set for convenience
and tidiness.

23 Blend in the
grass detail
Carefully brush in the grass detail
where the small cathedral meets
the photograph. Take your time
and ensure you fully cover the
edges. Now get out the Burn tool
and liberally shade the false grass
so it fits harmoniously with the rest
of the image. Repeat on all other
edges of ‘Cathedral’ layers.

25 Shadows
Hold down Shift and Ctrl-click each of the
‘Cathedral Structure’ layers to get an amalgamated
27 Fine details
Now that the basic formation of the piece is
done, create a new layer beneath all and have some fun
selection of their shape. Create a new layer and fill with splashing paint around. While less is more, more is
black. Drag this layer behind all others, floating only sometimes more too and can be a lot more enjoyable.
above the base photograph. Now, use the Distort Free Alternate between dark and light paint to spice things
Transform tool to pull the shadow out and to the right up. All the hard work is done, so enjoy yourself by
to form an accurate perspective. Gaussian Blur by adding fine details
around 30px when satisfied. to the piece. We’ve
gone with balconies,
clouds, locks and
winged keys, but
you should feel free
to add whatever

26
you like.
A bit of a blur
Repeat this process using the ‘Model’ layer as
your base selection. You won’t need to distort this layer,
but you will need to experiment with the amount of
Gaussian Blur – around 20px should be sufficient.
Reduce Opacity to about 75% to get a nice gradual
effect. Repeat as desired with OBJ layers.

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 MASTERCLASS

Create new worlds

Use Photoshop to create amazing space-themed landscapes BY KIRK NELSON

S
pace-themed landscapes with alien planets, twinkling stars and amorphous space clouds are a
common staple in science fiction and fantasy art. The appeal of such artwork is understandable – who
ON THE DISC
wouldn’t want to create their own world? It’s the ultimate escapism: ‘Stop the planet please; I’d like to get off! On this month’s CD you’ll find a handful of
files referenced in this tutorial.
I’ve got my own chunk of spinning space rock over there and it’s calling my name.’
‘CraterGradient.grd’
You’re probably thinking that the creation of planetary fantasies like these come from a high-end 3D app with a ‘mountains.png’
price tag aligned with the astronomical content. In many cases, you’d be right. Most 3D programs are really good at ‘citylights.png’

making spheres. But those aren’t your only options; you can accomplish a wonderfully alien spacescape right in Kirk Nelson
OUR EXPERT
Photoshop. Follow along the next few pages as we take a trip in Photoshop that’s out of this world.
Kirk is a regular contributor to Advanced Photoshop and our
Before we begin, note we’ll be covering a lot of ground really quickly. Space travel isn’t for the ‘faint of art’. This is an sister magazine, Photoshop Creative. This month Kirk takes to
advanced tutorial that assumes knowledge of Photoshop’s layers, masks, filters and adjustment controls. It’s a lot of fun, the night sky and shows how to produce a sci-fi landscape
worthy of a captain who shares his namesake…
but you’ll have to work for it. If you get stuck, pop into www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum and we’ll help you.

1 In the beginning…
Create a new file at 2,500 by 2,500 pixels and
300dpi. Go to Filter>Render>Clouds then duplicate it
(Image>Duplicate) and save it out for a different use
later on. We named our duplicated file ‘clouds.psd’. On
the original file, go to Filter>Render>Difference Clouds.
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+L to bring up the Levels control. Slide the
white input handle to the left (to about 150) and the
black output handle to the right (to approximately 115).

2 Add the light and dark

Create a new layer and set the blending mode to
Overlay. Set your Gradient tool to Radial and select the
Foreground to Transparency preset. Use black paint to
add dark regions, then switch to white and create lighter
regions. We created a custom gradient to be dark in the
centre, but have an outer ring of white to add
pockmarks. To load the same gradient we used, open
‘CraterGradient.grd’. On a new layer called ‘Rings’, use this
to create several circles of various sizes and opacities.

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 3 Remember that cloud file?
Blend the rings’ colours into the terrain
with Filter>Render>Difference Clouds. Next,
we’ll distort the circles to enhance the organic
feel. Go to Render>Distort>Displace, keep the
default settings of 10 and select the ‘clouds.
psd’ file you created in step 1.

4 Alien terrain
Here’s where this weird-looking mess turns into
something that resembles a planet surface. Select all the
layers and hit Cmd/Ctrl+E to merge them together.
Rename the merged layer ‘Surface’. Then go to Filter>
Stylize>Emboss. Set the Angle to 135, Height to 4 and
Amount to 248%. Hit OK and you should end up with a
crater-covered alien planet texture like you see here.

5 Flooded by filters
The terrain looks good, but
rather moonlike. Adding oceans
helps make it look more ‘planety’.
Add a layer named ‘Oceans’,
change your Foreground and
Background Colors to shades of
grey (‘8b8b8b’ and ‘545454’),
then run the Clouds filter again.
Now go to Filter>Artistic> Paint

6
Daubs. Use a Brush Size of 90,
Sharpness of 7 and a Brush Type Still treading water
of ‘Wide Blurry.’ After applying One more filter: Filter>Sketch>Chrome. Set the
the filter, scale the layer up by Detail to 4 and Smoothness to 7. The effect is a bit too
150% and move it around to strong, so we’ll dial it back by going to Edit>Fade
select the most interesting area. Chrome and change the Opacity to 70%. The water
texture looks appropriate, but it’s a dull grey. Add a Hue/

7
Saturation adjustment layer set to Colorize. We chose
Parting the Red Sea Hue = 0, Saturation = 31 and Lightness = -29.
Let’s reveal some of that terrain we worked so
hard on and give the aliens some valuable coastline
real estate. Move the ‘Surface’ layer to the top, add a
layer mask and reset your colours to black and
white. Make sure your mask is the active element,
not the layer, and run the Clouds filter again. Follow
that with Filter>Artistic>Fresco with Brush Size set
to 2, Brush Detail at 8 and Texture at 1. While still on
the mask, hit Cmd/Ctrl+L to bring up the Levels Need a
control. Now pull the outside handles towards the
centre until the coastline looks fairly well defined. little help?
Are you stuck on a particular step in this tutorial?
Is something just not working right? We want to

“CREATE A CUSTOM GRADIENT TO

help. Visit our website at www.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk and check out the
forum. You might find your question has already

BE DARK IN THE CENTRE, BUT been asked. If not, feel free to post it yourself.
This tutorial’s author, Kirk Nelson, is a friendly

HAVE AN OUTER RING OF WHITE enough fellow and frequently answers questions
in the forum. He’d be more than happy to offer

TO ADD POCKMARKS” any clarification or advice. So don’t struggle with

a step when help is just a few clicks away.

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 MASTERCLASS
“LET’S ADD DRAMATIC LIGHTING VIA
FILTER>RENDER>LIGHTING EFFECTS. PICK THE
FLASHLIGHT PRESET”
8 Continental drift
Unlink the mask from the
layer by clicking the chain link
9 Coloured ground
The terrain needs some colour besides dull-moon
grey. Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and clip it
between them. Now scale the to the ‘Surface’ layer by holding down the Alt (or Opt)
mask up by about 300%. Move it key and clicking between the layer thumbnails. Open
around until you find continent the Hue/Saturation control and check the Colorize box.
shapes you’re happy with. If you Now you can set the terrain colour to whatever pleases
want, touch up the mask with you, but we thought a dingy brown was a good
brushwork. White paint reveals complement to the red oceans, so we used a Hue of 22,
more terrain, black will hide it. Saturation of 27 and Lightness of -40.

10 Suspiciously round planets

Save your file, then go to Layer>Flatten
Image. To make the planet round, go to Filter>Distort>
Spherize and set Amount to 100%. Grab your Elliptical
Marquee tool and hold Shift while dragging from one
corner to the opposite to create a round selection. Hit
Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy. Create a file 24 by 30cm at 300dpi.
Fill the background with black and paste the planet into
it. Scale down to about 60% and move it just off-centre.

11 Let there be light

Let’s add dramatic lighting via Filter>Render>
Lighting Effects. Pick the Flashlight preset, but move the
light source to the planet’s top-left edge. Drag the
handles to scale the light up until it almost touches the
other edge. Copy the ‘Planet’ layer, with a Color Dodge
blending mode. Add a layer mask and set the Gradient tool
to Linear. Use a White to Black gradient to fade this layer.

12 Rim light
Because we want to create a partial eclipse
effect, we need some even more intense lighting along
the edge of the planet. Duplicate the planet again and
move this copy above the other. Set the blending mode
to Color Dodge and hit Cmd/Ctrl+U to adjust the Hue/
Saturation. We left the Hue at 0 but set the Saturation to
-53 and Lightness to 67. Cmd/Ctrl-click the layer to create
a circular selection, then hit the Add Mask icon. Unlink
the mask layer and hit Cmd/Ctrl+I to invert it. Move the
mask down and to the right to reveal a crescent shape
glow on the planet’s edge. Finish this step with a
Gaussian Blur of 100 pixels to soften the mask.

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 13 Do all planets glow?
Add a ‘PlanetGlow’ layer to the top of
the layer stack. Create a selection in the shape of
the planet by using Cmd/Ctrl-click, then go to
Edit>Fill and select 50% Gray. Change the
blending mode to Overlay; you’ll notice the grey
circle just disappeared. That’s fine, we just want Clever
the glow effect. Open the Layer Styles control and
be sure to check the Layer Mask Hides Effects box.
Add the Outer Glow and Inner Glow styles and
clouds
The Clouds filter is one of the most surprisingly
adjust the spread and size to your own taste.
useful filters in Photoshop. Take note that we use
Finally, add a layer mask and use a White to Black it in this tutorial several times in a variety of
gradient to fade the glow around the planet. different ways. Did you know that if you use it in
a canvas that is a multiple of 128, it creates a
seamless texture? Or that it’s never rendered the
same way twice? Go ahead and try it: fill a layer
with it (Filter>Render>Clouds) and then hit Cmd/
Ctrl+F to run it again and again – it’s always
different. Pair it with its twisted cousin
Difference Clouds, run that several times too and

14
you can get some really interesting effects.
Space weather
forecast: cloudy
While the deep dark black of our
background is probably realistic
for space, we think one of those
colourful clouds of space dust
would be so much more
interesting. Add a ‘Space’ layer
behind all the Planet layers. Set
your colours to black and a deep
purple (we used ‘36155c’) and run
the Clouds filter again. Scale this
layer up to around 350%.

15 Layers of cloudiness
Add two more layers above the ‘Space’ layer.
Name the first one ‘WhiteGradient.’ Change the
17 Like a diamond in the sky
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+L to bring up the Levels control.
Pull the outside handles in towards the middle until the
blending mode to Soft Light and add a radial gradient noise begins to look like tiny little stars. Then scale the
from White to Transparent starting at the point where ‘Stars’ layer up about 300% so the stars aren’t quite so
the sun will be and going almost to the edge of the tiny any more. Add a layer mask and use a soft grey
canvas. Name the next layer ‘HighlightClouds’ and set brush to mask out groupings of faint stars among all the
the blending mode to Overlay. Use the default black and bright ones.
white colours and fill with the Clouds filter again. This
should add a nice texture to the dust clouds.

16 Star light, star bright

We certainly can’t have our space scene
devoid of stars. Create a ‘Stars’ layer and fill with black
(Edit>Fill). Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise, setting the
Amount to 19%, Distribution to Gaussian and check the
Monochromatic box. Set this layer’s blending mode to
Screen to hide the black and just let the white noise
remain visible.

