68 HIGH-RES

BRUSHES
PLUS: TEXTURES, PHOTOS & MORE
ISSUE
ISSUE
5949
47
Master steampunk | Photoreal effects | Perfect paths | Student showcase | Interview: Stjepan Sejic

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MASTER

STEAMPUNK
9

ISSUE 59
771748 727009

ISSN 1748-7277
£5.99
59

Add a retro-futuristic edge to digital paintings

www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk

OTOSHOP.C
with our in-depth, six-page Masterclass DPH O.U
N CE K
A
V
AD
W.
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HOW TO… STUDENT SHOWCASE

• Perfect your paths • Create pro photoreal effects • Design metallic The very best Photoshop artwork
typography • Become a concept artist • Use CS4’s 3D Mesh function from today’s brightest students

001_AVP_59_CoverWeek4.indd 1 23/6/09 15:34:36

 Editorial
Imagine Publishing Ltd
Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ
☎ +44 (0) 1202 586200
Web: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
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Magazine team
Welcome to Editor Julie Easton

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Editor in Chief Jo Cole

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Steampunk, according to Wikipedia,

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Senior Staff Writer Adam Smith

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‘denotes works set in an era or world

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Designer Stacey Grove

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Senior Sub Editor Colleen Johnson

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where steam power is still widely used

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Sub Editor Sam Robson

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Group Art Editor Lora Barnes
– usually the 19th Century and often Head of Design Ross Andrews
in the Victorian era of England – but Contributors
Theo Aartsma, Anthony Giacomino, April Madden, Jeffrey
with prominent elements of either M.de Guzman, Kirk Nelson, Josie Reavely, Richard Roberts
and Sarah Slee

science fiction or fantasy’. Advertising

Digital or printed media packs are available on request.
For us, however, it represents an incredibly popular

th g t n b is m to es
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Commercial Director Ross Webster

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digital art genre that encompasses all disciplines, from

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painting to photomanipulation to 3D rendering. We have

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Advertising Manager Hang Deretz
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custom brushes to create a retrofuturistic painting,

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hang.deretz@imagine-publishing.co.uk
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while Theo Aartsma takes a look at creating a

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Advertising Sales Executive Stuart McBride

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steampunk-inspired typographical artwork.

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stuart.mcbride@imagine-publishing.co.uk
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If you prefer photo-based Photoshop,

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Cover disc
then our main feature this issue takes an in- Interactive Media Manager Lee Groombridge
ap

depth look at high-end photoreal manipulations, Head of Digital Projects Stuart Dixon
Senior Multimedia Editor Steve Litton
with plenty of advice from the professionals who use apxtrahelp@imagine-publishing.co.uk
these skills every day in the advertising arena. International
Advanced Photoshop is available for licensing. Contact the
At the back of the magazine this issue, you will find that International department to discuss partnership opportunities.
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student artists have invaded our Industry section, as we

ts st

International Manager Cathy Blackman

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display eight pages of the amazing entries we received

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licensing@imagine-publishing.co.uk
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The next issue of Advanced ISSN 1748-7277

Photoshop goes on sale 13 August 2009

4
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004_AVP_59_EdIntro.indd 4 24/6/09 15:39:23
 Cover

Cover image
When we decided that we wanted a steampunk
digital painting tutorial, we turned straight to Jeff.
His Golden Bee image was the perfect inspiration,
having been on the cover of the Limited Edition of
Imageer:
Exposé 6. This image is named Double B as she’s a
JEFFREY M.DE GUZMAN
steampunk agent, but also the double of Golden Bee.
You can learn how to re-create this image on page
36, and there is a free custom brush set on the disc to
help you get the effects you need. “This image is named Double
/ www.jeffmdart.com
B as she’s a steampunk agent”

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005_AVP_59_CoverImage.indd 5 22/6/09 12:51:14

 STUDENT SHOWCASE
Eight pages of student talent
It’s the fourth year of our popular Student Showcase, and it’s the best
year ever! The artwork will inspire whether you are already an
established artist, a hobbyist, a student or just starting out with
Photoshop. Turn to page 70 now to check out the great artwork and
find out more about the students who created them.

ISSUE #59

inside... 48
Master this striking
disintegration effect
COMMUNITY
The latest news, website images and readers’
thoughts from our mailbox and forum
08
News 08
Mailbox 12
On the web 14
Web challenge winners 16

INSIGHT 42
The best digital artists around
Brian Walker 42
Marek Haiduk 54
THE COVER Erik Johansson 60
Re-create this fantastic cover image with our digital
painting Masterclass starting on page 36, written by
the talented Jeffrey M.de Guzman
HELP 62
Tips, techniques and problems solved
Helpdesk 62

INDUSTRY SECTION 68
cr ibe Essential advice for becoming a pro digital artist

s
68
b
Interview: Philip Straub

u
S now6!(UK/ )
Feature: Student Showcase
Career guide: Concept artist
70
78
e6
e pag e 26
(US 44 90
Se or pag Steampunk-inspired Our pick of the best reader
THIS MONTH’S CD 98
)
ROW
typography submissions this month
Superb stock art, project files and more!
CD guide 98

6
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006-007_AVP_59_Contents.indd 6 25/6/09 15:07:33

 20
We interview
Stjepan Sejic

© Stjepan Sejic

FEATURES/REGULAR TECHNIQUES
Insightful interviews and in-depth articles Essential guides to professional Photoshop skills

INTERVIEW: STJEPAN SEJIC 20 MASTER STEAMPUNK 36

The Top Cow comics artists talks Witchblade, comics and covers An in-depth look at nailing this popular genre of digital painting

PHOTOREAL EFFECTS 28 METALLIC TYPOGRAPHY 44

Industry experts reveal their top tips for high-end manipulations Create typographical art inspired by steampunk

SUBSCRIPTIONS 66 PATHS AND THE PEN TOOL 48

Find out about our latest subscription prices and offers here Use these essential tools to create a disintegration effect

RESOURCES 80 COLOURFUL ILLUSTRATIONS 56

The latest hardware, software and books reviewed Bright colours and simple shapes make effective illustrations

READERS’ GALLERY 90 HELPDESK 62

The very best submissions from our readers this month Four pages of in-depth advice from a Photoshop expert

7
Advanced Photoshop

006-007_AVP_59_Contents.indd 7 25/6/09 15:08:17

 Community D&AD Awards winners
Each year since 1962, D&AD – a not-for-profit organisation that
represents the international creative communities – has
celebrated the cream of the design and advertising industry’s
talent. The best work of the year appears in the D&AD Annual,
while the most exciting new innovations are awarded Yellow
Pencils, with Black Pencils awarded for work that’s considered to
be really outstanding.
The latest creative news from around the world
The 2009 Awards Ceremony – held on 11 June at London’s
Roundhouse – saw four Black Pencils awarded for the year’s most
groundbreaking work, two of which went to advertising agency,
Droga5 NYC. Further elusive Black Pencils went to Matt Dent in
the Graphic Design category for his redesign of UK coins for the
Royal Mint and – in Environmental Design – to BMW for Kinetic
Sculpture by German interactive studio Art+Com.
54 Yellow Pencils were also awarded, recognising work that
sets new benchmarks in creative excellence. Three Yellow Pencils
went to Ghost Robot with Wanderlust for Björk in the Music
Videos category. In Press and Poster Advertising, two Yellow
Pencils were awarded to DDB London for ‘Wallace & Gromit in
Alexander McQueen for Harvey Nichols’. ‘WERK No.16: Joe Magee
Special’ by Work Advertising in Singapore also won two Yellow
Pencils, both in the Graphic Design and Illustration category.
D&AD president Garrick Hamm commented on the high
standard of this year’s entries, enthusing: “The breadth of
• Pg 08......................News
• Pg 12 .................Mailbox
• Pg 14 .................Website
8
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008-010_AVP_59_News.indd 8
creative work that’s been awarded this year is exceptional. We’re
in the midst of a challenging time, and this work shows what the
industry is capable of. The four Black Pencil winners demonstrate
the power and all-encompassing nature of creativity – in
education, politics and even in the change in our pockets. These
winners are more than just great pieces of communication, as
they change our behaviour and touch our lives.”
Pioneering designer Michael Peters (OBE) has also been
presented with the D&AD President’s Award by Garrick Hamm,
in recognition of his invaluable contribution to creativity. As one
of the select few to receive this honour, Peters joins an elite list
alongside past recipients, including Jonathan Ive, Sir Alan Parker
and Sir John Hegarty.
D&AD president Garrick Hamm says: “Michael’s contribution
to design is so great that you could be forgiven for thinking he
would have received this award years ago. He has helped shape
and revolutionise the industry into the business it is today. These
days we use jargon like ‘360 branding’ and ‘joined-up thinking’,
but Michael was doing it 20 years ago… He was fearless in front
of some of the world’s biggest clients, and he gave other
designers the self-confidence to stand up for themselves and
command proper fees.”
The winning entries from the D&AD Awards are showcased at
a range of events and exhibitions across the globe, as well as at
the aforementioned Awards Ceremony. The D&AD Annual –
available online as well as in print from September – compiles
the year’s best work, and all of the winning entries can be
viewed online at http://awards.dandad.org/2009/.
http://awards.dandad.org/2009/
WINSOR & NEWTON INKS: Winsor & Newton Inks packaging
COPYRIGHT: Michael Peters & Partners, 1973
WALLACE IN PAUL SMITH & GROMIT IN
DUCHAMP: Yellow Pencil-winning poster
campaign by DDB London
24/6/09 15:19:44
 Create digital graffiti with YrWall News
bites
FREEDOM
TO CREATE
The Freedom to Create prize – which
seeks to “honour artists on the front
lines who promote social justice, build
foundations for open societies and
inspire the human spirit” – offers
INTERACTIVE DIGITAL GRAFFITI: A pop-out three categories: Main, Imprisoned
GREAT FOR EVENTS: YrWall is
day interface is provided, which enables the user to work Artist and Youth. The prize is open to
available for hire from £1,200 per with digital paint to create their own digital graffiti art all forms of art and has a total prize
fund of $125,000 USD. You have until
ing the artist to
ed by environmentally friendly and allow 14 August 2009 to submit entries. Visit
YrWall is a ‘digital graffiti wall’ creat save and recall their work, as well as
having it printed www.freedomtocreateprize.com/
with pixels. Instead
Lumacoustics, which replaces paint on anything from paper to T-shi rts. YrWa ll proved to home.asp for more information.
e work s of art with
of spraying paint, users creat be hugely popular at a recen t even t at the Royal
is track ed by a com puter to follow uraged
invisible light that Albert Hall – LOAD – whe re gues ts were enco
t’s mov eme nts. YrWa ll utilis es cutting-edge ll is avail able for
the artis to create their own digital art. YrWa
lates the art of
projection-mapped video, which emu short-term and long-term hire, as well as perm anen t
adde d bene fits of being
graffiti painting but has the bespoke installations, and is alrea dy build ing a
ey, the British
prestigious client list that includes Oakl
“Users create art with Media Awards and Glastonbury Festi
val. COPYRIGHT: Philimon Bulaway

invisible light tracked ADOBE CAMERA

by a computer to follow www.yrwall.com RAW UPDATE
the artist’s movements”
Adobe has announced its latest
Camera Raw 5.4 release candidate,
free to download from www.adobe.
com/downloads/updates. The new
release adds RAW file support for an
extra 26 cameras and camera backs,

Free Photoshop plug-in including the Canon EOS 500D (EOS

Rebel T1i), Nikon D5000 and 18
Hasselblad models. Feedback can be
onOne Software has released PhotoTools 2 Lite, a
provided on the Adobe User to User
Photoshop plug-in that’s easy to use and free!
forum found at http://forums.adobe.
Downloading the Lite version equips you with 14 effects,
com/community/cameraraw/.
each of which can be applied alone or combined to give
your images a unique look. The plug-in works with CS2,
CS3 and CS4, and is based on the award-winning
PhotoTools 2 Standard Edition, utilising the same
professional-grade tools. Using the free tools provided in
the Lite download, you can dramatically alter the look and
feel of your images with just a few clicks – with no pro-
level photo-editing knowledge required. There are some
more advanced functions available in the software,
however, which you can learn how to master using over a
ADOBE FLASH
dozen video tutorials on the onOne website, plus there CATALYST
Adobe has announced a new
FREE EFFECTS: are free weekly webinars and user-to-user forums to help
PhotoTools Lite professional interaction design tool
you make the most of your images.
is available from that lets its users turn their artwork
the OnOne into stunning user interfaces without
website, where coding. To take a sneak peek, visit
you can also www.ononesoftware.com
watch a quick- http://labs.adobe.com/
start video technologies/flashcatalyst/.

9
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008-010_AVP_59_News.indd 9 24/6/09 15:20:55

 Community
Portrait Professional 9
In the news: New from Anthropics Technology, Portrait Professional 9 is

Q&A
available as a standalone program or Photoshop plug-in,
and promises to perfect your portraits with minimal effort.
Portrait Professional 9 incorporates new ClearSkin
automatic skin-enhancing technology and – according to
the manufacturer – has been “trained in human
appearance”, using thousands of photographs of people to
help program it. The software therefore has what
BEN Anthropics terms as “a built-in ‘knowledge base’ of human

KAUFMAN
We chat to Ben Kaufman,
the 22-year-old
entrepreneur who founded quirky
Q: HOW CAN PEOPLE GET
INVOLVED IN QUIRKY?
A: Easily! Just sign up at www.quirky.
com – you can post your own product
idea for $99 or you can rate and
influence other people’s ideas. You
can also participate in other parts of
the product’s development, naming,
logos, taglines, etc.
beauty”, which means it’s able to analyse and enhance your
portraits faster and more accurately. Portrait Professional 9
analyses each portrait individually, creating custom
controls to help you enhance that person’s own particular
features. This means that a subject with a double chin, for
example, will cause the software to create a ‘jaw slider’
control to let you adjust the size of your model’s jaw.
The software’s aforementioned ClearSkin technology
helps to eradicate blemishes, age spots, wrinkles and other
skin problems automatically, without removing the skin’s
texture, for more natural-looking results. This technology
www.portraitprofessional.com
BEFORE AND AFTER: The software can automatically enhance
your portraits with high-quality results
can also tackle grease and sweat on a subject’s face, adjust
the lighting to relieve unflattering shadows, alter eye colour
and subtly brighten eyes and teeth, among other options.
Portrait Professional 9 ($99.95, approximately £61) is
available for both PC and Mac platforms, and there’s the
option of purchasing the Studio version ($149.95,
approximately £92) to use in conjunction with Lightroom or
Photoshop, which works directly with Camera Raw.

