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Transcript of Advanced Photoshop the Magazine for Adobe Photoshop Professionals 126 2014
The
SECRETS OF ADVERTISING
RETOUCHING TIPS FOR PROS30
UR OWN ERHERO
TEAM MIC ARTBUILD YOUR OWN
PHOTOSHOP BRUSHESCreate custom tools to streamline your workflow and stand out from the crowd
HOW TO PAINT
ANTASY WORLDSte-painting techniques for creating istic environments with photos
CREATE THIS
IMAGE
Compose a dynamic layout
Design character archetypes
Master pencilling & inking
Killer commercial art every time
ISSUE 126
Tutorial files available at:blog.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/tutorial-files
NVIDIA® QUADRO®
#1 IN THE HEARTS, MINDS, AND WORKSTATIONS OF DESIGNERS EVERYWHERE
Insightuk.insight.comTel: 0844 846 3333
Scan Computerswww.scan.co.ukTel: 0871 472 4747
Miscowww.misco.co.ukTel: 0800 038 8880
Jigsawwww.jigsaw24.comTel: 03332 400 888
To learn more visit www.pny.eu/quadro or
© 2014 PNY Technologies. The PNY Technologies logo is a registered trademark of PNY Technologies.
© 2014 NVIDIA Corporation. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, NVIDIA Quadro are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. All company and product names are trademarks
or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are as sociated. Features, pricing,
availability, and specifications are all subject to change without notice
NVIDIA® Quadro® graphics cards are the most trusted in the world, empowering 80% of design professionals to do their best, most important work across the widest range of applications. Quadro solutions can help you accelerate your workflows, enhance your results, and maximize your productivity, whatever configuration, model size and complexity, or views you use.
www.nvidia.co.uk/procad
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WELCOMEISSUE 126
Welcome to the latest issue of Advanced Photoshop. With comics-inspired movies going from strength to strength at the box office, we take a look at the original inspiration behind them.
IN THIS ISSUE:
WEB DESIGNADVERTISING
PHOTOMANIPULATIONDIGITAL PAINTING
APRIL MADDENEditor
This issue our cover features our very own
superhero team, created from scratch by illustrator
David Nakayama. Find out more on p52.
On p26 we delve into the world of advertising and
branding, looking at how composition, colour and
typography can tug on a viewer’s psychological
strings to get a message across. Then we move into
the sometimes-controversial area of retouching on
p34, where a selection of professionals share their
30 tips for perfect images. John Ross from The Art
of Retouching follows this up on p46 to craft an
image using both standard and creative techniques.
On p62 you’ll learn how to use Photoshop to
create icons and graphics for responsive web
designs across phones, tablets and desktops alike
with award-winning designer Rolf Anders Jensen.
Then we jump into some serious matte painting
techniques on p66 with Tony Andreas Rudolph Plus
there’s a host of interviews, r
you to explore and enjoy.
FIND US ONLI
@advancedpshop /AdvancedPhotoshop
.co.uk
003
ISSUE 126 CONTENTS
COVER IMAGE
Illustrator, concept artist and comic-book cover
creator David Nakayama walks us through the
process of designing a superhero team from
thumbnails to fi nal artwork. Check it out in
his tutorial on p52.
DAVID NAKAYAMAdna-1.deviantart.com
TYPOGRAPHYNEW MEDIA
WORKSHOP:
EPIC FANTASY LANDSCAPE COMPOSITE
66Combine photo elements and painting techniques to create photoreal concept art
46 WORKSHOP:
MASTER RETOUCHINGUse Photoshop to produce an image that combines standard retouching techniques with creative ones
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46 MASTER RETOUCHING
EYE ON DESIGNWhat’s hot, who’s in and the latest art & design happenings
CONTENTSISSUE 126
004
66 EPIC FANTASY LANDSCAPE CONCEPT
52 CREATE COMIC ART
FOR BACK ISSUES, BOOKS AND MERCHANDISE VISIT:
THIS ISSUE’S PRO PANELOur contributors share Photoshop secrets06INDUSTRY NEWSIntroducing Corel Painter 2015 08
10 PORTFOLIO INTERVIEWAdvantages of working with CGI
16 PROJECT FOCUSCreating a successful ad campaign
18 STUDIO INTERVIEWTrue North
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TECHNIQUESProfessional artists reveal their high-end Photoshop skills in our easy-to-follow workshops
Creative advertising26 INDUSTRY FEATURE
REVIEWSWe put the latest creative kitand apps to the test
80 FEATURE:UGEE Rainbow III vs Wacom Intuos Manga
84 REVIEW:Mischief
Free with issue 126 of Advanced Photoshop
PREMIUM RESOURCES
PLUS:
TAILOR�MADE CREATIVE CONTENT
96 ON YOUR DISC
Create comic art 52 WORKSHOP
Master retouching46 WORKSHOP
30 retouching tips for pros34 INDUSTRY FEATURE
Troller � Made of What You Are58 HOW I MADE
SEE PAGE 24 OR 51 FOR THE LATEST OFFERSSUBSCRIBE TODAY!
66 Epic fantasy landscape conceptWORKSHOP
62 RESPONSIVE DESIGN
26 CREATIVE ADVERTISING
ISSUE 126
Retro fantasy 72 READER INTERVIEW
A’khami 78 HOW I MADE
62 Responsive designWORKSHOP
Photography in a digital world 86 READER INTERVIEW
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EYE ON DESIGN THIS ISSUE’S PRO PANEL
THIS ISSUE’S PRO PANELMEET THE EXPERTS BEHIND THIS ISSUE’S AMAZING ARTWORK AND DISCOVER SOME OF THEIR TRADE SECRETS
EYE ON DESIGN
DAVID NAKAYAMAhttp://dna-1.deviantart.com
Using Window>Arrange>New Window for…, I always keep a duplicate window of whatever I’m working on open on my secondary monitor. This lets
me keep an eye on the overall image even as I’m focused on details, and unlike the Navigator, the image isn’t grainy or partially covered by a
distracting border box.
■ Create incredible comic art from scratch with Marvel superhero David Nakayama on p52
JOHN ROSSwww.theartofretouching.com
The best retouching is when no
one knows you have done
anything at all. Proper retouching
begins in pre-production, not
post-production. Know where you are going, and
how you are going to get there. On the back end,
keep your file structure clean and organised. No one
will see it, but it will make changes easier later.
■ Master pro retouching with John Ross in his
expert tutorial on p46 © Jo
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ROLF ANDERS JENSENwww.portfolio.works
Using Smart 34 x 34 Vector Objects to create icons in Illustrator and pasting them into your
Photoshop designs is the best and most seamless way to create SVG or Retina-ready
graphics for your developer, and they will love you for it. This is a great workaround instead
of having the designer save out 2x graphics for every icon in your user interface.
■ Discover more about creating web assets in Photoshop in Jensen’s tutorial on p62
TONY ANDREAS RUDOLPH www.zulusplitter.de
Photoshop has a lot of different, useful tools to select a part of a photo, like the Lasso tool,
Color Range or Magic Wand tools. Very often I use photos as a kind of brush. To select the
part I want, I can recommend the Quick Selection tool. This powerful tool works like a
brush and creates automatically smoothed selections.
■ Journey to a fantasy world with Rudolph as he explains how to use matte painting techniques in
imaginative scenes on p68
Proper retouching begins in pre-production, not post-production. Know where you are going, and how you are going to get there
© To
ny A
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© Imagine Publishing Ltd 2014ISSN 1748-7277
Magazine teamEditor April Madden [email protected]
01202 586218
Editor in Chief Dan Hutchinson Production Editor Alicea FrancisSenior Designer Curtis Fermor-DunmanPhotographer James SheppardSenior Art Editor Duncan CrookPublishing Director Aaron AsadiHead of Design Ross AndrewsContributorsJulie Bassett, Rolf Anders Jensen, Larissa Mori, David Nakayama, Kirk Nelson, John Ross, Tony Andreas Rudolph, Anna-Lisa Saywell, Simon Skellon and Poz Watson
AdvertisingDigital or printed media packs are available on request.Head of Sales Hang Deretz
01202 [email protected] Manager Alex Carnegie
01202 [email protected]
Cover discJunior Web Designer Steve [email protected]
InternationalAdvanced Photoshop is available for licensing.Contact the International department to discusspartnership opportunities.Head of International Licensing Cathy Blackman
+44 (0) 1202 [email protected]
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UK: 0844 848 8402 Overseas: +44 (0) 1795 592 880
13-issue subscription (UK) – £62.3013-issue subscription (Europe) – £7013-issue subscription (ROW) – £80
CirculationHead of Circulation Darren Pearce
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FoundersGroup Managing Director Damian ButtGroup Finance & Commercial Director Steven Boyd
Printing & DistributionPrinted by: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XTDistributed in the UK & Eire by: Marketforce, Blue Fin Building,110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SU
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DisclaimerThe publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.Photoshop is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries and is used with express permission. All $ prices are US Dollars unless otherwise stated.
If you submit material to Imagine Publishing via post, email, social network or any other means, you automatically grant Imagine Publishing an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free license to use the images across its entire portfolio, in print, online and digital, and to deliver the images to existing and future clients, including but not limited to international licensees for reproduction in international, licensed editions of Imagine products. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Imagine Publishing nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for the loss or damage.
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+44 (0) 1202 586200Web: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk www.greatdigitalmags.com
The magazine for Adobe® Photoshop® professionals
JOHN ROSS / WWW.THEARTOFRETOUCHING.COM
© R
olf A
nder
s Jen
sen
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EYE ON DESIGN INDUSTRY NEWS
INTRODUCING COREL PAINTER 2015
THE LATEST ITERATION OF COREL’S PREMIUM DIGITAL PAINTING SOFTWARE IS MORE PHOTOSHOP�FRIENDLY THAN EVER
INDUSTRY NEWS
Corel Painter 2015 hit the
shelves in August, and it’s
looking like the best version
of Painter yet. Many digital
artists bounce their work between
Photoshop and Painter, using the
strengths of each program to craft the ultimate in
digital illustration.
Painter has always been Adobe file-friendly, but
this release sees it stepping up to the level of its
frequent partner, as it finally introduces 64-bit
NEW FEATURES Many of the libraries within
Painter have been updated,
with new toys to play with in
the Weaves, Patterns,
Selections, Papers and
Image Hose Nozzle libraries.
Flow Map textures allow you to
apply a texture to a piece of artwork
that will emerge as you paint, and you can
now transform your own images into Flow Maps
too. The Brush Tracking utility has also been
improved, allowing you to teach Painter your
preferred painting style, such as the levels of
pressure you typically use.
support for both Mac and PC. It’s also the fastest
version of Painter to date. Corel claims that it runs,
on average, 40 per cent faster than previous
versions, with brushes typically benchmarking at six
times faster than their predecessors. For digital
artists used to the speed of Photoshop CC, this is a
welcome performance boost.
Other new features include better stylus control
and support, known as Real Time Stylus, default UI
profiles for a range of different digital artists, such as
photo artists and illustrators, and of course the
obligatory new brush set that always wows
long-term Painter fans. 2015 is no different: the
Particle brushes it introduces are groundbreaking.
The Painter Advisory Council, a community of
digital artists who have been using the program for a
long time and know exactly what digital artists want
from it, have driven many of the innovations in
Painter 2015. Take a look at the new features they’ve
inspired right here!
Forward Escape by Painter Master Android Jones showcases the awesome possibilities of Painter’s latest iteration
Painter is associated with rich, painterly artwork, but in Dragon Hunter, Erik Holman shows off its clean, illustrative capabilities
© E
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Painter’s Jitter controls allow for natural-looking
variance within your brushstrokes. You can now
achieve handmade, naturalistic variance without
constantly varying your settings. The Jitter
controls cover variations in colour, angle and
opacity for building up different hues, shapes and
shades, allowing you to create a truly organic
look with Painter’s extensive library of
real-media-inspired brushes.
The innovation that will really excite long-term
Painter fans and Photoshop users alike! Painter’s
new Particle brushes are inspired not by traditional
brushes but by physics itself. They come under three
different umbrellas: Gravity, Flow and Springs. Each
of these reacts to brushstrokes in different ways,
producing marks never before seen in digital
painting. They can be tightly controlled or allowed to
run free to create abstract effects, and are perfect for
glowing and fiery effects.
JITTER SMOOTHING
Much-loved digital painting tutor Don Seegmiller shows off the capabilities of the new Particle brushes in Dark Princess, also used as the box art for Painter 2015.
The new Particle brushes provide the ability to create fiery and glowing effects with the stroke of a stylus
Painter is a feature-packed piece of software and
can sometimes feel overwhelming. If you want to
use it for specific tasks, you can now set it to one
of three built-in UI profiles optimised for different
kinds of artwork. The Simple layout features
commonly used tools, the Photo Art profile
concentrates on image optimisation, cloning and
paintover tools, and the Illustration profile is
optimised for illustrators. When you open the
program, you can choose one of these profiles for
the project you’re working on directly from the
Welcome screen.
© D
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PARTICLE BRUSHES
CUSTOMISED UI PROFILES
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EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
CREATIVE RETOUCHER AND 3D EXPERT RADOSLAV ŽILINSKÝ ON CREATING IMAGES FOR BIG�NAME CLIENTS
PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
ADVANTAGES OF WORKING WITH CGI
www.radoxist.comRadoxist_studio
CGI photography is not an easy field to
master, so when you throw 3D into the
mix, things can get very complicated. By
his own admission, Radoslav Žilinský
believes that artists should specialise in one area
rather than being just okay at everything – that way
clients know what to look for.
However, with experience working for big-name
clients including Saatchi & Saatchi and Magnum,
Žilinský’s creative flair seems to have no bounds.
“Now what really fascinates me about the industry is
the variety of requests that come to me. It always
surprises me, especially if you work with top art
directors and advertising agencies. Emerge a
submarine in the streets of Paris? No problem!”
TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT YOUR
HISTORY AS AN ARTIST?
I was always fond of drawing and cartoons, but what
really made a difference was when I got a first release
of 3D software – 3ds Max. I had a long summer in
front of me, and an even longer software manual.
Page after page it revealed the mysteries of 3D CGI. It
was during that time that I became fascinated with
anything visual. It was just a first step.
Back then, CGI was new to clients and they were a little bit sceptical. Slowly, one project after another, they became more
confident and eventually understood the big advantages of CGI
010
WHAT WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS
THAT YOU LEARNT DURING YOUR EARLY
YEARS OF IMAGE�MAKING?
When I think about it, I’ve come to the conclusion that
there are lessons to be learnt all the time. This is
maybe the most important one too – the sole
realisation that everything happens [in order to] teach
us something. It is hard to give advice, because
everyone needs to learn something different.
Recently I have tried to meditate more – it gives me
more detachment and clears my mind. This helps
me to identify and learn the lessons.
YOU WORK A LOT IN CGI PHOTOGRAPHY AND
CREATIVE RETOUCHING. HOW DID YOU
SPECIALISE IN THAT?
I slowly realised that there are so many ways of
applying my talent and it is sometimes a bit
confusing. From making 3D models for games,
matte paintings for films, through to retouching for
advertising agencies, it is easy to get lost. Therefore
it is great to specialise and pick just what you are
best at. Then, for clients, it is much easier to identify
you from the crowd.
YOU SAY YOU’VE WORKED WITH SAATCHI &
SAATCHI BEFORE. WHAT WAS YOUR BRIEF
WITH THEM?
It is nice that you mentioned Saatchi & Saatchi,
because it is actually the agency I started
collaborating with back in 2010, and now we have
completed 51 projects together! Back then, CGI was
quite new to clients and they were a little bit
sceptical. Slowly, one project after another, they
became more confident and eventually understood
the big advantages of CGI. But if I could pick a
particular client of Saatchi & Saatchi, I would
definitely go for CSOB Bank. They were happy from
Last Minute: This is a perfect example of what we love to do the most. A neat combination of 3D CGI, fashion retouching, matte painting, photomanipulation and colour grading accompanied with a nice idea
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Flip Flop Visuals – Island: This was the first visual from a series. MUW Saatchi & Saatchi
commissioned us to do the series of image visuals for their client, travel agency Ruefa Reisen.
Flip Flop Visuals – Pool: This is the second visual from the travel series. From time to time, there is a project that you instantly fall in love with. Finally I can showcase it here
Flip Flop Visuals – Inflatable: Finally, the third visual from the Ruefa Reisen travel series commissioned by MUW Saatchi & Saatchi
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Football Visual: After receiving a brief of ‘the atmosphere of village football’, we knew that this was going to be a lot of fun during the production and photo shoot phase. It was a beautiful project!
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the start about using CGI and 3D, and we have done
many creative prints for them.
TELL US ABOUT MAGNUM’S 25TH BIRTHDAY
IMAGE CAMPAIGN. WHAT PART DID YOU PLAY
IN IT?
I was quite excited when LOLA Madrid came to me
to produce a visual for Magnum’s 25th birthday:
wrapping a Magnum in golden paper with a beautiful
bow on top. I always wanted to do something similar
to this, because the simple things are often the most
difficult. It was the first time my visual was tested on
people before launching on air, and thankfully it
passed successfully! In the end it was used as a
teasing visual on digital and social media for the new
Silver Magnum.
WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF
CREATING A COMMERCIAL IMAGE?
To stay confident. There are so many people adding
their input during the process. Meeting the visual
taste of an art director and client, consistently
watching over the quality of output of your
co-workers and keeping up with deadlines can be
difficult. So many things can go wrong, but you just
need to stay focused and believe in yourself. In the
end you often realise that everything went smoothly.
WHICH OF YOUR IMAGES ARE YOU MOST
PROUD OF AND WHY?
It is quite hard for me to maintain pride, because I’m
a person that loves to progress, and when you
progress, the love for your older work slowly
shrinks. I know that this is a little bit cruel, but it
applies to everything in life.
But if I have to pick one project, it would be my
series of flip flop visuals for Saatchi & Saatchi and
client Ruefa Reisen travel agency. I had a chance to
cooperate with one of the most talented art directors
and co-owner of Saatchi & Saatchi, Rasto Ulicny. I
learnt a lot from this project and it pushed my skills
much further.
WHAT DO YOU FEEL SEPARATES YOUR
ARTWORK FROM THE OTHERS?
It will sound surprising, but my personality. Even
through my work, I believe that the most important
part is to evolve as a human being, and when I
develop my personality it will reflect in my work too.
It’s a win-win situation. My work is not about my
visual talent, it is more about adding tons of tiny
details. Most importantly it’s about good
communication with your client and people around
you, having a helpful attitude, solving problems,
staying organised and not overloading yourself. I try
to do all of these things.
DO YOU PREFER WORKING IN 3D OR
PHOTOSHOP SOFTWARE?
It slowly shifted from 3D in the past to Photoshop in
013
Travel Luggage: We used a combination of 3D CGI and retouching for this project. The shoot was organised by Radoxist studio and a matte painting background was used to produce this visual
EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
Do The Right Mix – UFO: The second in the series of 3D work completed for ‘Do the Right Mix – European Mobility Week’ with friends Jekyll ‘n Hyde
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■ THE BIG PICTURE Do not get stuck on the details too early. They are essential, but your image needs to work as a whole first. Work on the rough image and when you think it fits, move on to a deeper level of detail. After a few steps, do not forget to zoom out and check if everything is alright.
■ NEW TECHNIQUES It is good to master one technique, but try not to stay with your favourite one for too long. If you are stuck and not improving, try to learn a new tool. It will push the old one too. Look into fields like matte painting, concept art, photomanipulation, 3D, photography and retouching.
■ DO NOT BE AFRAID OF MURDER Every project counts, because you have definitely learnt something new. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to showcase them all. Just pick the best ones, with the most public reaction and kill the old ones. People are busy, so they need to know quickly who you are.
PORTFOLIO TIPS
PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
the present. In the past I really enjoyed working with
the details in 3D, observing materials and mimicking
the real world. Now, I’m more into the emotion and
overall feeling of an image and with Photoshop, I get
quicker visual feedback. This allows me to do a
better job regarding the final result. So even though
Photoshop is more important to me, I always try not
to forget the things that I learnt in early years about
adding detail.
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR
DAY�TO�DAY WORKING LIFE? ARE YOU OFTEN
WORKING ON MORE THAN ONE PROJECT?
My working life is dependent on the period I’m in. I
try to focus my work on one particular project,
because doing too many things at the same time
leads to nothing. For example, recently I have
focused more on advertising and redesigning my
website. It started with a feeling that I needed to
make another step as a studio. From now on, it will
go back to being about work, so it just naturally shifts
forward.
WHICH TECHNIQUE DO YOU FIND GETS YOU
THE MOST COMMISSIONS? IS THERE A GENRE
THAT IS MOST POPULAR WITH CLIENTS?
It is hard to tell. My visuals are rarely done using just
one technique, so I think what really attracts my
clients is my visual style, a combination of realism
and the illustrative look.
IS THERE AN ADVANTAGE TO WORKING FOR
A STUDIO AS OPPOSED TO FREELANCE?