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 MASTERCLASS
18 Here comes the sun
Add a layer at the top of
the stack called ‘Flare’. Create a
circular selection where the sun
would be and use the Gradient tool
to fill it with a radial gradient, white
in the centre and bright yellow on Extra
the outside. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+D to
deselect and go to Filter>Blur>
Gaussian Blur. A Radius around 100
details
For the final image we added a few details to
pixels should work nicely. Set the
help polish off the scene. A few extra bright stars
layer blending mode to Hard Light.
were created using the same technique as the
large solar flare. The lights for the alien city were

19
created by drawing paths with the Pen tool and
Solar flare stroking the path with a brush that had
Duplicate the ‘Flare’ layer and scale the Scattering enabled. You can find the ‘citylights.
duplicate so it’s a long horizontal line that spans much png’ file on the CD if you want to add this
of the canvas width. Select both ‘Flare’ layers and merge element to your own scene.
them together by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+E. Make sure the
new merged layer is still set to Hard Light. Now add an
Outer Glow layer style, change the colour to bright red,
push the Size up to 250 pixels and set the Range
somewhere around 47. Duplicate the merged ‘Flare’
layer and rotate it 90 degrees.

20 Moving mountains
From the CD open the file ‘mountains.png’.
Drag the ‘Mountain’ layer onto our scene and position it
at the bottom of the planet. Add a Hue/Saturation
adjustment layer clipped to the mountains. With the
Colorize option checked, set the Hue to 275, Saturation
to 36 and Lightness to +1. This gives the mountains a
deep blue tint. We added a ‘MountainGlow’ layer set to
Pin Light behind the mountains and used a White to
Transparent gradient to add the illusion of atmosphere.

21 Reflect on this
Select the topmost layer and press
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E (or Cmd+Shift+Opt+E). Select and
23 Watery highlights
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate the Fibres layer.
Notice this duplicate is still clipped. Change the
delete the bottom part of the layer, from midway down blending mode to Screen to add highlights to the water.
the mountains to the bottom of the canvas. Flip the Tone them down by hitting Cmd/Ctrl+L to bring up the
layer (Edit>Transform>Flip Vertically) and move it down Levels control. Drag the left handle to the right until it’s
until it lines up as a reflection on the bottom portion of around the 163 mark. Congratulations! You’ve created a
the canvas. Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur and set the space landscape all in Photoshop. Think about how to
Angle to 90 and Distance to 150. add details to make the piece your own; check out our
boxout (above) to see what we did to finish this piece.

22 Fibres for ripples

Over the reflection, create a layer, fill with
black and use the Fibers filter with Variance 16, Strength
4. Rotate 90 degrees so the fibres run horizontally, and
use the Perspective tool to fit the fibres to the reflection.
Copy/paste the Fibres layer to a new file; save as ‘waves.
psd’. Hit the Reflection layer and use the Displace filter at
the default values; press OK and select the ‘waves.psd’
layer. This adds a ripple to the water reflection. Set the
original Fibre layer’s blending to Overlay and make the
Opacity 50%. Clip this to the Reflection layer by holding
Alt/Opt and clicking between the layer thumbnails.

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 Step-by-step
Workshop

060-065_AVP_40_Hero.indd 60 14/1/08 17:13:03


CREATE A COMIC-BOOK CHARACTER
A keen reader of Spider-Man and pretty much anything
sporting spandex, staff writer Adam Smith relished the challenge
to create some superhero comic art
T
he comic world has presented a
multitude of spandex-clad
compatriots for generations. Many
reinventions have taken place in this time,
presenting a plethora of heroic characters, from
the charismatic Spider-Man to the dark,
disturbed and dedicated Batman.
This tutorial will take us back to the twilight
time, a golden age of superheroes. A time when
Captain Marvel, Captain America and The Green
Lantern dished out a good slapping all in the
1
Up, up and away
Begin by opening your superhero-posed
model. Either take this yourself, or use the low-
res version of the iStock image on the disc. To
purchase the high-res, go to www.istockphoto.
com and search for image number
‘000003353398’. Apply Image>Adjustment>
Auto Levels or Levels, whichever creates the
best contrast. Name the layer ‘Hero’.
4 Stand alone
Once satisfied that your
model is selected, Ctrl/Cmd-
click your Alpha channel,
creating a selection, then
reactivate your Layers palette.
Now all you need to do is
Copy>Paste your isolated figure.
Create a new layer and add a
blanket of colour to isolate any
unseen visual value and erase it
as you see fit. Also take the time
to load the Golden Age colour
swatch from the disc in the
Swatches palette (see the
Swatches boxout on page 64).
060-065_AVP_40_Hero.indd 61
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ON THE DISC
‘Golden Age.aco’ swatches set, ‘IP_
0029.jpg’ image file, ‘iStock_
000003353398XSmall.jpg’
reference image (get the high-res
from www.istockphoto.com,
image number ‘000003353398’)
and ‘superhero final merged for
name of liberty and justice, this truly was a disc.jpg’ preview of final image.
booming era for the genre, leading to its We’ve also included ‘Comic1.psd’,
which is a Poser render you may use
recognition as a genuine art form. instead of working from a source image.
Here we’ll learn how to replicate such comic
OUR EXPERT Adam Smith
elements and styles through a modern
Staff writer Adam Smith couldn’t wait to get his teeth into
approach. Through the understanding of Color this tutorial. A keen reader of Spider-Man comics and
Mode conversion, the creation of halftone generally anything sporting souped-up spandex, Adam
relished the challenge to create some superhero comic art.
textures, the application of brash and vivid
tonal schemes and the consideration of
3
composition, this offers a fun and easy way to
create your very own golden-age hero. Channel creative power
Select the Save Selection as a Channel
icon from the foot of the Layers palette, creating
an Alpha channel. These operate like a mask, so
deactivating your selection and using a hard-
edged brush, alternating between default (D)
colours, add and subtract to your image,
including hair, isolating your figure from the
background. Duplicate and hide a copy of this
alpha channel before applying.
2
Selections
Now activate your Rectangle Marquee
tool and Ctrl-click your Hero layer. Selecting
Color Range from the drop-down option,
select the torso of your figure. Next, increase
the Fuzziness level to around 90 and use the
Eyedropper until you have the entire torso
selected. Click OK and activate your Channels
palette, with your previous selection still active.
5 Threshold
Label this layer ‘Hero isolated’ and then
proceed to duplicate it using the Layer options.
Now Image>Adjustments>Desaturate your
‘Hero isolated copy’ layer and apply Levels
treatment to create heightened contrast. Select
Image>Adjustments>Threshold. In the dialog
box, set a Threshold Level of 170, clicking OK.
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 Step-by-step
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6 Bitmapped
Proceed once more to Duplicate this copy
layer, however this time select New from the
Destination Document options. This will open
your copy layer as a new layer. Select
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and apply Radius of 3
pixels. Next select Image>Mode and convert to
Grayscale, then in turn Bitmap flattening all
layers. Apply an Output Resolution of 150 pixels.
Resources
There quite a few cool resources out there if illustrating your
own or favourite heroes tickles your fancy. Below we’ve
listed a few of the top titles and assets at the present time:
How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
Brought to you by Stan Lee and John Buscema, this title
not only presents the essentials, but also how to draw
your specific favourites. It’s all here, from what classic
media you’ll need and how to utilise it. The knacks of
composition, perspective and learning how to plan your
own comic page are a few key features.
The DC Comic’s Guide to Pencilling Comics
Everything you need to know about post-production
comic creation. Demonstrated by Klaus Janson, this title
comes in three parts, covering essentials such as shots
and angles, storytelling and anatomy and revealing the
true science of comic creation.
Anatomy for Fantasy Artists: An Illustrator’s Guide to
Creating Action Figures and Fantastical Forms
This reference offers readers a ‘practical, comprehensive
training course for budding illustrators working to
master comic book art, graphic novels, fantasy posters,
sci-fi book covers and illustrations and computer games’.
Human anatomical drawing and musculature,
perspective and composition are all addressed in this
essential tome.
“NEXT SELECT IMAGE>MODE AND CONVERT
TO GRAYSCALE, THEN IN TURN BITMAP
FLATTENING ALL LAYERS. APPLY AN
OUTPUT RESOLUTION OF 150 PIXELS”
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060-065_AVP_40_Hero.indd 62
8 Cut away
Ctrl-click this newly pasted bitmap image
and select Clipping Mask from the drop-down
options. Hide all layers apart from your masked,
clipped and ‘Hero isolated copy’ layer. With the
layer active again, choose Color Range and from
the Select options choose Highlights and OK.
Now delete all that’s selected, leaving you with
only black bitmap value.
7 Halftoned
Clicking OK, you’ll be presented with the
Halftone Screen options. Here, apply a
Frequency of 15 Lines/Inch and an Angle of 35
degrees. Shape selection should be Round.
After accepting these settings, once more
select Grayscale from the Mode options and
then Copy>Paste this back into you original
composition, resizing appropriately.
9 Palette to palette
Reactivate your Channels palette and
hide all but the ‘Alpha Channel copy’ layer from
earlier. Now selecting your Rectangle Marquee
tool drag and select this channel, then
Copy>Paste it into your Layers palette. Hide all
layers except that pasted, select Color Range
and choose Shadows from the Select options.
Click OK and use the Marquee tool to select
any visual value you wish to keep or dispose
before deleting.
10
Skinned
Now drop this layer beneath the
clipped layers and label it ‘Alpha Hero’. Hide all
layers except those clipped and merge the pair.
Next add a new layer labelled ‘Skin’, placed
beneath the ‘Alpha Hero’ layer; choose a skin
tone from your Color palette and apply using
the Paint Bucket tool. Next Ctrl/Cmd-click your
original ‘Hero isolated’ layer with Skin still active,
invert your selection and delete.
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11 Blend in
Now it’s time to “NEXT CTRL/CMD-
add several blending
modes, so let’s begin from CLICK YOUR
the top. First, add an
Overlay blending mode to ORIGINAL ‘HERO
your ‘Hero isolated copy’
layer, and then proceed to ISOLATED’ LAYER
add a Multiply blending
mode to your ‘Alpha Hero’ WITH ‘SKIN’ STILL
layer. If necessary, select
Image>Adjustment>Hue/ ACTIVE AND INVERT
Saturation and increase/
decrease the Brightness by YOUR SELECTION
+35/-35, altering for the
perfect skin tone. AND DELETE”
12 Outlined
Your hero
should be taking shape
13 Super threads
Next select the Pen tool and draw
your hero’s left glove. Place this layer beneath
nicely, attaining a comic the ‘Alpha Hero’ layer. Erase edges and then
feel yet retaining an select a hard-edged, small white brush and
individual realism. Proceed paint out the glove edges creating highlights.
by selecting the ‘Hero Duplicate and choose Add a Layer Style,
isolated’ layer and again selecting Gradient Overlay. Choose the Blue,
activate the Hue/ Yellow, Blue gradient and change the colour
Saturation options. This scheme to Dark Blue, White, Dark Blue.
time drop your Brightness
value to -100 and click OK.
Next select Edit>Stroke
and set your Color to
Black, Width to 3px and
Location to Center.

14 Suited…
Set your
locations as follows: Blue =
15 …and booted
Do the same for the right glove, but
this time set the following locations: 31%, 50%,
43%, White = 53%, Blue = 80% at a -50-degree angle. Proceed to do the
64%. Back in the Layer same for your hero’s boots, adding the
Styles options, set a Hard appropriate Location and Angle values. There
Light blending mode at may be visual value you wish to erase like toe
90% Opacity. Set your definition – do this by masking and editing the
Angle to -128 degrees and ‘Alpha Hero’ layer. Some halftone value may
position appropriately need to be added to the ‘Hero isolated copy’.
on-screen before pressing You can do so using the Clone Stamp tool.
OK. Apply a layer mask to
this gradient layer, then
select a soft-edged brush
at 20% Opacity and gently
rub away at the fingertips.

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 Step-by-step
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Swatches 16 Never enough spandex
It’s time for some spandex, as our
model’s looking a bit bare. Once more select
After a bit of research you will notice that golden-age your Pen tool and draw the template for your
superheroes and heroines’ fashion sense was a little wanting. outfit. You can be as flamboyant as you like
‘The brighter the better’ was the general consensus when it regarding design and colour. We’ve gone for
came to threads, so this should really help you understand the classic leotard look. Again Rasterize and
the necessary tonal palettes you’ll need for this workshop. edit obtrusive edges and apply a 2px black
Creating a custom Swatches palette is a seemingly easy Stroke. Apply a Gradient Overlay once more, at
task within Photoshop, but necessary to understand. Simply the standard setting with a Soft Light blending
select your Swatches palette and activate the drop options, mode and a 90-degree Angle.
choosing Preset Manager and selecting Swatches. Then,
holding Shift, click on the beginning and ending swatch
choosing to delete all and then select Done. With a blank
swatch, select your preferred tones, clicking Create new
Swatch of Foreground Selection to add to palette. Once
satisfied with your selection, save within the same options as
before. Here you can also reset, load and replace swatches in
other workflows.