Q: WHAT SORT OF
PRODUCTS/IDEAS ARE YOU
LOOKING FOR?
A: Right now, quirky is focused on
non-electronic consumer products
that can be retailed for under $150.
We’ll expand this scope, but it is our
starting point for now.
Q: WHAT’S THE MOST
SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT
YOU’VE CREATED USING THE
QUIRKY SYSTEM SO FAR?
A: Well, we’ve had three full products
go through quirky’s process. We’ve
got the Sling Back, a universal wire
retractor, the Ouch Pouch, a funkier
version of the traditional arm sling,
and the Pressto, a tofu press. They
show the diversity of quirky’s team.
Now we just have to reach our pre-
sale threshold for these items.
Q: WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR
THE FUTURE OF QUIRKY?
A: To allow product ideas to come out
of people’s heads and onto shelves,
and to allow as many people as
possible to have a part in making
those things. I want people to feel
what I felt at mophie – to walk down
the street and see a quirky product
and have that awesome feeling of “I
had a part in making that…”
Find out more at www.quirky.com
Get quirky
DREAMS INTO REALITY: Subm
it your product
ideas to the people at quirky now!
THE SLING
BACK: This
universal
wire
retractor is
the first
product
successfully
brought
from sketch
to store
by quirky
Kaufman explains: “I had this idea for
Budding inventors take note! quir retractable
ky is the latest headphones (known as the Song Sling
innovation to be launched by the ). My parents
22-year-old remortgaged their house to give me
entrepreneur who also founded a shot at this idea and
mophie (www.mophie. I went through the process of going
com) and kluster (www.kluster.com to China and getting it
), Ben Kaufman. made. I loved playing a part in mak
So what is it? quirky is a ‘social prod ing those products, and
company’ that aims to take grea
uct development thought: ‘What if I could distribute
that feeling to
reality. The team at quirky encourag
t ideas and make them a thousands of people, who could all
es innovators from all feel like they had a part
walks of life to collaborate on the in making something?’ That ’s where
process of bringing an quirky comes in.”
idea to fruition ‘from ideation, desi You submit your idea, then the quirk
gn, naming, y community has
manufacturing, marketing right seven days to rate it. The quirky team
on through to sales’. picks the winning
product to forward through the creat
ion process. You’ll
need to stump up $99 initially, whic
h buys you a lot of
valuable information even if your inno
vation doesn’t get
www.quirky.com picked right away. “The cool thing is
that if the quirky
community doesn’t pick your idea,
at least you have all
these valuable ideas to go out and
try it on your own.”

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 Community
Mailbox
Do you have a question about the magazine? Email your
thoughts to advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk or
visit www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum
SUBJECT: Retro crazy!
FROM: Sarah Howdle
I went into my local Borders recently to pick up
my usual digital arts magazine, but your last
copy (issue 57) caught my eye. The bright
colours, the retro font, the free stock imagery…
well, I had to pick it up. Now I am a convert. I
loved the articles and especially the interviews
with inspirational artists. The Retro Graphics
feature was especially good – it encouraged me
to try some new styles with my artwork. And the
tutorials taught me some new skills that I hadn’t
tried before. I’ll be buying it again – thank you!
FROM: Dan James
I have been a reader of Advanced Photoshop
on and off for the last two years, and I have to
say that issue 57 was my favourite issue to date
– starting with that striking cover! The blend of
features and tutorials was really great and I read
everything from cover to cover. Keep it up!
Editor replies: Thank you both for your comments
– it’s great to hear from both new and old readers.
And thank you also for the other great letters and
emails (and Tweets via @advancedpshop on
Write to us : Advanced Photoshop Mailbox, Imagine Publishing, Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK, BH2 6EZ. Email us: advancedphotoshop@
12
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012-013_AVP_59_Letters.indd 12
NAPP IN THE UK: A Facebook group is devoted to
getting the NAPP experts to come to the UK
Twitter) that we received about the cover of our
Retro Graphics issue. It was a great cover to work
on, and Pete Harrison’s image is fantastic. Keep
your comments coming.
SUBJECT: NAPP in the UK?
FROM: Dave Clayton
I have been using Photoshop since version 4.0. I
decided to join NAPP last June. I use the online
training available plus all the other resources
supplied by NAPP, Kelby Training and the video
podcasts by the NAPP team. However, one thing
both my colleague at work and I are frustrated at
is the lack of visits to the UK by the NAPP guys.
We started up a Facebook group (www.
facebook.com/home.php#/group.
php?gid=103070619895) and have been
Twittering various Photoshop groups and
individuals to drum up some support to
encourage Scott Kelby and the guys to pay us a
RETRO GRAPHICS: Our last cover has received
plenty of praise from readers – keep sending us
your comments
“One thing both my
colleague at work
and I are frustrated
at is the lack of
visits to the United
Kingdom by the
NAPP guys”
visit with a seminar or two. The more people we
get to join, the better chance we have. We have
been made aware that Scott, Dave Cross and the
NAPP offices know of this group, and have been
fairly supportive of our request!
Editor replies: Hi Dave, thanks for writing in. First of
all, we’re big fans of your work over at Creative
Rush (www.creativerush.co.uk) so it’s great to
hear from you! Second of all, we are completely on
board with your ideas – we would love to see the
NAPP guys over on this side of the Atlantic!
Advanced Photoshop readers can find out more
on the Facebook group mentioned above, or write
in with your views here!
SUBJECT: Industry advice
FROM: Jo Cobbler
I was intrigued to see your new Industry section
and in general I did like it. I found the interview
with Matt Gaser and the look at getting an agent
really interesting to read. I think it’s a shame,
though, that for the first instalment you haven’t
chosen to feature a UK-based university in the
magazine’s Uni Focus – we have some of the
best courses in the world here! Still, I did find it a
good addition to the magazine – especially for
students like me!
Editor replies: Glad you liked it Jo! It was a lot of
hard work but we think that it is a great addition
to the magazine, aimed at those who want to use
Photoshop as part of their career. Last month our
chosen course was based in the UK, but we do
want to represent great courses from all around
the world. If you’d like to see your course
featured, please get in touch using the addresses
in the strap below.
im
22/6/09 14:55:15
 NEW!

SUBJECT: Inspirational artwork
FROM: Jody Heppenstall
Hi AP. I’m 18 and just getting into Photoshop
art. I loved the retro images featured in your
feature last issue. It inspired me to get going on
my own colourful artwork. I haven’t finished this
piece yet, but I wanted to let you see what I had
done so far. It’s a background idea I am working
on, using a couple of online tutorials, and I want
to use it on a flyer for a band my friend is in.
What do you think?
Editor replies: Hi Jody, thanks for your letter. It’s
great that you found our feature last issue
inspirational, and I think that you have done a
fantastic job on this background – especially as
you are new to Photoshop. Submit your artwork
toshop
Advanced Pholu e3
Bookazine Vo m
£12.99
INSPIRED BY RETRO: Artwork created by one
reader after issue 57’s retro special
tool to create the art I have in my mind and I am
proud to take full credit for that work.
Maybe Francis can’t understand that most of
us do not have the resources to hire a studio for
the day, pay a model, etc. Also, take a look at
established artists like Brand Nu – many times I
have been browsing iStock and noticed images
that he has used in his work to create truly
inspirational art. Flick through the pages of any
digital art magazine, including Advanced
Photoshop, and the regular contributors always
use stock images (take the cover of issue 57).
Stop the bitterness Francis, and appreciate the
shop
Advanced Photoe 2
hard work and effort that goes into creating ‘art’

eMag Volum s
to our forum at www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/ in all forms.
forum and the lovely people on there can give
you advice on works in progress as well as Editor replies: Hi Lee, thanks for your response. I
16 whole issue
£19.99
finished artwork. feel a debate coming on! Let us know your
thoughts with an email, letter or forum post.

SUBJECT: Credit concerns reply

FROM: Lee Gough
“Submit your
I am responding to the letter from Francis artwork to our
forum and the
Geralds, issue 57, with regards about the
comments made about images on the website.
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t Photoshop
created for this purpose, changing images,
lovely people on
adding to images, etc? The advertising industry there can give you Visit the
has used this program for that purpose since its
release. As a budding Photoshop user myself, I advice on works in Advanced Photoshop
online shop at
have a vast amount of stock images on my hard
drive that I use every day; I couldn’t create my
progress as well as www.imagineshop.co.uk
images without them. I see stock images as a finished artwork”
imagine-publishing.co.uk. Twitter us: www.twitter.com/advancedpshop. Forum: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum
for back issues,
books and
merchandise

012-013_AVP_59_Letters.indd 13 25/6/09 15:31:53

 Community

On the web
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
Our website and readers’ forum is perfect for showing off Photoshop creations. We present the best images on
the site this month. Log on and upload to get your images here next issue!

COLOUR MODEL
ARTIST: José Paulo Amorim Reis
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.
uk/user/zepaulo

“I love digital art and I’m learning

every day with Photoshop
professionals; my goal is to reach
the level of quality of work
performed by the professionals.
I’m also working as a freelancer
doing personal artwork.
Advanced Photoshop has helped
me greatly to progress and
improve the quality of my work.
To develop this artwork, I tried to
give a colourful and beautiful
effect to the image. I tried to mix
the beauty of women with nature.
The elements of nature (such as
the leaves, dove, parrot,
butterflies and ladybird) give a touch of delicacy to the picture. The
colours are harmonious, reflecting the freshness of summer, and give
glamour to the composition.”

BUTTERFLY
ARTIST: Vitalij Sicinava
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.
uk/user/chanting_stone

“I think one of the most essential

objectives of visual art and one of ORGANZA
the most important tasks for an ARTIST: Sandra Ojuri
artist is to find a possibility to WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/sandie
express and demonstrate the
unique presence of magic and “Having graduated from the London College of Communication
fluorescence in each moment of with a degree in Graphic Design, I’ve since been looking for
life and in life itself. Everything that all-important foot in the door. Always interested in eye-
should seem absolutely natural, catching and beautiful design, I’ve taught myself Photoshop,
no matter how sophisticated and Illustrator and a few 3D packages like CINEMA 4D and Maya.
fabulous the colours, shapes and There was no specific direction or idea behind this piece; it
structure are. was more a case of experimenting and pushing myself further
“I love to experiment. Butterfly by using hand-drawn elements. Playing on the notion of
was created using a lot of composition and colour, I started to displace the model quite a
different brushes and light effects few times, transforming each layer and masking parts I didn’t
for the background. A picture of me with a butterfly on my face was taken need. I usually just go along with instinct in my work, topping it
while I was on holiday in New Zealand. I was inspired by the beauty of off with Gradient and Curve adjustment layers, which usually
nature, by the beauty of each moment, its magic and peace.” gets me to the end of my work.”

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 Community

Web challenge
The winners T
HI
Challenge reference: AP 058
MO S
On our website, www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/competitions.php, we run a web
P NTRI H’
challenge where you are asked to create an image in Photoshop using at least one
of three images provided. These challenges are updated monthly and they are
ZE S
becoming increasingly popular, so get your entries in for a chance to win.
Check out the website for details of our latest challenge and how to enter. The
winner will collect a special prize for that month (prizes change frequently) and will
also have their design printed in the magazine, along with two runners-up.
Our prize this month is a copy of Digital Painting in
Photoshop, courtesy of Focal Press (www.focalpress.com).
Challenge start images
Acclaimed author Susan Bloom takes your Photoshop
results from competent retouching of images to visually
stunning reinterpretations of them.

FROZEN VENICE
ARTIST: Dominic Leatham
WEB: N/A

“I filled the main roof colour with a snow and frost

layer. I cut the ice flow and the sky from the Alaska
image and blended it with the Venice image. The
reflections were created by taking various
building sections and flipping them vertically,
then put on an Overlay layer. I created a custom
icicle brush to add the icicles, a light grey gradient
with hints of pink in the sky and reduced the
Opacity to create some aerial perspective.”

DANCE LIKE NOBODY

IS WATCHING
ARTIST: Phang Tau Lean
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/ahlean

“This image was inspired by the idea of ‘living life with

passion and no regrets’. Along with the dinosaur and
bird stock photos, the image was desaturated and some
Level adjustments were used to bring out the contrast.
The claws of the dinosaur were scaled larger than its
actual size to emphasise the danger waiting for the
oblivious dancers. Brushes and the Clone Stamp tool
were used to create a hand-smudged effect. The image
was then filtered with angled strokes and ink outlines.
Finally, I applied the textures and a warm filter to finish
the old grunge atmosphere.”

16
Advanced Photoshop

016-017_AVP_59_WebWinners.indd 16 23/6/09 16:03:46

 R
E B NE
W IN
W

WINTER
ARTIST: Aiden Morse
WEB: http://behance.net/aidenmorse

“I started with the image of the city and masked out the sky so I could add the mountain in the background. Then I brushed in the snow and
icicles and edited the colour with a Gradient Overlay. After that, I cloned in some ice from the mountain image to add to the river. Finally, I used
watercolour, spray paint and long-exposure light stock I shot myself to add texture and falling snow. With a few more edits to Levels and the
saturation, I was finished. I started the image in Photoshop Elements 5 and finished it in Photoshop CS4.”