I do not think that advantages are the most
important. The most important thing for anyone to
discover is whether your personality fits to freelance
or working in a studio. The only way to find out is to
try both. The more you try, the easier it is for you to
find out what works. Listen to your intuition and do
not mistake it for fear.
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR ANY OTHER
FREELANCERS OR GRAPHIC ARTISTS TRYING
TO GET A FOOT IN THE DOOR?
I think that the most important thing is to realise
that it is not solely about your talent. I have to admit
that the biggest weakness of most artists is
communication. For me, communication is one of
the most important aspects of work or any
relationship, because I think that everything can be
solved just by talking.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? WHAT ARE YOU
WORKING ON?
Right now I’m finishing a series of three visuals for
014
The most important thing for anyone to discover is whether your personality fits to freelance or working in a studio. The only
way to find out is to try both
TMP Worldwide London and their client Arup. It is the
kind of project I love the most and presents another
challenge for me. Hopefully I can share it with you in
the next few weeks, so stay tuned on my website or
social networks.
Dinosaurs:
Magnum’s 25th Birthday:
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Transform your photos into photo books
ou decide which books are available for sale and et the prices. Your clients order by dragging and ropping their photos into the template of their hoice. One Vision Imaging prints and ships the
ust £100 per year.
Try it free at zenfolio.com/photobooks
Photo books printed by One Vision Imaging
Portfolio Galleries Marketing Selling
Create and sell photo books directly from your website
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EYE ON DESIGN PROJECT FOCUS
PROJECT FOCUS
W hen Polish advertising agency byss.pl
was first approached to work on the
labels and key visuals for a client as
important as Original Source, it was up
to graphic designer Krzysztof Olak (www.behance.
net/krisolak) to use Photoshop to create the artwork
that would be perfect for the job.
“I had the pleasure of working on the Seasonal
Edition designs,” he explains, telling us that he was
given a lot of creative freedom to generate the ideas
that would eventually go into the ads. “Our team had
the idea to hint at the origin of the components and
fruits used in the Seasonal Editions within the label
design. In the 2013 Seasonal Editions there were two
fragrances: ‘Raspberry & Cocoa’ and ‘Mandarin &
Basil’. In the first one I made reference to Aztec
culture for the cocoa and my home country, Poland,
for the raspberry.”
The result of the team’s idea and Olak’s ingenious
work was a big success. So much so, in fact, that
byss.pl and Olak created another vibrant ad using the
same idea for the ‘Carambola’ Seasonal Edition
fragrance again in 2014. To find out more, Advanced
Photoshop spoke to Olak to discover exactly how he
did it.
WHEN WERE YOU FIRST INSPIRED TO LEARN
PHOTOSHOP AND USE IT AS A TOOL FOR
ADVANCING YOUR CAREER?
Well, since I was a little boy I have liked to draw, and
everyone told me I was a gifted guy. I won a lot of
drawing contests in primary school. I remember back
in 2009 a friend that I have known since my childhood
showed me some work by Peter Jaworowski. I was
really amazed by the power of Photoshop to the point
that I installed the CS2 version on my PC. From that
moment my curiosity turned into a hobby, and after a
year I had my first features and exposure on the web.
Two of my works have won a Featured Image award
on the Advanced Photoshop website.
I was spending my whole spare time learning the
tools and techniques in Photoshop back then,
constantly learning something new. I was really
determined to grow my skills in every field of design
and every award that I’ve achieved pushed me to
work more and more. Today I work full time as a
graphic designer in one of the best advertising/
interactive agencies in Poland.
WHAT PHOTOSHOP TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
DID YOU MAINLY USE TO CREATE THE AD?
DETAILS LIKE THE WATER ARE STUNNING!
Thank you! Mainly I used creative photo retouching
with photomanipulation and digital painting
techniques. As for the water, I used the good old Warp
tool with the Screen blending mode, and a lot of
water splashes were digitally painted. The key visuals
are based on stock photos. I also used a lot of clipping
masks to paint the shadows and highlights or other
image adjustments such as Brightness/Contrast,
Levels or Selective Color.
WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER USING SOFTWARE
OTHER THAN PHOTOSHOP TO CREATE ADS
SUCH AS THESE?
To be honest with you, no! I’ve been using Photoshop
since I can remember. If someone took Photoshop
away from me I would probably start using 3D
software to try to make ads like these. Of course, 3D
modelling takes a lot more time, and time is precious
when you work in an ad agency. Photoshop gives me
a range of opportunities to work on stock photos and
retouch; this software is irreplaceable for me.
HAVING SAID THAT, ARE THERE ANY TOOLS OR
FEATURES THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE IN THE
NEXT VERSION?
I work with the CS5 version at my agency and I really
miss some features that are available in CS6,
especially the layer search feature. I am the first to
admit that I’m not a tidy person when it comes to
naming each layer separately, that’s why I really love
this feature.
It’s also possible to not only use layer groups as
the basis of clipping masks, but also to apply layer
effects to an entire group. Previously, they could only
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Krzysztof Olak is a multidisciplinary designer who
lives and works in Stettin, Poland. A� er fi ve years of experience in the
industry, his work has been featured on Digital Art Served, Branding Served, Packaging
Design Served and in numerous magazines. Olak works full time as
a graphic designer at interactive agency byss.pl, where he works for
numerous clients such as Original Source and Carlsberg. He is also a
proud member of Goverdose Polish art collective.
KRZYSZTOF OLAKwww.behance.net/krisolak
ORIGINAL SOURCE SEAS
NAME OF PROJECT
040016
GRAPHIC DESIGNER KRZYSZTOF OLAK REVEALS HOW HE AND HIS TEAM CREATED THE ADS FOR ORIGINAL SOURCE’S SEASONAL EDITIONS
CREATING A SUCCESSFUL AD CAMPAIGN
2014 ‘Carambola’ ad
Ingredients as inspiration
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I had to make a background that indicated the carambola fruit origin, so I decided that I would make a photomanipulation using stock photos from Java. The biggest challenge was to make the packshot more interesting. To do that, I decided to wrap the package around with a carambola tree, an idea which all started with a simple sketch.
The tree was made by combining about 20 bark stock photos. To blend the bark together as one I used masks and a lot of retouching techniques and digital painting to paint branches or leaves. Some of the bark stocks were resized and stretched by using the Warp tool. After everything was blended together, I had to adjust every piece I used to build the tree. There were a lot of clipping masks used with adjustments like Selective Color, Curves and Shadows/Highlights painted with a simple soft brush.
The splashes are also stock photos resized and distorted with the Warp tool. I mostly used the Screen blending mode, and sometimes Linear Dodge on the bright sides of the background to make the water more visible.
be applied to individual layers. The Eyedropper tool
has also now been tweaked so that it can sample
underlying layers as if intervening adjustment layers
weren’t there, which makes patching and retouching
much easier. I’m a lucky owner of Photoshop CS6 and
it has all the features and functions I need to keep my
workflow going strong.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A
BEGINNER ON HOW THEY CAN QUICKLY
IMPROVE THEIR PHOTOSHOP SKILLS?
Only hard work can improve your skills quickly! Keep
an eye out for good tutorials and learn from them,
visit good design portals for inspiration, and join an
art collective where you can get feedback from other
designers and artists. Most importantly, love what
you do.
WHAT RESOURCES WOULD YOU RECOMMEND
TO OTHER BUDDING DIGITAL ARTISTS FOR
INSPIRATION AND LEARNING NEW SKILLS?
I’m a part of Goverdose art collective. You can get free
PSD files to download from our ‘Goverdose Academy’
page on Facebook. I suggest keeping an eye out for
some great free stuff and tutorials on there. I would
also recommend visiting ‘Psdtuts+’ for some
awesome tutorials.All i
mag
es ©
Wik
toria
Gry
niec
Extra details
Water effects
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STUDIO INTERVIEW
MEET THE MANCHESTER STUDIO THAT HELPS BUSINESSES BUILD EFFECTIVE BRAND IDENTITIES AND CAMPAIGNS THROUGH A STRONG TEAMWORK ETHOS AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF CLIENT NEEDS
TRUE NORTH
EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW
018
At True North, every member of the team is
considered equally important, and it is by
working together that the studio can deliver
effective designs that help brands to drive
business. Head of artwork Ed Dunsdon believes that
this is what sets the studio apart from its peers. “In
my experience, the True North studio stands apart
from other studios because of the structure of the
design teams and the egalitarian culture that
permeates from the top down,” he says. “The teams,
led by senior designers and guided by the design
director and creative director, continually share and
discuss ideas from the concept stage through to final
artwork. There are no egos or dominant
personalities, which makes for a very calm, focused
and enjoyable creative environment.”
The studio was started 12 years ago by
co-founders Ady Bibby, Martin Carr and Craig
Webste. “They shared a ‘frustration with mediocrity’
and believed that there was a place for a really great
Manchester-based design agency,” says design
director Karen Hughes. “The original details of True
North were decided at a high-powered meeting in
the Sainsbury’s cafe in Denton. Despite these humble
beginnings, within six months of setting up they had
been appointed to the rosters of Bank of Scotland,
BMI, and worked on the launch of Imperial War
Museum North. From day one the driving force
behind True North has always been great ideas that
‘work’ for our clients and help drive business
success. To achieve this is a matter of strategy,
creativity and craft, and although there have been
many changes at True North over the years, this has
and always will remain the why and how we do what
we do.”
The reason for the success of the studio is down
to the collaborative efforts of the team members,
each pulling on their own strengths to the
requirements of the brief. “It’s about getting the right
team and the right expertise on the right jobs,” says
Hughes. “Our strategic and creative teams work
closely together from day one and throughout the
process to make sure we really understand the client
and deliver on their brief.”
This collaboration very much centres around the
client and their needs, with the studio team working
closely with them at every stage to ensure that the
final result is the very best that it can be. When asked
if True North is able to add its own style and input
into each brief, Hughes replies: “Rather than
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True North is an award-winning strategic branding agency based in the heart of the Northern Quarter in Manchester. Its ethos is
‘brands that drive business’, and they believe in simple ideas that make a big difference to brands and businesses.
TRUE NORTHABOUT THE STUDIO
www.thisistruenorth.co.uk@thisistruenorth
Karen HughesDesign Director
Sarah HardmanDesigner
Ed Dunsdon Head of Artwork
From day one the driving force behind True North has always been great ideas that ‘work’
for our clients and help drive business success
The studio works on a range of projects, predominately print-based, for well-known business clients
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4020
EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW
influence our clients with our own personal taste, we
help them to find their own style that helps them
capture and communicate who they are and what
they do. To make this happen, we start a long time
before we start kerning the type and looking at CMYK
breakdowns. It’s about really understanding the job in
hand. This means when we get a brief, we pull it
apart, get to grips with what the client actually wants
to get out of it, then we put it back together again. We
ask lots of questions, we involve all the stakeholders
and really get under the skin of our client’s
businesses and organisations.”
Because of this flexibility and ability to adapt to
meet each client’s needs, True North has attracted
some well-known businesses to its roster. A
particular standout project for the team was a recent
commission for a wayfinding job for Dunham
Massey, a National Trust property on the outskirts of
Greater Manchester. This job came off the back of
another, creating a set of guidelines for them to use
internally. Designer Sarah Hardman tells us more
about the brief: “A visual language was created to
help them push their proposition of ‘More than just a
walk in the park’, unifying all areas of the estate and
drawing visitors into areas they might not have
previously visited.” In February this year, Dunham
opened an impressive new visitor reception building
to facilitate its large number of visitors. True North’s
job was to design the wayfinding and environmental
graphics for the new build, helping people navigate
while bringing the story of Dunham to life through
material, interpretation spaces and the visual
language. “For the navigational elements we created
a modular system that could be applied consistently
throughout the space for ease of use,” explains
Hardman. “Once we had tackled the practical
A team of 11 legendary British footballers come together for the first time in Royal Mail’s Football Heroes stamps
England players illustrated through ash for our ‘New
Era, Old Enemy’ campaign for the Ashes at Old
Trafford in 2013
The studio enjoys “a very calm, focused and enjoyable
creative environment”
The team know how to relax in-between working hard to meet client briefs and deadlines
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04 FINAL RETOUCHWorking from the marked-up proof, the retoucher has strengthened
the lighting on the leading edge, rounded the back and tidied the model’s hair.
The image has been cut out and layered so that it can be dropped into the
artwork files.
03 FIRST RETOUCHThe retouch increases the highlights
and overall lighting, enhancing the muscle
definition to give the impression of the surface
texture of the brain. At this stage the retouch is
shown to the designer and the creative director.
Amends are marked up on the proof and
returned to the retoucher.
05 PRACTICAL USEThe retouched image is now incorporated into client stationary. The
image is applied to the letterhead and the reverse of the business card.
02 STUDIO SHOTThis is the chosen image from the studio
shoot. The designer oversaw the shoot and planned
the lighting with the photographer to match as
closely as possible to the visual concepts.
SPORT PSYCHOLOGY BRAND IDENTITYARTWORK MANAGER ED DUNSDON TALKS US THROUGH THIS RECENT BRANDING PROJECT
01 SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST CONCEPTThis shows the initial concept for
the brand identity; a strong identity that helps
communicate the mental and physical elements
of sports psychology. It was built on the
observation that muscle definition of the human
body mirrors the brain.
The brief for this project was to “create an engaging brand identity based around the function of the company that is both professional and confident”
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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF SARAH HARDMANDESIGNER SARAH TAKES US THROUGH A TYPICAL DAY AT TRUE NORTH
components of the wayfinding system, we could
then layer in ideas that had a bit more emotion, that
told a story, that communicated the brand and
engaged with its users. We had to consider the use
of the visual language in the environment and how it
could be used to talk to various audiences that
Dunham welcomes. Communicating on these
different levels brought us a lot of enjoyment, and it
was great to see people engaging with the space
while also being able to find where they need to go.”
True North isn’t afraid to tackle a challenging
project head on, as exhibited through the Dunham
project. Another recent example is a pilot project for
Sport England and Bury Council to encourage
women and girls to do more exercise. This type of
project needs much more than just good design, as
there are numerous other factors that need to be
considered from the outset. “The main challenge was
to get women to overcome their fears and barriers to
exercise,” says Hardman. “Our solution was to take
the intimidation out of exercise, showing women
they are not on their own. Therefore we created the
brand campaign ‘I Will If You Will’, which encouraged
women to support each other and get moving
together. The campaign involved creating a brand
video, six sheet campaigns, and campaign collateral,
which all showed real women of Bury, in real
situations, telling real stories, deliberately avoiding
the unrealistic, intimidating, size 8 model imagery
usually used to promote women’s exercise. The
response in Bury has been great, and so far the
campaign has been a huge success, with women
09:00 BREW ROUND With the ‘delayed trains’ excuses
out of the way, it is time for the morning brew. We all
do our best to avoid having to make it. If successful
in escaping the round, then yesterday’s timesheet
will always need completing.
10:30 MORNING BRIEFDue to the nature of my work,
there’s never really a typical day. A new project is
briefed this morning and I will get time to think
around the idea. More often than not a team of us
will get our heads together to gain stronger answers.
13:00 LUNCHTIME RUNRunning club commences at 1pm,
all abilities welcome. A slow, steady pace is run
along the canal, Manchester City Stadium being our
halfway marker. With a cold shower and a clear
head, we’re now ready for the afternoon.
sharing their positive stories and benefits of getting
more active.”
The team uses the Adobe suite of programs to
achieve its creative visions, including Photoshop,
Illustrator and InDesign. “Photoshop is an intrinsic
tool within the studio,” says Ed Dunsdon. “[It helps] to
manifest creative ideas and concepts. We use it at all
levels, from batch processing and contact sheets, to
retouching and full creative compositions. The
majority of our work is print-based, and imagery
plays an important part in bringing concepts to life,
from postage stamps to billboards.”
A combination of effective imagery and a strong
understanding of what a business needs from its
branding materials is certainly a recipe for success,
and will ensure a strong future for the operations of
True North. For Karen Hughes, it is the members of
the team that are the real secrets to its impressive
achievements: “The people who work here are what
make True North, and they will be what shapes True
North over coming years. Our team here is a great
mix of experiences; we’ve got people here from day
one who’ve been through it all a hundred times over,
mixed with enthusiastic young graduates who are
looking to make their mark. It’s this mix of people
and energy that makes the future of True North
really exciting, and there really is a feeling that the
best is yet to come.”
Our team here is a great mix of experiences; we’ve got people here from day one who’ve been through it all a hundred times
over, mixed with enthusiastic young graduates
An updatable timeline of events and exhibitions during the Wellcome Collection’s redevelopment project
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023023
TOP 5 PRODUCTION TIPS Ed Dunsdon shares his top tips for ensuring a seamless workflow
14:00 PHOTO SHOOT This afternoon I am out of the office
at a photo shoot for Bury Council, art directing our
photographer Stuart Hendry to capture how the real
women of Bury are getting more active as part of our
‘I Will If You Will’ campaign.
16:00 BACK TO WORKBack to the office to get cracking on
with the brief. I will spend a couple of hours
researching and scribbling down ideas before
sharing with the rest of the team in the design crit.
Not quite there yet, best keep thinking...
18:30 HOME TIMEWith the timesheets done, it’s now
time to put the Mac to sleep and call it a day (or
sometimes a night). On a good day it’s a 6.30pm
finish (if we’re lucky). Cue the race for the lift.
Maximum weight is 400kg!
■ PHOTOSHOP LAYERSAlways order and name your layers clearly and logically. This is especially important when working on multi-layer comps that someone else may need to pick up to work on.
■ RENAME FILESBatch Rename in Adobe Bridge is a quick and easy way to rename multiple image files.
■ NEVER DELETEWhen a designer, or client, asks you to take something out of a comp, never delete it – always mask it. They are bound to ask for it to be put back in.
■ HOUSEKEEPINGArtwork is about good housekeeping. Create a centralised resources point for all images and logos, so that the creative team is always using the latest versions.
■ CAN DOArtwork and production should be about ‘can do’ or ‘let’s see what we can do’ to assist the creatives to visualise their concepts. Be proactive, not reactive. Al
l art
icle
imag
es ©
True
Nor
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014
Photoshop is an intrinsic tool within the studio,
helping to manifest creative ideas and concepts
The team work together on briefs to come up with ideas
Repositioning campaign encouraging people to ‘take another look’ at the National Portrait Gallery
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026
© A
mol
Jadh
av P
hoto
grap
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Crea
tive
reto
uchi
ng b
y Pi
xelP
aint
“We worked very closely with the photographer to get the desired lighting in the studio, with respect to the selected backplates in which the bike and the rider were going to get comped into,” explains creative production studio PixelPaint
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CREATIVE ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES
WE TALK TO PROFESSIONALS WITH EXPERIENCE IN ALL OF THE KEY AREAS OF GOOD ADVERTISING DESIGN, AS THEY SHARE THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Creating effective advertising imagery is
the mark of a good designer, but there is
a lot more to it than simply making pretty
pictures. Yes, the key artwork needs to be
high-quality, attractive and engaging, but an
advertising image needs to be so much more. It is
the combination of the key artwork, text and
necessary information, put together in the most
effective composition; it is the right colours to
speak to the right target audience; and it is the
correct typeface to match the brand and the
message being conveyed.
Advertising imagery is often the result of a large
number of people from different disciplines
working together as one, including the client, an ad
agency, the art director, the designer/designers, CG
artists, retouchers and copywriters. To be dominant
in this field, you need to be flexible and resilient, as
numerous changes are likely to be made, but if the
end result is successful, then it can lead to bigger and
better things.
As a starting point, Emlyn Davies and Lewis
Williams of Bomper studio suggest that you break
your project down into stages so that you can tackle
each one effectively: “A solid understanding of how
design principles work in harmony can help you to
deconstruct an overwhelming artwork into a series
of elements, whose relationship to each other
determines the next logical step you need to
consider. Write a checklist, organise your workflow
and take it one element at a time. And remember,
composition is as much about whether it feels right
as whether it technically looks right. If something
just doesn’t feel right, change it.”
Being able to place all of these elements in the
right place is one thing, but it is skill with Photoshop
that brings it all together. Often, even the key
images themselves are complex composites,
bringing together studio shots and location
photography into a seamless whole. This is
something that creative retouchers Chirag Doshi
and Prasad Shetty of PixelPaint specialise in,
working with their clients to create bespoke
visuals that are high-quality and photorealistic,
even though they bring together different
photographic elements.
“For us at PixelPaint we think that for a really
good advertising visual the image should be
seamless, irrespective of any number of different
images comped in to create one image. We
believe in creating visual content [that is both]
emotional and engaging for the audience, and
where the essential elements (ideas, product or
cause) are highlighted at once.”
CONTRIBUTORSPIXELPAINT WWW.PIXELPAINT.INPixelPaint is a creative production studio based in India that specialises in creative retouching and CGI for still imagery. It combines the skills of Chirag Doshi and Prasad Shetty.