17 Flowing locks
To create our hero’s flowing locks
simply duplicate the ‘Skin’ layer, titling this ‘Hair’.
Move this above your Skin layer and select
Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Increase
your Brightness value to 100% and click OK.
Next apply a layer mask to this layer and then
Ctrl/Cmd-click your ‘Alpha Hero’ layer thumbnail
creating a selection, inversing this. Now paint
away at your masked ‘Hair’ layer.

19 Stroke path
Now, Ctrl-click your path and select
Stroke Path. Make sure you have a 1px hard-
edged brush set to black before you do this.
With your defining lines applied, your image
will look tidy. Now duplicate your ‘Hero isolated
copy’ layer and apply an Overlay blending
mode at 50% Opacity and 50% Fill. Make sure
the layer is placed directly above the ‘Hero
isolated copy’ layer.

18 Masked hero

20
From what you’ve learnt, proceed to
add an actual mask to your hero if you wish. Emblem
We’ve again gone for the simple classic fashion. Every hero wears a symbol. You can
However, to spice it up we’ve added a few Lens illustrate your own or use the good old single
Flares to give it that visor look. Next select the letter kind. We have used the Type tool,
Pen tool, setting it to Paths. Create a new layer rasterizing our applied font. Edit>Transform>
named ‘Line’, placed at the top of the Layers Perspective and Scale, resizing your symbol.
palette. Draw the line you require, activating the Next, select Filter>Distort>Pinch and apply an
Paths palette, selecting Save Path from drop- Amount of -55%. Use the Transform tools once
down options. more to resize and shape.

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21 Skyline
Once satisfied, duplicate this layer
and select Filter>Pixelate>Color Halftone. Apply
23 Dawn to dusk
Now add a Soft Light blending
mode to the new pasted Alpha Channel at 50%
a Max. Radius of 5px and then apply an Overlay Opacity. Next add an Overlay blending mode at
blending mode. We have also added a 2px 30% to your ‘Sky’ layer. You may wish to change
Central Stroke to the original layer. Now it’s time your sky colour. We’ll show you how using dusk
to add some sky, so either Copy>Paste the tones. First, desaturate and darken your
sample supplied on the disc (‘IP_0029.jpg’) or background layer then add a Purple to Red
find the sample we used at www.mayang.com Overlay Gradient with an Overlay blending
and Transform to fit. Call this layer ‘Sky’. Next mode and -127-degree Angle.
select Filter>Artistic>Cutout.

22 Cutout Filter
In the Cutout Options, set the
Number of Levels to 8, Edge Simplicity to 0 and
Edge Fidelity to 2. Upon clicking OK, hide all
layers accept the Sky layer and select Color
Range, choosing Highlights from the options.
Activate your Channels palette, create an Alpha
Channel and Copy>Paste into your Layers
palette as before, placing this directly above
your ‘Sky’ layer.

24 Shading
Select your ‘Sky’ layer
and apply a standard Gradient
Overlay, with Pin Light blending
mode at 50% Opacity and a 135-
degree angle. Your sky is
complete, but the figure will
need shading and definition.
Duplicate the blacked-out ‘Hero
isolated’ layer and place above
all other layers. Ctrl/Cmd-click
this layer, making a selection and
Inverse. Next choose
Select>Modify>Filter and apply
a 15-pixel radius. Hit Delete
five times.

25 Golden-aged hero
Now apply a Linear Light blending
mode to this layer and decrease the Opacity to
40%, Fill to 50% and mask out areas of light to
create exposure. From here you can use
Photoshop’s colour adjustment options such as
Hue and Saturation to alter the colour scheme
to create cohesion, and even add effects such as
Lens Flare to create dramatic effects like
glowing eyes and radiant costume.

“APPLY A MAX. RADIUS OF 5PX AND OVERLAY

BLENDING MODE. WE’VE ALSO ADDED A 2PX
CENTRAL STROKE TO THE ORIGINAL LAYER”
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 Step-by-step
Workshop
d e r’sp
Rea r k s h o
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websexplaine

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066-070_AVP_40_Fantasy.indd 66 14/1/08 17:17:02


DESIGN A MOONLIT SCENE
Use photomontage techniques to create a fantasy scene bathed in moonlight
I
n this tutorial, we’ll be learning how to
create a fantasy-style image. The project
will be brought together using a minimal
amount of stock photography and only basic
Photoshop brushes and filters.
Photoshop can be used in many different
ways for different things, but it’s the best
program available for photomanipulation.
Photoshop’s huge range of brushes, filters and
adjustment techniques can easily be used to
edit a single or range of photos to produce
seamless montages.
1 Starting out
Make a new Photoshop document
(File>New) with a Height of 20cm, Width of
15cm, Background set to White and the PPI to
300. Open ‘rock.jpg’ from the CD, drag it into the
new document and position it in the bottom
left-hand corner.
4 Cut out the girl
If you are still working in full screen press
Tab to get the toolbars back. Open your main
subject image (see the ‘Stock pictures’ boxout)
and load it into Photoshop. Select the Pen tool
from the toolbar, and set its options to Path.
Using the Pen tool is the best method for cutting
out complex shapes. Add a Levels adjustment
layer and adjust the sliders as needed.
“THE SCENE COULD
EASILY BE TRANSFERRED
TO A FOREST OR A BANK
OF CLOUDS”
066-070_AVP_40_Fantasy.indd 67
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We shall be delving into the surreal world of ON THE DISC
fantasy where trolls, dragons and demons will On this month’s CD you will find
be seen happily sharing a feast of wild boar four picture files (‘rock.jpg’, ‘stars.
jpg’, ‘Cloud1.jpg’ and ‘Cloud2.jpg’),
and virgin’s blood over a fiery pit. Although we which will be used for the tutorial.
won’t be aiming that high just yet. Other free stock images from
Fantasy art can be realised in many forms deviantART are also incorporated,
which will need to be downloaded
and styles, the way Photoshop handles layers directly from the site, details of
will give us an edge over painting or drawing. which are in the tutorial.
The Blur filter will be used to give an ethereal OUR EXPERT Simon Rudd
soft feel, while brushes will be used to produce Simon is a freelance artist/writer; he has been published by
spiritual orbs. It is recommended that you read Imagine Publishing, Ilex Press and IPC Media to name a few.
He is a big fan of horror, macabre and fantasy art.
through the whole tutorial before you start.
3 Cloned
Press Tab again to access the toolbars,
select the Clone Stamp tool, making sure you
have a soft-edged brush selected. Once again
press Tab to access full screen and choose a
source from near where the white spaces are.
Begin to clone away the white areas; do this for
all the white areas.
2 Transform and straighten
Press Cmd/Ctrl+T (Edit>Free Transform)
and drag the top right-hand corner marker to
the right edge of the screen, making sure the
whole width is covered. Drag a horizontal guide
from the top ruler and line it up with part of the
wash. Press F and Tab to access the full screen
(press F twice if you are using CS3), followed by
Cmd/Ctrl+T again, this time using your best
judgement straighten the picture up along the
horizontal guide.
Stock pictures
The stock pictures that were used in this tutorial were
generously donated by http://mizzd-stock.deviantart.
com/ and http://toranih-stock.deviantart.com/. Please visit
the deviantART accounts and read their rules before using
the stock. The central character of the picture can
be downloaded from Mizzd-stocks page (http://mizzd-
stock.deviantart.com/art/Pirates-Fortune-Teller-Pack-
4-56153864).
If you want to experiment with other stock sites and
pictures, then feel free. One of the best sites for free stock is
deviantART (http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/
stockart/), but also have a look at Stock.XCHNG (www.sxc.
hu) and Image*After (www.imageafter.com). Although we
haven’t used any textures in this picture they are very
useful; Mayang’s Free Textures (http://mayang.com/
textures) has loads.
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 Step-by-step
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5 Girl meets world
When you have made a complete path
around the girl, we need to change it into a
7 Fixing
Move the pointer to one of the corner
anchors and drag it inwards while holding the
selection. Right-click on the path with the Pen Shift key, then accept the changes. The problem
tool and choose Make Selection from the pop- that is now obvious is that the rock layer is more
up menu, set Feather to 0 and Selection to New blurred than the girl; we fix this by adding a
Selection. Copy (Edit>Copy) and paste it into 0.6-pixel Gaussian Blur to the ‘Girl’ layer.
the rock picture (Edit>Paste).

6 Shrink to fit
Now we are back on the rock picture,
select and rename the new layer ‘Girl’. The new
layer is obviously far too big, so we next want to
shrink the cutout picture of the girl. Select the
Move tool from the toolbar and choose
Edit>Free Transform (or press Cmd/Ctrl+T) and
position her on the rock.

8 Add a shadow
The dress now
looks out of place; we can
fix this by anchoring it to
the rock with a slight
shadow. Press D on the
keyboard to reset to default
colours and choose a soft-
edged brush. Add a new
layer (Layer> New>Layer)
and under the dress paint a
line of black.

Fantasy pictures 9 Blurred vision

The shadow
now needs to be
blurred to add realism.
There are many good resources that can be used to take
inspiration for your fantasy pictures. A quick search on Select Filter>Gaussian
Google Images will result in pages of varied pictures – just Blur, with a Radius of
make sure you have the ‘adult’ filter turned on. One of our 3px. Click OK to
favourite sites that illustrates great diversity in the fantasy complete the blur and
genre is deviantART (http://browse.deviantart.com/ reduce the Opacity of
digitalart/photomanip/fantasy/). the shadow to 70%.
DeviantART is an online community for all types of Finish up by naming
artists and art. The huge variety in styles and techniques on the layer ‘Shadow’.
offer will surely inspire. Advanced Photoshop’s very own
website also has a gallery feature, which could give you
further inspiration.

“THE DRESS NOW LOOKS OUT OF PLACE; WE

CAN FIX THIS BY ANCHORING IT TO THE ROCK
WITH A SLIGHT SHADOW... UNDER THE DRESS
PAINT A LINE OF BLACK”
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10 Attack of the clones
The idea of the picture is
to have an isolated and lonely feel
11 First cloud
Open the CD and select ‘Cloud1.jpg’;
once again we want to drag it onto the rock
to it, so we are going to remove the picture. Place the layer above the rock layer and
ships and land on the horizon. It name it ‘Cloud1’. Arrange the clouds so they lie
doesn’t have to be perfect, as we just above the water on the horizon, then use
will be adding some clouds to fill Free Transform to make the clouds fit the width
the background. Choose the Clone of the picture.
Stamp again and remove the
unwanted elements.

12 Second cloud
Open the second cloud picture –
‘Cloud2.jpg’ – and drag it onto the rock picture.
Place it under the ‘Cloud1’ layer and name it
‘Cloud2’. Add a layer mask to the ‘Cloud 1’ layer
(Layer>Mask>Reveal All) and using a large soft-
edged brush and with your foreground set to
black, mask away some of the ‘Cloud1’ layer.

13 Clipping mask
‘Cloud2’ is a little light
for our liking, so we can combat
this by adding a Brightness/
Contrast adjustment layer (Image>
Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast)
above ‘Cloud2’. Adjust Brightness
to -33 and Contrast to 26.
Make the adjustment layer

15
into a clipping mask so it only
affects ‘Cloud2’ (Layer>Create Moon management
Clipping Mask). Reposition the moon on the right-
hand side of the picture and select the ‘Cloud2’
layer. Choose the Magic Wand tool from the
toolbar setting the Tolerance to 32, with Anti-alias
and Contiguous selected. Also make sure that
the Add to Selection option is checked. Click on
the clouds around the moon.