17
Advanced Photoshop

016-017_AVP_59_WebWinners.indd 17 23/6/09 16:04:05

 Interview

STJEPAN SEJIC
Popular Top Cow comics artist Stjepan Sejic reveals the
commitment to his artistic vision and the fantasy genre, leading
to his meteoric rise to the top of the comic-book industry

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020-025_AVP_59_Interview.indd 20 24/6/09 14:09:34


L
ike many of the comic heroes and
heroines he portrays, Stjepan Sejic’s
own creative destiny was bestowed
almost by fate. Now a successful and mainstream
comics artist for global comic publishing house
Top Cow Productions, notably working on popular
title Witchblade, Sejic recalls: “It wasn’t until I visited
my first exhibition that I actually realised how far
one can actually go into defining fantastic worlds
and characters. In Croatia, most of the comics
020-025_AVP_59_Interview.indd 21
Stjepan Sejic
R OF THE
WITCHBLADE: WA VER: “A
ISS UE 127 CO
WITCHBLADES, friendships are
an issue where
Witchblade cover for lly get to paint some action”
and wh ere I fina
broken Copyright: Top Cow
WITCHBLADE SPREAD – ANGELUS
HERITAGE: “Another fun spread where I was asked to
make up a lot of new, never-seen Angelus bearers. This is
due to the fact that the Top Cow universe revolves around
generational artefact-based powers”
COPYRIGHT: Top Cow
were black-and-white Italian imports. At the time,
that was my way of understanding and making
comics. With the introduction of full-colour works
into my world, things changed. It’s a funny
coincidence, but that very day at my first comic
exhibition on a blank wall stood a framed cover of
a comic I’d never seen in my life. But the name
etched into my memory – Witchblade.”
With other people often forced to choose
between their affinities, Sejic is fortunate his
Inter
view
RAVINE, PAGES 32 AND 33: “A spread from
Ravine displaying two girls and a dragon. As far as
fantasy is concerned, I’m actually inclined to functionality
in design and always try to avoid skimpy leather lingerie
being passed off as armour”
passions, story writing and artwork, are
encompassed into one challenging and inspiring
industry. But Sejic’s own creative passage hasn’t
been without adversity or obstacle. Back in
college, his original pencilled samples went
unnoticed by Top Cow. He strived to move on, as
he explains: “I developed my classic painting
techniques and just dreamt a lot. Then at college I
started to visit the internet on a daily basis.
Without a computer at home, this was my only
source of online information. I worked hard, and
for my birthday my parents bought me a
computer and my late uncle bought me a small
drawing tablet.” However, Sejic soon faced another
challenge, as he reveals: “Colour blending became
a really tedious process and was slowing
everything down. But due to a lucky coincidence,
when trying to make a waterfall brush with
Photoshop’s Smudge tool, I discovered the
software’s blending capabilities. This increased my
productivity by about 60 per cent.”
Exploring abilities
It’s common knowledge that the comic-art
industry demands quality, and fast. Sejic now uses
digital media to his full advantage to achieve this:
“Photoshop is the equation, Photoshop is the X
and constant value. It’s the solution,” he admits.
“I’m self-taught in Photoshop, as the program itself
is very intuitive and supplies me with all the tools I
need to work efficiently.”
So much so that Sejic has produced his own
application techniques: “I’m not a big layers
guy, except when it comes to Bevel layers.
21
Advanced Photoshop
24/6/09 14:10:17
 Interview
This proves itself to be a priceless tool when
creating textures and shallow volumes, used in
conjunction with my custom-made brushes. The
layer is quite often set to a Multiply blending
mode. On this layer I paint white to create raised
edges. This keeps all of the colour and volume
information from the base layer, simply adding a
volume texture.”
This technique is great for creating detailed
chain mail or multiple-layered complex
Witchblade armour, which can take up to two
hours. Sejic also admits: “It takes little more than
two to three minutes to apply my personal
favourite technique, which is creating reflective
surfaces and working on skin pigmentation by
painting with brushes set to the Hard Light and
Linear Light blending modes.” It’s this punctual,
productive attitude that has moved him on to
bigger and better things. A fantastic opportunity
was presented when Top Cow’s penciller Tyler
Kirkham, who wanted him to colour some of his
works, contacted Sejic. “At the time I was already
doing the comic Kade for Arcana Comics and was
working on Warhammer cards. Kade was getting
good numbers at the time so I presume that’s
what helped,” admits Sejic.
22
Advanced Photoshop
020-025_AVP_59_Interview.indd 22
RAVINE, This colouring project was the step towards
PAGES 86 AND getting the gigs Sejic wanted. “The thing about it
87: “Nebezial, a
character that has is that if you go to an editor and start claiming
remained virtually that you can do about 40 pages a month, they
unchanged during won’t take you seriously. It just sounds absurd. But
all eight years of
Ravine’s if you play your cards right and do it one step at a
development, time, it will hit them.” Sejic remembers vividly the
except for his cool
day this occurred: “My editor at Top Cow at the
tail swords with
special handles” time, Renae Geerlings, asked me to show her
some of my own paintings. This was immediately
after the colouring gig on The Darkness/Wolverine
crossover and her response was: ‘Wait. So you can
actually paint on your own?’” Sejic started work on
his first title, The Darkness: Level 1, and after that
Top Cow bestowed him with its big event book
that summer, First Born.
Just finishing his 22nd book in the Witchblade
universe, with plans set in motion for another 28
“I didn’t want to emulate traditional
painting. I worked on canvas, paper,
walls; I painted a church and I didn’t
want that in my digital style”
issues to follow, Sejic isn’t letting the success go to
his head. He’ll never forget what he owes it all to,
as he reveals: “Essentially, every job has its way of
making you pay your dues and colouring was
mine. Still, even today when I look at The Darkness/
Wolverine, I can’t help but to think: ‘Damn, Tyler
and I sure do make quite a team’.”
Creative arsenal
Tenacity is another of Sejic’s adopted attitudes
that has seen him shine in his respective field.
Always striving to create work that is cinematically
real, he envisaged comics with that ‘summer
blockbuster’ feel. He reveals: “I’ve always been a
rebellious person. I’ve never tried to do what
others did. Back in my early days, people always
criticised my work for being too clean. They told
me I should emulate traditional painting. But I
24/6/09 14:11:18
 Stjepan Sejic

The Darkness, issue 75 cover: “This

was a cover I did for the anniversary issue of Top
Cow’s The Darkness and is probably my favourite”
Copyright: Top Cow

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020-025_AVP_59_Interview.indd 23 24/6/09 14:11:41

 Interview

Conchords:
“I’ve always loved
doing portraits,
and creating didn’t want to emulate traditional painting. I
illustrations of the worked on canvas, paper, walls; I painted a church
movies, TV shows
and games that
and I didn’t want that in my digital style. I never
inspired me is how wanted to emulate the styles of great digital
I started out before illustrators and concept artists, preferring to create
I had any
commissions. It’s a style of my own.” He adds: “I wasn’t trained in this.
something I I had no access to teachers or training DVDs, just
continuously seem me and my stubbornness. But I guess it got me
to return to, and
naturally this has through the rough times and to where I am today.”
also steered the Sejic is keen to admit the influence of digital
kind of
commissions that I
hardware on his method: “I do own a Cintiq but
tend to get. Which am partial to my tablet PC. For the last three years
is fine by me!” all of my work has been done on a Lenovo X60.”
He also endorses the 3D capabilities of modern
software. Nearly an expert in ZBrush and quite
skilled in 3ds Max, he uses these to develop his
understanding of anatomy and shading. He also
admits: “These programs are extremely useful
when creating comics, as they enable me to
invent a character library of three-dimensional
people. This is a very useful way to keep the
consistency of characters without resorting to
photo referencing.” But for all his rigging and
rendering with advanced materials in 3ds Max, he
always imports to Photoshop for upgrading and
Ravine, page 19: “This is a page from the first that final artistic touch.
issue of Ravine. It’s a good example of what my style Having sampled and executed realism, the
is about: stylish, cinematic realism. I put a lot of
importance into the design of all characters”
stylish over-rendered illustration of the Nineties,
manga and cartoonist styles, Sejic admits that

24
Advanced Photoshop

020-025_AVP_59_Interview.indd 24 24/6/09 14:12:28


ultimately he always had an idea of where he
wanted to go with his respective style: “I’ve got to
admit that all of my evolution, all of my
techniques and all of my skills are centred around
one project, one story.” Unexpectedly, this isn’t
Witchblade – it’s Sejic’s own vision, Ravine.
Ravine plays a major part in Sejic’s appetite for
the comic genre. Always longing to share this
vision with the masses, he reveals: “Ravine is the
project that made me want to draw comics, and
after eight years of meticulous development it’s
finally being produced. Top Cow will be
publishing it, as announced at last year’s San
Diego Comic-Con.” This character-driven epic
fantasy – packed with paladins, wizards and
dragons – will be presented in an innovative
fashion. Sejic explains: “It’s made in a bit of an
unusual format: 12 issues of 88-page comics with
additional stories filling it up to 100 pages per
issue. It is a fully painted comic,” and undoubtedly
a precious piece of sequential art.
“The ability to persevere will be the
difference between working an eight-
hour day job you hate or fulfilling
your dreams”
020-025_AVP_59_Interview.indd 25
Devotion to style
His dedicated approach to this project ultimately
reflects his own passion for the fantasy genre, as
Sejic reveals: “For Top Cow and Arcana I do comics
and covers, while for Dynamite, Radical and
Marvel I’ve only produced covers. I’m personally a
genre-orientated guy who likes to be challenged.
But I’m honestly not a big superhero fan.”
Being at the height of his profession, Sejic
enjoys the liberty to work with companies that
publish his kind of material. “I love fantasy so Kade
was right up my alley with Arcana, as was Radical’s
Hercules cover or Dynamite’s Xena and Red Sonja
covers. I also love sci-fi, horror and mystery so, of
course, there is affection for Witchblade and
Radical’s Hotwire covers. In the end I do what I like
most of the time. The rest of the time I do
superheroes,” he admits mischievously.
Although he has achieved so much
prematurely in this competitive industry, no
official awards have come Sejic’s way as yet.
Stjepan Sejic
LISBON SKETCH: “Sketching is so important to keep
going, just because it’s a place to experiment and develop
things that you wouldn’t necessarily want to try for the
first time on a commission. Offf 2009 in Oerias, Portugal,
was very inspiring and I’m making some drawings from
the photos I took”
RAVINE, However, reflecting the measure of the man and
PAGES 36 AND his professional, focused attitude, he admits: “I’m
37: “Brushes and
Bevel layers save
relatively new to the comics industry so there is
me a lot of time in time for awards. But in the end these aren’t really
creating images that big in this business or what drives me. The
like this one. I love
subsurface ability to match speed and quality is what matters
scattering of light. and that keeps my workload full most of the time,
I guess that’s one so I can’t complain.”
of the reasons
why I love Never straying from his goal, single-minded in
painting dragons” what he wants to do and where he wants to be,
Sejic has finally persevered and fulfilled his
creative destiny. He’s come through some hard
times and this has made him a better artist and a
modest man, as he reveals: “I’m very confident as I
know my strong sides. But I know and recognise
those with greater skills, and this ability to be my
own worst critic drives me to do more and better.
I realise that I started out as an unskilled, stubborn
artist from Croatia with little prosperity to get
anywhere. But I worked hard, drew ten hours a
day and it got me places. So if you want to get
somewhere, don’t give up. Life will throw you
some massive curve balls; it will try to break you at
a certain moment but never let go of your
dreams. The ability to persevere will be the
difference between working an eight-hour day
job you hate or fulfilling your dreams.”
http://nebezial.deviantart.com/gallery/
25
Advanced Photoshop
24/6/09 14:13:01
 Feature

LSD s.r.l Photographers

Over the course of this feature you will see some of
the stunning works of LSD Photographers, which is a
well-known studio for its fantastic photomanipulation
projects. You can find out more about the studio and
its projects, by taking a visit to http://lsd.eu.

PARTYPOKER
COPYRIGHT: LSD Studio

28
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 P
Photoreal effects

ot
h oar
e l effects
Advanced Photoshop explores the techniques and digital processes
that help shape some of the industry’s most aesthetic images

I
n today’s commercial arena, we see first-hand how
Photoshop is being pushed to its limits to capture
the imaginations of both audiences and artists. This
has become apparent in the branding and advertising
arenas. Here, a distinct style has arisen; a digital
hyperreality promoting contemporary and compelling
photoreal imagery.
Defying logic, Photoshop’s powerful creative sciences
are being deployed to create stimulating and exciting
designs. Look to the advertising campaigns for Gisele
Bündchen’s line of designer sandals (www.
sandaliagiselebundchen.com.br) or the Xbox 360 Rock
Band 2 television advert for a mere flavour of
photorealism. These examples are a drop in the creative
ocean as industries across the globe go about
promoting these styles.
But with our heads turned by these images, precisely
how accessible are these methods to aspiring artists?
What techniques exist so you are able to replicate and
reinvent styles? Well, Advanced Photoshop teams up
with some of the industry’s leading artists and dissects
their design processes, revealing that these inventive
compositions are not beyond your creative
comprehension. From sourcing stock to compositing
images, professional retouching and postproduction
corrective applications, we highlight numerous
techniques and show you just how adept Photoshop is

“
at delivering intuitive invention.