EMLYN DAVIES AND LEWIS WILLIAMS
BOMPERSTUDIO.COM Davies is the creative director (and founder) and Williams is the studio manager at
Bomper studio, a boutique CGI and design studio specialising in photorealistic 3D visualisations.
DMITRIY GLAZYRINWWW.WESTERNJACK.COM
Glazyrin is the production director at Western Jack, a CG production studio
specialising in photography, 3D graphics and retouching. The small team produces big work for a range of clients.
JONATHON GARRATTWWW.BEHANCE.NET/JGARRATT
Garratt is a graphic designer working for Marketing In Partnership (mipagency.
com). He does a lot of print ads for magazines, as well as campaign imagery for sports events.
SASHA VINOGRADOVA WWW.SASHAVINOGRADOVA.COM
Sasha Vinogradova is a Russian artist and graphic designer. She is currently working
in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles doing key visuals for movies and TV series.
LAUREN HOMWWW.HOMSWEETHOM.COM
Hom is a designer, illustrator and letterer based in Brooklyn, New York.
She combines hand-drawn lettering with her digital work to create a unique, whimsical style.
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028
TECHNIQUES CREATIVE ADVERTISING
Composition refers to the way that the different
elements of your design are put together. In
advertising, that may include a brand logo, a
strong selling message and more descriptive
and informative text. It’s a lot to balance all of
this in one small space, and often an advertising
image needs to work just as well when printed
in a magazine as it does when it’s posted as a
giant billboard.
Emlyn Davies and Lewis Williams know that
advertising artworks have a specific purpose or
focus, which is determined from the outset
through the brief or brand guidelines: “We try to
guide the viewer to firstly consume the image as
our entry point (establishing an emotional
connection), followed by the descriptive copy
(communicating the value), and finally the
product or brand (creating a lasting image) as
our exit point. Composition has the power to
control the viewer and can determine how much
impact an artwork has, how coherent its
message is, or even how long it holds the
viewer’s attention. The importance of
composition is huge; it truly is the foundation of
successful ad design.”
OFTEN YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO CREATE MULTIPLE IMAGES FOR A SINGLE CAMPAIGN, WHICH NEED TO LOOK AND FEEL SIMILAR TO MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY ACROSS A BRAND, AS THIS EXAMPLE FROM PIXELPAINT SHOWS
CONSISTENT COMPOSITIONS
COMPOSITION
© O
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/ Cr
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by
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Bom
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“The client, Aciquick, wanted to portray the instantaneous effect of its product, which is
an antacid tablet relieving acidity quickly. The copy for this campaign reads: ‘Aciquick
– gets to work in six seconds’. For this project we worked closely with art director
Khurram Haque and creative director Nitin Srivastava at Oglivy, Delhi.
“We started off with the use of stock imagery for the animals; the dynamite was
crafted by us in order to achieve the real scraped look needed, and further shot by
photographer Dushyant Bhatt individually and as a group together. The vests seen in the
image are also shot individually, and finally all of these multi-part elements are comped
in to make it work as a seamless image.”
Doughnut retouch: Retouch of photography and CGI chocolate for Hurricane design studio
We think that for a really good advertising visual the
image should be seamless, irrespective of any number of different images comped in to create one image PixelPaint, www.pixelpaint.in
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029
EMLYN DAVIES AND LEWIS WILLIAMS OF BOMPER STUDIO TALK US THROUGH THIS IMAGE FOR THE CADBURY REBRAND AND NEW BAR SHAPE
KEEP COMPOSITION SIMPLE
“The hero of this campaign was the new branding and product shape.
Trying to showcase this without cluttering an ad is always a
challenge. We began the process by sketching several thumbnails, to
work out the optimal flow that would accommodate each of the
elements, and tried to scale back anything that was not required. We
utilised CGI to create the product shots for the newly rebranded bars,
along with the new format and shape for the smaller bars. Creating
elements entirely in 3D gave us the most flexibility later when
considering composition.
“Another benefit of CGI is the consistency of the visuals across
multiple variants, as well as any potential future campaigns.
Consistency is important in advertising, as we look to establish a
lasting connection between brand and consumer. We combined the CGI
elements and environment with dynamic typography, to better reflect
the new size and weight of the product. With some final reflections and
background highlights, we felt we had focused the design, and
captured everything that we set out to capture within one great visual.”
NBS brochure: 3D poseable characters for redtag design agency for the Nottingham Building society print and digital campaigns. Robin Hood and Maid Marian are out and about on the streets of Nottingham to launch the Nottingham’s Whole of Market mortgage campaign
© B
ompe
r stu
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and
Cadb
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Desi
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© B
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and
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ag
Composition has the power to control the viewer and can determine how much impact an artwork has, how coherent
its message is, or even how long it holds the viewer’s attentionEmlyn Davies and Lewis Williams, www.bomperstudio.com
There are various ‘rules’ of composition that are
relevant to any piece of design work, no matter its
intended output. Things like the ‘rule of thirds’ or
the ‘golden ratio’ are what students are taught as
theory when studying the art of advertising design,
but it is quite something else to apply it to real-life
commissions. As well as thinking about what is
aesthetically pleasing, it is also essential to
consider the purpose of the advert: who is it trying
to target and what will encourage them to interact
with the product or service?
“Composition that engages the viewer,
establishes an emotional connection, holds their
attention and guides them to the important details
is important no matter what the audience,” says
the team at Bomper studio. “Meanwhile, designers
need to put themselves in the mind of the target
viewers and try to imagine what would grab (and
hold) their attention. Where the target is a
younger audience or the content a more
energetic brand or product, it may be more
effective to stick to a shorter eye path or a more
dynamic flow between elements, for example.
But we’ve found no quick and fast rules relating
certain target groups to specific composition
choices; ultimately it’s determined by the tone of
the brand and the emotion that the concept aims
to evoke.”
Putting this into practice requires a strong
workflow process that address all of these
concerns. For Emlyn Davies this starts with
looking at the brief and determining the key
points required within the advertisement. “We try
to follow a hierarchy of what is most important
– most often the message – and first tackle that
visual or typographic element. The branding of
the ad is very important too, and can range from
just subtly using the brand’s colours to flooding
the ad with logos.” From here, the team use
sketched thumbnails to work out what the best
flow of the required elements is. Next, assets can
be collated and put within the decided structure.
Of course, when working with clients and on
briefs, there are always going to be compositional
changes throughout the design process to
contend with. “Liaising with marketing teams
usually throws up amends to copy or headlines
within the middle of a job, so you always have to
be ready to adjust what you’ve already done, and
what you’ve planned to do next. Ultimately with
ads it’s about what looks right, as it has to have
its desired effect instantly – if we’re not
successful in grabbing the eye and the attention
of the viewer right away, most will either just
pass the billboard by or turn the page.”
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TECHNIQUES CREATIVE ADVERTISING
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COLOUROnce a strong composition has been created, then
the next thing to consider is the colours that you
are going to use. This is both in terms of the
colours themselves and the shades of those
colours, but also colour correction in Photoshop of
key photography and other elements – especially
in complex compositions where multiple lighting
setups may have been used.
Colours can play a strong role in whether an
advert is successful in its goal of attracting an
audience, and their effect can be immediate.
“Printed advertisements are often seen for only a
few seconds. This time should suffice for attracting
attention and delivering the ad’s message,” says
Dmitriy Glazyrin of Western Jack. “A proper
combination of colours, shades and the overall
composition help place the key highlights and
focus on the main point [of the advertisement].”
This is true across the board when it comes to
advertising imagery, explains graphic designer
Jonathon Garratt: “I’ve always believed that
regardless of which market you are in, more often
than not aesthetics will be the deciding factor in
what you spend your money on. Picking the right
Choosing the right colours and knowing
what works best for your market is key if you want the attention of your customers Jonathon Garratt, behance.net/jgarratt
DMITRIY GLAZYRIN OF WESTERN JACK SHARES HIS TOP TIPS AND ADVICE ON WHY COLOUR IS SO IMPORTANT IN PRINT ADVERTISING
THE IMPORTANCE OF COLOUR
“Colours and shades often help convey
emotions and mood; a drawing can be dull,
lively, neutral or repulsive. Therefore, the
colour scheme is picked to match the scenario
of an ad print. There are many stereotypes and
standards here that every designer must know
and use. For instance, food images cannot be
lacklustre and bleak, and serious social
messages will look bizarre if rendered in
bright, vivid colours.
BEFORE FINAL COLOUR PROCESSING AFTER FINAL COLOUR PROCESSING
“I pick the colour scheme at the beginning
when I start creating a sketch. Later on, colours
can be adjusted at each stage, but final colour
correction of the ready print is a must in most
situations. For instance, in this image (pictured),
colours were corrected at the very end of the
process. Although the work had been officially
accepted, we continued looking for a colour that
would help us achieve the necessary effect and
make the print more expressive.”
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ckChina Town: Colours don’t always have to be bright to be effective; in this image, Western Jack creates an engaging atmosphere through powerful but dark colours and strong highlights
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Red: A ‘hot’ colour that is often
associated with fire. However, it can also
be used to show that something is
important or special (because of the Hollywood
‘red carpet’ effect).
Orange: Part of the ‘warm’ family of
colours, orange is often used to show
energy (think vitamin C and vitality). It can
also give an autumnal feel in some tones.
Yellow: The colour of the sun, yellow
lightens and brightens an image, and is
associated with happiness, joy and
wellbeing. It can make viewers think of holidays
and relaxing.
Green: Part of the ‘cool’ family, green is
linked to nature (think grass and trees) as
well as environmental issues and being
eco-friendly. Green is also the colour of money.
Blue: Blue is a colour of contrast. It is a
sad colour (‘feeling blue’), but it’s also
associated with the sky, which can
invoke feelings of limitless possibilities (‘reach
for the sky’).
Purple: This is a regal colour and is often
used to show luxury. It can be a very rich
colour when used in this sense, but pastel
versions are romantic and spring-like.
Black: Part of the ‘neutral’ family, black
is a strong colour that is often associated
with both power and death. Practically, it
is also perfect for logos and typography, as it’s
not distracting.
White: Think white and the usual visual
images are those of purity and softness.
It’s also very clean and sterile. White space
is important in designs to give ‘breathing space’.
Brown: This is a down-to-earth colour, as
it makes viewers think of mud, trees,
nature and wood, making it great for tactile
or natural-looking designs.
Grey: A colour that is popular as an
alternative to white or black, especially for
logos or typography, as it creates a more
subtle effect. It can also look very business-like
and professional.
colours can make all the difference in grabbing the
consumer’s attention and ultimately making them
want to invest time and money into your design.”
So we know how important colours can be, but
how do you pick the right colours for your designs?
In the boxout on this page, we look in more detail
at what each colour ‘means’ and the connotations
associated with them. On top of that, there are
other things that you need to bear in mind. “Other
considerations with colour in advertising is the
brand and the target market. Choosing the right
colours and knowing what works best for your
market is key if you want the attention of your
Wooster Hound: Using a moodboard of designs that you like can help to determine the final colour scheme of a print ad, as demonstrated here by Western Jack’s design for Wooster Hound
THE RIGHT COLOURS CAN AFFECT THE IMPACT OF YOUR DESIGNS, SO FIND OUT WHAT MESSAGE YOU ARE SENDING WITH EACH COLOUR
GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS WITH COLOUR
customers,” says Jonathon Garratt. The youth
market, for example, traditionally responds better
to bright, vibrant imagery, whereas if you want to
attract business people, then sleek blacks and
greys are more effective.
One way to determine the colours that you want
to use is to study the work of others that has
proved successful. “Every project starts with
analysing the work of other authors; what
approaches were used, how similar scenarios
were portrayed, what quality of shading was
achieved,” says Glazyrin. “All concepts and ideas of
a new project are assembled on a large
moodboard, which helps to pick the necessary
colour scheme and overall style.”
Simplicity is also key, as too many colours can
confuse the eye and lose the viewer’s attention. “I
like to avoid using a large amount of varying
colours. Pick two or three colours/shades that
work well together and roll with them – this
creates strong, simple design that gets the point
across,” says Garratt.
When it comes to adding in the text to your
image, that also needs to match the colours of the
image and be bold enough that it can be read
without taking over the carefully constructed
artwork too much.
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Wes
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Intercomp Lion: When working with food imagery, there are certain colour rules to be met. It needs to look appealing, so dull imagery wouldn’t work
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TECHNIQUES CREATIVE ADVERTISING
Typography is a key component of any print
advertisement – an ad is designed to give
information after all.
Getting the typography right is down to balancing
it with the imagery and any other assets (like a logo),
and choosing the right fonts to make the message
easy to read. “On a functional level, typography
provides the design with hierarchy. Hierarchy is vital
as it gives indication to important information and
balances the design,” says graphic designer
Jonathon Garratt.
Getting creative with your typefaces can be
effective, as the team at Western Jack know. They
take a different approach to lettering, as they don’t
use traditional fonts; instead handwriting and
calligraphy is applied to print ads. “We consider
handwork to be a more expressive method than the
usual typography, and our customers understand
that,” says Dmitriy Glazyrin. “Calligraphy and
typography help to reproduce the intonation of the
phrase – words can ‘shout’ or ‘fall apart’, or they can
be ‘strong’ or ‘soft’. The fact that we have a
handwriter in the our team and our ability to make
typography more atmospheric differentiates us from
most other CGI agencies.”
It’s also not unusual to come across an
advertisement that uses the typography as the main
focus, which can catch attention when done correctly,
agrees Garratt. “Typography is an important aspect of
advertisement, and a useful and effective tool for
your design. If it is done well enough it can work as
BOTH FORMS OF TYPOGRAPHY CAN BE INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE, AS LONG AS IT IS MATCHED TO THE OTHER ELEMENTS IN THE ADVERTISEMENT AND THE TARGET AUDIENCE, AS THESE SAMPLES SHOW
SIMPLE VS DECORATIVE
TYPOGRAPHY
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Pernod: Western Jack doesn’t use traditional fonts; for type work on print ads they create hand lettering and calligraphy
the sole feature of the design, removing any need for
a graphic or hero image”.
One typographic designer who does this well is
Lauren Hom, as she explains her process: “When I’m
designing a piece that’s purely typographic, I first
have to take into consideration the importance of
each word. This helps me determine which words
are illustrated bigger, bolder and fancier, and which
words are smaller, simpler, and more subdued.
That’s also how I balance creativity and legibility.”
FYI: “This is a branding project for a new TV network: FYI,” explains Vinogradova. “The three letters represent different directions of the new network – lifestyle, fashion and food – so the letters of the logo
were made in different ‘materials’, representing these directions”
“[It was a challenge] to create a legible logo in one colour,” says designer Sasha Vinogradova. “Before approval of the final
version, we explored different colours and angles. As part of the new branding, the logo changes depending on the TV show”
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■ Helvetica
AMERICAN APPAREL,
NESTLÉ, LUFTHANSA
Despite being around for over
five decades, this is still a
popular font for advertising
designers and is one of the most
recognisable around.
■ Myriad
APPLE, LINKEDIN, ADOBE
Originally designed for Adobe
Systems. When Apple took on
Myriad (‘Apple Myriad’) as its
corporate typeface in 2002, this
font took on a new popularity in
big brand advertising and logos.
■ Futura
ABSOLUT, IKEA �CUSTOM, UNTIL 2010�, VOLKSWAGEN �CUSTOM�
Futura is famous for being the font that advertised planet Earth (on the
commemorative plaque left on the moon). Lots of big companies use
customised versions of the font, including IKEA.
■ Garamond
ABERCROMBIE & FITCH
This serif font is one of the oldest
still in use and is popular for
printed works as it is considered
very readable. It has also been
identified as ‘toner-efficient’.
■ Gill Sans
BBC, TOMMY HILFIGER, PENGUIN
A sans-serif typeface that has been around since it was
designed by Eric Gill in 1926. He was inspired by the
Johnston typeface for the London Underground, and Gill
Sans is the font used on classic Penguin Books from 1935.
It remains popular with big brands.
TOP 5 FONTS IN ADVERTISINGKEY FONTS THAT ARE WORTH EVERY DESIGNER KNOWING AND USING IN THEIR PRINT DESIGNS
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30IT ISN’T JUST REMOVING SPOTS AND MAKING PEOPLE THINNER. RETOUCHING HAS BECOME A PROFESSION WITH SPECIALITIES AND AN ARTISTIC ENDEAVOUR IN ITS OWN RIGHT
FOR PROSRETOUCHING TIPS
PHOTO EDITING
“Commercial beauty and fashion retouchers have
quite a streamlined set of tools,” says retoucher
Daniel Meadows (www.dmd-digital-retouching.
com). “The foundations are Clone/Heal, Dodge and
Burn with filters, paint brushes and masks, but the
majority of the time you’ll find yourself hitting J, S
and O (Healing Brush, Clone Stamp and Dodge/Burn
respectively), although most retouchers, including
myself, have their own dodge and burn system.
“A great way to give yourself a little extra control is
to create two Curves adjustment layers, one with the
midpoint lowered to burn, and the other raised to
dodge. Black mask these out and paint on the mask
with white to bring in the effect as locally as you’d
like. This gives you the opportunity to tweak the
curve at any point in your workflow and to work
completely non-destructively… quick fixes won’t
work until you’ve got the basics covered.
“So much of being a good retoucher is having exceptional
communication skills, and being honest and reliable,” says Ashlee
Gray (www.ashleegrayretouch.com). “It may sound silly, but over
the years I’ve learned that clear communication is key. Retouchers
are hired to interpret and execute other people’s visions on a daily
basis; however, I believe it’s just as important for retouchers to have a
vision of their own and bring more than what’s expected to the table.
“First, I like to find out as much as I can about the client and their
brand by researching previous work to get a feel for what they like.
Often times they pass along inspiration or detailed retouching notes
that help me to understand how far to go with the images. Some
clients come to me with very specific retouching notes to make sure
things don’t get overlooked for any reason. Retouching notes are a
great starting point, especially when there are tight deadlines. On the
other hand, there are some people who hire me based on my work
and trust that I can bring my vision to the table. If this is the case, we
have some sort of creative conversation where I ask a lot of
questions and send samples to make sure I’m on the right track and
not wasting time.”
01. KNOW YOUR TOOLS
02. BE COMMUNICATIVE AND CREATIVE
“There are a number of plug-ins or techniques
around that blast somewhere around the middle
radius of a shot and make them appear smooth
while retaining texture. This sounds great in theory
and they’re extremely tempting to overuse because
the results are dramatic, but it’s an obvious and
unrealistic approach avoided by the majority of the
clients you’ll be hoping to work with.
“Once you’ve got the foundations of dodge and
burn (I cover this on my blog), you can start to
implement a few of these quick fixes, such as
Frequency Separation and inverted High Pass to
complement your workflow. It’s all about learning
how to work correctly before fighting dirty! It’s also
hugely important to regularly look through fashion
magazines; they’re full of the kind of ads you’ll be
hoping to work with, and trends in post-processing
do change.” © A
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TECHNIQUES 30 RETOUCHING TIPS FOR PROS
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03. FROM FLAW TO FINISHCHARN S. BEDI TALKS THROUGH SHOOTING
AND RETOUCHING THIS MUA IMAGE
In the pink: “Already having used nice vibrant colours on the nails and eyes, I then decided in post to add a nice pink poppy tone to the background rather than keeping it white as originally shot.”
Take your time: “Never give up! Beauty retouching is so time-consuming that it will always take longer than fashion or editorial. It’s easy to judge if an image has been rushed.”
Nice gnashers: “Sometimes I leave flaws on images on purpose to help create a sense of reality. Flaws on this image that I left were the not-so-perfect teeth (but almost perfect).”
Tools of the trade: “It’s a good idea to invest in a decent tablet. I use the Wacom Intuos5 Large on my Mac Pro, and an Intuos5 Small on my MacBook Pro. I also have a preference of using the spring-loaded nib on my Intuos pens.”
Laughter lines: “Leave some wrinkles on the image rather than softening them down too much.”
Retro retouching: “I had the opportunity of shooting this great image. MUA was going for an Audrey Hepburn-style pose.”
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TECHNIQUES 30 RETOUCHING TIPS FOR PROS
ASHLEE GRAY EXPLAINS HER WORKFLOW ON THIS IMAGE SHOT BY FRANKLIN THOMPSON
“Some of the most common fixes are eyelashes not
being stuck on properly, hair coming across the
eyes, and uneven lipstick,” says beauty retoucher
Charn S. Bedi (www.thebeautyretoucher.com).
“When retouching macro lip shots, spit on the gums
can be annoying as the light reflects off it, causing a
shine. I have a library of eyelashes taken and
neatened up from previous work to aid me if I ever
have to re-create them. The trickiest thing to retouch
in beauty is hair as it is so fine. I zoom in very close
for hair retouching to remove strands of hair that go
against the natural flow of the hair style. This helps
to refine the hair to make it look neater. This then
enables me to fill in dark areas to make it look more
full bodied and healthy. I use various amounts of
layers and clone brushes with different blend modes
to get to the final result, finishing off with a dodge
and burn to create contouring and a nice shine.”