14 Moon child
Make a new layer
(Layer>New>Layer) on the top
of your layer stack, naming it
‘Moon’. Draw out a perfect circle
by selecting the Circle Marquee
tool and holding Shift while
making the circle. Add a 25-
pixel Feather to the selection
(Select>Feather) and fill it with
white (Edit>Fill>White).

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
The fantasy feel “THE IDEA OF THE PICTURE
IS TO HAVE AN ISOLATED
AND LONELY FEEL TO IT”
Fantasy pictures in all their guises draw upon many
different elements to illustrate and reinforce the theme. The
genre uses magic and supernatural themes such as angels,
wizards, fairies, elves, dragons and giants to name a few.

Setting is also important, and while a fantasy picture could
be set anywhere, nature usually plays a central part. As we
have seen here, we have used the sea as the setting of our
picture, but the scene could easily be transferred to a forest
or a bank of clouds. The only limitation here is the
imagination and with fantasy, usually, anything goes.
17
Turn night to day
We are now entering the final steps
of our picture; the fantasy genre often uses
nighttime scenes to add a mysterious and
romantic feel. We are going to duplicate this
feeling by adding a Hue/Saturation adjustment

16
layer to the top of our layer stack.
Light as a feather
Next choose Feather from the Select
menu and input a Radius of 10 pixels. Invert your
newly made selection by going to
Select>Inverse. Select the ‘Moon’ layer and add a
layer mask (Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection).
Use a white soft-edged brush on the mask to
clean up any anomalies.

18 Non-destructive
Add this adjustment layer by going to
Layer>New Adjustments Layer>Hue/Saturation.
It is important that you first click the Colorize tick
box before setting Hue to 211, Saturation to 25
and Lightness to -32. The picture will be washed
with a medium blue colour. To make it look like
night, change the blending mode to Multiply.

19 Stars
Open ‘Stars.jpg’ from the CD and
copy them to the main picture as before. Move
this layer above the Hue/Saturation mask and
set the blending mode to Screen. Add a layer
mask (Layer>Layer Mask>Hide All) to the ‘Stars’
layer and using a white soft-edged brush paint
over the black areas of sky to bring the stars out.

20 Soft focus
Go to the top of your layer stack and
Select>All, followed by Edit>Copy Merged. Paste
the new layer above the ‘Stars’ layer and set the
blending mode to Lighten. Next, go to the Filter
menu and select Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>
Gaussian Blur). Set it to a Radius of 5px and name
the layer ‘Blur’.

21 Glowing orbs
Add a new layer to the top of your stack and name it ‘Glows’. Set your Foreground Color to
white and choose a soft-edged brush from the brush picker. Set its diameter to between 25 and 100
pixels and add a few blobs of white around the girl. Finally, add a 5px Gaussian Blur to the ‘Glows’ layer.

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 Insider
Info

Tune into Channels

As Photoshop’s imaging sciences evolve rapidly from version to version, there are
still some functions that never go out of fashion, including the Channels palette,
an essential function for any photographer or digital artist

A
ll those avid and enthusiastic users of Photoshop are aware of its
intuitive, practical and entertaining functions that, most of the
time, provide almost effortless application. However, this isn’t to
say that those functions of the past, that perhaps take a little more
comprehension, can’t provide you with some overwhelming effects – for
example, using Channels. This function is fundamentally essential within most
creative processes, be it intentional or intuitive. So let’s address the core
principles of the Channels command and then we can, most importantly,
begin to understand its potential within various creative scenarios.

OUR EXPERT Adam Smith Finally, there are Spot Color

Staff writer Adam Smith is an experienced freelancer,
whose majority of work involves photo-manipulation.
This means that he is no stranger to the benefits of
Channels in his work.
The basics
There are three distinct types of
Channels, and we’ll start by
addressing these categories. First
there are Color Information Channels.
Upon opening any image and
activating your Channels palette,
you’ll see an example of these.
Created automatically within
Photoshop, the number of Channels
presented is dependent on the colour
mode of your image: RGB images
consist of Red, Blue and Green; CMYK
of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. A
composite Channel, used for editing
the image, has both.
The Alpha Channel command
works in a masking faculty. This
essentially stores selections as
greyscale and, once applied with
deliberation, creates and stores
masks, which allow you to manipulate
or protect parts of the original image
Time and time again
Another option functioning much like Channel Mixer in creating competent
monochrome effects, is the Black and White adjustment option (CS3).
Choosing Layer>New Layer Adjustment>Black and White, you can apply a
non-destructive effect that can be added time and time again.
Channels. These are specifically
designed for post-production or print
stages, as they act as additional
colour plates for printing with spot
colour inks, which are premixed and
used instead of, or in addition to,
CMYK inks. There are many things to
consider when producing these
Channels for specific outcomes, all of
which are addressed within Help>
Photoshop Help.
Mixing colour Channels
Mixing the coloured Channels allows
users to create high-quality
monochrome, sepia-toned and other
tinted imagery, as well as produce
creative colour adjustments within all
their compositions. Of course, this
function has been enhanced with the
introduction of the new and
improved Black and White
adjustment option in CS3. However,
users of older versions can reproduce
great effects by using the Channel
Mixer application.
Selecting Image>Adjustments>
Channel Mixer opens a dialog box,
COMPARISON:
Functioning with mask
capabilities, Alpha Channels
can be edited in the same way
using default colour settings
and brushes to add to and
subtract from your selection
allowing you to modify a targeted
colour Channel (output) using a mix
of existing colour Channels (input) in
an image. This is a simple process that
takes nothing more than attention to
get best effects. Simply dragging the
slider to the left will decrease the
contribution of a Channel to the
output Channel. Sliding to the right
increases the contribution.
The Constant option serves to
increase the effect of both greyscale
and coloured imagery. It does so by
adjusting the greyscale of an output
Channel. With negative values adding
black and positive values adding
white, this option helps in the balance
of exposure and tone.
With the knowledge of previous
options, creating monochrome
imagery couldn’t be simpler. This
option has an intuitive Monochrome
command that once activated
transforms images to greyscale. The
options provide a specialist set of
greyscales, supplying many expert
effects, including infrared.
Splitting and merging
Channels
The splitting of Channels is a process
subject only to flattened images.
Such an effect, however pointless it
may seem at first, has its own use
within specific Photoshop and print
practices. This process splits your

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SPLIT EFFECTS: Here we have inverted the Yellow Channel after splitting, then remerged layers
with Magenta and Yellow Channels reversed. We then applied a Saturation blending mode
“APPLIED ALPHA CHANNELS CAN BE
USED IN A VARIETY OF WAYS”
flattened image into a number of
separate images, according to the
number of Channels, produced in
greyscale. The title bar distinguishes
the original file name and Channel
converted. This is a seemingly useful
process when laying up for print
through the process of plates.
However, more creative effects can
be applied using this practice
through trial and error. Upon splitting
your Channels, you can inverse and/or
Colorize
As you’ll see, individual Channels
are presented in greyscale.
However, you can view individual
Channels in colour. You can change
this default by selecting your
Preference options, choosing
Interface from the options and
activating Show Channels in Color
before pressing OK.
072-073_AVP_40_InsiderInfo.indd 73
INSIDER
INFO
apply any adjustment you see fit in
order to create diverse effects and
results. To apply, simply select the
drop-down menu in the Channels
palette and then choose the Split
Channels command.
Such effects are complemented by
the ability to merge layers back
together after splitting. This option
provides users with the ability to
reassign Channel order,
fundamentally creating new
exposures and colour schemes.
To activate, select the drop-down
menu in the Channels palette again
and this time select Merge Channels.
The dialog box asks users to select a
Mode, which relates to the colour
mode of your original image, and
number of Channels, likewise relating
to the original image.
The Specify Channels option sets
itself apart from the Channels palette,
because here you can alternate the
order of your Channels for diverse,
specific or simply lucky effects.
Alpha Channel:
preferred practice
Acting as a mask, applied Alpha
Channels can be used in a variety of
ways, essentially isolating and/or
protecting and editing areas of an
image. This application allows users
to continue to apply the usual effects,
such as filters and gradual colour
changes to specific image areas.
However, the Alpha Channel
reveals its true capacity when applied
as one of Photoshop’s finest selection
and editing functions. The
preferential process is simple and can
be applied to most images, producing
professional outcomes. We will
explore this application through a
working example.
Upon opening your chosen image,
decide which visual value to maintain
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OPTIONS: Coming as standard with six preset
mixing options, Channel Mixer offers the user
many colour and greyscale solutions to enhance
their artwork
Get Spots
Conversion from Alpha Channels to
Spot Channels may be necessary
for print stages, and this process is
simple. Double-click the Alpha
Channel thumbnail and select
Channel options. Select Spot
Channel, click the coloured box and
then select your colour. To apply
colour to the selected area of the
Channel, simply Invert.
(foreground) and then proceed by
choosing Select>Color Range. Select
the left Eyedropper tool and then
select your background. The selection
will turn white and this value will be
erased. You can use the Add and
Subtract colour dropper tools for
more precise application. Now OK
your selection and, with it still active,
activate the Channels palette,
selecting Save Selection as a Channel
(Alpha Channel). Finally, deselect
your selection.
You’ll now have a new black-and-
white layer. To this you can apply
Levels treatment to heighten
exposure and apply brushes in the
conventional sense to add/subtract
detail from the mask itself. Cmd/Ctrl-
click on the Alpha Channel to activate
your final selection, before clicking
on RGB to reveal the coloured image,
activating the Layers palette and
pressing Delete or Layer Mask to edit.
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 Helpdesk The
M
U T
VOL OU

6
E

0
O
TW OW
N

prem
iu m
v
h
ction
colle otoshoppth
of ice, in-de
P
d
ad rials an l

2
tuto irationa
This month our readers want to know about recreating es
insp ges
ima .uk