In the branding and advertising arenas, a

“
distinct style has arisen; a digital hyperreality
promoting contemporary and compelling
photoreal imagery

29
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028-035_AVP_59_PhotorealFeat.ind29 29 25/6/09 14:59:46

 Feature
LONDON DAY TRIP.
With a photoreal style, photo stock becomes your Range to select flat colour backgrounds. Alternatively, ALLER-RETOUR
creative bread and butter. It becomes the building they paint out image elements with a black brush. Next, (RIGHT): Another
project produced on
blocks of every project, with artists dissecting and they select these with the Magic Wand tool. Masks are behalf of TBWA agency
reconstructing high-resolution examples to great effect. then applied in the Layers palette. To refine for Eurostar. A great
example of cutting and
But what are the best ways to obtain such material? imperfections, artists zoom in up to 400%, applying a compositing high-
Some artists invest in camera hardware to capture their regular black brush at 20-40% Opacity, 5-10px in size. resolution stock
COPYRIGHT:
own photographic samples, as the market provides By selecting the Pen’s Path tool and scrutinising their Marc Paeps
CLIENT: Eurostar
some cost-effective solutions. application, artists will apply drawn paths and convert AGENCY: TBWA
Established photographer Marc Paeps (www. them to a selection in the Paths palette. Applying a layer
marcpaeps.com), having produced projects on behalf mask follows back in the Layers palette. This technique BREAKOUT (BELOW,
TOP): “This image was
of top agencies TBWA and Leo Burnett, admits: “I work gives artists flexibility going forward with its made for Degree
with a technical micrometric camera on which I have nondestructive way of working, as you’ll always be able antiperspirant. It was a
rare case in advertising
attached a professional 40-pixel digital back.” This allows to go back and edit the mask when necessary. where we were given a
verbal brief and were
Paeps to capture larger, more detailed imagery, as well However, experienced freelance photographer James asked to create the
as set a fixed focus throughout the shoot. This means a Porto (www.jamesporto.com), having worked on entire visual”
COPYRIGHT:
consistency in settings, making it easier to create projects for Kodak, IBM and GQ, demonstrates how he James Porto
composite images. However, this type of camera can be composites his images as he goes: “The way I tend to
very expensive. If you’re looking for more cost-effective work is to start with the most dominant element, make FAITES VOUS VOTRE
PROPRE FILM, LISEZ
solutions, then Nikon’s D40 sets standards in a rough mask using the Pen’s Path tool and frame out UN LIVR (BELOW,
accessibility and picture quality. With a maximum the general look of the composition. I then add BOTTOM): A prime
example of how filter
resolution of 3,008 x 2,000, averaging 8MB images, its additional elements and backgrounds in separate layers and colour
adjustments really
lowest price of £246.29 (www.tesco.com) makes it a and try to determine approximately where everything determine the mood in
classic digital SLR purchase, offering high-end will be.” The image takes shape in a rough form, as Porto this style
COPYRIGHT:
technology to enthusiasts. adds: “I then refine all the masks using brushes going Marc Paeps
When working on commercial projects, clients will around the entire edge of each element at a high CLIENT: Filigrane
AGENCY: Air
often finance photo stock and may even provide artists magnification. Next, I refine the composition with the
with their own photographer. However, sometimes you Move tool and Free Transform option to get all elements
will need to consider the cost of photo stock yourself. Be to the right scale and position.”
aware that prices may vary, depending on the image
size and licence. Take, for example, www.istockphoto.
com. Working with a credit system, standard-licence
high-resolution images can cost up to £15 (around $24).
Extended licences can cost £68, which is roughly $109.
Artists will tell you that this is a worthy purchase, as the
standard of stock is very good in general. Making that
extra investment for an extended licence means
unlimited use of images in your projects.
If these fees are an issue, then approaching freelance
or enthusiastic photographers with incentives such as
affordable payment or the ability to promote the design
in their own portfolios can be beneficial. A simple email
goes a long way. International artist Peter Jaworowski,
co-owner of the Warsaw-based creative studio Ars
Thanea (www.arsthanea.com), agrees as he explains:
“By contacting them through their online portfolio you
can agree on lighting and angles, which will make your
life much easier when putting it all together in
Photoshop later on.”

Under construction
Jaworowski’s answer leads us to our next question –
how do you put together a composition from your
photo stock? Artists will first use an array of Photoshop
tools to cut and recomposite designs. Quick Mask and
Filter>Extract options are quick ways to cut out image
elements, but with such a detailed style more precise
means are preferred. Layer masks coupled with
advanced tools play an important role here.
Artists will often duplicate the highest contrast
channel in the Channels palette, leaving it the only one
visible. Applying Curves or Levels follows so they can
clearly define image edges. Once the general shape of
the object is established, artists will apply Select>Color

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 Photoreal effects

“
With a photoreal
style, photo stock
becomes the
building blocks of
every project,
with artists
dissecting and
reconstructing “
high-resolution
examples to
great effect

TIP
Creating distance
Desaturate certain parts of the
image to create the illusion of depth.
The background should always look
a little desaturated in comparison to
the foreground

Essential hardware
Recommended kit for those
home-based photo studios
We appreciate that some enthusiastic artists and
photographers will want to produce their own photo
stock. This, of course, has its own advantage of getting
the exact shots you want, but it can be a heavy
investment. So here are some effective solutions for
starting out your own home studio.
We’ve revealed Nikon’s D40 is an effective hardware
solution. However, for those coming to terms with
photography, Fujifilm provides an excellent brand with
the FinePix S1000fd. Weighing in at an even more
economical £117.39 (www.argos.co.uk), this model
meets technologies halfway. With manual control over
aperture and shutter speed and ten-megapixel quality, it
takes all the advantages of DSLR technology without the
necessity for interchangeable lenses.
Studio ready-made kits are also valuable.
Prices can range between $39.99 (around £24.99;
www.handhelditems.com), up to $1,549.95 (about
£947.48) and beyond (www.bhphotovideo.com). The
difference in price undoubtedly determines the quality
of your kit. Better diffuse capabilities mean that you can
specify your light source in your projects to a better
degree. One example is the Elinchrom D-Lite 2 (www.
warehouseexpress.com). At £189 (approximately $311),
it’s designed to work perfectly with digital cameras. This
camera offers amateurs and enthusiasts the same
amount of light at the same duration and same colour
temperature when the digitally controlled flash is fired.

PLEASE NOTE: All prices correct at the time of going to press

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 Feature
Building up adjustments
International freelance artist Pete Jaworowski reveals how he uniformed this image’s effect

To ease monocolour, I selected the model

To enhance the glass explosion effect, I
applied Levels to the corresponding layers,
which evened out the exposure. This way,
the elements were not too black or dark but
just right in light and texture
and applied both Color Balance and Curves.
This brought out the contrast in colour and
light, creating a difference between the
model and the background

Sparkles and glows were added to

increase the dynamism of the entire
piece by applying Pen tool layers.
Setting an Overlay blending mode and
adding Outer Glow brings out effects

At the end, I slightly altered the

Adding two blue photo filters set brightness and contrast using the
to Overlay on top of all my relative Photoshop options, so the
image layers created a cool little sparks and details shine
colour cast and calm mood. The through more
blue light was also more natural
to the theme SELF REFLECT
COPYRIGHT: Ars Thanea

TIP TIP Applying the previous techniques will allow you

Consideration
Pay attention to detail throughout
your application. The really small
changes can really make a difference
and polish your final image
Organisation
When working with many adjustments
and effects, stay organised. Put
everything into layer groups with
different colours and titles
to construct your compositions with immaculate
photographic elements. But what effects follow to
produce realism in your images? How are your photo
elements integrated? Porto adds: “Once converting to a
selection and applying a layer mask, you must activate
this. Do so by clicking on the layer mask icon in the
actual layer. Run the Filter>Other>Minimum filter set to

“
two pixels, then apply a one-pixel Gaussian Blur. The Pen
tool cuts like a razor. This application will first contract
the mask and then soften it, giving a natural edge

Attention to detail coupled with attentive against your new background.”

“
application of Photoshop’s Clone tool
goes a long way, too. Without scrutiny, this
style loses credibility
Attention to detail coupled with attentive application
of Photoshop’s Clone tool goes a long way, too. Without
scrutiny, this style loses credibility. Jaworowski reveals:
“To remove small details or cover them, I use the Clone
tool or just simply apply a 20% Opacity brush with Pen
Pressure in the Brush Presets switched on, using a similar

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 Photoreal effects
THE RED BULLETIN
image tone. By using these tools, you can hide or (RIGHT): This image
improve many skin imperfections or unnecessary is part of a series
produced as cover
lighting that ruins your vision.” illustrations created
Correcting exposure and lighting using Photoshop’s between 2007 and
2008 for The Red
adjustment options also produces authentic effects. Bulletin
Artists will often apply two live Curve layers to the COPYRIGHT:
Ars Thanea
compositions – one for highlights, the other for
shadows – selected from the ‘Create a new fill or MARTINI ASTI -
ELEMENTS (FAR
adjustment layer’ option at the foot of the Layers RIGHT): This image
palette. Inside each individual layer setting, artists will is a great example of
how depth of field
increase and decrease the Output values by altering can produce realism
within a piece. It was
anchor points, in turn increasing highlights and a finalist in the World
shadows. These layer masks on the Curves layer will Luxury Awards 2008
COPYRIGHT:
then be activated and reverted back to their original Ars Thanea
state by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+I. By selecting a 20%
MARTINI SODA
Opacity white brush, artists will manually apply (BELOW)
exposure by painting onto the layer masks. COPYRIGHT:
LSD Studio
Alternatively, for a more straightforward application,
artists will apply to an Overlay-Neutral layer. Holding
Opt/Alt and clicking the ‘Create a new layer’ option at
the foot of the Layers palette lets you set the blending
mode to Overlay and activate the Fill with the Overlay-
Neutral colour option in the settings. This produces a
greyed-out layer, where artists will apply black-and-
white lowered opacity brushes to create manual
exposure and heighten image definition. This is like
applying Burn and Dodge tools, but not as destructive.

Effective solutions
However, there is the hazard of colour distortion with
these techniques, as Porto explains: “If a single element
in the composition is incorrectly lit or the colour is off, it
destroys the illusion of realism. Each element is lit
according to where it appears in the composition.
Attention to matching light direction and quality at the
photography stage lets you drop stock in perfectly at
the digital stage. The Color Balance adjustment option,
on the other hand, is something that Photoshop is very
good at, helping harmonise each image element.”
If you adhere to Porto’s advice, then lighting effects
rather than amendments will start to shape your
composition. HDR (high dynamic range) imagery is a
prime example. This contemporary effect can be
replicated to an extent within Photoshop. This process is
particularly simple and uses the power of Photoshop’s
blending modes, and can also be applied to an image
as a whole or altered for individual elements.
Artists will begin by selecting the image layer, then
duplicating and desaturating it. A 50% Opacity Overlay
blending mode is then applied followed by Gaussian
Blur, with settings dependent on what strength effect
you want. Ultimately, you will end up with a soft focus.
Then a new merged layer is produced above these by
pressing Cmd+Opt+Shift+E (or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E on a
PC). This is then duplicated, with the layer set to the
Screen blending mode. Duplication is repeated,
resetting the blending mode to Multiply. Opacity values
for both duplicated layers can be altered to determine
the strength of effects.
Overlay-Neutral effects can also be coupled with
the previous effect to complement your visual
outcomes. However, some artists will seek more
accessible solutions, like investing in plug-in

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 Feature
FREAK WEATHER
software, such as HDRsoft’s Photomatix (www. (RIGHT): This image
hdrsoft.com). This economic alternative provides a free was made for New
York Magazine on the
trial before the necessity to purchase at a retail price of subject of how climate
$99 (£60.85). change will affect New
York City
Other harmonising effects can be applied using COPYRIGHT:
Photoshop’s adjustment options, for instance the Photo James Porto

Filter, which is usually applied to treat colour casts but

SLOPPYJOE G
can generally be applied to do the opposite and create (BELOW, TOP): One
image from the 2007
them. Artists will also apply a Hue/Saturation layer from Chick-fil-A calendar
the ‘Create new fill or adjustment layer’ options. where the theme was
Cowboy Cows in
Saturation levels are then decreased for all tones in the various guises, urging
Hue/Saturation Edit drop-down options. This technique us all to ‘Eat more
chicken’
is known as selective saturation. COPYRIGHT:
With this, artists can distinguish where effects should James Porto
be applied in the image’s colour spectrum. Layer masks
MIEUX VAUT
are applied as well, using black brushes with Opacity set PARTIR AVANT
to a low value to determine the preferred colour or (BELOW, BOTTOM):
This piece of
saturation strength. Creating such diffused styles using work reveals
how saturation can
this technique serves two purposes, as Jaworowski create depth
explains: “In gritty images it’s easier to cover some COPYRIGHT:
Marc Paeps
imperfections. What’s more, the colours are closer to the CLIENT: Eurostar
world we live in so there’s more of a chance the image AGENCY: TBWA
will affect its target audience when used commercially.”