04. A MODEL JOB
06. LIPSTICK AND SPIT
01 A MODEL JOB Once I open an image, I start by creating a
blank layer and begin drawing notes all over the
image with a bright-coloured brush. This helps me
visualise what I want to accomplish before I start
working on the specific areas.
02 LUSTROUS LOCKSFrom there, I’d like to say I always start at
the same place, but usually it’s with the things I find
the most distracting. It’s often hard to look past big
blemishes, hairs going through the eyes, or even
areas that need colour correction. In this case, the
skin has been cleaned, all flyaways and cross hairs
have been removed, and additional hair has been
added to the right side.
03 BURNING BONE STRUCTUREThis is now complete with dodging and
burning to bring out bone structure and shine to the
hair, with colour and toning added. Finally, a High
Pass with a layer mask was used to sharpen the hair
in some areas, and a small amount of grain added.
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Every blocked pore
For Daniel Meadows, much of the retoucher’s job is bridging the gap
between what the naked eye sees, and what the increasingly
sophisticated camera does. “With modern lenses we can achieve very
sharp images,” he says, “and unfortunately with that comes a detailed
record of every hair and blocked pore, every irregular eyelash. The eye
doesn’t tend to pick up on these tiny details in real life, but with close,
sharp beauty shots we tend to even these out before print for the
benefit of the shot.”
05. ACHIEVING SYMMETRY
Even eyes
“Another one of those things the naked eye doesn’t tend to pick up on
but the lens notices is the symmetry of the eyes. My own left eye is
slightly higher than my right. No-one would ever pick up on it but you
can tell if I point it out on my driver’s license! At the other end of my
workflow, I usually leave sharpening and colour treatments until the
last steps. It’s important not to oversharpen your working file at the
start or you’re giving yourself a lot more work.”
Dipping a fashion toe
“Quite often I’ll receive a sidecar XMP file with RAWs if the
photographer knows the look they’re going for, but some of the most
fun projects are those where I’m encouraged to experiment with
colour treatments. I’ve frequently got my head in a fashion magazine,
so there are always a few styles I’m looking to try something new
with for the right shot.”
Glowing skin
“With beauty work, skin is probably the most time-consuming part of
the process, as texture must be retained. In advertising and editorial at
the high end, each part of the skin is carefully dodged and burned to
even out texture and maintain realism. I usually start with
compositional adjustments. Sometimes a hand, for example, will be
better positioned in an outtake from the set, so occasionally there’s
some compositing.”© T
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ASHLEE GRAY TALKS THROUGH HER RETOUCHING ON THIS IMAGE
“For me, an image has gone too far when you’ve lost natural texture,
dimension and shape,” says Ashlee Gray. “Texture can be lost by a
number of ways, blurring and cloning are probably the top two.
Dimension is often lost by removing natural smile lines completely,
making the whites of the eyes too white, and by removing shadows
under the eyes or lips. Having a basic understanding of anatomy is
really important so that tools like Liquify aren’t abused when trying to
shape parts of the body. In the end if retouching goes too far it looks
cheap and tacky. I suggest keeping it simple by polishing the skin while
keeping some natural elements such as moles or freckles. On the other
hand, those who are learning how to retouch often forget about the
body parts matching the face. The face will look clean and polished but
the arms, hands, and legs will all be a different skin tone. Don’t forget
about the rest of the body!”
“The best retouchers have a solid understanding of light, anatomy and composition,”
explains Daniel Meadows. “It’s helpful to study the planes of the face, of the way light and
shadow behave from a traditional art standpoint. Good make-up tutorials that deal with
contouring are also a great source of knowledge and inspiration. There are centuries of
sound advice from before we had Photoshop or even photography – be sure to learn from
them! One of the most important things to learn as a beginner is what a flaw is or isn’t. I
engage online with a lot of beginner retouchers and try to offer advice where I can, and I
know how easy it is to be over-enthusiastic. Lines under the eyes, moles, freckles, beauty
spots, perfectly natural neck creases, I’ve seen them all wiped out. Usually the question
‘why?’ is enough to prompt a eureka moment of ‘you know, I’m really not sure!’ Beauty
retouching isn’t about creating a wax model. You learn as you go that less is often more,
that if it isn’t improving the shot it really isn’t worth doing simply because you have the
tools to do so. Remember that the brand or photographer chose the model for a reason.
Slightly contour an unfortunately squished bit by all means, improve a line a little for
composition, but the small percentage of retouchers whose first instinct is to make
someone thinner need to re-evaluate their methods.”
“A good retoucher is someone who will
obviously go above and beyond their client’s
expectations, without being asked,” argues Bedi.
“After all, the final result of the image will also
reflect on their reputation. I generally start by
looking at an image to see what I think has to be
done to it, then send my client back a marked up
version with notes. Normally they will add to the
mark up. If I think too much has been added, I
usually flag it up straight away as I wouldn’t want
to give them back something that may look like
a waxwork, or just overly retouched. I am
strongly against the term ‘it can be fixed in post’.
This screams at me if I am sent an image where
the hair and make-up has not been done
properly, which is where the line is crossed for
too much retouching to be done. I have had to
deal with a few of these in recent times where I
have had to just turn the job down.”
07. FACE TO THE FORE
08. A FACE TOO FAR 09. ARTISTIC, NOT ANOREXIC
10. ABOVE AND BEYOND
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A sharp hairline: Her hair had some subtle motion and a beautiful shape so it was pretty minimal work, only removing cross hairs and a few distracting flyaways, as well as cleaning up the hairline.
Bringing the burn: The main focus was bringing out her eyes and the gold of the eye shadow. I built in dimension using dodging and burning and also put a tone on the background that made it a little cooler.
Horizontal power: We picked this one to help break up all the other vertical shots. This beauty shot allowed us to get much tighter and really focus on her beauty.
Making the cut: The image was part of an editorial we did for Factice magazine. It wasn’t part of the original selection; it wasn’t until we were almost finished with the retouching of the others that we added this one in, to make the story a little more well rounded.
Clothing concerns: The top she had was pretty structured and fit her really well, so it only required a bit of shaping around her shoulder area.
Facial freestyle: When I don’t know how to tackle tricky things I like to do what I call ‘freestyling’. It’s basically creating a new layer and telling myself I’m going to problem solve using any way I can think of, and if it doesn’t work out I’ll just delete the layer, grab another coffee and start all over.
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“My first stop on any image is clean-up: removing any dust, lens spots, sensor marks and
so on,” explains Barry Craig (www.barrycraig.co.uk and www.digital-giant.com). “This is
the work that needs to be done regardless of client comments. The process after this
varies depending on the image. If there are elements to be composited into the main
scene, I will repeat the clean-up on these then extract them with the Pen tool. Then I will
build a low-res composition to show the client before the high-res retouching begins.
Clients usually have an end product in mind; more often than not they have concept art that
the art director has drawn or commissioned. The role of the retoucher is to take this
concept to the very strongest final image it can be. There’s still a lot of magic involved and
the client still expects a lot of creative initiative to be taken.”
“Create a rectangle and add a gradient from one end to the other,”
instructs Mark Gilvey (www.mgcre8v.com). “Now put a mark through
it and try to restore the gradient to its original state. Why? You will see
this linear gradient in many different things; architecture, walls ceilings,
a sheet of paper on a table, a sign and so on. If you can restore the
gradient, chances are you can reconstruct or restore it in a real retouch.
Before I start with a composite, a retouch, restoration, or any type of
major work that I will do in Photoshop, I will look the parts over as if I’m
about to write a piece of music and assess what needs to be done and
weigh that against my confidence to be able to do it. Then I begin the
composition. I know it sounds goofy but some work is like that. You
have to get your skills and your confidence to a level where you can be
the conductor, and that takes years of practice.”
11. CLEAN UP BEFORE CREATIVITY
12. TUNE YOUR INSTRUMENT
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“This shot was a nightmare to get right,” says Barry Craig of the Adidas
MiCoach series he worked on. “The poor guy had to do the same
aggressive sprint all day until the client was happy that they’d captured
the energy well enough. The explosions in the image were shot
separately in the studio, so we used a mannequin to get a sense of how
they would interact with a body. The shape and direction of the
explosions are supposed to be representative of the particular
movement that the player is performing, so the clouds were shaped
using numerous different shots. I actually ended up making a number
of brushes shaped like clouds and explosions from the material we shot
to help shape the explosion how the client wanted it. Having brushes
shaped like this was the only way to flexibly sculpt the explosion with
speed and accuracy while the client was still making comments. Once
we had the general shape and size confirmed, we could go in and
improve it, add fine detail, shadowing, interaction with the player and so
on. I also had to change the entire background. The client liked the
player’s shape and expression in this shot, but not the amount of smoke
or the lighting in the background, so I ended up building a composite of
a few of the other shots from the day’s shooting.”
13. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
Explosive images: The explosion was shot separately, with a mannequin taking the place of the player
Serial options: Because it was a series of images, Craig could borrow bits and pieces
from other shots
Bring on the brushes: Craig made brushes shaped like clouds and explosions from the material shot to complete the image
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BARRY CRAIG EXPLAINS THE WORK HE DID ON THIS IMAGE FROM PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID WESTPHAL
14. ADDING ATMOSPHERE
01 This is the image after basic clean-up. There
is some nice light in the sky and some point-of-
interest light in the tent, but these both need to be
enhanced. We also need to think about the client and
what the product is trying to communicate. Let’s
start with the sky.
02 While on location, the photographer was
able to capture some longer exposure shots of the
night sky. To add a little more life into this shot, I’m
just going to use one of these shots to add some
stars to the sky and lift the colour to a more
attractive blue. Already the image is looking more
alive. The product being advertised in this instance is
a bluetooth speaker that also features party light.
Keeping this in mind, the next step is to add some
directional, coloured lighting to the tent.
03 Adding some lighting, glows, and rays to
the tent really helps to lift the whole image. There’s
lots to consider when adding lighting effects,
highlights on the sand and glows on the dunes
behind, for example. We’ve also had to create a
shadow for the boy in the tent. When the image
was shot there was still no physical product in
existence, so as part of the final stage we will also
add in the speaker, which was shot at a later date
in the studio.
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“The most important skill for a good retoucher is an eye for realism,” adds Craig. “Even when you’re
working on a fantastical image you have to base it in reality. Lighting and physics will give the game away if
they aren’t correct. You also have to be patient; there’s lots of ground work to be done on any composition,
all of it important to the final result. The most common issues are adding or removing features that
couldn’t be physically altered on location; removing streetlights, buildings, logos, cars, people and so on.
Where possible, the photographer will shoot plates to the left or right of the obstruction to aid in removing
them, but this is only really common in a photographer who is used to working with a retoucher. The
trickiest things can be complicated image extensions for new layouts. These are usually required last
minute, meaning the photographer likely didn’t shoot any material to aid with the job.”
15. MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE
30 RETOUCHING TIPS FOR PROS TECHNIQUES
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To improve your own retouching work, McLaughlin
advises that you look at other great photography for
inspiration. “Truly awesome images have been
expertly retouched as well as superbly shot, as
what’s left out can be as critical as what’s left in.
Quite often I’ll study an image to get an
understanding of the lighting setups used as much
as the retouching techniques. If the retouching has
been done well, you’ll probably have a hard time
telling what the retoucher has done!
“My own rule of thumb is not to let the viewer see
my lights or modifiers reflected anywhere in the
subject, and definitely no dust left on there. When you
look at even a well-cleaned product straight from
“Colour casts and removing unwanted items,
logos, and extending backgrounds and floors are
the most common changes,” says Andy
McLaughlin (http://tcistudio.co.uk). “Often the
trickiest are seemingly the simplest. Extending
areas like floors can be tricky and can require
re-creating your own textures and custom
brushes to match the original textures. Clone
Stamping and Content-Aware Fill may give you a
starting point, but are often affected by light
gradients and vignetting caused by light fall-off.
Clone Stamping these types of surfaces can just
create a blotchy mess. In my own work, the most
common retouching is bleaching backgrounds
and making dark areas clean. I use a lot of
channel masking to create accurate selections
for layer masks and adjustment layers. I retouch
a lot of my own photography and I think that
understanding the image as a photographer
makes me a better retoucher and visa versa.”
“Many finished images are what we lovingly refer to
as ‘Frankensteined’,” jokes Nancy Lund Springer
(http://nlsretoucher.com). “It is very common in
product retouching to not receive ‘golden’ samples,
as the product has not been fully developed; but the
packaging, including the images for that packaging,
needs to be developed. You may sometimes get a
crude image of the product in whatever iteration of
production it happens to be in accompanied by a
printed schematic that represents the final size,
17. FIND YOUR OWN STYLE16. PRODUCT PROBLEMS
18. KEEP THE CLIENT IN MIND
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proportion, materials, colours and graphics for that
particular product. A retoucher’s job is to make that
image believably match the schematic. There are
some tricks to this type of retouching that
incorporate a lot of drawing techniques, a good
imagination and a determination to make a
less-than-perfect image look amazing.
“Patience and discipline are important traits for
retouchers, along with speed, and a good eye for
detail. Good retouchers have a passion for their
work. They also must have a good understanding
of colour correction, lighting, shadows and
compositing. You have to be willing to ask questions,
step out of your comfort zone and experiment. You
must be willing to accept advice and criticism. You
need to have a solid understanding of your tools and
keyboard shortcuts to access them. The ability to
seamlessly move from one project to another when
priorities change is very important. And it is critical
that you understand your client’s vision to envision
the final results. The most successful retouchers
understand the value of customer service.”
TECHNIQUES 30 RETOUCHING TIPS FOR PROS
camera, there’s loads of fine dust on there; get rid of
it. Create your own set of golden rules regarding
what you always fix or change, or faults to fix every
time. Before you know it, you’ll have your own style.
In my own work I love to explore mixing graphic art,
photography and retouching, I love enhancing my
own product photography with light painting as well
as freezing liquids with flash and incorporating the
results. They are often unexpected and unusual,
especially with liquid.
“I believe that the combination of creative
retouching and the different photography techniques
brings an element of surprise and an unusual twist
to displaying products, and some interesting graphic
arts images.”
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“The golden rule of retouching is that the final product must look natural,” says Nancy Lund
Springer. “The image should be perfect to your client’s specifications, without leaving a
trace that a retoucher has been there. Assessing the image, especially images that are
problematic, is the first step. This generally takes a few minutes. There are many problems
that may need to be overcome, from moiré and false colour artefacts, strange waves or
rings of colour and tone rippling over fabric, to imperfections in skin, facial hair on women,
wrinkles needing removal in fabric, seams that don’t match… the list is endless. While the
toolset needed to address these problems remains the same, the image always dictates
which combination of myriad techniques will be used. I usually start with what I determine
to be the most difficult area in order to overcome difficult obstacles at the beginning of the
project rather than at the end. Sometimes you just need take some deep breaths and start.
When faced with a daunting retouching task, I look to one of the most relevant expressions
for inspiration: it’s like eating an elephant; just take one bite at a time.”
“There can also be an array of problems overlooked by your client that
need to be addressed, but due to the extra time it might take, may not
have been budgeted into the project,” adds Lund Springer. “An example
of a retouching job I once had is typical of this scenario. We were asked
to retouch a very dark image of two models in Egyptian costumes
flanked by a beautiful gold-encrusted sarcophagus and large vases.
Upon review of the image with a creative director, there didn’t seem to
be a lot of work involved in post-retouching and [it] was budgeted
accordingly. However, when I opened the RAW image, it was revealed
that the vases and sarcophagus were placed on wooden crates to make
them at a higher level to fit into the shot properly. Also, the fabric used
for a backdrop was too long and fell in waves on the ground, and some
objects unrelated to the shot were in full view. My task was to cover
these distractions by compositing parts of other existing elements into
the shot.”
20. ASSESS THE IMAGE 21. BEWARE HIDDEN JOBS
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Pro retoucher Brian York (www.brnyrk.com) outlines his workflow: “First,
process the RAW files, which I prefer to do myself to ensure highlight and
shadow detail is preserved, just slightly under what the final contrast of the
image may be. Since the majority of what I do is compositing, I start with
cutting out the elements and creating Smart Objects, always with a layer mask
inside. Then I add everything to the composition to make sure the processing of
the elements are all at a good starting point. Using Smart Objects for the
elements means I can always go back and replace the base image if needed,
regardless of any transformations applied. Basic clean-up would later be done
inside the Smart Object. Smart Objects are important when compositing as
they allow me to retain the transformation points after they are applied, so I can
go back and make subtle tweaks if needed. I recently had to create a tapered
mug from a straight sided mug and apply an embossed logo. The alterations to
the ice and condensation of the mug were dealt with and then put into a Smart
Object to create transformations. This allowed me to be able to tweak the shape
to the client’s specifications at any point while retaining the original image
inside the Smart Object to make changes easier.”
19. USE SMART OBJECTS
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“This is one of my all time favorite projects because
we got to pickle Carrie Brownstein and Fred
Armisen,” continues Hilmers. “It was a dream come
true. This one needed a lot of TLC because it was
basically three original shots – each actor behind
Plexi and an image of a pickle jar with green liquid.
They really needed work when it came to depth of
field, colour shift, shading and then warping to
emulate the feel of being submerged in liquid. Smart
Objects had a heavy part to play in this shot. A fun
little side note – those are my homemade pickles in
the jar with them.”
GRETCHEN HILMERS WORKED ON THIS IMAGE, FEATURING THE DANCERS OF THE MIAMI CITY BALLET, AND DESCRIBES HER GENERAL APPROACH TO COMPOSITING WORK
22. QUESTIONS OF COMPOSITION
23. PERFECT, BUT NOT TOO PERFECT
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Getting down to business: “I start on any gross stuff first…nose hair, food in teeth, boogers, acne… I just want to get that out of the way so I can move onto the fun, creative stuff.”
Zoom in: “Don’t work at anything less than 200%. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received redos and when I zoom in past 100% it’s a disaster. Sure…maybe you can get away with something when it’s only printed at 9 x 12, but that doesn’t mean you should deliver it that way.”
Fabric fusses: “Every fabric is different but the general method is to match up the colour and then either create a pattern stamp or use small patches of a high pass layer to re-create the texture. It can take a lot of time, and I know the general rule is to just try to re-create it and throw a bunch of noise on top, but when you work on an image at 200% or more you notice that inconsistency. It’s really important to me that things line up, even such a small detail. Sure, 99% of people won’t notice, but I’ll know.”
Hair hassles: “Usually hair needs some work. While I personally like natural, more crazy stray hairs a lot of other people don’t. There’s a delicate balance between sculpting hair shape to avoid the dreaded helmet head, removing flyaways and then drawing them back in where they look natural.”
Don’t go too far: “There are times when so much has been changed that reality just feels off. There’s the phenomena of the uncanny valley, which is when you just know something is off. It generally applies to people, but I strongly feel we can sense it with everything. There’s just a moment when something changes and an image can go downhill, and when it does, it usually goes downhill quickly.”
Work together: “Of course, there’s only so much a retoucher can do, and starting off with a beautiful photo and a great relationship with a client can really help. Every client has a particular style, and it’s up to the retoucher to be able to assist with making that extra step while maintaining the integrity of the original work. That’s why I always look at what I do as teamwork.”
001 Never work with children or animals
“One of the big tricks here was capturing the feel of the little feathers on the edges,”
explains Gretchen Hilmers (www.g-tou.com). “One of the most important aspects of the
composites is to clean up the seams. When you’re compositing, the joining edges need a
little TLC and that usually starts with blending, adding textures and ensuring the depth of
field is correct. Sometimes there are faint lines that occur around the edges of figures, and
while I use several methods of fixing, I like to use a layer on Darken or Lighten and clone
the background elements up to the edge. But I think the real secret to any composite is
how you shape with light and shadow because that will really bring the elements together.”
004 Balancing the real
“Working with Gregg Segal is always a blast because his images
usually have a large amount of humour in them. He’s also one of
those shooters that are really good at getting things in one take, but
when it comes to animals it usually doesn’t matter how good you are
because they don’t seem to like taking direction. This was a little tricky
in that there’s the combined lighting of the figures and the
environment, so trying to find a balance between natural and artificial
was a bit of a trick.”
003 Portrait polishing
“It’s extremely common for a portrait to need a new
background colour, or in the case of advertising, for
the subject to be able to be placed on any number of
backgrounds. That’s where silo’ing comes into play,
and you need to be able to either mask hair out
perfectly, or be able to hand draw it in convincingly.
The four subjects for this campaign all needed
backgrounds that had more impact, and so they all
had to be removed.”
001
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27. IF YOU WANT TO GET INTO COMPOSITING…“Study how light works, how a camera sees objects
and space,” says Brian York. “Become good at
painting in Photoshop. Make composites for practise,
and always refine the way you do things and lay out
a file. Buy a monitor made for colour-critical work
and learn to use a Wacom tablet.