Hollywood effects and removing skylines BY ADAM SMITH pag ww w.imag

in h
e s op.co

GRITTY EFFECTS Once you’ve clicked OK, select Layer>New

I can’t seem to find a good tutorial on how to
turn a photo into a Hollywood movie effect.
I’ve seen tutorials on movie effects in
Photoshop, but they don’t really work correctly
or look good. A lot of movie trailer sites have a
fake look to them but look great. I’ve seen
many tutorials that don’t do it. Can you help?
Deidre Brown
There are many ways to achieve cool effects used
regularly in cinematography. The results will depend
on the attention you give the image, of course. For one
there is the ‘Dragan’ effect or ‘Draganising’. This effect is
great for creating strong and unique exposures in your
photos, a little like the effects used in the movie 300.
Then there is the HDR photo effect, or if applied to
non-High Dynamic Range imagery, known as Tone
Mapping. This is used a lot in promo posters and
promotion website images. To achieve this effect, open
your image, select Image>Adjustments>Shadow/
Highlights and set values that produce best effects
without creating what seems a fake image: 65%
Shadow Amount and 20% Highlight Amount, for
example. Now select Filter>Sharpen>Unsharpen Mask
and enter values to give your image a halo effect, for
instance 55% Amount, 250px Radius.
OTHER VERSIONS OF PHOTOSHOP: If you’re not
using CS3, then apply greyscale the old-fashioned way. Also,
you can duplicate your original image to make comparisons
later in the creative process
Adjustment Layer>Black/White. Here you can use
the sidebars to perfect your effect and then click OK,
applying an Overlay blending mode to this layer effect.
Opening a new layer, select Edit>Fill and apply a 50%
Gray content use. Now select Filter>Noise>Add Noise,
entering an Amount that adheres to your image size.
Add a slight 0.5 Radius Gaussian Blur and again add
an Overlay blending mode to this layer, decreasing
Opacity for the right effect. You can always use the
layer masks to edit visual value for best effects. Not a
new effect, but one that works.
DODGING AND BURNING
I am working towards a degree in photography
and am putting together a narrative
installation of black-and-white photos for my
final major project. I am looking to create
controlled exposure within my images and
have been using my Photoshop knowledge to
do so. I’m endlessly manipulating imagery with
the Dodge and Burn tools and Levels options,
and it’s becoming very time-consuming. Are
there any processes that will create surefire
results every time?
Shelly, Cardiff
There are certainly a few processes you can use,
including the Monochrome features in CS3, Shelly, but
we appreciate not everyone has access to these. There
are also some great books on creating monochrome
images, so definitely invest in them for future reference.
But relating to your question, there is a way to isolate
tonal adjustments in most versions of Photoshop.
You can apply these through your Color Range
options. To select them go to Menu>Color Range.
Here you use a slider to correct your Fuzziness value,
refining selections. Within the Color Range dialog box’s
Select option, you can sample Highlights, Midtones
and Shadows. Start by selecting Highlights and click
OK. Now select Menu>Modify>Feather – your pixel
value depending on the file size. Then choose Curves
from the New Fill or Adjustment Layer options. Here
you can alter both the Dodge (pulls up) and Burn (pulls
down) applications, getting the required effects. All you
then have to do is repeat this for your Midtones and
Shadows for optimum effect.
GETTING THE BEST EXPOSURE: You can also
duplicate your final image and apply blend modes and
opacities to further enhance exposures
THE SKY IS FALLING
Hi Advanced Photoshop. Great job on the
magazine, just love the tutorials. I’ve learnt
quite a few tricks from these and really
improved my skills.
At the moment I’m looking to create a few
fantasy landscapes, as these seem to be
popular at the moment. A real challenge, but
the only way to learn is the hard way. I’m
having a bit of difficulty though, as I’m looking
to use photomontage techniques and finding
getting rid of skylines a real pain. Please help
me find an easy way.
Rebecca, Hull
We have a strong feeling of déjà vu, Rebecca. Funnily
enough, we covered such methods in last month’s
Insider Info. There are quick ways to cut away skylines
and they involve using Channels. This technique
will help you quickly define specific image areas by
selecting a Channel that demonstrates the most
definition between object and background. Just start
by selecting and duplicating the appropriate Channel
layer, relating to your sky colour.
Next, treat this duplicated layer to some Levels
treatment (Image>Adjustments>Levels), applying a
high exposure or contrast. Then Cmd/Ctrl-click the
duplicated channel to activate selection and select the
original layer in the Layers palette. With this done, all
that’s left to do is erase (Cmd/Ctrl+X). Users should be
left with a crisp cutout of foreground.

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INVERSE AND MASK: Instead of deleting – since this
makes future alteration tricky – inverse your final selection
instead, then apply a layer mask
NICELY BRONZED
I’ve become recently acquainted with
Photoshop, adding it to my array of
photography skills. A friend of mine has asked
me if I could work on some 21st birthday
photos for her, which I am actually getting paid
for. She wants me to tidy them up and add a bit
of colour and make her looked tanned. Is there
a good way to do this in Photoshop?
Somebody mentioned Replace Color and
Variations, but I’m not so sure. Many thanks.
Kelly, Watford
Variations and Replace Color may have a detrimental
effect on your images Kelly, unless you’re cutting your
imagery into separate layers – and there is a far easier
way to create such an effect with minimal fuss and
great results.
Start by duplicating the image in question and then
applying an Overlay blending mode. This will burn
your image and you can lower the Opacity value for
the required effect. Around 70 to 80% should suffice.
Next, apply a layer mask to this layer, and selecting
a soft brush at around 40%, brush away to allow the
highlights of eyes, hair and background to remain.
Now, keeping your soft-edged brush, set it to Color
Dodge, Opacity between 5 and 10%, again dependent
on the effect you want. Next, select the Color Picker
and choose a tone from your model’s tanned skin, then
apply to areas of your model you want to shine, giving
him or her that healthy glow.
074-075_AVP_40_Helpdesk.indd 75
SKY GONE: The sky has been perfectly masked out, with
the original layer still intact in case you need to return to it
at any point in the future
advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk
or post a message on our forum board at
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum.
Remember to specify whether you’re using
a PC or Mac and the version number of
WORK ON THE LAYER: When applying a healthy
glow to your model, activate the layer and not the
mask thumbnail, which will have adverse effects
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DAWN TO DUSK
Hi Advanced Photoshop team. I have a
creative conundrum that I am certain you
guys can help me solve. I have a daytime
image and am looking to turn it into a
nighttime image, but the effects I’m using are
a little clumsy. I’ve tried using Variations, Hue
and Saturation and blending modes, and it all
seems a little laboured and time-consuming.
You got any other options?
Alex, New York
Well Alex, you’re on the right track with the
blending modes. We’ll reveal a process that’s quite
straightforward. Start by opening your image then
set your Image mode to 32-bits. Next, select Create
New Fill or Adjustment Layer, choosing Solid Color
from the options. Choose a dark blue, according to
what the darkest shadow should look like.
Click OK and then add a Multiply blending mode
to this layer. Now, in the same options as before,
select Exposure (make sure this is dropped below
the Solid layer before applying effects). Inside the
Exposure dialog box raise your Exposure level to
between 3 and 5, dependent on effects. You may
feel you need to up your Gamma Correction – no
more than 3. The effects should suffice with a little
attention from you.
SET THE MOOD: Take a soft black brush, activate your
Solid layer mask and brush away to allow any light value
to shine in windows or lamps, creating mood lighting
HELPDESK
CALL FOR QUESTIONS
Want help with Photoshop?
Send your emails to us at:
your edition of Photoshop.
75
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14/1/08 17:24:27
 Our pick of the best reader submissions
sent to us this month

P
eer Pressure has once again been inundated with a volume of great
artworks. The chosen entries this month offer an array of insights into the
creative mind, sharing and revealing individual approaches and skills. We
always include your email and web address, so interested parties can get in touch.
All you have to do is send us high-quality TIFFs or JPEGs (RGB or CMYK) at 300dpi,
which can be printed at a minimum size of 15 x 15cm. Send us low-res versions to
advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk – we’ll get back to you for higher-
resolution work if needed. Alternatively, log on to our forum at www.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum. We cannot provide individual image assessment.
Each issue we select one image to be ‘Best in Show’, and that lucky person will
win a fantastic prize courtesy of The Illustration Source (www.illustration-source.
com), which is a great way to get your work seen. So, what are you waiting for?

Light and colour

NAME: James Fox
EMAIL: james@jamesfox.org
WEB: www.jamesfox.org

James Fox is a 24-year-old designer and illustrator from just outside of Birmingham
in the UK. He graduated from the University of Glamorgan three years ago with a
degree in Design for Media, and since then he has been working in agencies,
putting his skills to use across a wide range of media including print, web,
multimedia and flash design.
However, it is illustration where his real passion lies: “I have recently been
signed by Advocate and am starting to gain a good client base of my own, and
hope to further enhance my commissioned and freelance endeavours until I can,
hopefully, realise the dream of turning this into a full-time thing.”
His work generally consists of a mix of Photoshop and vector work: “I love the
contrast of mixing the two to create something that is quite graphic, yet still
retains an air of realism. I am influenced by a wide range of people, both in art
and design, and across other media such as music and film, and think this is
reflected in my work.”
All of his images follow the basic workflow, “from a rough sketch to the creation
of the main Photoshop element of the piece – layout, composition, clipping,
retouching, colour work, etc. I then save out a flattened version to place into
Illustrator to play with some vector elements and lay out some ideas, then copy the
vector items back into the PSD to mix in and add any finishing touches.”

WE COME ONE: “This illustration was

al
created for use on a variety of promotion
s, to
items for an exhibition of young artist
ional
create something that mixed a tradit
ery”
sense of art with contemporary imag

CHASING RAINBOWS
(ABOVE): “I came across this
photo and was struck by the
strength and colour of the image,
and set about extending these
themes to create something fun,
lively and magical to play on the
trance-like state and passion of
the model”
NESTING (RIGHT): “This
actually started out as quite a
minimal black-and-white piece,
focusing more on composition
than impact. After returning to it I
decided to have a play around
with colour and started using
various layer techniques. I
then started mixing in some
vector elements”

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 es
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WHERE YOU WERE STANDING (LEFT): “Prior to being introduced to the computer I had been working
mostly in table design, lighting and small found object sculptures. My mother had been suggesting for
some time that I should try painting, which didn’t really interest me, but there was this moment when I
was looking for a good desktop picture that I realised I could be making my own backgrounds”

CARBON: “The elements in a piece

are usually personal to me in some
way, photos of places I have visited or
things I have collected,” says Saak

Abstract designs
NAME: Eric Saak
EMAIL: ozais@aol.com / AEprints@aol.com

WAVES IN RED (ABOVE): “When I think back on it now, it’s funny how I was trying to
fit into a traditional art culture with a ‘new’ medium. Some people didn’t want to accept
the idea that the creative process was the same except that Photoshop had become a
new form of canvas and palette”
Eric Saak got into using Photoshop when he was promoted to a graphic
design position at his father’s successful retail signage and display company
in 1998. “My parents have always encouraged my creativity, so I looked
forward to this new opportunity. I had to learn Photoshop and several other
programs used in the printing industry, but having no real computer or design
experience, it was challenging at times,” he explains.
It was Saak’s mother that encouraged him to try painting, something that he
eventually got into: “As I was learning more and more at work, I became
interested in the idea of creating digital paintings and collages that would
become actual works of art on paper. At the time the idea was considered by
most artists to be more of a novelty than a ‘true’ art form. My mother and I
started working on a series of digital postcards that eventually turned into a
series of prints, which we showed at some local venues.”
This was to be his big break: “In January 2001, the prints helped me earn an
internship at one of the most respected print makers in the country, Universal
Limited Art Editions in New York. I learned a lot about texture and layers,
which helped my work to evolve into what it is today.”
So what does the future hold? “Currently, I am working on a series of digital
prints of mixed media drawings that are a collaborative between me and my
partner, Alexis. For more information, please email us at AEprints@aol.com.”

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 Discover the thinking behind the art

BEST
TAISHU: “I created a selection for the
underwater part of the image and used
the Add Noise filter to create the look of
IN SHOW
particles and some additional colour. For
some of the wrinkles, I duplicated the layer,
set it to Layer Style>Bevel and Emboss, and
erased lines to create wrinkles”

Sci-fi selection
NAME: Joe Slucher
EMAIL: slucherj@yahoo.com
WEB: www.joeslucher.com

Joe Slucher learnt the craft through his time at the

Art Academy of Cincinnati. In the summer of 2004,
he attended the ConceptArt.Org workshop in
Texas, “where I found enough inspiration to last me
a decade”. Slucher also used related forums and
magazines to help refine his techniques, and
during his senior year of college. “Since then my
client list has expanded to include T-shirt
companies, miniatures manufacturers, computer
games and collectable card games,” he says. “I’m
currently a freelance illustrator, as well as art
director for Dark Skull Studios.
My process always begins with thumbnails, COAL GOLEM (ABOVE): “The runes were
unless a client has given me carte blanche. I’ll then painted on a separate layer with layer style
set to Outer Glow. This image was painted
create a sketch which will be scanned in. The
with the basic Photoshop brushes”
sketch is duplicated on another layer and set to
Multiply. The lower layer is roughly painted with ENTER THE PUMPKIN (LEFT): “This was
a self-promotional piece so it began much
base colours and textures before being flattened. differently than normal. I had downloaded
There are never more than two layers at a time so and created a vast amount of brushes that
that it’s more like natural media and the image is I’d never used and they were in complete
more cohesive. I find myself accidentally drawing disarray. Out of this completely abstract
process, an image began to evolve. I ended
on the wrong layers if there are more. I know a up loving the image, but I noticed that I
piece is near completion when I’m zooming in and otherwise would have considered most of
trying to paint out the lines from the initial sketch.” the brushes useless for rendering”