Polishing compositions
Localising any of these effects to individual image
elements is simple with Photoshop. Porto reveals that
artists will often apply a 100% Quick Mask or appropriate
selection tools before applying their adjustment
techniques. When directly selecting options from the
‘Create new fill or adjustment layer’ options, he explains:
“If I make a Curve adjustment layer, I do it while holding
the Opt/Alt key. This way, you can check the ‘Use
previous layer to create clipping mask’ box. Adjusting
the curve will apply the correction to your selected area
only.” Applying a 100% white brush and painting on the
adjustment layer’s mask will then apply clipped effects
to other image areas.
Specifying blur and sharpening effects definitely
maximises the authenticity and aesthetics within your
photoreal images. Usually a process left until the final
stages of the design, artists will use numerous
sharpening techniques, such as the Unsharp Mask filter,
before blurring specific image areas. Effects can be
applied to image edges, isolated elements or whole
compositions. This sharpness adds to the heightened
reality of this style.
The most common and quick-fire sharpening
technique used by professional artists, however, is the
application of the High Pass filter. Applied generally to a
composition as a whole, artists will duplicate their
image layer then apply a Multiply blending mode. Next,
High Pass is selected from the Filter>Other options. A
two- or three-pixel radius will often create sufficient
effects. Layers can be duplicated to add more
delineation, too.
With a razor-sharp image the blurring can begin, and
the most intuitive way to apply this is by producing a
depth map. Artists can do this by opening the Color
Range option and applying Midtones from the Select
drop-down options. With a selection active, an Alpha
channel is produced in the Channels palette. Artists will
paint out image areas they want unaffected by the blur
effects with a black brush. Applying white will have the
adverse effect. Next, a one-pixel Radius Blur is applied
and the depth map is complete.
Artists then activate the Layers palette and select
Lens Blur from the Filter>Blur options. With the Depth
Map Source set to Alpha 1, Iris settings can be edited to
determine the blur amounts. Applying this technique to
a duplicated layer allows layer mask editing and total
control over effects. Alternatively, Quick Masks can be
applied to isolate image areas for standard blur options,
or if your image is still in bits you can apply manually in
a gradual process with the Blur tool at varying opacities.
Now aware of just how straightforward, effective and
efficient these photographic effects can be, how do you
finally present your work within the creative industry?
Representation from a reputable agency is certainly
advantageous, while Porto adds: “Young photographers
should begin promoting their names and images
nonstop. It works best over time and consistency is key.
Attention to simple branding concepts also helps.” Your
work is more likely to be noticed if you pay it more
creative attention, as Paeps concludes: “It’s necessary to
be obsessive with your design at all times. This style is
an exercise of precision.”

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 Photoreal effects
Composing photo elements
Piece together vivid photoreal images using simple Photoshop tools and stock

Mission Design (www.mission.no) knows just how 4. Details

effective photorealism is within advertising Now to add some detail. The bird was treated to match
commodities in the branding sector. Mission’s senior the image contrast and lighting, using previous
designer Karl Martin Sætren reveals how to achieve the techniques. Then apply a layer mask, hiding elements of
effects presented in its attractive project ‘Wildlife’. the bird layer you don’t want. Add a new layer with a
Multiply blending mode set below the bird. Then use a
1. Contrast and background black brush to paint in the bird’s shadow.
Start by applying a Levels adjustment layer and, holding
down the Opt/Alt button, drag the white adjustment
arrow towards the centre. This whites out the
background. Do the same thing with the black arrow to
darken the model. Once satisfied, merge effects into a
single layer. Repeat this step for the wildlife stock.

2. Masking
Both images are pasted into the same document. Paint
out the human head on a new layer then overlap the
animal head layer at 50% Opacity. After scaling and
rotating this, apply a layer mask and used the Brush tool
to make a smooth transition from the head to the neck.
5. Composition
The last step is to create a good composition. Make a
series of pictures creating variation. Some ought to be
cropped closer, and others inverted. Some are meant to
be aggressive, others to be calmer. Then scan the ink
experiments and apply to the pictures, giving them
different blending modes to disrupt the purely
photographic look.

“
COPYRIGHT: Design, art direction and postproduction:
Mission (www.mission.no)
PHOTOGRAPHY: Pål Laukli (www.tinagent.no)

Young
photographers 3. Liquify
should begin Select the body layer and isolate the neck area using the

promoting their Rectangular Marquee tool before activating the Liquify

filter. Activate Show Backdrop, setting a 50% Opacity.
names and Apply the Forward Warp tool with a big brush size, pulling

images nonstop.
the neck area up to fit with the animal head.

It works best over

time and
consistency is key
“
TIP
Modifications
Correct imperfections with the
Clone tool, the Healing tool or the
Dodge and Burn tools to preserve
the photographic content as
faithfully as possible
PLEASE NOTE: All prices correct at the time of going to press

35
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028-035_AVP_59_PhotorealFeat.ind35 35 25/6/09 15:03:24

 MASTERCLASS

r e ateer
C covthis
thFeind oimutahgoewftreodmfroomur
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fantaer was crnish in th
cov art to fi terclass
st o Mas
pr

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036-041_AVP_59_SteampunkMC.indd 36 24/6/09 17:35:30

 Master
steampunk styles
Learn how to add retro-
futuristic elements to your digital paintings
C
reating a steampunk-themed portrait is very
fun to do. It has loads of elements that can be
put in, such as glass and metals, as well as the
usual Victorian-style outfits.
Common accessories are metallic goggles, ray guns
and headphones. But sometimes painting machines and
reflective materials can intimidate a painter, especially
creating realistic ones. This is because light and colour
varies depending on how the light source is set in a
specific environment and the object’s structure. To
overcome this, you must understand how certain
materials, like metal, glass, cloth and leather, reflect and
absorb light. You must also observe how a material’s
texture characteristics flow and make up an object.
In this walkthrough you will learn how to effectively
paint specific materials, such as metal, glass, leather and
cloth. But here’s the twist: you will paint the image until it
1 Sketch and studies
It is forever drilled into artists that they should
always start with sketches and see what works and what
doesn’t. It is better to know at this early stage if your
design will work well with the entire composition. It’s
good to spend time here rather than learn that things
don’t work out after you have already painted most of
the image.
“You must understand
how materials like
metal, glass and cloth
reflect and absorb
light and colour”
036-041_AVP_59_SteampunkMC.indd 37
is almost complete using only one brush, the default
Circle brush set to Pen Pressure with Opacity and Flow at
100% . Through this, you will be able to concentrate and
understand the basics without relying heavily on custom
brushes to do the job for you. You won’t learn magical
tips and tricks, which most of the time are only
applicable for a specific design. Instead, you’ll get the
right foundation and basics in painting. To finish, instead
of using photos to add texture to the image, you’ll use
custom brushes to help add volume to the materials.
Patience is needed in creating this image, as it takes
time and understanding. Remember, a delicious soup
doesn’t just come from a can nor is it made from instant
cubes, but it comes about by combining all manner of
fresh ingredients, carefully prepared and then cooked
over a decent amount of time. Now it’s time to start
creating and cook up a storm!
2 Block and define shapes
Start off with a predetermined light source or use
Filter>Render>Lighting Effects to quickly do it for you.
Defining shapes and adding shadows will make it easier
for you to know where the light is coming from. You
don’t need to dwell too much on details at this point, as
you first need to sort out the overall lighting and outline
sketches to correct every angle and proportion before
getting bogged down by extra details.
ON THE DISC
On the cover disc, you will find the set of
brushes needed for this tutorial, mostly
used in adding textures. Also included is
the isometric drawing sheet as an
additional reference.
OUR EXPERT Jeffrey M.de Guzman
Jeffrey M.de Guzman is a concept artist and matte painter for a
VFX company in Makati City, Philippines. He is an Excellence
Award winner for Golden Bee in the Portrait Painted category for
Ballistic Publishing’s Exposé 6, which was also chosen as the cover
for the Limited Edition. Other works of his have also been
published in Exotique 3 and 4, as well as appearing on the cover of
Advanced Photoshop. www.jeffmdart.com
Know isometrics,
volume and light
Before jumping in, you need to understand the
basics of isometric drawing. This will give you a
more solid look with your design structure. By
knowing its compositional grain, you are able to
mimic how a certain material is made. This will
show how highlights, reflections and shadows
behave. Take, for example, a cylinder and a pipe. If
it was rendered without knowing the structure,
realism would never be achieved. Upon knowing
the basic idea of it, adding volume to a flat image
ought to be easy. You can quickly determine
which part will be well lit, where shadows fall off
and how reflections and textures behave.
37
Advanced Photoshop
24/6/09 17:28:26
 MASTERCLASS
3 Design the backpack
At this stage, paint it loose and let your design
ideas flow. Try to think what looks good first and then
edit it later on. Don’t lose sight of the fact that your
design should show function and sensibility. It should
not only look good, but it must also look right. Draw your
inspiration from different types of engines, as it will give
you loads of ideas to start with.
Steampunk ideas
Steampunk denotes technology during the
Victorian era in England where steam power was
widely used. This theme has been popularised
with the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. This
can be a great resource when looking for
steampunk references. Also, one famous website
discusses in-depth steampunk engine design
techniques, which can be found at www.crabfu.
com in the steam toys category. It teaches how a
steam engine works and how to design it, while
steam-powered toys have actually been created.
You might not be able to totally understand the
technical aspect of it, but knowing the basics of
steam power will give you an idea. Another
inspirational reference are the engines of
motorcycles. Not only were they created to be
aesthetically pleasing, but they are functional as
well. They are some of the most intricate designs
that can be found easily to give you an idea about
creating a steampunk engine. You can find great
motorcycle designs that are custom-made at
www.westcoastchoppers.com/choppers.
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036-041_AVP_59_SteampunkMC.indd 38
4 Use the Rectangle tool
After designing your machine, you can now start
refining it to the last detail. Using the Shape tools, choose
the Rectangle and outline your design. You may Free
Transform it as well, using Cmd/Ctrl+T, to precisely fit it
in. While still on the Rectangle tool, shift to the Brush
tool, Cmd/Ctrl+B, reduce the Brush Size to 1 and hit Enter
to render the path. Go back to the Rectangle tool, Cmd/
Ctrl+U, and hit Enter to clear the path.
6 Colour wash (previsualisation)
An essential addition to your workflow is knowing
the colour theme and harmony of your image early on.
You will be able to determine what material to paint and
how their colours affect each other when placed side by
side. With this understanding, you will be able to easily
paint materials in their realistic nature.
5 Use the Pen tool
Once two points are placed, the lever arm can be
adjusted to the desired curve by holding Opt/Alt. By
holding Cmd/Ctrl, a point can be repositioned to another
place. To create multiple line paths, hold Cmd/Ctrl and
click in the canvas space to deactivate the existing line or
path. Then switch to the Brush tool, reduce the Brush Size
to 1 and hit Enter to have it rendered. Go back to the Pen
tool, Cmd/Ctrl+P, and hit Enter to clear the path.
7 Know your composition
A good portrait needs to have a good and
balanced composition. Eyes need to flow freely in the
image based on the elements you have created. From
the face, which is the focal point, to the backpack, which
is the secondary point of interest, adding details like a
watch, gauges and ray gun directs the eye flow around
the image. Also, hand poses and angles help build a
strong composition.
8
Background
Although the background is only sky, it plays a big
factor, as this will serve as the basis of your colour palette,
just as the colour of the ocean is affected when it reflects
the clouds and sky. With the skin brush from back in
issue 48 (www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/tutorials.
php), first paint in cloud formations with a base colour.
Adjust the hues as you add highlights and shadows to it.
24/6/09 17:38:54
 9 Build the cylinder
Press U to switch to the Shape tool, then choose
Ellipse. Hold Shift and drag to create a perfect circle. Free
Transform and distort to fit the Free Transform border
with the isometric guidelines. The central rotating axis
point should be in line where the cylinder’s central
diameter is located. Convert to a line stroke using the
Brush tool. Create the biggest circle first then duplicate it,
resize while holding Shift and reposition.
12 Paint pipes
Create the base of the pipe and turn on the
Preserve Transparency button. With the light source set,
gradually paint strokes following the path of the pipe.
The more you build up strokes, the more realistic it gets
as reflections and shadows are easily copied this way.
Gradually adjust colour tones while doing this. Highlights
and reflections are elongated in a pipe’s nature, so there
is no need to be accurate. Suggestions of these would
be enough, as it won’t be readable anyway.
14 Assemble the heat sink
With the first piece done, duplicate the layers
and carefully align them according to the guidelines and
spaces. Merge all heat sink layers and then desaturate
with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+U. Pull up the Hue/Saturation
palette and colourise with a colour between a light
brown and gold. Always reserve one piece of the heat
sink plate in case it is needed for later.
036-041_AVP_59_SteampunkMC.indd 39
10 Paint the cylinder
Once all the outlines are in place, merge all
outline layers and lower the Opacity to 35%. Add a new
layer beneath the guidelines and paint the base colour
first. Turn on the Preserve Transparency button so that
you don’t have any worries about painting outside the
base. Paint in the direction following its grain structure.
Continue to build up your paint strokes, as this gives a
natural look to it. Emphasise shadows and highlights
using the Dodge and Burn tools.
11 Pipe base
To create the base of the pipes, start off with
the Ellipse and create a circle, then Free Transform to fit
the pipe’s diameter. Duplicate and position to the other
end. Switch to the Pen tool, mark two points creating a
straight line then create another point to where the
curve ends. While still holding on the left, click and drag
until it fits the curve. Repeat the process until you have
completed it. Switch to the Brush tool and press Enter to
have the paths lined out.
13
Make the heat sink
With the Rectangle tool, Free Transform and
fit in one part of the heat sink. Right-click and fill the path
with any colour. Duplicate the layer, drag below the
previous layer and adjust the colour so that it’s darker
than the previous. On the first piece of the heat sink, use
the Dodge tool to brighten the middle part. Hold Shift to
create a straight line on an angle, then merge both layers.
“Always reserve one
piece of the heat sink
plate in case it is
needed for later”
15 Disc base
This is the same procedure as the cylinder.
But unlike that, this shows a flat surface with a little angle,
showing very little amount of perspective shift. Simply
create a circle and Free Transform following the
guidelines. Duplicate the circle and resize using the
central pivot point of the Free Transform as a guide to
correctly put it in place.
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Advanced Photoshop
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 MASTERCLASS
16 Paint the disc
Now paint the base and turn on the layer’s
Preserve Transparency button. Paint with strokes coming
from the disc’s circumference towards the centre with a
small circular brush. Add light-coloured highlights in a
circular path following the boundary and add the same
strokes for the dark part on the opposite side. Again paint
with strokes coming from the boundary towards the
centre, and complete the rendering with the Dodge tool.
19 Leathers
The leathers are also made of a shiny material
and light bounce from it. Follow the contour and shape
when painting over it using a brown colour. Then use the
Burn tool for shadowed areas and the Dodge tool to add
highlights. This will give enough volume where the
material contours. Add a new layer on top of it set to Soft
Light, then lightly paint a desaturated blue on shadowed
parts and light orange on areas near the highlights for a
believable leather look. Finally, merge both layers.
“Since the material is transparent, the only
thing you need to know is how its reflection
and highlights behave based on its shape. For
a cylinder, the idea is the same as a pipe”
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17 Flat surfaces
Create a path using the Rectangle tool, and
then right-click Fill with a gold colour to act as a base
colour. Pick another colour lighter than the base and use
a circular brush to paint with multiple, almost perfect
vertical strokes, changing the colour hues with every
stroke. Since this is a flat surface, this may act like a mirror,
perfectly capturing a reflection. So check if the surface
being rendered has to reflect something else.
20
The fabric
Know your folds as this will show how
believable and realistic the rendering can end up. Use a
50% grey for the shadowed areas and 10% grey on areas
that are lit. White and colour values for the lit areas
should stay almost at the same level, as this absorbs light
and doesn’t reflect it. Add a new layer on top set to Soft
Light and lightly paint light yellow over it.
21
Fabric texture
Using the scratch brush created back in issue
48 (also included on the CD), add a new layer and set it
to Overlay. Choose a white colour and randomly paint
over the fabric. Erase out parts where textures are less
noticeable, often in the shadowed areas. Don’t forget to
individually warp each texture to fit the fabric’s contour.
Once done, merge with the fabric layer.
Quick tip
By holding the Shift button, you can easily create
straight horizontal and vertical lines with the
Brush tool. Hold the Shift button while tapping or
clicking with the left mouse button from end to
end creates a straight line on different angles.
This can also be used with the Eraser, Dodge and
Burn tools.
18 Easy glass technique
Since the material is transparent, the only
thing you need to know is how its reflection and
highlights behave based on its shape. For a cylinder, the
idea is the same as a pipe. For flat circular surfaces take a
look at how you rendered the disc, and for the gauges
simply follow the contour. Lightly paint highlights with a
white colour following the objects’ grain structure.
22 Patterns overlay
To make the fabric look more interesting,
small patterns act as good additions. Quickly create a
brush using an overlapping letter B with the Text tool on
two layers merged on a new document. Next, add a new
layer on top of the fabric set to Overlay, then randomly
brush in the patterns to different spots. Use the Lasso
tool (Cmd/Ctrl+L) and, one by one, select the pattern
and Free Transform to use the warp function, then warp
each pattern according to the fabric’s contour. Now use
the Dodge and Burn tools to emphasise the pattern’s
shadows and highlights.
24/6/09 17:30:37
 23 Design the ray gun
The ray gun’s design is a standard offering,
but give it a few twists by adding different elements and
details. Using the same techniques learnt with the
engine, like backpack elements, you can easily repeat the
same procedure and apply it here. Also, quickly block in
shapes and see if the design fits the overall image.
28 Colour additions and corrections
You can easily adjust colours and target
specific areas by duplicating your image and creating
colour variations to parts that you want to enhance. This
could be adding more cyan to areas of the leather,
adding yellow to metal highlights, etc. Put all variations
in a clipping mask with a layer mask filled with black. On
the layer mask, use a brush with white as the foreground
colour. This lets you reveal the portion where brushing is
being applied to. Colours of certain parts can now be
added and corrected by painting them all over again.
036-041_AVP_59_SteampunkMC.indd 41
24 Paint the ray gun
The same techniques also apply in painting
the parts. Separate individual pieces onto different layers,
so that it is easy to render them later on. Once
completed, merge all layer parts and finish off with the
Dodge tool on areas where light reflects the most to be
able emphasise metallic parts of it. Add a new Overlay
layer and paint subtle textures using the pores brush.
26
Paint the gem
Rather than painting the entire gem, you
need to tackle one facet at a time, beginning with the
side where your light source is. Because every cut on the
jewellery has a different angle and direction, colour and
light reacts differently, too. Not only is this reflective, but
light will pass through it as well. Paint dark areas of
colour to apply depth to it.
“Because every cut
on the jewellery has
a different angle and
direction, colour and
light reacts
differently, too”
25 Gem pattern
Now you need to determine the cut you will
be giving to the stone. Create a simple pattern and lay it
out to the position where you will paint the gem. Lower
the pattern guide’s Opacity to 40%. You need to establish
the lighting and perspective to make it look believable.
Quickly block out shapes to build the form.
27 Texture overlays
Once every element has been completed,
merge them all up. This way, it will be easier to add
textures to it. Add an Overlay layer to the image and use
the custom brushes created in past Workshops, included
on the CD. Use the cracks brush for the machine, the
pores brush for the leather and skin and the scratch
brush for the cloth. Erase away any unwanted portions.
29
Frame and noise
Create a simple textured frame above the
background set to Hard Light and lower the Opacity to
75%. Add a new layer filled with white. Go to Filter>
Noise>Add Noise and set it to 12%. Set the layer to
Multiply and lower the layer Opacity to 5%. Adding noise
mimics photo grains, which gives it a slightly nondigital
rendered look to it. Flatten all the layers and you’re done!
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 insight
50 Lashes: “50 stands
of thread were combined
and stuck to the model’s
eyelid. Crystals were
added to their ends for a
glamorous touch”