“Most of what I do involves basic tasks; just done
with a lot of finesse. Things I use a lot are brushes,
Curves and Smart Objects. I have found it valuable to
become good at creating detail from nothing, and
brushes are instrumental in that. I have a huge trove
of brushes that I have created for various things over
the years. Many people use Levels, but Curves gives
you a lot of finesse over contrast and saturation that
is just not possible with levels; especially when
dealing with skin tones.”
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“Be patient,” advises Rob DiCaterino, a high-end
digital imaging specialist. “Photo restoration can
be slow, painstaking, time consuming, and yes,
even boring, but good results are extremely
satisfying and worth the effort to both my clients
and me. It’s win-win. Zoom in close and pay
attention to detail. Global filters are usually too
heavy-handed and destructive; use layer masks to
apply them locally instead, as needed. Understand
histograms and the info panel, and use spatial
frequencies to your advantage.
“Successful retouchers are also proficient with
a pen tablet, use profiled and calibrated displays,
understand colour theory and management, and
create Actions to increase efficiency. They are
interpreters, translating clients’ notes into the end
product. They are good at sales, marketing, and
customer service in order to attract and retain
happy, paying clients. They are responsible
enough to work out realistic deadlines with clients
up front… and stick to those deadlines. They trust
the info panel… and their eyes. They handle
rejection well. And they always continue to learn.
“My motto is, ‘There are ten different ways to
accomplish the same thing in Photoshop.’ I learn
26. KEEP LEARNINGas many ways as I can so I have more options to
approach any given situation. Some retouchers
might struggle through a situation using only one
or two techniques, but I’ll know some additional
ones that allow me to complete that step more
quickly. That’s one of the things I love about what I
do – retouching fulfils the part of my brain that
craves problem solving and logic, and allows me to
achieve many personal victories on a daily basis.”
24. MASK OUT“Using a Wacom tablet and pen, I set a brush at 90% Hardness and a smaller size and go all the
way around the object at 200% zoom, painting black on the layer mask with an opposite-coloured
background behind it,” explains Brian York. “If, for example, I am masking out a bottle on a white
background, I put a black background solid colour layer behind it, and then I know it will look great
on anything. Some people get caught up in a lot of Photoshop trickery to get a mask, but for me a
mask is about how the edges look visually when cut out. This direct visual process allows me to
inspect every edge, and once I go around an object like this I know it is perfect. I’m a bit obsessive
about masks, and want to know that it is right. However, in saying all of that I don’t discount
sophisticated techniques in getting masks; I just prefer this method most of the time.”
“The biggest challenge in photo restoration is having
to reconstruct missing or destroyed parts of an
image,” says Mark Gilvey. “When there is little or no
source material to work from, this can be difficult to
work with. I had a photo of a brother and sister like
this. Some people looked at the damage in the lower
right corner and thought it was an ice sculpture, but
it wasn’t. The photo was just missing emulsion. I had
to reconstruct the entire area of his plaid coat.
Basically, I guessed at what it would look like on his
side vs a sleeve. I sampled certain areas onto new
layers and pushed and pulled them until they looked
close. I think I put 20 hours into this one image, going
way beyond the client’s budget, but I stuck to their
budget because I wanted to see if I could do it. I
wasn’t going to let it beat me!”
25. RESTORATION
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TECHNIQUES 30 RETOUCHING TIPS FOR PROS
01 THE PROJECTSince June 2013, DiCaterino has
volunteered for CARE for Sandy, which offers free
digital restoration services for individuals and
families with photos damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
CARE stands for Cherished Albums Restoration
Effort and is made possible by the efforts of
generous retouchers worldwide. This is one image
he received from a family in Long Beach, NY, who
wish to remain anonymous. You can volunteer
yourself at www.careforsandy.org.
02 THE METHODThe damage was severe, and in this case
DiCaterino’s main technique was Split Frequency,
but sometimes he has to be more creative: “Good,
successful retouchers are artists, craftspeople, and
technicians. They are analytical. They mentally
deconstruct each image, envision the end result,
and quickly formulate the steps to achieve it. They
show restraint, know when to apply a specific filter,
and invent unconventional uses for them to speed
up the workflow.”
03 THE RESULTAfter colour correction, this is the final
image that the family got back. As DiCaterino notes,
Photoshop is “an incredibly powerful tool that helps
produce amazing results in the right hands – in my
case, restoring priceless memories and preserving
history. Photo restoration is its own form of time
travel and I find it fascinating and gratifying.”
…to the bottom: “There were all kinds of ugly stuff on the tarmac. I just cloned good parts over the bad parts and extended the image to the bottom of the scan by continuing to clone.”
“The main problems are usually rips, creases, stains, and fading,” says
DiCaterino. “The trickiest is repairing damage to a photo printed on
paper that features a textured pattern, which was popular several
decades ago. Many retouchers blur the texture out or apply FFT, but to
me, restoring a photo means returning it to its original state, texture and
all. To retain that detail, I use the Healing Brush, Frequency Separations,
Channels, and so on. It can be a painstaking process depending on the
severity and location of the damage, but the results are true to the
original and more representative of the photo’s era. For lightly damaged
or faded photos, it’s easy to know when I’m finished. For badly damaged
photos or ones with major colour shifts, it can be more difficult. In those
cases, when I think I’m done I’ll revisit the photo the next day with fresh
eyes and make any necessary adjustments. Sometimes, I even ask a
colleague to quickly evaluate my work and see if anything looks off.
“Retouching and restoration is best when it looks natural, as if
nothing had been done to the image. It becomes too much when it
looks obviously phony, plastic, processed, or otherwise manipulated.
I’ve seen a lot of restorations that look soft, airbrushed, cut out, and/or
borderline-cartoonish. If the background is in bad shape, fix it, don’t just
cover it up with a gradient. If the original photo contains film grain, keep
it, don’t surface blur it to death. Like recorded music, when too much
noise reduction is applied, the fine details are lost. By retaining fine
detail, I succeed in preserving history. Yes, doing it that way is more
challenging, but the results are better.”
30. GROUP SHOTS
29. HOW TO HEAL28. BRING THE PAST TO LIFE
Plane sailing: “The jet had some flaws covering it including dust and other types of crud that were probably
combination of making a selection with the Lasso tool and running Dust & Scratches on it where there are large
by one or two pixels and set the top layer to Darken and then use a layer mask to apply the fix in specific areas. The Healing Brush and Patch tools would just grab crud from other areas.”
Duplicate the issue:
Everyone at their best 1: “This was the most important part and had to really stand out so each person could be identified. The mid tone was completely mud and the
duplicating the background layer and sharpened the life
Everyone at their best 2: “There were still some light specs in the dark areas that revealed themselves. Next I added a Curves adjustment layer and increased the contrast by a lot. Then I added a layer mask for each of these two layers and painted the lightened/sharpened people back into view.”
From the top…:
the top. I made it just dark enough to give the canopy separation but look like it was in front of the same sky. I also extended the image off the top just so there was extra. This was done by tracing the sky with the Pen tool and filling it with a gentle gradient.”
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© Copyright Workstation Specialists – Acecad Software Ltd. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their
respective owners.
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MASTER RETOUCHING TECHNIQUES
USE PHOTOSHOP TO PRODUCE AN IMAGE THAT COMBINES STANDARD RETOUCHING TECHNIQUES WITH CREATIVE ONES
MASTER RETOUCHING
W hen working on composite images, you
will often find yourself jumping back
and forth from one element to the other.
As you continue to manipulate the
layers and masks, you will often find that colour and
tone that looked good before may not match the
evolution of the final image.
The success of a composite image relies on the
artist’s ability to make changes and tweaks
throughout the creative process. One way to give
more flexibility is by using adjustment layers for
lighting effects, rather than a blank layer with a
paintbrush. Besides the usual Opacity and blend
RETOUCH THE MODELSTART WITH BASICS LIKE CLONING, COLOUR AND TONAL CHANGES
PHOTOMANIPULATION
modes, you will also have additional sliders and
options for greater efficiency.
Expand your creativity by also introducing Smart
Objects to your workflow. At any point in time, you can
go back to the original RAW file and make the same
changes there, without the need for more layers and
masks. Used with Smart Filters, you can make
changes to the filter’s settings whenever you want.
Layer effects allow you to build upon existing
layers, without the need to create more layers and
do extra work with the Brush tool. They are another
great way to enhance your images within a
non-destructive workflow.
01 CAMERA RAW FILTEROpen ‘Imensia.tif’ from the disc. In the Layers
panel, Ctrl/right-click and select Convert to Smart
Object. Use Filter>Camera Raw Filter to begin doing
some basic colour and tonal corrections. Click OK.
Smart Objects will give you flexibility in a non-
destructive workflow. This is great when working with
composites. Name this Layer ‘Original Model’.
02 CAMERA RAW AND SMART OBJECTSWith CS6 and older, you can use Camera
Raw’s Preferences to open ‘All Supported TIFFs’,
which will open this image in Camera Raw to make
changes. To go from Camera Raw to Photoshop,
hold down the Shift key. It will change Open Image
to Open Object. You will now have access to these
changes later for further tweaking.
03 PREPARE THE MODEL Create a new blank layer
for your cloning and touch-up.
Smooth out the skin, enhance the
eyes, and clean up some flyaway
hair. Some wrinkles can be
removed with the Healing Brush,
while others may prefer Dodge
and Burn. You will make many
adjustments later, but starting
with a clean image will lead to the
best final results.
FROM STUDIO TO COMPOSITE FANTASY
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 1: Prep the photos
Progress 2: Compositing
Progress 3: Final effects
JOHN ROSSwww.TheArtofRetouching.com@ArtofRetouching
OUR EXPERT
Ross specialises in portrait and composite retouching. He has worked in advertising and editorial for 20 years, and lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut.
SOURCE FILESOn the supplied disc, you can find the model and disk-shape images. The additional images and brushes can be found at deviantart.com and shutterstock.com.
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TECHNIQUES MASTER RETOUCHING
QUICK TIP
Photoshop CC now supports linked Smart
Objects. This means you can work on a full size
image in great detail. After saving, you can link it
to another document at whatever size you want,
without the need to double or triple the size of
your final composite while working on it.
04 ANOTHER SMART OBJECT Select all the layers and Convert to Smart Object. Name it
‘Retouched Model Bottom’, and change the Opacity to 95%. To make
changes to the model later, you can go back to this base image by
double-clicking the Smart Object layer. This layer will contain all of the
corrections you have made to the model. If you want to change it later, just
double-click again, and a new window will open. Make your changes and
then save the adjusted image.
05 BEGIN COMPOSITINGCreate a layer mask for the model’s Smart Object layer and loosely cut her
out using a brush on the layer mask. Close is good enough because you can fix this
later when you have a better idea of how it will look when it’s all put together. Place a
galaxy image like http://tinyurl.com/lxya5t8 from deviantART behind the model. Use
the Camera Raw or Camera Raw filter method like before to make the colour and
tonal changes. Place all these visible layers into a folder called ‘Back’.
06 PLACE THE DISKOpen the image ‘Disk.psd’ that you can find
on the supplied disc. Drag and drop the Disk layer
containing the shape underneath the model’s layer
and above the Galaxy layer. Move the Disk layer into
position behind the model’s body. Use Opt/Alt while
clicking on the Disk layer to create a selection of the
shape, and then click the Add Layer Mask icon at
bottom of the Layers panel. Change the blending
mode of the Disk layer to Screen. This will give a
mask of the intricate shape.
07 ADD THE DISK’S LAYER EFFECTSSelect all the pixels on the Disk layer and
delete them. All you want is the shape as a mask –
the pixels will not matter. Use the FX icon at the
bottom of the Layers panel and enable Outer Glow
with settings of Screen, 75% Opacity, Size 56%, and
pick a blue colour. Next, enable Drop Shadow with a
black colour set to 75% Opacity, Distance of 10, and
Size of 5. All the other settings can remain as
defaults. Click OK.
08 ADD THE DISK’S GLOWFrom the disk centre, use the Elliptical
Marquee while holding down the Shift key. Select a
Curves adjustment layer. Move the curve up, and set
to Luminosity blend mode. This goes above the Back
folder. Name it ‘Disk Glow’. Use Layer FX to select
Outer Glow, Precise, and Size of 81, with the rest
default. Place Disk Glow into a new group folder
called ‘Disk Glow Cutout’. Add a white layer mask to
the group, using a black brush to stop the glow from
crossing over the model’s legs.
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12 BEGIN THE BLENDINGNow that you can begin to see it come
together, you can really start fine-tuning the layer
masks for the two model layers. For the bottom
model layer, you should keep the body tight and let
the gravel at the bottom fade up into the sky. Mask
the loose hair, and let the wispy parts blow around.
For the top layer, keep the parts you want the
natural colour and erase away, starting at the
chest. You can continue to clean these masks up
later, as needed.
11 ADD GLOW AND STAR BURSTSUnder the Retouched Model Top layer,
create a new Curves adjustment layer. Pull up on the
middle of the curve to lighten over the image. Fill the
mask with black to hide the effect, then use a white
brush to paint in a glow under the Top Model with
various brushes of different sizes and shapes. Create
multiple Curves layers, with different settings, and
different opacities. You can find many custom
brushes perfect for the task at http://www.
deviantart.com/morelikethis/99002450.
13 ADD A GRADIENT MAP Above the Texture layer, add a Gradient
Map adjustment layer. Click on the gradient’s
drop-down, and then the sprocket. You will see
many new types to choose from. For now, choose
Photographic Toning. Cycle through the options until
you find one you like. A blue one would be nice. On
the layer mask, paint away the top half of the image
with a black brush. Blend it in so that while a
different colour, the bottom gradient merges with
the top area seamlessly.
10 DUPLICATE THE MODELSelect the Retouched Model Bottom layer,
and drag it onto the New Blank Layer icon. This will
create a second model layer, but still reference the
same embedded Smart Object. So if you want to
alter one Smart Object, it will apply the same change
to the other layer. Place it above the Texture folder.
Name it ‘Retouched Model Top’, with 100% Opacity.
Paint on the layer mask to erase the lower half of the
layer. This will make more sense in the next step.
09 ADD TEXTUREAbove the Back folder, create a new folder called ‘Texture’. Inside, place a textured image layer of
your choice like http://tinyurl.com/mrgl6fv from deviantART and cover it over the whole image. Drop the
Opacity down to 15% with a blend mode of Difference. This begins to add a painterly effect. Add a layer mask,
and paint black to remove the effect from the top half of the image, where you want to retain the details. White
will be on the bottom, revealing the texture effect.
REFINE THE MODEL AND LIGHTINGADD TEXTURE, LIGHTING AND LAYER BLENDING
Smart Objects can go back to the original RAW files
without a need for extra layers
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GROUNDING THE SCENEADD DEPTH, EMOTION AND CHARACTER WITH THE FINISHING
TECHNIQUES MASTER RETOUCHING
QUICK TIP
By using the Brush panel’s Shape Dynamics, you can adjust the Size Jitter, Fade Jitter, and Roundness
Jitter. When you paint with the brush now, it will randomly change many of your brush settings as you
paint. There’s also Scattering, Texture, and Wet Edges, as some of the many options available.
FOCUS ON THE FOCAL POINT
When retouching, direct the viewer’s eye to where
you want them to go. Bring the focus to the most
important areas. Warm colours come forward,
cool colours go backwards… bright tone comes
forward, dark tone goes backward. With these
simple principles, you can guide the viewer
through the image. In a portrait, the face should be
the brightest and warmest. By creating darker
barriers around the sides and lower part of the
image, you can often hold the viewer’s attention
much longer. The darker and cooler areas do not
need to be severe; even subtle shifts can lead to
favourable results.
14 ADD TEXTURE LIGHT Above the Texture layer, add a Curves layer
if you want to lighten up the image. With all these
layers being added, the image starts to get too dark.
This should really start adding depth to the image,
now that you have had a chance to play with the
tonal range. Remember, you want to see the details
of the texture in the lower areas of the frame, as
well as ensure that the upper body remains the
focal point of the image.
15 ADD TEXTURE SHADOWSUnder the Texture layer, make a Curves
adjustment layer. Bring the curve down around half
way. Fill the mask with black. With a white brush,
you can start to paint back in the darker tone around
the lower half of the image. Focus it on the left and
right sides, as well as over the gravel at the bottom.
Avoid painting over the model’s legs. You want to try
and keep this detail, not darken it up. We will add
details back in the next step.
16 ADD GEOMETRIC SHAPESBy using image 166758839 from
Shutterstock or similar, you can add geometric
patterns to the lower half of the image, off in the
distance. Apply the shape to a Curves layer mask,
but do not apply any changes with the Curves tool.
Instead, use Layer FX with Outer Glow of blue, and a
Size of 29px. Also add a Drop Shadow with a
Distance of 31px and Size of 16px. Set the layer’s
blend mode to Screen.
17 DUPLICATE GEOMETRIC SHAPESSelect the Curves layer with the geometric
shapes on it, and use Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate the
layer. On the lower version, go into the Layer FX and
disable Outer Glow and Drop Shadow, then enable
Stroke with a Size 46px, Position: Outer, Blend Mode:
Soft Light, and Opacity: 7%. This blend mode should
be Normal. To match the glow of the circular shape
behind the model, add your own halo around these
new geometric shapes. You could use a brush, or
Layer FX with a mask for accuracy.
18 ADD PAINT SPLATTERMake a new Curves adjustment layer on top of everything. Bring the middle of the curve up half way,
and fill the layer mask with black. Using a white custom brush with paint splatters from http://mouritsada-
stock.deviantart.com/art/Brush-Pack-Splashes-Of-Paint-94180220, you can add splashes of paint
around the image. For variety, adjust the Opacity of the layer, or arc of the curve. You can use one Curves
adjustment layer, or several with different settings. Also try some Layer FX like Outer Glow for added realism.
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In the case of comic art, theme and colour story
go hand-in-hand
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CREATE COMIC ART TECHNIQUES
CREATE A VISUALLY STRIKING AND DIVERSE TEAM OF ARCHETYPAL SUPERHEROES!
CREATE COMIC ART
T he super team is a comic book staple (think
Avengers, X-Men, or Justice League) – a
motley crew of specialists who, as a unit,
can tackle threats too large for any one of
them alone. Each member wields unique powers
and abilities that have to read at a glance on the
comic book page.
In this tutorial, learn how to design and illustrate a
wide range of characters with powers to suit any
situation. You’ll use body type, pose, theme and
colour palette to differentiate each member and
DESIGN THE SUPERHEROESCHOOSE YOUR CHARACTERS AND COLOUR THEMES
DIGITAL PAINTING
make it crystal clear to the reader exactly who does
what. Photoshop is the perfect tool for this because its
layer management is second to none, and you’ll need
that while juggling all five of these character stacks at
once. Likewise, you’ll rely on Photoshop’s excellent
colour blending modes and adjustment effects to help
you keep each figure popping off the page, yet also a
properly balanced member of the group.
Quick note: in the line art ‘inking’ phase, a
pressure-sensitive input device is essential, and a line
stabilisation plug-in is definitely helpful.
01 CREATE BASIC SILHOUETTESStart simply, with basic body shapes. In
comics, most characters fall into one of three
standard categories: male, big male, and female.
Select five familiar archetypes: the tank-like Brute,
energy-casting Elemental, inventor/tech expert
Gadgeteer, the Psychic, and urban combatant the
Hunter. To make a balanced roster, opt for two
males, two females, and a big male.
02 CHOOSE THEMES AND COLOURSIn the case of comic art, theme and colour
story go hand-in-hand. At this early ideation stage, it
can be helpful to fill the silhouettes you have drawn
up with various colors to see what jumps out. In the
case of the Elemental, warm hues suggest a fire
theme and immediately lead to ideas for the next
step. With the Brute, all you really need to do is avoid
green…*wink*
03 EXPLORE BROADLYNow you can let the
imagination – and stylus –
wander. For the Brute, how about
some Kirby geometric design?
What if he’s reptilian? Futuristic?
Try anything that makes sense
and has a clear, obvious theme.
On the Elemental, you can explore
more and less humanity, places
where the fire might replace her
skin. Or hey, what if she’s not
human at all?
BUILD THE TEAM
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 1: Design the characters
Progress 2: Compose the elements
Progress 3: Detail the illustration
DAVID NAKAYAMAhttp://dna-1.deviantart.com
OUR EXPERT
Illustrator and concept artist currently working for San Francisco-based KIXEYE. He works in both digitally painted and comic book styles and freelances for Marvel Comics, Corvus Belli, and others.
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TECHNIQUES CREATE COMIC ART
QUICK TIP
How awesome is Liquify? It’s one of the most useful tools in Photoshop and gives the artist a tremendous
advantage over drawing traditionally by making small adjustments a snap. Use Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+X for
quicker access. The Forward Warp tool is incredibly intuitive and, honestly, all you really need.
04 CHOOSE THE TEAMConsider origin stories and day-to-day routines – what are the
characters’ home countries or timelines? Who trained them and what’s
their MO now? A useful layer setup might include a base layer with colour
tint layer Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt-clipped to it, foreground layer for things in
front (armour, straps), and background layer for capes, tails, etc. With a
nice spread of options to choose from, you can pick the standouts from
each category, but also consider what the group’s going to look like as a
whole. Ultimately, you need to settle on a nice diverse ensemble.