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ZELEPHANT: “This image was created with photos of zebra
skin. I used a baby elephant image as a base, then used the
zebra texture to overlay and paint the new skin. This is
probably my favorite image… not sure why”
Two becomes one
NAME: Nick Lay
EMAIL: nick.dww@gmail.com
WEB: www.nicklay.info
Nick Lay’s images came to our attention when he
submitted an illustration of a Roman battle scene to our
forum (www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum). The
comments from other users were so positive that we had
to get him in the magazine and see his other creations.
Lay is a Canadian freelance designer, living in Sault
Ste. Marie, Ontario. He has been working in the industry
for five years, four years of which were spent at a design
firm, and has worked freelance for the last year.
ROME: “I used 3D models for this image; the
background was created in Vue. Photoshop was
then used to combine everything and paint
lighting effects and other details”
076-080_AVP_40_PeerPressure.indd79 79
best in
DROG: “This is a combination of a dog and frog. I used a
bulldog’s face for reference and then painted those
features on the frog head. The Liquify tool was also used
to create depth and contours”
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show
Sponsored by…
Not only is Joe Slucher this month’s
Best in Show, he has also won a
year’s full Option 3 membership to
the Illustration Source, worth £150,
and the Featured Artist slot for
February. The Illustration Source
Ltd is the newest source of original
art, freelance illustrators,
photographers, artists and
designers on the net. Visit www.
illustration-source.com for more
information. If you’d like to stand a
chance of winning an Illustration
Source portfolio, send your images
to advancedpshop@imagine-
publishing.co.uk.
Image requirements
You’ll stand a better chance of
seeing your work in print if you
adhere to the following criteria:
make sure that your images are
high-quality TIFFs or JPEGs (RGB or
CMYK), 300dpi minimum, and can
be printed at 15 x 15cm minimum.
Don’t forget to also include a small
text file detailing how you created
your work.
Terms and conditions
By submitting images to Advanced
Photoshop’s Peer Pressure, you
hereby grant Imagine Publishing
and, if relevant, clients to whom the
relevant work has been provided,
an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-
free licence to use such intellectual
property in relation to work similar
or equivalent to the work. This
includes the right to showcase work
on multimedia formats. By
submitting work you also confirm
that your images do not infringe
any copyright regulations should
they be published.
THE PRIZE: Check out The Illustration
Source’s website to see the portfolios of
previous winners of Best in Show
79
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14/1/08 17:27:26
 Discover the thinking behind the art

Portraits of the future

NAME: Kirsten Lane
EMAIL: callafae1@yahoo.co.nz
WEB: http://wynterskye.deviantart.com

Kirsten Lane started her career by training as a fashion

designer, and didn’t discover ‘serious’ digital art until
June 2007. However, she did begin using Photoshop at
the end of 2005, practising on and off with fanart.
“I live in New Zealand, where digital art is still a
relatively ‘new’ trend,” she says. “I’ve always loved art
and it’s something my family has always encouraged me
to do.”
She is self-taught in the program: “I taught myself how
to use Photoshop and other programs, but PS is my
favourite by far (and there’s still so much to learn). I never
intended to become a digital artist. I was adamant for a
long time to stay traditional, but let’s just say the digital
medium is somewhat addictive!”
Lane’s work appears expert, but she still considers
herself to be learning the skill: “Still feeling very new at
digital art, I see each of my pieces as an experiment in
style and technique, although I do work with a couple of
standard techniques, including photomanipulation and
digital painting. I’ve also introduced fractal painting and
the beginnings of 3D elements into my recent works;
doing only digital painting and creating my own 3D
pieces is my long-term goal.”
So where does she get her inspiration from? “I get my
Stock and ref images:
ideas from almost anywhere; it can be a picture that www.istockphoto.com,
inspires, or something or someone I see in everyday life http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com,
to novels I read or TV programmes or movies I see – http://anodyne-stock.deviantart.com,
artist ’s own
even to something that wakes me up in the middle of the http://fantasystock.deviantart.com,
night thinking ‘great idea!’”

AS THE WORLD FALLS

Stock and ref images: www.istockphoto.com, DOWN (ABOVE): “Well, I
http://cb-stock.deviantart.com, was hoping this piece
http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com, would speak for itself – I
http://unholy-stock.deviantart.com, grieve for the world, is it
www.sxc.hu, artist’s own too late for our home? Or
will we save enough of it
just in time?”

INNOCENT (FAR LEFT):

“This piece is symbolic of
how terrible I am with first
impressions and what an
awful judge of character I
can often be, done in my
surreal fantasy/sci-fi-type
way. My dreams, or rather
nightmares, are often
plagued by the disastrous
relationships I’ve gotten
myself into, which is
interesting considering I
don’t give them much
thought when I’m awake”

Stock and ref images:
www.istockphoto.com, www.sxc.hu,
http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com,
http://anodyne-stock.deviantart.com, artist’s own
THE FALCON’AIRE
(LEFT): “Wearing so little
and being blinded she is
so vulnerable, and she
relies on her falcon’s eyes
to see through. We see her
as she really is and can’t
deny her, while she thinks
of a better world, a world
where people will
understand and they’ll be
no more lies”

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 Feature

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We look at the ins and outs of turning from
amateur enthusiast to professional artist
BY Julie Easton
M
aking the jump to producing art
professionally can be a pretty daunting
task, not to mention the many routes
that you can choose to take, each with their own pros
and cons. Should you go to college or university and
swot up on the theory and practice of making digital art?
Should you join an agency and pay for representation?
Should you go freelance, or set up camp in a studio? We
speak to a plethora of artists who have taken each of
these paths, to pick their minds for the essential tips and
advice to help you make the decision that’s right for you.
Cool for school
In this day and age, there are university and college
courses that cover every possible creative avenue that
you might want to follow, from Illustration to Fine Art
with Digital Art Practices. But for every one artist who has
followed the educational route, there is an artist who is
entirely self-taught, and often the work that they produce
is on a par technically and artistically. Which begs the
question of whether going to university or college
actually pays off.
Jonathan Wong (www.artofwong.com) is an 18-year-
old artist currently in his first year at Limerick School of Art
& Design in Ireland hoping to major in Visual
Communications. He got his first commission for an Irish
dancing website, but at the moment is working on his
college projects, though he often contributes to art
groups depthCORE and Evoke. Always on the lookout for
more professional work, Wong believes that getting the
right training can be a real bonus: “I personally think it is a
“IT CAN BE VERY FLATTERING TO HAVE
AN AGENT APPROACH YOU, BUT THEY
NEED YOU AS MUCH AS YOU NEED THEM”
082-086_AVP_40_Feature.indd 83
Going pro
© Mike Dolan
good idea to get training at a college. The
knowledge you get from tutors can prove
invaluable. You generally pick up a lot by
J&B WHISKEY (ABOVE): “Hand-drawn images are
coming in everyday. Aside from that, it is important to scanned into the computer and tweaked. After those
have a degree that you can put on your CV. It could be initial tweaks are made, colour is added and shading
the difference between getting hired or passed on by is put in place,” says Mike Dolan
potential clients/employers.”
Though still at the start of his career himself, Wong has
plenty of advice to give up-and-coming artists in the
same position: “I think it is important to diversify yourself.
Work to your strengths and know your weaknesses. Just
enjoy what you do and enjoy learning. Have an open
mind and be willing to accept criticism and learn from
that. That’s all I can do myself.” He also advocates the use
of the internet for getting your work known: “Getting your
name out there is important too. The internet is a great
way to achieve this. There is an endless amount of places
where you can post your work and get feedback.”
While Wong advocates training at college or university,
Mike Dolan (www.electricbugle.com) says that a lot of
what you need to know to become professional is self-
taught: “I did follow the usual educational hop scotch of
high school to foundation to degree. However, I would
argue that a lot of it is self-taught and being in a design
course merely provides you with a framework in which to
investigate new working methods yourself.” Dolan himself
undertook a BA (Hons) in Graphic Deign: Illustration at
Bath Spa University and now has plenty of regular work: “I
usually do a spot illustration for FHM on a monthly basis,
and have just finished working with Kesselskramer on
© Manuela Pentangelo
an ad campaign for J&B Whiskey.”
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 Feature
pbell-Ewald AD:
LENDAR: Agency: Cam
EV RO LET CO UN TR Y MUSIC AWARDS CA I had to stri p tog eth er the talent,
2008 CH ere
aj Clie nt: Che vro let. “Th is was a large project wh The re wer e 13 ma jor shots
Luke Palush os.
icle s and crea te arti st signage for the artists’ log ges from the calendar
backgrounds, veh solve. To see all the ima
own creative problem to s Mike Campau
overall, each one with its Sar a Eva ns ima ge,” exp lain
tudio.com and click on the
visit www.seventhstreets

Company profile
ZeegenRush
visual
“Our philosophy is a global creative
ing alon gsid e crea tives who we
agency work
endo usly resp ect and adm ire,” says agent
trem
sh, Helen
and company director for ZeegenRu
we repr esen t we really love,
Rush. “All the work
mos t impo rtan t thing for us.”
which is the
ts or do
So does the company approach artis
cy? “A total mix of
they come directly to the agen
ed by a lot of peop le, but
both. We get approach
selec tive, as we don’ t rep man y
we are very
for us.” So far
people. They need to be just right
e and have their
22 artists have made the grad
ed on the web site.
digital portfolios host © Mike Campau
sh is more than just an illust ration
ZeegenRu
t desig n
agency, says Rush: “We also represen When it comes to becoming a professional artist, you are a freelance illustrator without an agent, you can
rator s that desig n, Dolan thinks that much of it is down to sheer luck: “I still easily spend 85 per cent of your time looking for new
studios that illustrate, illust
ate, anim ators that feel an up-and-coming artist myself, however I would clients and commissions and 15 per cent being creative.
illustrators that anim
make music.”
illustrate and even designers that say that ‘turning professional’ involves both a fair degree It is a great advantage to have someone selling your
Rush explains how artists can get of luck – right time, right place – but also the need to work and showcasing you, and it also enables you to
: “If you would
representation from the company invest a lot of time honing your skills in those down spend more time on the actual artwork. Agents have
by Zeeg enRu sh the first periods.” This is advice that has obviously worked for the knowledge of the market that maybe you lack when
like be represented
is send us exam ples of your work. Dolan, as he landed his first professional job almost as starting up, and they work on commissions so will
thing to do
us som e
Email is easiest: you can either send soon as he graduated: “I got my first commission about a always try to get the best deal for them and for you.”
than six plea se – or month out of university for an American magazine. It Marine knows what it is like to work on her own, too:
low-res examples – no more
site if you have one. If you came about after ‘hawking’ my degree portfolio around “I’ve always been creative and after doing a degree in
a link to your web
send us
need to post us samples, please just various illustration portal websites.” Graphic Design from Brighton Uni I decided to set up
s we can keep . We will take the time to look myself as a freelance illustrator.” As such, she has plenty
item
at everything we receive.” Agency advice of advice to share with artists of the future: “Show your
ident and
Rush has some final advice: “Be conf Dolan is also one of the many artists who choose to use work to as many people as you can. Meet up with some
uce new work . Don’ t lose hear t if an agency to represent their work and get commissions. established illustrators. If nothing else you’ll leave with
always prod
it can take a
you don’t get immediate results – The advantages are clear for him: “Not having to leave some precious feedback on how to reach your goal.”
work ing for you. It’s large gaps in your schedule for chasing down those
while to get your marketing
a tricky old business out there with man y pitfa lls absent fees and sorting through contracts is great.” Going it alone
and competit ion is toug h.” Illustrator Manuela Pentangelo agrees with Dolan, Holly Wales (www.eatjapanesefood.co.uk), illustrator,
www.zeegenrush.com positive about her association with The Illustration art director and artist, says that it is important to try
Source (www.illustration-source.com): “The advantage going it alone for a time first: “Do some hard work; do
is that I can focus on my job, illustrating.” Pentangelo is some cold calling and build up a set of clients you can
self-taught, and got her first commission through a call your own. It will improve your confidence and the
friend who is a member of The Society of Children’s knowledge will do wonders if you suddenly hit a dry
Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She has done a spell with an agent. You have to make sure that you are
number of children’s books, getting a lot of her work joining forces with an agent for the right reasons.”
through The Illustration Source, though she does still do She recommends remembering that the agency
freelance projects on the side. She simply advises: “Fight, benefits from having you as a client: “It can be very
believe, learn and enjoy!” flattering as a new artist to have an agent approach you,
Marine (www.hellomarine.com), a French illustrator but remember they need you as much as you need
based in England, is also happy to sing the praises of her them. You wouldn’t apply for a job if you didn’t think you
agency, ZeegenRush (www.zeegenrush.com): “When had enough experience – so do plenty of thinking