Skin Dee
p:
clay shards “A number of
w
These were ere created.
th
and arrang en coloured
ed as nece
in order to ssary
crea
appearance te the
of a bizarre
DIY beauty
kit scene”

tellite
Sirius Sa n
Ra d io : “T his televisio
as
rt co nc ep t artwork w
adve llaboration
uced in co
prod
d Country”
with King an
Nickelodeon Kid
’s
Choice Award 20
08: “This
television promotion
al artwork
was produced in col
laboration
with Roger”

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042-043_AVP_59_Insight2.indd 42 22/6/09 14:44:57

 :
g On Me
Countin t of
be r se
“A num
ers was
cookie cutt
te the
used to crea al
met
illusion of
in the
openings s
in. The card
model’s sk
ca re fu lly
were
and
arranged
ed within
photograph ir”
od el ’s ha
the m

4 step: “A sim g
technique of
the same feet
ple
usin
from
Brian Walker
es to
different angl Website: www.lickthesun.com
. The
appear as four s Clients: Plastic Fantastic, blank_space gallery,
wa
main concern
for positioning n”
to Precious Fleshous, Horus & Deloris Gallery (solo show)
capture the illu
sio Plastic Fantastic, blank_space gallery (solo show)
Projections 08, Cremorne Theatre (group show)

Advantageous is the word to sum up the attitude of digital artist Brian Walker.
Starting his freelance career as a photographer during and after university for the
State Library of New South Wales, Walker went on to work for numerous
advertising agencies.
But he soon began to realise that creativity was severely lacking in his design
life. This led Walker on an overseas trip to London with his now wife, where he
stayed for a year. “I began concentrating on my photography and had some fun
commissions,” he explains.
Over time he progressively taught himself more about photography and
developed his own style. “I would photograph models for agencies and collaborate
with hair and make-up students. I worked with emerging fashion designers, always
looking for fresher and more eccentric styles. From there I began exhibiting and
working on various editorials, but still focused on my work as a practising artist,”
Walker adds.
Walker still loves to draw traditionally, with his sketches becoming the visual,
manual and creative dictator at his photoshoots. “From these initial strange ideas I
begin to work through every detail I see, necessary to produce the image, such as
props, rough outfits and the hair and make-up I am thinking of,” he explains. Digital
application then fleshes out these designs, with his final works having an uncanny
resemblance to their sketch-based siblings.
Walker’s overall style is one that challenges the line between reality and the
surreal, through a playfully kitsch approach. “I am a concept junkie,” he embellishes.
“I relish a tasty piece of brain tickling. I guess that explains my obsession with
popular culture.”

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 Step-by-step
Workshop

METALLIC
TYPOGRAPHY
Create a steampunk-style type using stock images and Photoshop

ON THE DISC
On the cover disc you’ll find
three Photoshop files: one with
how the grid was constructed,
one of how the letter ‘Y’ is
constructed in Photoshop and
one of the final composition with
its layering.
Theo Aartsma
OUR EXPERT
Theo Aartsma is a 27-year-old freelance graphic designer/
illustrator from the Netherlands. With his Sumeco identity,
he primarily specialises in experimental 3D and illustrated
typography. www.sumeco.net
T
his issue we’re being inspired by
Steampunk left, right and centre! If
you’ve been trying out our digital
painting tutorial on page 36, then what
we’ve got here is the perfect typography
to go with it.
In this tutorial, we take a look at what’s
involved in creating a steampunk-style type.
This will involve Neo-Victorian ornaments
combined with industrial elements from the
era of steam technology, all using stock
imagery or even your own photography.
Because these are both strong and distinct in
visual language, the two elements hugely
inspire many illustrators and digital artists in
their work.
First of all, we will be focusing on how to
set up a structure for a piece of illustrated
typography, which can be applied to any
typographical piece of work. After that, we will
be using Photoshop to construct a letter using
different elements from stock photos and
then bring it together to make it look like a
whole. The last step will be to present the
illustration suitably.
For this walkthrough, you won’t need
anything more than just plain old Photoshop
and some metallic stock images. We used
CS3, but it can be done just as well with
other versions of the program, as we are only
going to be using basic functions like cutting
and brushwork.

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 1 Set up the document
Go straight to Photoshop and create a new
document. We’ve done our research on the
subject in order to find out how to make this style
work. Adjust the settings so that the canvas is
sized to A3 and positioned as landscape, set to
420mm by 297mm at 300dpi.
2 Make a sample
By now, you should have an idea of which
shapes are going to be used and where they are
going to be placed. However, it’s useful to create
a sample to make sure that what you’re
planning is actually possible. The screenshot
shows an example of this, focusing at this point
on gaining an idea of the sample’s structure.
3 Get a structure
It is clear that the lines of the ornament are
very straight. The style of steampunk is
characterised by very straight industrial beams,
while other elements combined with ornaments
flow over and around these. Symmetry is also
clearly in evidence. Circles are good to make the
joints, as they were a common geometrical form
used in the steam industry. These can also be
covered in ornaments.

“The style of
steampunk is
characterised by
very straight
industrial beams,
while other 4 Lay out a grid
The type needs very straight lines in order
to fit into the theme. First of all, fill your 5 Activate the rulers
Merge these layers and, holding Opt/Alt
elements background with a black colour. To obtain a grid, and Shift, drag and copy them to match the

combined with create a new layer and draw a square (hold Shift
while drawing) with the Rectangle tool, using a
ornaments flow white colour. Drop the alpha down a bit, then
repeat a few more times to create a structure
around these” similar to the one in the screenshot. An example
is on the CD.
structure in the screenshot. The green lines are
the guides that are going to be added. First, turn
on Photoshop’s rulers (Cmd/Ctrl+;). With the
rulers activated, click and drag guides from the
rulers onto the canvas and cover the complete
structure in this way.

6 Design the type

Next, draw a type on a new layer similar to
the one shown in the screenshot. The Rectangle
tool is useful for doing this. Bear in mind that it
can be pretty rough at this stage, as it is only
going to be used for reference. Keep the type
within the letter frame and the centre struts
while placing it over middle of the line. Once
done, roughly halve the transparency and then
turn off the guides.

7 Look for stock

At this stage, the
letters need a bit more
character. You can look for
good stock on the internet, or
alternatively you can shoot
your own. For this
walkthrough, free stock was
used from www.cgtextures.
com, which is one of the best
stock resources for textures on
the web. Once good
examples are found, they
need cutting and trimming,
for which the Pen tool or
Polygon Lasso tool are useful.

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
8 Cut stock with the Pen tool
To cut out an ornament, first select the
Pen tool. Draw the path using the Cmd/Ctrl and
Opt/Alt keys to modify it while drawing. After
you have closed the path, go to the Paths panel
and make a selection from the path to cut out.
9 Import the elements
When some of the elements are cut out,
you can begin importing them to your type
canvas. Just keep adding as many elements as
possible, as the more variety there is, the better
your type will be for it. In other words, the less
you have to duplicate, the better.
Work with Levels
Don’t be afraid to try out different ways of
working. For example, instead of working
with Levels, you could also use Curves.
These are a little more precise for
tweaking, whereas Levels generally aid a
faster workflow. To find out more about
how this works, visit www.
cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/levels.
htm. This website gives a good overview of
the possibilities of the tool.

10 Move into place

To avoid cluttering the canvas, start
to resize and Free Transform (Cmd/Ctrl+T)
pieces and try to fit them in the places you
would like to see them. Follow this up by
desaturating (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+U) the elements.
In terms of practicality, the next few steps will
concentrate on the ‘Y’ only.

“Add as many elements as

possible, as the more
variety there is, the better
your type will be. In other
words, the less you have to
duplicate, the better”

11 Layering
Bear in mind that for the structure
you need the circle shapes for the joints and
beams for the struts. Next, layer everything on
top of each other. It’s best to have the circle
shapes on top and the beams on the bottom.
Place most of the ornaments between the
circles and the beams, and then some above

12
the circles and some below the beams.
Levels matching
Not every photo matches well with
the others. It’s not the colour that is the issue
here; instead, this effect is mostly due to the
Levels. Adjust these where necessary. Play
around with the sliders and aim to match the
Levels settings with those of another image.
13
All together
After all the elements are in there
and in place with the right values, it should look
similar to the screenshot. It doesn’t take long to
create all of the other letters in the same way as
this one, but it means you will probably need
even more images.