05 FRAME THE ILLUSTRATIONNow you need to figure out a compelling illustration that gives each
superhero a moment to shine while communicating his or her power and role in the
team. Give each figure its own layer for line art, and stay loose as you sketch out
different poses. As they begin to overlap, separate each one with a layer of flat grey.
Place each set (lines and grey) in a folder to stay organised, and set the lines layer to
Multiply so the black lines remain crisp against the grey.
06 MAKE REVISIONS TO THE LAYOUTWith this setup, you can freely move
characters around in the composition, flipping,
scaling, and redrawing as needed. Eventually, you
will arrive at a promising layout. At this point, the
editor indicates that the image might be used as a
cover, but with all the real estate accounted for by the
figures themselves, there’s none left for logos and
text blurbs. Fortunately, our setup makes this an
easy revision. Be sure to account for ALL
compositional elements as early as possible, or you
risk something important being covered up later.
07 BEGIN PENCILLINGNow create a new document at the final
output size. Drag over the existing sketch layers and
create a new layer above these filled with white.
Reduce its Opacity to about 85%. Now you can start
pencilling in earnest, using the sketched-in poses as
a base. Use the same layer setup as before – lines
on Multiply and grey fill. It’s important here to be
loose and energetic with your marks, so use a rough
chalk brush (or something similar) to ensure you
don’t get overly precious with the lines.
08 FINAL PENCILSRepeat the process for each character,
and from time to time, check your work for
drawing mistakes by flipping the whole canvas
horizontally. It’s an old illustrator’s trick and an
essential one: looking at your work in the mirror
immediately lays bare anatomy problems,
especially on faces. You’ll see right away that one
eye is too high, for example. Fortunately,
Photoshop has the perfect tool to fix these issues
without totally redrawing everything. Use Filter/
Liquify to quickly push things back into place.
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12 FLAT THE COLOURFinally it’s time to bring this illustration to
life with colour, and the first step is to create some
‘flats’ – ie specific groupings of flat local colour that
fit perfectly into the ink lines you established earlier.
Flats are both a base layer for the rendering to
come as well as a master selection tool. Placed on
a separate layer or in Channels, you can use the
Magic Wand to easily select specific areas of the
figure to work on while keeping colour boundaries
perfectly defined.
11 CHOOSE YOUR LINE ‘FLAVOUR’Think about context when choosing a type
of line: use heavier lines for shadows and outlines
and thinner ones for interior detail. Soft round lines
work best for the female form and, likewise,
squared-off angular lines for males. On effects like
fire, try a rough dry brush. When inking machined
metal objects, use Shift-click to rule perfectly
straight lines. To make circular forms, use the Pen
tool or make a circle with a hard round brush, then
delete all but the outer line with a hard round eraser.
13 CONSIDER OUTSOURCINGAnother helpful note about flats: many
professional colourists in the comic field rely on
dedicated flatters to take care of this step for
them, at the cost of about $10-12 per page. This
portion of the colouring process is time-
consuming, repetitive work that doesn’t require a
professional, so if the cost to time ratio makes
sense for you, by all means make use of these
incredibly helpful and dedicated artists, available
on deviantART and elsewhere.
10 INK UP CLOSESimilar to step 7, you will be starting fresh
with a new process. To streamline the total number
of layers, feel free to bake down or trash the older
ones (ie you no longer need the sketch layers, as
the pencils will now serve that purpose, and those
can be collapsed). While inking, it’s best to zoom in
fairly close. During this process, your aim is to
create precise, final lines, so rely on your Wacom
tablet or Cintiq to create smooth, sharp marks with
varying weight.
09 ARRIVING AT FINAL LINESSo far, you’ve explored a wide range of possible designs for your superhero team, cherry-picked the
best of them, composed a layout that lets all five characters shine (while still leaving plenty of room for text
blurbs), and worked out almost all of the line art details in a rough pencil pass.
TIGHTEN THE ILLUSTRATIONBEGIN INKING AND ADD THE COLOUR
001 PREP FOR INKThings are coming into focus, but the drawing remains ambiguous in places and will need to be clarified
002 DOUBLE�CHECK Before moving on, double-check anatomy and eliminate tangents. This is the foundation, and it needs to be rock-solid
003 NEXT STEPSIn the next step you’ll lock in your character art, committing sketchy pencil marks to solid black ink lines
001
003
002This is the foundation and it needs to be rock-solid
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RENDER IN COLOURADD HIGHLIGHTS, SHADOWS, TEXTURE AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
TECHNIQUES CREATE COMIC ART
QUICK TIP
At the top of the Layers panel there are four icons for locking layers. The first of these – Lock Transparent
Layers – is really useful for manipulating line art. Turn it on, and you’ll only be able to paint over existing
pixels and nothing else, making it easy to do re-tints.
PAINTING METAL SURFACES
Rendering metal surfaces can be tricky. Often in a
beginner’s work, the shadows aren’t black enough
and the lights aren’t white enough. Even more
frequently, they aren’t positioned next to each
other properly. Grab yourself some chrome
reference and note this great rule of thumb: put
strong lights and darks RIGHT NEXT to each other.
The name of the game is contrast – the more, the
better – and you want the border of the shadow
immediately next to the solid white of the lit area.
14 PAINT HARD LIGHT SHADOWSWhere to start with the rendering? One
approach is to choose a cool, dark grey and paint it
over your flats on a Hard Light layer. The beauty of
this is that it’s additive, casting the look of a shadow
over your local colors without overwriting them
completely (as with Normal mode). Even better, the
shadows thus created have built-in saturation, which
looks far better than simply turning up the black.
Since you’ll be reusing this colour repeatedly, create
a swatch of it on a separate layer and use the
Eyedropper as needed to select it.
15 ADD SHADOW AND TEXTUREThere are many approaches to
rendering, which is the process of adding
volume and texture to round out and surface a
form. Dodge and Burn (or alternatively, a brush
set to Soft Light) can be helpful as a first pass,
roughing in the basic lights and darks in no time.
From there, soft and hard-edged brushes will
finish the job. In areas of intense light, it helps to
lighten portions of the line layer. Add texture by
erasing out of the Hard Light shadow layer or
simply painting on top.
16 SPECULAR WHITESFor matte surfaces, this level of rendering
might be sufficient, but for materials like metal,
glass, and even skin, you’ll need much brighter
whites to show the proper level of specularity. Above
the shadow layer, clip a new light layer, and because
you’re looking for the brightest, most intense whites
here, set it to Normal mode. On skin surfaces, use
the white sparingly – just a single hotspot at the apex
of a lit area should be ample. On metal or wet
surfaces, use larger swaths of whites running down
the length of a form.
17 SPECIAL EFFECTSNow for the bells and whistles that really
bring an illustration together. When colouring energy
effects, you have to give the sense that they’re
insubstantial compared with the actual figures. For
starters, lock the layer (see Quick Tip) and paint the
lines of the fire (or lightning, etc) in a light, saturated
colour. Next, create a new Hard Light layer and build
up a glow with a soft round brush set at around 25%
Opacity. Add and subtract until you achieve the
desired effect.
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18 SPECIAL EFFECTS 2Energy is light, of course, and it should have an effect on nearby figures. Make
sure you account for this as you near the end of the colouring phase. Again, use a Hard
Light setting and paint with the same colour you used before, but this time on a layer
clipped to the target figure’s flats. Pay careful attention to the direction of the light, and
only paint on surfaces that are actually facing it. The effect is only convincing if the
application is applied selectively.
057
QUICK TIP
Adjustment layers (found under
Image>Adjustments or at the bottom of the
Layers panel) are your best friend at the end of an
illustration. Color Balance and Photo Filter are
great tools when unifying a mess of disparate
colours under one unifying tint. Levels and Curves
adjust the global distribution of darks and lights.
19 CONCENTRATE FOCUSTo finish up, step back from the piece and see what needs extra
attention. When dealing with multiple overlapping figures, they’ll often
compete for attention and require a certain amount of dialing back. For
example, the reds on the Telepath feel a little too strong in the context of
the overall piece, so you can create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer,
clip it to her flats, and selectively reduce (using a layer mask) the
saturation on her bottom half.
20 CREATE DEPTH OF FIELDNext, you’ll need to make sure the figures in the background
recede where they overlap the figures in the foreground. Case in point:
the Brute’s elbow. Using the Eyedropper, select the background colour
and, on a new layer set to about 60%, paint in a bit of atmospheric
perspective. This makes the individual figures read a lot more strongly,
keeping the viewer’s attention where you want it. Add similar layers
over the Gadgeteer’s shin and Elemental’s knees – anywhere one figure
is in front of another.
21 BRING IT TOGETHERLastly, you need to do a few tweaks to help
unify the group of five figures as one united whole.
First, select ALL the figure layers (minus the soft
glow effect layers) at once and Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+E
to Stamp Layers, ie create a flattened copy of all the
selected layers. Now you have a silhouette of the
whole group to which you can apply a coloured
stroke (pink/purple here because it complements
the yellow background). Finally, add Levels and Color
Balance correction layers on top.
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HOW I MADE
TROLLER � MADE OF WHAT YOU ARE
SAAD MOOSAJEEHOW THIS STRIKING ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN WAS ABLE TO SHOWCASE AMAZING PHOTOSHOP SKILLS AS WELL AS SELL THE CAR’S STRENGTHS
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
F reelance visual artist and designer Saad
Moosajee (www.saadart.com; @Saadart)
created this billboard advertisement for
agency JWT Brazil’s Troller car campaign.
Moosajee was commissioned by the agency to
visually depict the merits of the car. “The Troller is a
well-known off-road car in Brazil, famous for being
extremely durable and tough,” he says. “Troller is one
of the few Brazilian cars that can handle all aspects
of its diverse environment. This versatility makes it
attractive to various demographics in the country.
When creating the campaign, our goal was to make
the car more popular among those who are
interested in a reliable off-road vehicle. In terms of
design and art direction, the visual objective was to
show Troller’s close relationship to both consumers
and Brazil’s indigenous landscapes.”
It was brought together through
photomanipulation, 3D rendering (in CINEMA 4D)
and digital painting. “The 3D objects were intertwined
with the surrounding wildlife and planes. I was able
to achieve this effect through heavy manipulation of
the images and 3D objects with the Puppet Warp and
Transform tools.”
I was able to achieve this effect through heavy
manipulation of the images and 3D objects with the Puppet Warp and Transform tools
© C
lient
: Tro
ller;
Agen
cy: J
WT
Braz
il; A
rt D
irect
ion:
Thi
ago
Arrig
hi, P
edro
Hef
s; Il
lust
ratio
n: S
aad
Moo
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e
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01 ORIGINAL PLATEI began by working on the original background plate for the image. The perspective of the floor
in the photograph and free-flowing branches made this an ideal plate based on the brief provided.
03 MORE BLENDING Further integration of the 3D objects into the environment. Here I roughly
placed the figure and the 3D branches. I then began working on the atmosphere of
the forest by darkening and desaturating the whole environment.
02 BRING IN 3DTo create the forest, I cut up 3D objects and wove them
into the branches of the photograph. I also began integrating some
of the animals and reworking their colour and light.
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MOOSAJEE SHARES HIS TOP TIP FOR WORKING ON PROJECTS LIKE THISCREATE MORE SPACE
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
06 CHANGE OF MODELIn this image I shifted the placement of foreground objects to be
more central, and then added the second half of the car to the composition.
The figure was swapped out by request of the agency’s art directors to
someone ethnically Brazilian.
04 THE RIGHT ATMOSPHERE Re-creating the forest atmosphere required balancing dark, mysterious
tones against areas of intense illumination. To accomplish this I manipulated
another light source into the background, which also allowed for more
atmospheric perspective.
05 THE CAR’S THE STARHere I began roughing in the Troller car. The car was made by
cutting up a stock image and re-creating the inside with digital painting
and 3D renders. I then overpainted the whole thing to match the
environment’s lighting.
07 REFINE THE DETAILS I eventually increased the quantity of the light coming from the back
light source to help illuminate the forest atmosphere. A warm, orange-green
tinted light was used. I then manipulated the ground plane with more renders
and stock textures.
08 FINAL TOUCHESThe client eventually allowed for the figure to be replaced again and
the car to be coloured. I digitally painted each half of the car to align with the
hue of the main light source, giving the image a more unified aesthetic. The
lighting was also once again boosted from the background, this time
spreading into the foreground.
When working in photomanipulation, consider how focus and atmospheric
perspective can be employed to provide more space in your piece. In the
early stages of the JWT illustration, the piece didn’t have much depth or
space because the background values weren’t really receding. Managing
how bright and clear something is as it fades away can be a quick and
simple way to create more space in an invented environment.
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063
RESPONSIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUES
CREATE A RESPONSIVE FRONT PAGE WITH PRESENTATION MATERIALRESPONSIVE DESIGN
A s well as having to design for desktop,
tablet and smartphone, and deciding
whether to use fluid or non-fluid content
grids, responsive design bears yet another
challenge: making sure all your assets look sharp on
HD screens. If it were only @2x, this would be rather
easy. But with the dozens of sizes and resolution
types that Android devices bring with them –
sometimes as high as @4x – things get more
complex. This tutorial will focus on how to design a
responsive website, and how to easily prepare it for
client presentations along the way. We will be
looking into everything from setting up the ideal
GETTING STARTEDPREPARE THE DOCUMENT AND CREATE THE GRAPHICS
WEB DESIGN
Photoshop document as a template to work from, to
working with grids, guidelines and vector Smart
Objects, which allow you to create SVG files for your
final website that can be animated on rollover and
work perfectly on Retina screens.
While most graphic assets like images will still look
acceptable when scaled a tad up or down, it’s not as
easy when it comes to icons. There’s a simple reason
for that: icons are usually much more filigree and
detailed than most other image assets. Thin outlines
especially don’t scale well. There are two great
solutions that are lightweight and incredibly easy to
implement and use: SVG sprites or icon fonts.
01 SET UP THE DOCUMENTStart by designing in 1600px in width,
with a safe zone of 1000px in height. Then you
know anything within the 1600 x 1000px will be
available at the desktop version of the site. And
it’s easy to prepare the presentation in monitor
screens later, as the ratio also works in an image
of a cinema screen that is 1440 x 900px.
02 PICK COLOURS AND THINK MOBILEThe first thing to do after setting up the
document is to add three guidelines: one that
defines the centre of the document and two more
that define the 640px mobile height. You can also
search for images to base your colour inspiration
on, which can be taken from the product trends
and similar.
03 START FROM THE TOPStart out by doing the navigation. Just
get an icon next to text and see how it looks with
the chosen colours. I chose a margin of 75px from
the edge. Create basic icons, like the menu icon,
straight in Photoshop. You can then re-create
them later in Illustrator just to make sure you
have it in vector for SVG output later.
FROM RAW TO RESPONSIVE
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 1: Create the SVG-ready icons
Progress 2: Add the graphics
Progress 3: Prepare for mobile
ROLF A. JENSENwww.portfolio.works@rolfajensen
OUR EXPERT
Rolf A. Jensen is an international award-winning Norwegian art director, designer and co-founder of Good Morning, an interactive design agency. In a career spanning over a decade, he’s worked with clients such as DreamWorks, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros, Ford, Sony and Toyota.
SOURCE FILESIncluded on the disc is the final Photoshop file of the web design as well as presentation and vector resources. The main image is available at www.thinkstockphotos.com/image/stock-photo-sensual-couple/184738880.
With the dozens of sizes and resolution types that
Android devices bring with them – sometimes as high as @4x –things can get complex
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TECHNIQUES RESPONSIVE DESIGN
QUICK TIP
Double-click on your Vector Smart Object while
in Photoshop and it will open in Illustrator, then
click File>Save As and choose SVG from the file
options. You will have exported a perfectly
scalable web icon.
04 MAFor the social icons, make one 36 x 36px in Illustrator and use
that as a template for the rest of the icons. After pasting it into Photoshop,
click on it and select ‘New Smart Object Via Copy’. This will avoid conflict
between the icons you copy and reuse on your website, as if you were to
make an adjustment to one of them, it would apply to all icons you’ve
copied. Social icons can be found on the disc.
05 Tone down the image by creating a new layer on top and fill it with colour
#202020. Set the Opacity to 50%. Add a Black & White adjustment layer and boost the
Exposure to give the image a traditional fashion look. As a last touch, add the colour on top
of the layers. Make sure it’s above the Black & White layer, otherwise the colour won’t be
visible. Hit [G] and fill the layer with bronze (#ad825d). Select Color blending mode and set
the Opacity to 10%.
06 SVCreate a new document in Illustrator. Set
the values to 36 x 36px. Now click the Round
Rectangle tool and drag a line 25px in width and
2.5px in height, duplicate it three times and rotate the
lines 45 degrees to create a diamond square.
Duplicate this and move it up as seen on the image,
then select the two diamonds with the Selection tool,
change the colour to white and copy and paste it into
your Photoshop document. Place the graphic in the
centre underneath your title treatment.
07 In Photoshop, use the Rectangle tool and
drag to make a bronze shape 250 x 50px. Choose a
font with less detail for the smaller text and buttons.
I’ve used Cabin from Google Web fonts – it’s also
included on the disc. After placing the text in the
centre of the shape you just created, make sure the
size of the text is 18pt and set to regular. Now you’ve
just created your ‘rollover’ for the button, as you will
do the buttons in the same style as the 2pt circles
you have around your social icons and the 2pt
diamond graphics.
08 After you’ve created the rollover state for
your button, it’s easy to make the normal state, since
this is going to be an outline that gets filled in on
rollover. Simply make two new rectangle shapes,
which are 2px in height and 250px wide (the button’s
width). Do the same with two new shapes that are
50px in height and 2px in width to create the vertical
sides for the button. If you are using Photoshop CC,
you can simply select all four rectangle shape layers
and merge them into one shape.
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12 PREPARE FOR PRESENTATIONIt’s always great to show your client how
the design will look in a browser, to give them the
picture of how things will be aligned and scaled on
a computer screen and a mobile screen. On the
disc, you can find some pre-made assets of an
iMac screen and an iPhone. These are great tools
to help sell your design and create a better
awareness on the client’s side of how the final
outcome will look and feel.
11 After you have re-organised the folder and
layers, it’s time to re-organise the position and sizes.
A few key rules are to scale all your icons to about 30
per cent of what they were on desktop. If your icons
are already small in the desktop design, you might
want to double that scale. Another tip is to never use
a text size less than 24pt – it’s just going to be hard to
read on a mobile screen. Place a new layer on top of
your mobile folder and create two black shapes to the
sides of the workspace so you have all your focus on
the centre part where the mobile design will be. Make
a new margin from the edge of the design at 30px on
both sides to keep some space between your
elements and the edge of the screen.
13 Open up ‘iMac_screen.psd’ from the disc,
double-click the layer called ‘Put your design here’,
then open up your PSD file with the web design. Go
to Image>Image Size and scale it down to 1440 x
900px, then with the mobile folder off, merge the
desktop folder with all the layers and drag it over to
the Smart Object called ‘Screen_11’ that you opened
from ‘iMac_screen.psd’. Now make sure it’s centred
and save it. Repeat the same steps for the ‘iPhone_
screen.psd’ to get the phone screen.
10
Make two new folders on top of all your layers (click
on the folder icon at the bottom of your Layers panel
or hit Cmd/Ctrl+G). Name them ‘Desktop’ and
‘Mobile’. After that, copy all your current layers into
the desktop folder, and copy all the layers a second
time into your mobile folder. Do this by Shift-
selecting all the layers (besides the two recently
created folders called Desktop and Mobile), and drag
all the layers into the folder while holding Opt/Alt
down on your keyboard.
09 FINISHING DESKTOPNow let’s finish up on the desktop design. Add a few more details like the slide options on the left
side that indicates that the imagery in the background can be interactive in some way. Then take a look at the
mobile safe-zone, marked red on the picture. You now need to make sure all of your elements can scale and
work down to that space. It’s a simple matter of re-organising your elements so they fit within the safe zone,
with some space on the sides.
REDESIGN FOR MOBILEADJUST THE SIZE AND POSITIONING OF ELEMENTS FOR MOBILE DEVICES
001 HELPING HANDSet up a grid and use existing industry imagery for inspiration and colour reference
002 WORKING WITH FONTSResearch typography and place in a nice header text to make a bold statement in the centre of the design
003 PREPARING FOR MOBILEReorganise the elements from your desktop design into their own folder so it fits on a mobile screen
001
003
002
It’s always great to show your client how the design
will look in a browser, to give them the picture of how things will be aligned and scaled
ICON FONTS VS SVGS
There aren’t fundamental differences between the two when you just want to display a couple of resolution-
independent monotone icons on your site. Of the two, icon fonts have greater support of out-of-date software, so
if you’re working on a larger scale project that is expected to get great traffic from less techy audiences, you might
want to go with icon fonts. If, however, you want to use the power of recent browsers and mobile OSs, then SVGs
are for you. While creating icon fonts is a bit of setup work and you’ll probably look into a proper software tool
that’ll help you do it, SVGs don’t require anything. Simply export to the format from Illustrator and your job is done.