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 © Jonathan Wong
MUSE (ABOVE): “A talented photographer, Tuan
Nguyen, sent me one of his photographs to work
with. I went for a futuristic look because I thought it
suited the pose she was in,” Jonathan Wong tells us
before you rush in. It is a good idea to build up a strong
identity of your own before being put under the umbrella
of someone else’s as well.”
Wales got her first commission from a less than
conventional source, proving Mike Dolan’s earlier
comment that luck plays its part: “I was searching the
internet in 1998 for people with the same surname as me
and met a web designer who two years later passed my
name on to his art director – I illustrated a Flash-based
walkthrough to advertise a new office building. (I’m trying
to say it’s important to see opportunities in the strangest
of places rather than suggesting John Smith goes client-
hunting on GenesReunited.)”
Corinna Radcliffe (www.corinnaradcliffe.com) has
been self-employed since leaving university, but followed
a less conventional route, as she explains: “When I
graduated [from the University of Brighton] I knew that I
wanted to be self-employed and while getting together
an illustration portfolio I began to make and sell products
to make ends meet. This quickly spiralled into setting up
an accessories and homewares company. I spent the next
four years designing, producing and supplying
handmade bags, lampshades, cushions and more to
boutiques and department stores worldwide including
Selfridges and Harrods. In 2005, as the admin side of the
business began to take up more and more of my time, I
decided to close the business and concentrate full time
“NETWORK, MARKET YOURSELF ANDN”
LET YOUR WORK SHOW YOUR PASSIO
082-086_AVP_40_Feature.indd 85
Going pro
ROGER MAG (BELOW): Holly Wales is now
represented by ZeegenRush illustration agency, but
has gone it alone in the past
© Holly Wales
THE DC TEMPLE (BELOW): Student Jonathan
Wong says: “A piece made for depthCORE.com. The
theme was titled ‘Temple’. I made some sketches and
just brought it to life as best I could”
© Jonathan Wong
© Mike Dolan
on illustration. I spent the next few months developing
my style and producing a body of work for my portfolio.”
Radcliffe’s biggest piece of advice for those starting out
freelance is simply to make time for your work, especially
at the beginning when you might be working another
job to pay the bills: “Be realistic about the amount of time
it will take to become established. Too many people get
bogged down in working 9-5 in an office and then find it
very difficult to spend enough time on their illustration.”
Chuck Anderson (www.nopattern.com, www.
npandco.com and www.thebrilliance.com) is a self-
taught 22-year-old freelance artist from Chicago, currently
living in Illinois, whose work involves “photography, fine
art, drawing, illustration, collage and everything in
between”. Getting the right contacts was an important
step for Anderson: “I did one job for a club in Chicago
that was given to me by my good friend Jeffrey
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 Feature
MUSTANG BULLITT (V1) (RIGHT): Agency: Team © Mike Campau
Detroit AD: Jennifer Powers Client: Ford Motor
Company. Artist Mike Campau says: “Made with
supplied photography, illustrations and custom brushes”

Company profile
The Illustration Sourtoce
a t due
“The Illustration Source came abou
Hill. “I’d sent
rejection letter,” says director Matt
cies, and a
my portfolio to one of the big agen
rece ived a lette r from them
few weeks later
ainin g that they ’d alrea dy got someone on
expl
and that there
their books of a very similar style
for that style . I realised
wasn’t enough work © Manuela Pentangelo
dn’t get enou gh work for their
that if they coul
s I didn ’t wan t to be on their books.
illust rator
cy myse lf. Three
So, I decided to start an agen BOOK IMAGE (RIGHT): Manuela Pentangelo explains
repr esen ting almo st 60 this image, which is part of a book that came out last
years later and we’re
s.” Halloween: “I usually start with really small thumbnails
very talented illust rator
oached near the text of the story. Then I build a dummy from title
Initially, The Illustration Source appr page to the end. I scan it and put in the words of the text
g that it need s to
artists, but this isn’t somethin and submit it to the editor. When the storyboard is
rs find us now , and accepted, I start to draw”
do any more: “Illustrato
30 or 40
there have been times when I’ve had
folio s to go thro ugh in a week. Kalmikoff, who I knew from Threadless.com. He didn’t
subm issio n port
I don’t have the time to do [the job] and he referred the client to
I find it hard to reject portfolios that
Illust ratio n Sour ce in me. Jeffrey played a huge role in my early days.”
think are right for The
but you have to reme mbe r He is the first to admit that freelancing can be a lonely
terms of qual ity,
do this than have artists choice of direction: “Absolutely. But for some reason I
that it’s bett er to
happen.” really enjoy being alone. I just have always been a very
expecting to get work that may not
n Sour ce has

“YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN

Hill believes that The Illust ratio
nce just right : “Of our two main
got the bala

YOU’LL GET THAT CALL”

competitors, one has just a handful
illustrators and one has thousand
wanted to give more choice to our
they ’re lost
not so muc h that
You can apply for membership thro
company’s website. Also of
ce has
The Illustration Sour
membership schemes aimed at artis
in their
diffe rent place s
Student option. As the mem
go
the commission rates
www.illustration-source.com
of
s. We always
clients, but
in port folio.” know how the process works. Working alone is good just
ugh the independent person. I got married in August of 2007, so I to keep focused, but to really learn and improve yourself, I
note is the fact that have my wife Holly around with me a lot now, but as far believe you need to surround yourself with other creative
three diffe rent as work goes, I just like to be a one-man show. At least for people.” And does being in a studio environment mean a
ts at now. You just have to tough it out when you feel lonely at lot of work? “I work on about ten projects a month. I just
care ers, start ing with a all. The goods outweigh the bad.” finished up the new Chevrolet Country Music Awards
bers hip fees go up, So what advice can he offer for others thinking of calendar for Campbell-Ewald, where I had to composite
dow n. following a freelance career? “If you’re not enjoying country musicians with backgrounds and Chevrolet
getting through the frustrations of freelancings and vehicles. I also did some preliminary calendar design
finding all the challenges rewarding, it’s probably not for explorations with the agency. I’ve just finished another
you. Be prepared to become less of an artist and more of fun project for Publicis-USA, and its client the Washington
a businessperson/entrepreneur from time to time.” State Lottery. Another project that just went live on the
web was for TeamDetroit (J. Walter Thompson).”
Studio solutions With plenty of experience behind him, Campau has
Many people feel more at ease working in a design some final essential advice for up-and-coming artists:
studio. Mike Campau, creative director at SeventhStreet “Network, market yourself and let your work show your
studio, enthusiastically recommends working as part of a passion. Even while you are looking for that big break,
team: “Even if you can’t get into the ‘design team’, try to make sure you are constantly designing or sketching
get your foot in the door as a runner, assistant or matte ideas to keep your skills and mind sharp, because you
room grunt. You will build some relationships and get to never know when you will get that call.”

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resources

onOne PhotoTools Professional Edition

Quick imaging adjustments from within one program
Manufacturer: onOne Software relief when you’re paying out just under £170 for the plug-in
Web: www.ononesoftware.com package. The trial version functions in exactly the same way,
Price: £169.95 but your image is watermarked when you output the result.
Req: Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher (Universal Binary) PhotoTools uses the power of Photoshop Actions to quickly
Windows XP SP2, Vista or higher automate a huge variety of effects and filters that can be used
(Microsoft .NET 2.0 or higher) to enhance, correct, adjust and change the look of your
Photoshop CS2 (9.0.2), CS3 photos. It couldn’t be easier to use. Once installed, you’ll find a
512MB RAM (1GB recommended) new option appears in the main menu bar of Photoshop:
OpenGL capable video card with 128MB OnOne. Here you can access the full program, or choose from
VRAM (256MB recommended) a selection of the most popular presets for instant application.
1,024 x 768 or higher Loading PhotoTools takes a few seconds, and you are
50MB disk space presented with a helpful nine-page splash screen that walks
Adobe Flash Player 9 you through using the program. You can tick the box to stop
Internet connection (for auto updates) this loading every time you start the program, but it is useful
at first. When the interface opens, it takes literally seconds to

O
nOne’s Photoshop plug-ins have always been met
with favour here at Advanced Photoshop. It was
only back in issue 37 that we took a look at PhotoTune 2.2,
giving it a respectable 4/5 score and commented on its ease
of use and high-quality results. Well, the company is back
again with another photographic-based plug-in that can
really help you to enhance your images with the minimum of
fuss: PhotoTools.
There are two version of PhotoTools available: Standard
and Professional. We took a look at the second of the two, as
it has added functionality (around 100 extra effects), but if
you don’t use photographs in your work that often, then the
Standard version uses the same interface at a lower cost.
A 30-day trial of the program is available from the onOne
site (www.ononesoftware.com), so that you can see if the
program is suitable for your use before purchasing, which is a
take your pick: The Professional Edition
work your way around it. On the left are before and after retails at just under £170, but there is also a
previews of your image; on the right is a library of effects. Standard Edition available for less
Simply select an effect from the library – some will apply
immediately, some will give you additional options – and click
Apply. The effect is applied to the image quickly, updating the
preview. The effect is then added to the Stack, and a Fade
slider is used to change its opacity. You can add as many
effects as you need on top of each other, and you can use the
Stack list to reorder effects to suit.
You can save presets of your effect packages, so that they
can be applied again with ease, and there is also a batch
processing function to treat a number of images in one go. Summary: A great tool for those who
Overall, this is a program that really can help you save time use a lot of photography and want to
get the best out of their images in the
and get great effects in seconds if you need to treat a lot of
quickest way possible.
photographic images in one go. It isn’t cheap, but you get a
lot of functionality for your money. 5
Rating: 4/5

Interface: The interface is similar to Lightroom, with a library of effects down the right of the screen. As you apply effects,
they are added to the Stack, so that you can use multiple filters on one image

Split screen: You can change Before/After windows from individual

images to a split screen to better see the effect of the filters you apply

Help: At launch this short

help guide comes up. You
can disable it, but it is useful
to have the first time you
open the program as it
explains where to find
everything you need

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FREE ACCOUNT: You’ll need to create an account with PhotoBox to order prints, but it takes minutes and you get 30 free standard prints on signing up
PhotoBox 30 x 20-inch prints
Go large with these printing options from PhotoBox
Manufacturer: PhotoBox
Web: www.photobox.co.uk
Price: From £9.50
Spec: 30 x 20” (76 x 51cm) prints
Available in gloss or matte finish
Price decreases as more prints are ordered
30 free prints on signing up to PhotoBox
Fast delivery
M ost of our personal artworks are never seen in a
tangible form, remaining forever on our
computers, web galleries or forums, but never being
printed out.
While the cost of large-format printers is starting to come
down, you’ll often get better quality, with a lot less hassle, by
going through a dedicated printing company. PhotoBox is
one of the best-known photo-printing services, but it also
offers extra-large prints, which are great for showing off
your artwork.
091_AVP_40_Resources.indd 91
resources
Readers’ offer
PhotoBox, the UK’s number one online
digital photo storing, sharing and
printing service, is offering Advanced
Photoshop readers an exclusive
opportunity to buy one get the second
half price on 30 x 20” size photo prints.
That’s right, order one 30 x 20” print
and get the second half price! Produce
your favourite images on a bigger scale
with PhotoBox! PhotoBox is obsessed
with quality – all prints are produced in
its own labs ensuring it maintains its
high standards.
To take advantage of this great offer,
sign up for free at www.photobox.
co.uk/photoshop2 and follow the easy
instructions to upload your work. Enter
the offer code ‘PHOTOSHOP30x20’ as
you go through the checkout. Offer
ends 31 March 2008.
We tried out the service to print off an image at 30 x 20
inches. Signing up for a PhotoBox account takes literally
minutes, and you get 30 free standard-sized prints for
your trouble. From there you can add images using
the simple drag-and-drop interface, or one of the other
upload options, including email and standard browser.
We tried uploading a fairly large photograph, and the
whole process took just a couple of minutes, which is
pretty impressive. Speed will, of course, depend on your
internet connection.
Once the picture is uploaded, you simply select the size
of print that you want, add it to your basket, use the crop
box to line up the dimensions of the print with your image Summary: If you want to show off your
and then go through the checkout. We ordered our print on Photoshop creations, then going large
a Friday afternoon, and it was with us by the Monday is the best way to do it. As long as your
morning, so top marks for speed. images are created at a big enough
size, the quality will be great and the
In terms of quality, we have absolutely no complaints. The
delivery is fast.
print arrived well packaged, in great condition and of
Rating: 4/5
excellent quality. 5
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resources