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 14 Solve problems with shadows
Add shadows to the little elements
so they merge better. This is also a good way to
mask some of the problems with Levels and
lighting that couldn’t be solved earlier. Creases
and lighting problems are among the issues
that casting shadows onto objects can resolve.
16 Global shadow
After you have completed the
shadows for each layer, merge all the layers and
give the whole type a global shadow. This can
be done in exactly the same way as the previous
step. It will help make the typography look less
flat and more like a whole.
18 Copper colour
The colours need a good copper feel
to them, gained by getting textures from
CGTextures once more. Before importing the
main copper texture into the canvas, give it a
large Gaussian Blur. Repeat this step with an
oxidised green copper texture, giving it a
smaller blur to keep more speckles.
044-047_AVP_59_TypeWS.indd 47
15 Add shadows
Next, select the layer that you want to add shadow to, then
hold Cmd/Ctrl+H and click on that layer to make a selection of it. Now,
“Add shadows to
the little elements
on a new layer, use a soft black brush sized to around 35 to 45 and
brush in some shadow. You can control the density of the shadow
so they merge a bit
with the Opacity setting. This should be done for every layer that
needs shadow.
better. This is also a
good way to mask
some of the
problems with
Levels and lighting”
17 Colour palette
Now that it is all combined, it’s time
to add some colours again. Create a small colour
palette on a new layer, and then choose colours
you think will suit the theme. After creating the
palette and a new layer, make a selection of the
type (hold Cmd/Ctrl+H and click on the layer)
and start brushing with a big soft brush with
one of the selected colours. Set the blending
mode of the colour layer to Color and bring the
Opacity down to 57.
19 More colours
Import the textures and place them
on top of the type. Make a selection of the type
20 The background
The last step is to present it within a nice environment.
Merge all the type and colour layers to tweak the letter spacing and
(hold Cmd/Ctrl+H and click on the layer), then composition; a light background works well here, perhaps with a very
inverse it to delete the part of the textures you light background gradient. With a large brush, paint a vignette effect for
don’t want. Play with the layer modes to see the borders.
what works best, though you may find that
Multiply and Overlay work the best.
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Advanced Photoshop
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 Step-by-step
Workshop

PATHS AND
THE PEN TOOL
Master these two key Photoshop tools and you can create this stunning
disintegration effect using any stock photo

T
he point of this tutorial is to learn Jaworowski was inspiration for creating this
ON THE DISC
how to take an ordinary photo and tutorial, which you can see on page 32 this
Artwork © Richard Roberts

The image that we used is from manipulate it so that it looks pulled issue, demonstrating one way to produce the
iStockphoto.com, image
number ‘8745043’. However, we
apart. This effect can be described as disintegrating effect with a photograph.
have included some model ‘disintegrating’. To follow this tutorial Photoshop is the program of choice when
shots on the disc for you to use, successfully, it is important to have a broad performing this tutorial, as it is simply the best
or you can pick any of your own.
understanding of all of the tools in the palette photo-editing program with endless
Richard Roberts
box. It is necessary to have a somewhat possibilities. Using Photoshop and starting
OUR EXPERT
extensive knowledge of fundamental tools, from scratch produces original artwork against
Richard is an aspiring freelance designer and artist
located in the US. He was born in the UK and his interest
such as the Pen tool, the Brush tool and the using plug-ins, which gives less control over
in designing started four years ago. Recently, he opened Gradient tool. The piece Self Reflect by Peter the finished product.
his online portfolio and freelance website at www.
theotherstream.com.

“It is necessary to have a somewhat

1 Base image
The first step is to get your base stock
image. Once you have done that, start to cut out
extensive knowledge of fundamental
tools, such as the Pen tool, the Brush
the female from her original background. When
you have her cut out, create a tan gradient
tool and the Gradient tool”
background using light and dark tans. Once you

have the background set, apply a white Radial
Gradient behind her head for lighting. Now go to
Image>Apply Image and it will create a new layer
of everything you have made merged together.
This layer is crucial, as it will be known as the stock
layer from now on.
2 3
Pen tool
Next, start to create the disintegrating effect. First, grab the Pen
tool, making sure that it is on the Paths settings and not the Shape
Layers option. Once you have that ready, duplicate the stock photo and
start making paths, creating random shapes. When you have a few,
right-click and click Make Selection. Once that’s done, click Cmd/Ctrl+J
and move the shapes over a bit from their original positions. This will
distort the image a bit, which is what you want.
Making shapes
Create small shapes using the same
process, but this time zoom in a few times for
detail. After you have made about ten small
shapes or more, right-click the duplicated stock
image, click Add Selection and all the paths you
created will turn into selected shapes. Hit Cmd/
Ctrl+J and move the shapes a bit over from the
original position to make it seem as if they’re
getting pulled from her.

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 Model photo from iStockphoto.com. Image number:
8745043. Photographer: Quavondo

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
Pondering the
Pen tool
4 Path tool
Next, create paths around certain body
parts, such as the lips, eyes and cheeks. Cut out
5 Disintegrating effect
Zoom in three to four times on the image
and use the Pen tool to draw paths, creating very
each part separately on its own layer using the small round shapes on the edge of the arms,
Using the Pen tool is basically what this Path tool method explained previously. Then shoulders, etc. After you have made a good 20 or
whole tutorial is about. If you lack the move each body part to the side of the female so of them, right-click and make a selection
knowledge of it, you may have some to add a surreal touch to the piece. Keep an eye again, hit Cmd/Ctrl+J and move the shapes off
trouble with this tutorial. Here are a few out for the placement, as you don’t want to the body, with some touching and some not.
tips and tricks to help you out. We have disrupt the composition of the piece, so be sure This will create a disintegrating effect for that part
provided an image pointing out which to pick a good place. in particular.
tool is the Pen tool and what setting you
need to have it on to create paths. The
yellow circle at the top is the setting that
you need it on to have paths. The other
yellow circle in the toolbar points out the
Pen tool. You can also see a random shape
making four points. After the shape was
made, we right-clicked the shape and a
box comes up as shown in the screenshot.
Click OK and leave the default settings, as
you will then see a selection come up
around your shape. Click Cmd/Ctrl+J and
your selection creates a shape. Make sure
that you’re doing it on your duplicated
stock layer.

6 Pull shapes
Create shapes on the duplicated stock image layer, but this time
create bigger rectangular shapes of the upper body. Move them
upwards as that will be the direction of the overall piece. This step can
be repeated, but try to create shapes more from the background. Once
created, move the background shapes towards the skin. This will appear
as though the skin is disintegrating with some parts missing.

7 Shirt
The next step is to focus on the shirt. For
this, create a variety of paths with different
shapes on each side of the shirt towards the
edges. After you have a good amount and
variety, make the selection and hit Cmd/Ctrl+J on
the duplicated stock layer, then move the shapes
to the side a bit to give the effect of it being
pulled away in pieces.

9 Arms
Continue to do the same thing to the
other shoulder as you did in the previous step.
Make sure you have an overall direction with all

8
the shapes you are creating and duplicating.
Upper body Now turn your focus onto the left arm. Zoom in a
Continue to follow the same process, few times until you can see only the edge of the
duplicating more shapes on the upper body. arm, then click your duplicated stock layer that
Create long, thin rectangle shapes on the neck you keep going back to with every step and start
and the shoulders facing upwards, then zoom in making little circle shapes on the background
and create small circle shapes on the shoulder and edge of the arm. Once you have over 20 or
area. Be sure to make as many as you want to so, make a selection and hit Cmd/Ctrl+J, moving
show that the skin is coming apart. Also, cut out them towards the edge of the arm. This will
part of the cheek and move it out to the side. This create the appearance that parts of the arm are
will add to the piece overall when it’s finished. being pulled out.

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 10 Shirt sides
The next step is to keep creating
shapes on the side of the arms and around the
body. Keep building it up over time, as the more
you have, the better the detail and the better
the overall end result. Now focus on the sides of
the shirt. Create 20 to 30 small shapes on each
side of the background of the stock images,
particularly small circular shapes. Create the
selection and hit Cmd/Ctrl+J on the stock photo
image. Then move your shapes inward.
13 Strips
Now start to make some shapes
using paths, but this time create very long strips.
Have them facing upwards as if they were
getting pulled up off her. Create paths on the
shirt, shoulders, skin, neck, etc. After you have a
few, make the selection the stock image layer,
create the shapes and then proceed to move
them upwards.
15
New layer
Start to bring in some more shapes
around the sides and around the neck, creating
an overall upwards direction. Blur some parts for
depth as you did in the previous step. Go to the
top of your layers and follow Image>Apply
Image, and this will create a layer with
everything you have done so far. Use this as the
stock image that you create shapes out of. The
benefit of this is that the shapes become more
interesting because they consist of other shapes
you have previously made.
048-052_AVP_59_PullApartWS.indd 51
11 Small details
Now you need to focus on very small details, which add to
the piece, making it more realistic and adding far greater detail. Zoom
12 Particles
Next, just keep adding small particles.
Follow the previous step but create the small
in very close to the image, pick a part of the skin and create very small shapes in different parts, for example, create
shapes. Make a good 30 or 40 of these. After you have done this and some on the background, some on the shirt,
the shapes are created, move the shapes on the edge of the body, some on the skin. Keep doing this until you
using the method that you have been doing throughout the tutorial have added them all around the image, creating
to make it appear that small particles are being pulled off the female. a lot of details.
After you have done this once, duplicate this layer and move the
particles to different parts of the body. This saves time and also allows
you to add more small particles in different places.
14 Hair shapes
We now move on to the hair in the
photo, which doesn’t need a lot of work. Create
“The shapes become more
interesting because they
some more shapes throughout the hair and
the area surrounding it. Once completed, make
consist of other shapes you
a selection and duplicate it from the stock layer, have previously made”
then move it to the left and repeat the process
for the right-hand side. This will create
disintegrating effects around the head to
complement the rest.
Quick tip
It is a good idea to add a blur to some of
the shapes as you go along. Do this by
using the Blur tool. This helps to create
depth in the artwork, as it looks as if these
pieces are being pulled away from the
model at speed. Just blur as many as looks
right for your composition.
16 Hair styles
Now revert your attention back to the hair. Zoom in very
close as done in previous steps and create very small circle shapes on
the hair using paths, and make a selection on the stock layer then
duplicate it. Once done, move them to the sides to create effects
coming off the hair.
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 Step-by-step
Workshop
Quick tip
One helpful piece of information to know
is that if you take a small brush sized 10 or
smaller and you pick the same colour as
your background, you can draw on the
background hitting into the model. This
will create an effect of her denigrating. Try
doing this to add small details.
19 Further details
Now we move onto adding a few more details here and
there. Go to the top of your layers and go to Image>Apply Image. Now
take your Pen tool and create some paths. Make different shapes, some
small detailed ones and some other large ones. The key is to make sure
you have some direction to the larger shapes. After you have created
them, right-click and select Make Selection, then hit Cmd/Ctrl+J and
you’ll have some more shapes. Then proceed to move the shapes
wherever you want. Placement is key so be patient and careful when
placing the shapes.
22 Finishing touches
The next step just involves adding
finishing touches. Create a black-and-white
Gradient Map and switch the layer blending
mode to Luminosity. This will improve the
overall lighting as well as bring out the tones of
the piece. You can also play with the Contrast
settings until it looks just right.
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17 Moving shapes
Creating all of the shapes is a long
tedious task, but in the end the outcome pays
off. For this step, keep creating small particle
shapes as shown in previous steps and have
them scattered around the edge of the body
and on the body for more details. Also, start to
create some more shapes using paths and
then create a selection on the stock layer.
Move these shapes around the neck, blurring
some for depth.
20
Problem solving
Now go through the piece to see if
you can rotate any pieces for better direction
and overall flow. Add some soft white or black
brushing with an Overlay blending mode for
dimension. Where you want lighting to have
more contrast, add black brushing on Soft
Light. Also, do the same thing if you want to
add shading or more dimension to a shape.
18 Lighting effects
Take a yellow soft brush sized to 15
or smaller, and start to brush strokes on different
parts of the shapes you have made. Set the
blending mode to Linear Dodge, then take the
Eraser and erase parts of the yellow strokes to
give a more neutral fine edge to them. Take a
black soft brush and go over where you have
added the lighting effect using the Soft Light
blending mode. Add a black-and-white Gradient
Map to the piece and set to Luminosity.
21
Cleaning up
After you have done this, go back
through your layers and delete all the layers that
you made to make the shapes, as they are not
needed any more. These are the ones that when
designing the piece, you selected Image>Apply
Image to make shapes from. After you have
made them, make sure that you delete that
layer you made.
23 Sharpen
The final step is to go to Image>
Apply Image. Then go to Filter and then
Sharpen. If some parts look like they have been
sharpened too much, take a soft round brush,
set to 50% Opacity, and go over the parts that
are too sharpened.
25/6/09 15:21:50
 insight
Marek Haiduk
Website: www.marekhaiduk.de
Clients: Fox Atomic, Financial Times (Germany), Museum of
Tourism, Meran, Italy

Marek Haiduk describes himself in one word – “autodidact” – and it fits like a
glove. You see, Haiduk is an artist who has acquired a great deal of creative
knowledge despite no formal education. Experimentation and online activity has
been his teacher.
This is certainly reflected in his mixed-media style and creative method. Haiduk
believes that too many plug-ins and filters can become misleading, but not
altogether useless. However, he likes to stick to standard cut-and-paste methods,
applied to his scanned images using drawn vector paths. “It’s a bit old-school, but
for me it’s the best and fastest way. Especially when working with a graphics
tablet,” he admits.
However, Haiduk has embraced the nondestructive capabilities of digital
media, namely layer masks. “I use these so the original image is still intact. In fact, I
use layer masks for nearly everything, much like adjustment layers. I often only
alter the Levels and adjust Hue/Saturation. I like to keep the grainy and old look of
my images, so I don’t retouch too much.”
His graphic style has won him many admirers in the editorial sector. Fox Atomic
and Athesia publishing house (www.athesiadruck.it/en) are notable additions to
his client list. The latter gave him his first big break. Sourced online by GGG/
Design Factory (www.gruppegut.it), his work was included in the title Being
Parents – Growing Up With Children, an advisory book for parents. This
undoubtedly led to bigger and better things, with Haiduk presently producing
work for the Financial Times newspaper in his native Germany.

the MBA
ncerning ur
h is was created co can you finance yo
: “T ow
n c in g Studies Administration). H t m on ey sources”
Fina sines s differen
aster of Bu oking for
degree (M image resembles lo ermany) 2009
ie s? Th is m es (G
stud cial Ti
ht: Finan
Copyrig

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054-055_AVP_59_Insight2.indd 54 23/6/09 11:14:56

 Revoluti
on
wanted to st : “I
ay
mostly mon
ochrome
with this on
e, only
showing a bi
t of red.
Usually, I am
fo
working with nd of
minimum co
lours in
my personal
works”

Comic-Con: “Two-in-
one illustration for an
article for the upcoming
Comic-Con in the US.
These two pieces are
part of a series about the
convention. I decided
on the coloured stripes,
which are, in fact, parts
of a shirt found in a
style magazine from the
late Fifties”
Copyright: Fox
Atomic 2009

55
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054-055_AVP_59_Insight2.indd 55 23/6/09 11:17:30

 Step-by-step
Workshop

COLOURFUL
ILLUSTRATIONS
Use stock images and Photoshop’s tools to emulate a popular abstract style

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 ON THE DISC
There are no files on the CD as
you can follow this tutorial using
any stock images you like. We’ll
tell you which free Stock.XCHNG
images we used as we go
through the tutorial.