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TONY ANDREAS RUDOLPHwww.zulusplitter.de
OUR EXPERT
Rudolph is a digital matte painter and concept artist, and has worked on projects like Guardians Of The Galaxy, Jupiter Ascending, Captain America 2 and Divergent.
SOURCE FILESOn the disc provided with this issue, you will find the full-size 3D render and all the passes needed to complete this tutorial.
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EPIC FANTASY LANDSCAPE CONCEPT
COMBINE PHOTO ELEMENTS AND PAINTING TECHNIQUES TO CREATE PHOTOREAL CONCEPT ART
EPIC FANTASY LANDSCAPE CONCEPT TECHNIQUES
L earn how to use a 3D block mesh, photo
bashing and digital painting techniques to
create an epic fantasy kingdom scene. The
combination of Maya and the renderer Chaos
Group V-Ray will help you to set up the perspective
and basic lighting for the final scene. The use of
photos will help you to create the first details for the
PHOTOMANIPULATION
image and generate a photoreal touch. You will then
use digital painting techniques to match, merge and
change the photos to the way you want them, which
will help you to create a final concept.
This is an advanced Photoshop tutorial, for artists
who have a bit more experience with this program or
someone who wants to push their skills to a new
level. You will be using photos to make up most of the
base, which you can find on the web. Here, stock sites
like CGTextures, Texturepilot or deviantART were used.
Shop around to find images to suit your own scene. On
the disc provided with this issue, you will find the 3D
render and all passes. When you have these
downloaded, you’re ready to begin.
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03 EXTEND THE PHOTOS The next stage is the extension of photo elements by copying the images and painting on top of
them. Duplicate the sky image with Cmd/Ctrl+J and put it under the original sky. Than use the Move tool to
move it to the right. Make another copy and move it down. After that, merge the sky layers together and use
the Brush tool with a chalk brush to paint a seamless edge between all the sky parts.
04 MATCH THE ELEMENTSNow it’s time to match the mountain with
the sky. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+B for Color Balance to match
the colours. Select Shadows and add a bit of cyan to
the mountain. Press OK and open the Hue/
Saturation dialog with Cmd/Ctrl+U. Go to the cyan
and blue channel and pull down the Saturation.
Create a new layer behind the mountain layer. Use
the Lasso tool to make a shape for the distant
mountains. Pick a shadow colour from the mountain
and fill the selection with this colour.
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TECHNIQUES EPIC FANTASY LANDSCAPE CONCEPT
02 FIRST PHOTOBASHThe next step is the background. For a
better overview, create a group by clicking the group
icon in the Layers panel. To browse the photos you
want to use in the image, the best way is to use
Adobe Bridge or Adobe Mini Bridge. To activate the
Mini Bridge, go to File>Browse in Mini Bridge. When
you find the right images for the background,
double-click on the thumbnail in Mini Bridge to open
them. Use the Move tool to move the image into
your PSD file.01 3D BLOCK SKETCH
Create a new document with a size of 5661 x 3669 pixels and
300dpi. You will start by using a 3D render. The 3D render was created
with Autodesk Maya and V-Ray. You can use other 3D programs and
renderers to create a similar image, like CINEMA 4D or Google
SketchUp. The 3D mesh will help to give you the basic composition,
perspective and lighting for the scene. For this painting, the 3D part was
completed in around two to three hours. Render out different passes
like Diffuse or RGB.
THE PHOTOREAL CONCEPT
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 2: Using the photo bashing technique
Progress 3: Painting on top
Progress 1: From 3D to 2D
The 3D mesh will help to give you the basic
composition, perspective and lighting for the scene
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07 THE MIDDLE BACKGROUND MOUNTAINNow you can repeat the same techniques
as used in the steps before. Try to match the shape
of the 3D render to the scene as much as possible,
as well as the lighting direction. Create a new group
and call it something like ‘midground mountain’.
Import the images into your Photoshop file and place
them by using the Move tool. Then create a layer
mask for every image you want to add and paint the
shapes. Here, tree images were used to create a
base for the mountain.
06 OVERPAINT THE WATERFALLSNow you need to match the waterfall size by
painting on top of the waterfall. Create a new layer on
top of the waterfall layer and use a chalk brush. Pick a
dark colour from a nearby area and just paint some
lines on the waterfall. Then add some smaller islands
and stones. Go to Image>Image Rotate>Flip Horizontal
to have a fresh eye and check the perspective and
scale. Create a new layer and set it to Lighten. Pick the
sun colour and paint some highlights over the waterfall
where the light hits.
05 ADD THE WATERFALLSOther than the sun rays, the background
needs another interesting element – the waterfalls.
To create these, use two different waterfall images.
To paint the shapes of the waterfalls, create a layer
mask by clicking on the layer mask icon in the
Layers panel and paint with the round brush in black
to change the shape. It’s important to look at the size
of the trees – the waterfalls shouldn’t be bigger than
the trees on the mountain. After that, match the
colours again with Color Balance.
QUICK TIP
If you want to select a part of a reference image you picked for the painting, use the Quick Selection tool to
create a fast and accurate selection. Sometimes the Quick Selection tool creates better results than Color
Range selection or the Magic Wand tool.
08 OVERPAINT THE MOUNTAINThe next step is another overpaint and colour matching. You
need to match the grassy top and the forest to the rocky mountain
image. To match the colours, use the Match Color adjustment. Go to
Image>Adjustments>Match Color. Select the PSD file as a source and
the layer you want to match this layer. After you have done this, create a
new layer for the overpaint and paint the edges between the images, as
well as painting in some trees on the light side of the mountain.
09 PAINT THE SNOWY DISTANT MOUNTAINSFlip the image again to get a fresh eye. Create a new group. Use the 3D part as a
base, but extend the shape a bit more with the Lasso tool. Import a snowy mountain and
put it into the PSD file. Use Color Balance to match the colours. When you have done this,
create a new layer over the mountain. This layer will be a cloud layer. Use the Brush tool
and a cloud brush. Pick a cloudy colour from the sky layer and paint the clouds.
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TECHNIQUES EPIC FANTASY LANDSCAPE CONCEPT
QUICK TIP
When you work with 3D, be sure to render out as
many passes as possible, including Diffuse,
Ambient Occlusion, and shadow and light passes.
You can then combine these passes with the layer
blending methods in Photoshop, like Multiply,
Darken and Lighten.
13 MOUNTAIN, CLOUDS AND FOREGROUNDLook for some cloudy mountains. Use the
Quick Selection tool to select the cloud and move it
into the PSD. Match the colours with Color Balance.
Move one cloud on top of the mountain group and
one behind. Paint in some details on the top
cathedral. For the foreground, use three images for
the water and two for the riverside in front of the
gate and copy them three times. Merge the images
again by painting on top of it. The colours are
matched with Color Balance.
10 MIDGROUND MOUNTAINCreate another new layer. Select the part of
the mountain you want to add details to with the
Lasso and click on the mask icon in the Layers
panel. Now the group must have the mask in nearly
the same shape as the mountain. Import some
more grassy mountain images. Here just two
different ones were copied and moved around so that
they did not look like duplicates of each other. Create
a mask for every image and paint some areas away
if it ever starts to look too similar.
14 MAIN CATHEDRAL, GATE AND RIVERSIDECreate a new group. Select the main
cathedral and make a layer mask out of it. Use
cathedral textures to add some basic details and
paint on top of it. Do the same with the bridge and
the wall. For these elements, just use some old
stone textures you can find at CGTextures or
Texturepilot. Copy the image from the riverside on
the left and put it between the tree images you added
before. For the tree, use just one image and paint on
top of every layer to create randomness.
11 PAINT THE SUN AND SKYCreate a new layer inside the mountain
group. Pick the colour of the darker cloud and
change the layer mode to Multiply. Fill the layer with
the colour and paint the elements away on the mask
where the sun hits the mountain. After, create a new
group with a mask. Inside this group, add a Color
Balance adjustment and match the light side of the
mountain with the sun colour. Then create a new
layer in Lighten mode, picking the sun colour, and
paint the sunny side of the mountain.
15 FINAL STEPNow add some textures to the remaining
parts. Create a new layer and paint some city smoke
with a cloud brush. Use a knight image, scale it and
paint on top of it to create some randomness. Then
create another new layer, pick the sun colour and
paint all the sunny parts with a soft brush to create a
moody feeling. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+E to
create a master copy. Then go to Filter>Blur>
Gaussian Blur set 4%. Change the layer mode to
Lighten at 75%. Done.
12 FINAL DETAILS OF THE MOUNTAINHere, some rocky parts of the mountain
didn’t match the buildings and smaller cathedrals.
Create a new layer on top of the latest layers you
created. Pick a colour from the rocks and start
painting on some rocks near the buildings to create
something like platforms that the buildings are built
on. Be sure to repaint as much as possible, like the
existing rocks. Use a chalk brush with a texture for
this part. The result should show nearly no difference
between the original rocks.
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OLI ROGERS EXPLAINS HOW HE TAUGHT HIMSELF TO USE PHOTOSHOP TO CREATE THE FANTASTICAL AND MYSTERIOUS, WITH A RETRO TWIST
READER INTERVIEW
RETRO FANTASY
READER INTERVIEW RETRO FANTASY
OUR READER
072
OLI ROGERS, AKA STEGOSAURUSwww.olirogers.artworkfolio.com
O li Rogers first began to use Photoshop as
an art student, five years ago. Using
online tutorials and magazines to teach
himself, he gradually shifted from
working with pencils, a paintbrush and an airbrush
to his graphics tablet; painting all things weird,
fantastical, surreal and mysterious – though
usually with a retro flavor. “That airbrush was way
too noisy anyway!” he begins.
BEING SELF�TAUGHT, WHAT PARTS OF YOUR
WORK WOULD YOU SAY YOU FIND PHOTOSHOP
TO BE MOST USEFUL FOR?
Almost all of my work is now made entirely in
Photoshop. I used to scan pencil drawings and work
them up, but these days it’s all digital from the inception
of the image. I love the flexibility of digital work, and
that’s one reason why I think it’s a great learning tool for
illustration. You can make so many decisions that you’d
have to be incredibly brave to attempt on a physical
piece that you’ve been slaving over for days. There’s no
I’m often asked if I use photomanipulation in my images.
The answer is no; all of the work you see here is made from scratch
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All a
rtic
le im
ages
© O
li Ro
gers
Zpiral Galaxy: Rogers explains: “With this poster I seek to answer the question that seems to be on everyone’s lips these days: What if the makers of ‘80s Saturday morning cartoons had been into the esoteric knowledge traditions of the ancient world, and hallucinogenic drugs?”
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Brushes: You can render all manner of finishes using a very limited range of brushes; in this image, four
Lighting: Multiply layers are great for adding shadows to elements that have already been rendered, and I sometimes use Overlay for highlights
Love For The Haters: “One of my personal favourite poster designs, based on a mixture of Hindu and Bollywood imagery with the addition of some subtle ‘80s pop elements,” says Rogers. “As you can see, I like to create illustrative mash-ups. The design is inspired by something very important once said by Martin Luther King Jr.: ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’”
Pattern: When making intricate patterns you can copy and paste repeated elements, but for realism make sure they don’t appear too identical
Texture: You can overlay a subtle photo texture to add interest to an otherwise flat surface, but don’t go too crazy
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RETRO FANTASY READER INTERVIEW
075
fear of ruining your work, so you can be as daring as
you like in terms of experimentation.
DO YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOUR STYLE HAS
CHANGED A LOT SINCE YOU FIRST BEGAN TO
USE PHOTOSHOP?
I suppose I’d describe my style as highly rendered digital
painting, but that’s definitely evolved considerably over
my time using Photoshop. To begin with I just wanted a
new way to colour my traditional drawings.
WHAT PROJECT THAT YOU HAVE USED
PHOTOSHOP FOR DO YOU FEEL MOST PROUD
OF HAVING WORKED ON?
I graduated from university eighteen months ago, so
I’m really just starting out in my career. I still consider
one of my student projects, which was an entry for the
Macmillan Prize for children’s books, as a bit of a
milestone. It was called The Tremendous Moustache,
and it was about a friendly woodland creature with
magical facial hair. I didn’t win anything, but I’m still fond
of the project as it was really the first work in which my
digital skills started to catch up with my imagination,
and other people seem to like it too. Looking at it now,
though, I can see that I’ve definitely come a long way
since then.
Using separate layers for each element from
the rough stage allows you to play around
with the composition of your painting until
you get the most effective layout possible.
Don’t expect Photoshop to create things for
you. You’ll need the same foundation of basic
art skills as you would for work created with
physical paints and canvas. Practise!
It can be easier to paint complex forms in
monochrome first, then use Color layers to
add ‘glazes’ of colour. You can then tweak
these with Overlay and Color Balance
adjustment layers.
I use adjustment layers for adding the
finishing touches to a painting. Hue/
Saturation and Color Balance can pull your
palette together, and Levels can add extra
punch. Have a play.
Look to magazines like Advanced
Photoshop for useful technical tips and
creative inspiration, but don’t just copy
others’ content unless it’s strictly for practice.
Your style should be your own.
TOP FIVE DESIGN TIPS
As you can probably tell, I’m really into ‘80s airbrush art – the kind of fantasy and sci-fi stuff that was all over movie posters,
record covers and videogame boxes
Truth Hurts: Like most of his art, this poster was inspired by ‘80s airbrush art. It was also inspired by a lyric from David Bowie’s ‘Underground’: “Don’t tell me truth hurts, little girl, ‘cause it hurts like hell.”
Gold: “An editorial illustration that symbolises the financial struggle of working in the creative industries as the ‘Magnum Opus’, the alchemical quest to turn lead into gold. In this case, it’s pencil lead,” explains Rogers
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040076
READER INTERVIEW RETRO FANTASY
WHAT OTHER ARTISTS DO YOU FEEL HAVE
BEEN MOST INFLUENTIAL AND INSPIRING
TO YOU?
As you can probably tell, I’m really into ‘80s airbrush
art – the kind of fantasy and sci-fi stuff that was all
over movie posters, record covers and videogame
boxes. Also, imagery from the picture books that I
read as a small child still leaks into my work here and
there. In terms of individual artists, I’ve always been
into Edward Gorey (although of course my digital
work is a world away from his pen-and-ink
drawings), and at this moment I can’t get enough of
Christopher Conn Askew and Femke Hiemstra’s stuff.
It’s magical.
WHAT ARE THE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
YOU WOULD SAY ARE YOUR FAVOURITES?
I’m often asked if I use photomanipulation in my
images. The answer is no; all of the work you see
here is made from scratch. Then there’s the classic
question, “Which bits did you do?”, to which the
answer is “All of them.” Besides the odd font and the
occasional hint of a photo texture, nothing goes into
my work that wasn’t generated by me, using primarily
the basic soft and hard round brushes, along with a
slightly ragged-edged brush. Besides that, I’ll make a
few adjustments to the levels and colour balance but
that’s really it. Cmd/Ctrl+Z is my other favourite
feature – you don’t get that on a physical canvas.
DO YOU FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT FOR ARTISTS
TO LEARN A VARIETY OF SKILLS, SUCH AS
BOTH DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL ART?
Definitely – although, you probably won’t get too far as
a digital artist if you haven’t got a good grounding in
traditional art skills. As a digital painter you most
definitely still need to know how to draw, and even if
you are a photomanipulator you will still need to know
how to compose an image and how to pick a palette.
But then, I think that working digitally can help you
learn these things. As an artist you need to
experiment with all the different media that you can
get your hands on – how else will you find out what
you’re good at?
Full Boar: “Here we see a bunch of Victorian socialites engaged in worshipping a pyrotechnic boar-cannon,” tells Rogers
Crafty & Furious: This album cover, called Crafty & Furious, was made for a dance music producer, featuring a dinosaur Jesus chilling in downtown Miami.
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© E
lena
Mat
yush
I imagined my character with iridescent scales, so I decided to add something reptilian to her design – a dragon’s chest
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AMATEUR DIGITAL ARTIST ELENA MATYUSH TAKES US THROUGH THE PROCESS OF PAINTING AN EYE�CATCHING FANTASY CREATURE PORTRAIT
HOW I MADE
A’KHAMIELENA MATYUSH
079
Elena Matyush (http://leinara.deviantart.
com) first developed the idea for her
recent digital character painting from
none other than a simple sketch: a cute
face with large eyes and long ears whose eyes
she fell in love with. “I imagined the delicate
creature looking up with naive and surprising
sight at a glowing butterfly, which was ultimately
replaced by the jellyfish,” she explains.
From the very beginning, Matyush’s plan was
to make the image colourful and vibrant, with
surrealistic elements such as luminous plants
added in. “I didn’t want it to look like Pandora,
though,” Matyush continues. “I imagined my
01 DEFINING THE COLOURSI started with a line sketch of the character, then defined the basic colours for the whole picture.
To do this, I created two layers under the creature to sketch the colour layout for both the background
and the character separately.
02 CHARACTER AND BACKGROUNDI used a simple, round brush with hard
edges to shape the trees, then used the Dual Brush
so that the leaves wouldn’t look duplicated. When the
main part of the background was done, I moved onto
the character. I used the Pen tool>Make Selection in
order to make the edges of her body sharp.
03 BRINGING IT TO LIFEIt was then time to work with the details. I
created a new layer onto which I put the tracery, then
applied Transform>Warp and placed it onto the
stripes. Finally, I moved onto the jellyfish. To make
the tentacles perfectly smooth, I used the Pen
tool>Stroke Path>Brush, then used Transform>Warp
to make my jellyfish less flat.
character with iridescent scales, so I decided to
add something reptilian to her design – a
dragon’s chest. For a long time I didn’t know
what to call this creature, so during the entire
process I called her a lizard. I then finally decided
to give her a name – A’khami.” After 183 layers,
the adorable sketch was finally brought to life.
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
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SPECS:
APPROX £53$90
www.ugee.net
WE PIT THESE TWO RIVAL TABLETS AGAINST EACH OTHER TO FIND OUT WHICH IS BEST FOR LESS THAN £100
REVIEWS UGEE RAINBOW III VS WACOM INTUOS MANGA
UGEE RAINBOW III VSWACOM INTUOS MANGA
VS
You don’t need to spend a fortune when
looking for your next creative device, and
when it comes to graphics tablets this is
especially true. For less than £100 you can
have a capable tablet that combines the latest
technology with a simple, functional design. Now
your instincts may lean towards the Wacom Intuos
Manga before we even get started, but it can
sometimes pay to consider the underdogs, like this
one by a Chinese company, UGEE. Although,
straight off the bat, this Intuos edition from Wacom
comes shipped with a full version of Manga Studio
Debut 4, which includes integrated colour palettes
and thousands of halftone patterns and brushes.
But for those of you who are just on the look-out
for a tablet to complement your Photoshop
artwork, perhaps as a more portable addition to a
larger tablet, then either one of these could be just
right for you. Join us as we challenge these two
graphics tablets side-by-side to see which is the
best buy for under £100.
SPECS:
£90 $99
www.wacom.com
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SIZING UP THE COMPETITION WHICH TABLET HAS MORE ERGONOMIC APPEAL?
UGEE RAINBOW III THIS GRAPHICS TABLET IS THE MOST AFFORDABLE OUT OF THE TWO, AND PROVIDES A LARGE ACTIVE AREA FOR MORE FREEDOM ACROSS THE CANVAS. DISREGARD THE FACT THAT THIS IS WITHOUT ANY OF
STANDS ITS GROUND BY PROVIDING A BETTER RESOLUTION FOR PRECISION PAINTING.
On initial glance, we’re immediately drawn to the
difference in physical dimensions between these two
graphics tablets. The Rainbow III has three inches
more active area than Wacom’s Intuos Manga. Not
that size makes a huge difference in this case,
because we found it surprisingly easy to adapt our
pen movements to the more confined space of the
Intuos Manga after a few short moments. We did
find that the Rainbow III was more comfortable to
paint with, and in terms of ergonomics, the broader
edging and raised hot keys down one side of the
tablet sat better on the lap; as opposed to the
squarer and flatter Intuos Manga. We also found the
Rainbow III easier to operate, having all the hot keys
at close reach with one hand while the other hand
operated its pen. With the Intuos Manga, two hot
keys are set in both of its top corners, so no matter
whether you’re a left or right-handed artist, you’ll have
to cross arms over to utilise all four of these. The
Intuos Manga is still better equipped for left-handed
artists; because of its symmetry, you’re not required to
turn the tablet 180 degrees, which isn’t the case for the
Rainbow III. In order to use the tablet’s hot keys with
our right hand, we had to turn it completely around
and accept the inwardly protruding USB cable, as
opposed to its more natural position of facing away.