AKVIS LightShop
Not so much light, more of a let-down for
those with high expectations
Manufacturer: AKVIS
Web: www.akvis.com
Price: $117/£57.27
Spec: Preset light designs
Adjustable parameters such as Color,
Brightness and Blend modes
Easy-to-navigate workspace
Modifiers including Scale, Whirlpool and
Mask Sector
Preview window and effect isolation options
Standalone or plug-in application
Windows 2000/XP/NT/2003/Vista,
Mac OS X 10.3.9-10

O ur first thoughts of AKVIS LightShop are

slightly disappointing. The AP team were keen to try
out this piece of software, with the promise of professional
results. While it does go some way to providing such, we’d
have to say that ‘entertaining’ results would be a more
justifiable description.
Upon installation, opening the software presents a
workspace that seems unfamiliar but it takes little time to
navigate the options, as most are familiar with those in
Photoshop. Color, Brightness, Opacity, Scale and Angle can
be applied to your lighting effects through a system of simple
slide bars and input values located at the bottom of your
workspace. Positioning is a simple task with on-screen
drag-and-drop functions.
You’re presented with quick-start options in the form of
lighting presets. These serve up many capable examples
from fireworks to flame. Upon selecting the most appropriate
with a simple double-click, you can then begin modifications
within the Effect Settings dialog. These provide defined and
variant application, allowing maximum control over your
modifications which include creating forms of gradient
within your light source to the most specific of necessities
and preferences.
Each preset comes with its own defined settings that can
be deactivated and reactivated, known as ‘modifiers’. These
include X and Y scaling, Move grid, allowing you to offset you
light source, and Whirlpool, which acts similarly to the Twirl
filter. These can then be further defined, with options to
modify the Size, Opacity, Particle Count and Particle Size Also, the more we used the options to manipulate, there Lightning: Here’s one we made earlier; such a
simple effect did take a little while
supplying shape and definition. was a distinct feeling of limitation. Not in the options
You can also apply modifiers to any light effect, creating presented, but in the faculty they provide to create in
new sources and groups. Modifiers can be applied with the comparison to Photoshop. We became slightly frustrated at
click of a button, allowing you to select from a range of preset the inability to get stuck in and influence effects directly,
options, though these can also be altered manually. Creations instead forced to apply digit by digit several times over, taking
can be saved anytime and applied to other imagery. us perhaps longer than it should and certainly would if
However, regardless of its attractive presets and defined applied directly in Photoshop. Summary: Fun but at times frustrating,
options, this software does have its shortcomings. Patience Professional designers are said to be able to find many uses this is a product with potential.
However, those versed in more
is a real virtue when using AKVIS LightShop, as at times for the software, however we feel that this is more a teething
advanced techniques may see it as a
application can be increasingly slow. This in turn has an application for those less versed in sophisticated options such
step back.
adverse effect on wanting to create more complex as Photoshop, After Effects and Lightwave 3D. 5
Rating: 2/5
lighting solutions.

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NEC MultiSync Photo Edition LCD 2090UXi
A truly superior product for high-end users
Manufacturer: NEC
Web: www.nec-displays-solutions.co.uk
Price: £439/$894.90
Spec: 20-inch screen size
178-degrees horizontal and vertical
viewing angle
700:1 contrast ratio
1,600 x 1,200 at 60Hz resolution
OmniColor six-axis colour data
Exemplarily ergonomics
MultiSync Soundbar 90
N EC supplies another stellar piece of hardware to the
design market in the form of the MultiSync Photo
Edition LCD 2090UXi. This is a product that promises to
supply “image precision for the perceptive photographer”
and doesn’t shortchange its consumers. In fact, we’re willing
to admit that this monitor is worth every penny spent within
its £439 asking price.
With a professional and seemingly minimal style, the
2090UXi initially seems weighty and perhaps slightly plain. In
fact, this is a technical ‘creature’ of substance rather than style.
Once users place their hands upon the 2090UXi, they discover
just what ergonomic delights it offers. With adjustable height
of up to 150mm, -5 to +30 degree screen tilt and TORO™
Design providing -170 to +170-degree swivel, comfortable
viewing is assured long into lengthy user sessions. This means
that, for example, artists who predominantly work with
portrait imagery can adjust the screen to suit, maximising
application through providing natural viewing.
The monitor also delivers less colour shift and eradication
of glare, reflection or distortion with movement, both screen
and users. AmbiBright is another integrated function within
this powerful product that automatically adjusts the monitor
backlight depending on the brightness of lighting conditions.
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GREEN SCREEN: Eco-Mode conserves energy
by defining a setting for the backlights at a 50 or
75% brightness level
MULTI-ANGLE: Offering 20 inches of viewing
pleasure for the creative professional, the
2090UXi horizontal and vertical frequencies
allow multi-angled viewing
This also provides settings that allow the monitor to
Summary: The MultiSync monitor offers
automatically enter a power-saving mode when lighting users uncompromised performance
falls below predestined values, a saviour regarding and all-new 30 features provide
energy expense. unparalleled dynamics in related fields
At the rear users are provided with three inputs – VGA, and functions. All this, and at a
DVI-I and DVI-D – which allows for the connection of three handsome retail price too
PCs at once. Color Comp provides sophisticated science that Rating: 5/5
in turn provides electronic improvements to uniformity or
hotspots, along with compensation for variances in monitor PRO PERFORMER: The 2090UXi is designed for
high-end users who demand accuracy,
colour, greyscale and luminance. Users can access advanced performance and image control
AccuColor controls purposefully
adjusting colour temperatures, fine-
tuning six separate colour levels, which
is paramount as most LCD monitors
consist of three.
Known as OmniColor, this six-axis
colour data achieves standard sRGB as
well as optimising visual quality by
creating precise colour images for still
imagery. The 2090UXi succeeds in
using the colour reproduction limits of
its competitors to its advantage,
enabling colour correction of individual
value without the disruption of other
colours. Rapid Response technology
allows uninterrupted full motion video,
minimising the effects of ghosting and
blurring, achieving as many as 250
frames per second. The impact of
presentation and streaming web video
is superlative.
Considering all factors, consumers are
presented with a product that delivers crystal clarity of
its on-screen imagery through the application and
collaboration of all its 30 new features. 5
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resources
Black and White in CS3 and Lightroom
The creation of monochrome composition isn’t as black and white as it seems
Manufacturer: Focal Press, an imprint of Elsevier
Web: www.focalpress.com
Price: $34.95/£19.99
Spec: Over 140 coloured pages
Coloured/monochrome annotation
and edification
Step-by-step tutorials presented in
conversation form
Easy-to-follow instructions
Professional tips and tricks
Professional techniques to optimise technical
and creative improvement
Covers all new features in CS3 and Lightroom
Learn methods within RAW converters,
scripts and plug-ins
A rarity of sorts, this is a publication that makes what
seems monotonous or daunting in fact entertaining
and productive. Producing monochromatic imagery and
colour management may seem uninteresting and intensive to
some, but the acknowledgement of such practices can be
essential in creating wonderful imagery for all photographers’
portfolios. So for those looking to brush up such skills, this will
be a profitable purchase.
As you flick through the 240+ pages within this title, you’ll
notice that each page is annotated and accompanied by
reference imagery suggesting this is more than a mere text
book. You’d be right. This title sets itself apart from many on
The HDRI Handbook
Everything you need to know in one book
Manufacturer: Rocky Nook Inc
Web: www.rockynook.com
Price: $49.95/£24.20
Spec: Over 340 full-colour pages,
Foundations of HDRI
HDR workflow tools explained
How to capture HDR
Tone mapping for superior print
Image-based lighting/CG rendering
F rom its laminated, glossy cover to its silky matte
pages laden with colour illustrations, The HDRI
Handbook seems one sexy product for purchase. This
book is an aesthetic pleasure, persuading readers that High
Dynamic Range Imaging is one of the brightest methods in
the creative industry. They’re probably right, both technically
and metaphorically.
But putting the excitement of its visual appeal aside, how
does this title truly deliver? First impressions suggest that it’s
a book with a specific audience in mind. HDRI isn’t an
extremely complex subject, but for someone with little or no
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the market, not only through such values, but also by
streamlining complicated application. It does so by
presenting material in a workshop-oriented capacity,
essentially simplifying the learning process.
Colour management is addressed in a coherent fashion,
outlining core practices, cutting away unnecessary and
confusing information for creative users. Presented in the
form of a quick reference chart, outlining methodologies and
key stages in the acknowledgement section, high-quality
capture, practical workflow practices and non-destructive
digital darkroom image processing are also addressed.
There are many interesting practices that can be divulged
and digested, enhancing an artist’s method. For example,
presenting and deciphering black-and-white conversion
methods, addressing how these must honour spectral
relationships to truly grasp powerful and compelling
advantages. Then there’s the presentation and education of
non-destructive values and best practices within Photoshop
make mistakes: Check out the ‘Mistakes Can
Be Magic’ section for some real creative insight,
revealing that, as Scott Adams says: “Creativity is
allowing yourself to make mistakes; art is
CS3. These, of course, are just two of a plethora of dedicated knowing which ones to keep”
and interesting practices.
Experienced freelance photographer Leslie Alsheimer, Summary: This title certainly teaches
based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, educates throughout this title. essential principles and methods as well
Specialising in one-on-one workshop instruction, she is also as educating users to trust their intuition
the director of the Santa Fe Digital Darkroom & Forward Focus and aesthetic judgement. Its fully
integrated colour managed workflow
workshops. Bryan O’Neil Hughes features also, product
optimises the learning process.
manager for the Photoshop team and product evangelist for
Rating: 4/5
the Lightroom team. Surely a winning team! 5
photography knowledge, this may seem a daunting read.
Needless to say, an interest in the subject is preferable and
will make this book easier to digest.
That’s not to say, however, that this title is in any way elitist.
In essence, it presents itself as the ‘missing link’, documenting
the practices of HDRI – once exclusive to Hollywood – to
consumers at last able to purchase the technology. Jammed
with tricks of the trade and professional practices providing,
as explained, “everything you need to build a comprehensive
knowledge base”, this title will enable you understand the
true creative capabilities of HDRI.
Photoshop users can appreciate this book, as it helps to
understand the true potential and evolve skills throughout its
imaging options. Examples include the specific applications
of Curves, the preference of image modes, the advantage of
non-destructible effects such as Exposure, and the virtues of
comprehending Levels and Channels applications.
All tasks and teachings are defined, and illustrations clearly
DVD: The companion HDRI Handbook DVD
provides practical samples to improve working
visually annotated to make practice as coherent as possible practice, as well as software evaluations and a
new breed of community-driven HDR software, so
for the enthusiastic reader. This is something the title you can hit the ground running
achieves throughout its pages. From describing the core
principles and science, including the relationship between Summary: An all-inclusive read that will
aperture value and exposure compensation, essential enhance techniques and promote the
confidence to use them in photographers,
equipment, the application of specialised effects or CGI
CG artists and cinematographers alike.
application, this clearly defined resource essentially helps
Rating: 4/5
readers understand the foundation of HDRI and beyond. 5
14/1/08 17:40:09