No wireless connectivity leaves you reaching for the
USB cable, but it’s long enough to reach across an averagely sized workspace
A chunkier pen is sometimes easier to handle for those with larger hands
The raised edge of this tablet is just right for operating the hot keys with one hand and painting with the other
Rainbow colour themes: If shades of brown are not quite your style, then there is a black
version available
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REVIEWS UGEE RAINBOW III VS WACOM INTUOS MANGA
OUT OF THE BOX?THE EXTRA KIT THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
Both tablets do have their own surprises out of the
box. With the Rainbow III, you are welcomed with a
pen holder that stashes away a number of spare
nibs, too. This is a neat way to keep the pen
accessible in your studio, but Wacom’s solution to
this is a little different.
Using a very tight-fitting fabric tag along the top of
the tablet, one end of the pen is squeezed into the
holder; it does mean, however, that it’s never too far
away at a moment’s notice. If Manga is your genre of
choice, then having Manga Studio Debut 4 software
and resources all bundled might tip the scales. The
pen of the Rainbow III does require charging via a
WACOM INTUOS MANGA
The Intuos Manga is thin and
obtrusive if carrying with additional luggage
The Intuos finish:
separate cable that connects to the top end. With a
battery life of supposedly 5,000 hours, this isn’t
something that restricted creativity when working
with the tablet in Photoshop.
One major disadvantage of the Rainbow III’s pen is
that it’s minus an eraser. To work around this, it was
possible to set one of the hot keys to
Photoshop’s Eraser tool, but then we
had to sacrifice a second hot key to
jump back to the Brush
tool once the eraser
was done with.
is a joy to create with and when connected
tangled up with cables
slipped inside this handy
pen holder
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AND THE WINNER IS... WACOM INTUOS MANGA
Although not without its foibles, Wacom’s tablet really
comes into its stride when using the multi-touch
commands for full control over a wide range of gesture
functions and navigational aids, which is something the
Rainbow III can’t provide. Lightweight and wireless (with
the additional accessory kit), this makes the Intuos Manga
the more portable tablet out of the two, and it’s for these
reasons that it has come out on top.
UNDER THE SURFACE
Although, on the surface, the Rainbow III might not
be much of a looker, it does feature twice as many
pressure levels and double the resolution compared
to the Intuos Manga. In fact, this is more in line with
Wacom’s Pro range and even the company’s
high-end Cintiq models. The Rainbow III doesn’t give
you the same level of customisation as you have
with the Intuos Manga, and on top of this Wacom’s
multi-touch, gesture commands makes it much
more natural to move, rotate and pan across the
canvas as paint is applied. Being considerate of the
price mark of both of these tablets, the plastic
surface of the active area was more noticeable on
the Rainbow III during our tests when put up against
the smoother surface of the Intuos Manga. That’s not
to say the Rainbow III was entirely out-performed,
however, giving a more than acceptable painting
experience inside of Photoshop.
shortcuts
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Until now, digital artists have always had to
make compromises. You can use
raster-based software like Photoshop to
work with pixel-based images, taking
advantage of the rich shifts in shade and tone that
they can create, but hampered by the dreaded
jaggies when it comes to resizing images for higher
resolutions than you started with. Or you can use
vector-based software like Illustrator that allows you
to create images that can be scaled up with no loss
of resolution, but be forced to eschew subtle tonal
shifts in favour of crisp lines and colour delineations.
You couldn’t have both – until now.
Mischief lets you have your cake and eat it, as the
drawing and painting program makes use of a new
and intriguing development called Adaptively
Sampled Distance Fields. This new way of
representing digital shapes, invented and patented by
the brains behind Mischief, offers fast rendering,
high-quality anti-aliasing, and the ability to represent
variable, textured strokes that can be rescaled
without losing quality. Put simply, Mischief offers you
an infinitely scalable canvas with painterly
mark-making that won’t lose resolution when you
scale it up. As disruptive technologies go, this
innovation is potentially huge.
Adobe, then, will be relieved to note that Mischief
is a simple program, far from offering all that
Photoshop is capable of. It has a limited range of
brushes and tools, no blending modes or layer
adjustments (beyond basic opacity controls), and no
support for PSD files. All it does is let you sketch and
paint with a few simple brushes. The thing is, those
simple brushes happen to be very good. Pencils
provide a naturalistic sketchy look. Conte crayons
give soft, textured, buildable colour. Markers offer a
tactile, felt-pen look and feel, while Highlighters can
give a soft, semi-transparent glaze. Calligraphy
brushes offer crisp, elegant strokes while Erasers –
well, they do what Erasers do. It’s a simple feature
set, but for digital painters who work in a
predominantly traditional way, with sketching, inking,
shading and colouring, it’s perfect.
If you’re happy bouncing between Photoshop and
other programs and you don’t mind dancing around
THIS DIGITAL PAINTING PROGRAM PROMISES A RADICAL INNOVATION, BUT IS IT COMPLEX ENOUGH FOR TODAY’S PHOTOSHOP FAN?
MISCHIEFREVIEW
■ TOOLS PALETTEThe Tools palette is shockingly simplistic for Photoshop
users, featuring a Rectangular Marquee, Brush tool,
various shape and line presets, Eyedropper, Zoom, Undo
and 100% Size command.
■ BRUSHESMischief’s capsule collection of brushes
include pencils, Conte crayons (aka
coloured pencils), markers,
highlighters, calligraphy pens and
erasers. It’s a small set, but it’s all you
need for a realistic hand-drawn look.
■ BRUSH CONTROLSBrush controls are basic, offering
Width (size) and Opacity controls plus a
full colour palette. You can drag and
drop colours into the Saved box on the
right for ease of use. You can also
control paper colour here.
■ LAYERS PALETTENo blend modes, no adjustments, no
Styles or Effects – just simple layers for
you to build up artwork on. Make sure
you merge before exporting your image
to a Photoshop-readable format, as
PSDs aren’t supported.
MADE WITH MISCHIEFA LOOK AT MISCHIEF’S SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE SKETCHING AND PAINTING TOOLSET
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TOP 5…PHOTOSHOP BRUSH REPOSITORIES
BRUSHEEZYwww.brusheezy.comWith free Photoshop brushes, patterns and textures as well as premium
content available, Brusheezy is a great resource for finding brushes and other assets that can be used in both personal and commercial art projects.
Features: 6/10Ease of use: 8/10Value for money: 8/10Quality of results: 9/10
VERDICT
FINAL SCORE: 8/10
CREATE SOME ARTWORKDISCOVER MISCHIEF’S SKETCHING AND COLOURING TOOLS AND HOW TO USE THEM
01 START WITH A SKETCH Grab your graphics tablet, open Mischief (note the
lack of dialog box asking you what size and
resolution you require) and make a new layer. Grab
the low-opacity Pencil tool, set it to a soft 2B-style
grey and start to draw a portrait. You can build up
shading by choosing one of the higher opacity
pencils or by manually adjusting the Width and
Opacity of the tool you’re using.
02 ADD BASIC COLOUR Grab the low-opacity Conte crayon, set it to a
neutral flesh tone and make a new layer. Start to
colour your drawing, concentrating colour in areas
that you want to emerge from the image. Use the
erasers to clean up and soften edges. You can
build up soft shading and highlights on new layers
by choosing shadow and highlight tones based on
your midtone.
03 ADD MORE COLOUR Make another layer, choose a warm red-pink
and select the low-opacity Highlighter. Add a
blush of colour to the cheeks and lips. Make
another layer, choose a deeper, more
saturated tone of the same hue, and run it over
the top lip to add depth and definition. Clean up
the edges with the diffused Eraser for a soft,
subtly shaded look.
MISCHIEF REVIEWS
with PNG and JPEG files to export your artwork in a Photoshop-
usable format, Mischief’s realistic brushes and ease of use make it
well worth taking for a spin. It’s the infinitely scalable digital painting
aspect that is the most exciting innovation about Mischief though, so
even if it’s not your thing then it’s worth keeping an eye on how it
develops. You can bet that Adobe will be.
Mischief is an exciting innovation in the digital painting field, although other kinds of Photoshop enthusiasts will find its feature set lacking in regular image-editing tools.
MYPHOTOSHOP BRUSHESwww.myphotoshopbrushes.comThis website is packed with free brushes and much more, but look at
the terms and conditions for each resource carefully – some are okay to use commercially, but others can only be used for personal projects.
CREATIVE MARKET www.creativemarket.comThis premium site features individually priced brushes, photos,
graphics and much more. It’s not cheap, but every week the site offers six hand-picked freebies to newsletter subscribers, which is great value. All are usable in commercial projects.
DEVIANTARTwww.deviantart.comHead to the Resources and Stock
Images section of deviantART and go to Application Resources>Photoshop brushes for mainly free, but some premium, content. Always check the terms and conditions though as many have very strict usage rules.
BRUSHLOVERSwww.brushlovers.comMany of the free and premium
brushes on this site are okay to use on commercial projects, but the onus is on you to establish this with the individual brush author, so check before you start a commercial project!
This sequence below by Sav Scatola shows off the possibilities of Mischief’s infinitely scalable canvas, as he zooms in on the decorative elements at the top of the tower
© S
av S
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capabilities of Mischief’s small but perfectly formed brush set
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PHOTOGRAPHER AND DIGITAL ARTIST ARTHUR RAMSEY SHOWCASES HIS CREATIVE STREAK AND DISCUSSES THE IMPORTANCE OF SELECTIONS
READER INTERVIEW
READER INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY IN A DIGITAL WORLD
086
F or talented photographer Arthur Ramsey,
creating digital art was never a part of his
image workflow. Starting out using film
cameras and traditional darkroom
processes, it wasn’t until another photographer
introduced Ramsey to the world of digital editing that
he started exploring manipulation techniques.
“I used to be a fine-arts artist mostly selling images
in galleries. This part of my life has really transitioned
into what I would call a hobby, but it is a hobby that
helps me learn techniques and brings zest to my
commercial work.”
COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORK
AND WHAT PERSUADED YOU TO CREATE
DIGITAL ART?
I have been a professional photographer for 25 years,
and I work for myself under the business name of
Ramsey Still Imaging. Since launching into digital
editing, I now bring a camera and simple lighting to a
law firm, take pictures of their employees, and make all
the images look like they were taken in a high-tech
studio. My wedding photography is also much more
creative now. I do trash-the-dress shots of brides, and
it’s all done in Photoshop so their beautiful dresses stay
OUR READERARTHUR RAMSEYwww.ramseystillimaging.com
PHOTOGRAPHY IN A DIGITAL WORLD
All a
rtic
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ages
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Urban Alice And Morphing Statues: I used personal stock to make this urban fairytale of my own
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Hungry: Changing a daylight picture to night isn’t too complicated, but I then added 3D texture to create zombie effects and painted portions of the photo
Joy: I made a selection of the red scarf and copied to a new layer, then duplicated this layer many times, spreading pieces
to fill a larger space, then merged. Finally I used the Clone Stamp tool with a leaf brush to make the floating leaves
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My style is really about light and how that light interacts in each environment. It is diversified and always changing
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Lighting: I used greyscale mapping on a daylight image and used models from stock sites
Cooling colours: After merging greyscale with daylight and duplicating the layer, I then made a Gradient Map, set the coloured layer to Color blending mode, reduced the Opacity and added a blue Cooling Filter
Ripple effect: A great way to distort objects is to use the ripple effect. I used this for the hand under the water
Painting: I used a custom brush to reduce noise and sharpen local areas on the face of the model in the foreground
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your viewers. I also like being able to purchase the
magazines and books from your website.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT USING
PHOTOSHOP FOR YOUR ART?
It’s like a master mechanic’s toolbox to the auto
mechanic. My Dad taught me as a kid that there is a
right tool for each part of a project. The goal is
familiarity with each tool. I actually use everything
including the 3D workspace. I have learnt that every
image is different and must be treated as such;
therefore all the tools become indispensable.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANY
NOVICES WHO ARE THINKING ABOUT
TURNING PROFESSIONAL?
Never give up on an image. One of my more recent
images in my gallery entitled Living Sacrifice-Mask was
an image that I almost gave up trying to create. Deep in
my heart I knew I couldn’t let go of the vision and give
up. The idea of the image was to bring a peacock
texture into the entire image. If you let an image get the
best of you, you’re resigning from growth. Also, it is a
great idea to create a library of your own personal stock
to work from.
PHOTOGRAPHY IN A DIGITAL WORLD READER INTERVIEW
089
With my photo pieces displayed out in front of me
with the light source, I then merged the pieces into
one layer and duplicated it. I turned the duplicated
layer into a drawing with a white background, then
added a layer above it set to Multiply and filled it
with black, reducing its Opacity to 87%. With the
default soft brush set only to smoothing, I painted
different shades of grey on the layer. Using saved
selections, I was able to exert a lot of control over
the lighting values. Finally, I reduced the drawing
layer Opacity to about 20%, merged the two layers,
and set it to Multiply.
DESIGN TIPSbeautiful. I had a couple who wanted me to turn the
wedding party into zombies, so we staged the shots!
HOW DO YOU APPROACH YOUR PROJECTS?
DO YOU HAVE A SET STYLE?
My style is really about light and how that light interacts
in each environment. It is diversified and always
changing. I feel like I am a lot like Alfred Hitchcock with
a somewhat strange sense of humour and a love for
dark elements of art. I seek to ‘show’ elements of an
unseen world.
WHAT PHOTOSHOP PIECE IS YOUR FAVOURITE
AND WHY?
Urban Alice is my favourite because it’s about creating
my own fantasy story. The model is from Deviant Art,
and she does such a nice job of bringing stock that has
virtually an unlimited potential for photomanipulations.
I like the mystery in Urban Alice and the breaking of
rules that says Alice has to be seated at a table with the
Mad Hatter or falling into a rabbit hole.
ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES THAT
YOU REGULARLY USE WHEN BUILDING
DIGITAL IMAGES?
The most important feature is to save your selections.
Saving selections provides more control over the image
and is great for creating the tonal range. I always paint
my tonal range in levels of grey on a layer set to
Multiply blending mode. I follow the old-school
teachings of Ansel Adams, who was a great
photographer and darkroom artist. His teaching on the
zone system still underlies the fundamentals of
creating shadow and light. Photoshop is built on
old-school theories.
WHY DO YOU USE THE ADVANCED
PHOTOSHOP WEBSITE?
I love to post my artwork on the Advanced Photoshop
website. I feel like I get a more honest response from
THE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES RAMSEY USED TO
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Living Sacrifice-Mask: This image utilises textures from a peacock, which had to be
defined using the tip provided herein
The Need For Speed: Using my own stock
images here helped me create my own brand.
This and many of my other images use my own
stock for backgrounds
Swim, Angeles, Swim: I drew the octopus body, filled it with grey, and
enhanced it in a 3D workspace
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PAINT SPLATTERS
RESOURCE PROJECT
incorporating touches of grunge and other
elements into their work. In this project we will
walk you through the process of creating and using
your very own! We will explore the methods of
using three very different types of inks to produce
several different results that can be used to add
real-life paint splatters and splashes to your clean
digital works. Follow along with this project, which
is quick, cheap, easy, and a lot of fun!
CREATE REAL�MEDIA GRUNGE BRUSHESDigital art is frequently known as a medium
marked by clean designs, pristine lines,
exact placement and perfect alignment. In
many ways, digital art can feel very cold
and digital because it lacks the bit of chaos that fills
the real world. Just a touch of grunge or a small
splatter of paint can add significant visual interest
and excitement to a design. Traditional artists have
known this for generations and have been
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PAINT SPLATTERS ON THE DISC
PAINT SPLATTERS WITH ACRYLIC PAINTSUSE BASIC ACRYLICS TO CREATE INTERESTING PAINT SPLATTERS
04 CAPTUREYou can digitise your paint splatters by
either scanning them or photographing them.
Photographing will give them more depth and tone
while scanning will make them appear flatter.
05 CLEAN UPOnce in the computer, clean up any little
drops that are distracting from the main splatter.
Too many little droplets will make the splatter
harder to use because there will be more paint
pieces to deal with. The simpler the better for these.
You can always add individual dots where you want
in specific projects.
03 SPLATTER VARIETY Different brushes produce different types of
splatters. Regular brushes produce smaller drops,
watercolour brushes create large blobs and a
toothbrush will make a fine mist of paint. Experiment
with brush-flicking methods to create different effects.
02 SPLATTERMix the paint and water until you get an
almost glue-like consistency. This will make
splattering easy. Just fill the brush with paint and
flick it onto the paper.
01 MATERIALSTo make paint splatters with acrylic paints you’ll need acrylic paint, a variety of brushes, a large sheet
of paper and some water to mix with the paint so it splatters better.
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Different types of paint have different effects when used. Here we’ll look at four
different types of paint and how they work when splattering.
TYPES OF PAINTAN EXPLANATION OF DIFFERENT PAINTS TO USE TO SPLATTER
Oil paint: Oil paint is obviously
oil-based; it takes a long time
to dry and is very thick unless
diluted with turpentine or a
similar substance. It also
separates and leaves oil stains
on paper unless it’s prepared
first. Therefore it is not a good
candidate for splattering.
India ink: India ink isn’t technically a paint, but it
works very similarly to watercolours. However,
it is more highly pigmented, and therefore even
though it’s in a convenient dropper bottle that’s
perfect for paint splatters, it should be diluted
first for the best colour and the least waste.
Watercolour: Watercolour splatters are thin and transparent, which
makes them great for blending into photos for cool effects. You can
also manipulate the splatters easily to make them as precise as you
want them for a specific project. Just paint the shape you want and
fill it with more water.
Acrylic: Acrylic paint is cheap
and easily accessible. It comes
in a variety of colours and has
the most diversity when it
comes to the splatters that
can be made. When mixed
with only a little water, the
splatters are thick and opaque
but with more water they can
look like watercolour.
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PAINT SPLATTERS ON THE DISC
Working with digitised paint splashes can be a lot of fun and bring a much
needed addition of visual interest to an otherwise somewhat bland design. In
this example, we began with an attractive text design. The placement and
colours are good, yet still rather boring and plain. But adding a slightly tilted
angle to the camera view along with several paint splashes and splatters for
DESIGNING WITH GRUNGEUSE PAINT SPLATTERS TO SPICE UP A DIGITAL DESIGN
texture creates a visually compelling and interesting piece. These paint
splashes can be used as simple layers and positioned precisely, but that
frequently defeats the purpose of adding an element of randomness. Using
the splashes as brushes allows the use of the scattering, angle jitters and flip
jitters from the brush properties to create chaotic sprays of paint spots. Be
sure to still use layers for blending modes and matching the sprays to the
perspective of the scene. Then see just how much more exciting a design can
be if everything isn’t perfect and pristine!
GET A LARGER SPLASH FROM THINNER PAINTSUSING INDIA INK AND WATERCOLOURS TO CREATE SPLATTERS
02 DROP ITFor watercolours, gather lot of water and a
little bit of colour in your brush. Hold it over the paper
and wait for the paint to drip off the brush. Try
dropping it from different heights for different effects.
03 SCAN OR PHOTOGRAPHAgain, you can either photograph or scan
these. If your paper is lightweight like standard
printer paper then you may get some warping, so it’s
a good idea to photograph these while they’re wet.
01 MATERIALSWhen using either India ink or
watercolours, you’ll need a brush that holds lots
of liquid, water, lots of paper, watercolour paint
or India ink.
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HOW TO CREATE SPIDER SPLATTERSCREATIVE METHOD FOR CRAFTING MORE INTERESTING SPLATTERS
02 BLOWUsing a hand pump or a straw, blow air
directly into the centre of your puddle of colour.
Continue blowing to create the desired shape. You
can blow from any direction to create some very
interesting, complex splatters.
03 SCAN OR PHOTOGRAPHThe uses for these splatters are endless.
You can create specific shapes by carefully blowing
the ink around. But as you can tell these can take up
a lot of space, so make sure they’re not too close
together or you’ll have a hard time separating them
once they’re scanned in.
01 DROPDrop either watercolour or India ink as you usually would to get a splatter, but load the brush or
dropper more than you normally would. Make sure you have space on your paper to do this – you’ll need it.
rovided you with this assortment of fun, energetic paint
s for you to use. Use them to add colour, interest and a touch of
your personal designs.
ON
TH
E D
ISC PAINT SPLATTERS
COLLECTION OF 15 PAINT SPLASHES, SPLATTERS, AND DROPS
ON THE DISC PAINT SPLATTERS
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Learn in style
Discover more with the Book series’ expert, accessible tutorials for photography, 3D art, Photoshop, web design and more
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TUTORIALS INTERVIEWS EXPERT GUIDES BEGINNER ADVICE
CREATE THE ART OF THE FUTURE
ON SALE NOW:> Photoreal 3D > Arch-vis > Visual eff ects > Animation > 3D printing
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INDUSTRY INSIGHT
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PLUSH TOY VIGILANTESBROUGHT TO LIFE USING MODO
Matt Burniston uses MODO to model, animate and render his
The Mega Plush.
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