OUR EXPERT Anthony Giacomino

Anthony is a 19-year-old self-taught digital artist
pursuing a professional career in graphic design. He
resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a freelance designer
and student. You can take a look at his online showcase
at www.agiaco.net.

A
bstract is becoming more popular in
advertising, so learning the basics of
creating colourful shapes and
abstract compositions will help expand your
design knowledge in addition to thinking
outside of the box.
In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a
bright and colourful abstract design, teaching
versatile techniques that can be applied to
many other projects. While Adobe Illustrator
does offer vector graphics, Photoshop is still a
great program for abstract design because of
the Transform tools and the Liquify filter.
Manipulating shapes is much easier because of
the variety of tools and features that are
specific to Photoshop.
In this walkthrough, we will explore different
ways of using the Liquify feature to create
malleable lines, Transform tools such as Warp
and Distort, and creating colourful gradients
and shapes on a light blue background. Basic
guidelines for creating an interesting
composition will be covered as well.
This tutorial is written assuming you know
the very basics of navigation and tools in
Photoshop. Photoshop CS3 or higher is
preferred, as tools like Warp only exist in the
newest versions.

Expand your thinking

“Learning the basics of creating
When starting an abstract design, it is
important to unleash your creativity
through experimentation. Photoshop
offers plenty of features, and with a little
bit of thinking you will be able to create
many interesting combinations of shapes,
colours and patterns. Try not to limit
yourself to only the tools you are familiar
with, but instead explore Photoshop in its
entirety to learn more. Experimenting is a
crucial aspect of abstract design, so expect

colourful shapes and abstract to make a lot of projects specifically for

practice. The more you practise, the more

compositions will help expand your tools will be at your disposal for creating
that stunning abstract piece you have
design knowledge” been waiting for.

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
1 Start to make shapes
Create a new document at your chosen
size (ours is 350 x 305mm, 300dpi). Fill the
Background layer with white if it’s not already.
Create a new layer and, using the Polygonal
Lasso tool, create a long triangle. Select the
Gradient tool and create a gradient with the
following three colours: ‘00a1c2’, ‘e2ff22’ and
‘f81b60’. Drag the Linear Gradient from one end
to the other inside of the selection.
2 Add some 3D perspective
Zoom in on the triangle. Create a new
layer below the triangle layer, then use the
Polygonal Lasso to draw out a thin portion on
the long edge of the triangle as shown. Using
the same gradient as before, drag from one end
to another, but make sure that the colours flow
in opposite directions to add interest and give
the illusion of 3D. You can Burn and Dodge to
blend and add 3D depth.
3 Start duplicating
Create a new copy-merged layer (hide the
white Background layer, Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/
Alt+Shift+E, then reshow the Background), which
also saves the original layers. Start to duplicate
this triangle. Through rotation and resizing (Cmd/
Ctrl+T), we can place other interesting
duplications around the large shape. Feel free to
save individual triangle layers in a group, but
create a copy-merged layer as before at the top
of the one main shape to work with.

“Use the Forward

Warp and Mirror
4 Useful filter technique
Copy this merged shaped a number of times. On
some of the merged copies of the triangles, navigate to

tools and distort Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates. Leave the default option

as Rectangular to Polar and click OK. For some shapes,
the triangles to only perform it once and on others repeat the filter. Play

your liking. Repeat with the rotation and size until you have an assortment of
shapes to arrange later on.
multiple times on
different shapes
to get a variety
of malleable
blob shapes”

5 Bring some movement to the shapes

With other copies of the merged shapes, navigate to Filter>Liquify.
Use the Forward Warp tool and Mirror tool with a large brush size and
distort the triangles to your liking. Experiment with Transform tools to
add dimension, such as Distort and Warp. You’re aiming to get a
collection of different malleable shapes on different layers.
6 Arrange the elements
Using some of the liquefied shapes you
have, begin to arrange them into an interesting
composition. Ours will flow horizontally in
somewhat of an ‘S’ shape. You can add some
circles into the composition using the same
gradient as before. For some circles, try inverting
the colours with Cmd/Ctrl+I to get some blue
and purple tones. Now that you have a base,
continue to add small details from other layers..
7 Create a blue background
Select the colours ‘0746d4’ and ‘07b6ae’ for
the Foreground and Background. Using a Radial
Gradient, drag the line from the centre to the
outside of the canvas on your white Background
layer (turn off the shape layers so you can see
what you’re doing). Using the Dodge tool, set the
Range to Highlights and click the mouse multiple
times using a soft brush to create balls of light.

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 8 Lighting effects
Make a new layer on top and fill it with
black. Navigate to Filter>Render>Lens Flare and
select a 105mm Prime with a Brightness of
anywhere from 30-80. Now select Filter>
Distort>Polar Coordinates and use Rectangular
to Polar again. This will bend the light, then set
the blending mode to Screen to show just the
light spots. Repeat, resize and rotate many lights
to position around the canvas.
9 Reuse the triangles
Next, locate the original triangle you
created earlier on and hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to size it
down a bit. Create a curve of triangles by
duplicating them and then simply resizing and
rotating. Start to fill the background with
abstract blue shapes and setting the blending
mode to Overlay or Screen. Adjust the Opacity
to around 25%. Make sure these details are
noticeable, but still very subtle.
10 Add some wildlife
Open up the bird images (image numbers ‘257465’ and
‘847050’ from www.sxc.hu) and cut using the Magic Wand tool.
Navigate to Layer>Matting>Defringe and use the default settings. Press
Cmd/Ctrl+T and hold Shift to scale the birds down. We can add subtle
shadows with a black brush and a Motion Blur (at the same angle) at
about 15-20% Opacity. Add a small hat on top of the bird using
triangles and shapes from the Pen tool.

11 Everything could use something sweet

Open the lollipop stock (number ‘1024965’ from www.sxc.hu) and crop the white using
the Magic Wand tool. Place it on top of one of the shapes and make an oval at the base to give the
Quick tip
illusion that it’s in a hole. Add a shadow for the stick and then place them in a line. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+ If you tend to have trouble with colours,
U and select -3 for the Brightness, as each stick becomes more distant. We made the bird holding try going to www.colourlovers.com. This
website is packed with pre-made colour
one in its mouth, too.
palettes to use in designs, so it might save
you the hassle of experimenting with
colours for hours. It should also help you
learn which ones go together and which
ones clash.

“If you tend to

have trouble with 12 Final details
Continue to add some lighting effects. Put in some circles
and shapes in the background on Overlay. Open the piano keys image
colours, try going (‘928484’ from www.sxc.hu) and cut with the Magic Wand tool. Play
with the Distort and Warp tools to give it perspective. Add lighting on
to www. top using the technique you learned before. Insert any other small

colourlovers.com. details to your liking and keep the techniques you’ve learnt in mind!

It might save you

experimenting
with colours for 13 Finishing touches
Navigate to Image>Adjustments>
Brightness/Contrast and set the Contrast to 5
hours. It should and set Brightness to -2. Under the Adjustments

also help you menu again, navigate to Color Balance and set
the Blues and Cyans on Midtones and
learn which ones Highlights to 3. Once the final image is merged,
select Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen and set
go together” Amount to about 13%.

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 insight
g: “I
Anlagd Översvämnin
won a Scandinavian photo
photo.
challenge in 2007 with this
salves”
It was inspired by Rob Gon

Go Your Own Road: “I think this is

one of my most popular creations. I
wanted to plant a road in a different
way; first I thought about having a
truck making the road in a similar way,
but I like having people in my pictures
so this became the final photo instead”

Erik Johansson
Website: www.alltelleringet.com
Clients: Dragster Gothenburg, Ogilvey Cape Town,
Jerhammar Norrköping

Erik Johansson is a 24-year-old freelance photographer and Computer Engineering

student with a penchant for photomanipulation.
He has been snapping photos since he got his first digital camera back in 2000,
which is when he discovered how much he enjoyed manipulating photos. It was
investing in a DSLR that really moved his artwork forward. “In the spring of 2007 I was
out on a walk with a friend who bought a DSLR about a year earlier. I thought it was a
really nice camera compared to my compact camera and decided to buy one myself,”
Johansson says. “Once again I discovered how fun it was to manipulate photos, but
this time I started to do more serious manipulations and bigger projects. It started as
a hobby, but during the past year I have begun to do some work for different
advertisement agencies.”
Surprisingly, Johansson is self-taught, picking up tips from web tutorials and
magazines. He works on a number of personal projects, from which the images
shown here stem, and he’s currently working with Ogilvey with some photos for a
campaign for WWF. His images use two key elements: a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and
Photoshop: “I use no other software and only work with photos I have captured
ng at sea.
sister worki myself. When I have found the right environment and have taken the photos I need,
Sea: “My
Work At of my first successful the work in Photoshop begins. I want to create the unexpected and sometimes
e ”
This was on ulations back in 2007
ip impossible; Photoshop is the tool that gets me there.”
photoman

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 Stryktålig
:
Germany a fe “Inspired by an ad I saw in
w years ago;
name of it bu I don’t remem
61
t the idea wa ber the
s that people
were flat”
Advanced Photoshop

060-061_AVP_59_Insight3.indd 61 23/6/09 11:20:28

 Q&A
Helpdesk
This month Kirk Nelson, our Helpdesk expert, takes on more readers’ Photoshop
challenges, queries and quibbles
A mirror brush
Q
Hey there Helpdesk hero. I’ve been working a
lot with retouching and using the Clone
Stamp tool. There have been many times
when I’ve been working on a subject matter that’s
somewhat symmetrical when I have wished the cloning
could be mirrored instead of just a straight translation. Is
there an easy way to do that?
Alison McTaggart
A
Alison, there are several layer-based methods
to tackle the issue you have brought up here.
And while those are perfectly legitimate
techniques, I would really like to take one of the few
chances I have to shed light on a little secret feature in
Photoshop. Now, when I say secret, I mean features that
are hidden in such obscure ways that it’s clear Adobe
never wants anyone to stumble across them.
Open up the Clone Source panel and enter a negative
value in the Width setting (usually -100%). Now Opt/Alt-
click to set your source point, and when you start painting
Photoshop will mirror the source across an imaginary line
in the centre of your source point and paint point. If
you’ve never explored this Clone Source panel, take a few
minutes to get familiar with it, as there’s more hidden
treasures to be discovered!
Strange styles
Q Hello Advanced Photoshop Helpdesk. I
wanted to thank you for the great job you do
on the magazine; I can’t put it down and
always eagerly wait for the next issue to hit the stands. I’m
hoping you can help me with an issue I’m having with the
IT’s no stroke: When is a stroke not really a stroke?
When it’s a fill. Fade it anyway!
Send your emails to us at advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk or post a message on our forum board at www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum.
62
Advanced Photoshop
062-065_AVP_59_Helpdesk.indd 62
Our expert Kirk Nelson
Kirk has been a graphic artist for over 11 years
in the Washington DC Metro area. He writes
tutorials for our sister publication Photoshop
Creative, and opens letters, checks emails and
hangs around the AP forum online, all for the
good of our Helpdesk. If you’re having
quibbles with Photoshop, Kirk’s your man with
the plan!
Little-known fact: Shhh! It’s
a secret, but you can reflect a source
for cloning
uick tip
QThe n ew
Sourc
Clone u to
s yo
e
allow rce
panel to five sou
e u p fu tile
defin . No more ga
gs in
settin creat
p ts at re- !
attem ast setting
p
Stroke layer style. I have some text with a stroke, but selection and Dodge, because I’ve tried that and it
when I try to add a layer mask and fade the text out with doesn’t work very well at all. The lightening is too uneven
a gradient, the text colour fades but is also replaced with and it’s almost impossible to get the selection to match
a fill of the stroke colour! What’s going on? just right.
Henry Tyler Fran
A A
Hey there Henry. You’ve stumbled upon a very Relax, there is a better way. That vignette effect,
odd quirk of the Stroke layer style. Instead of where the edges of the photo are slightly
being the outline we expect it to be, it appears darker than the rest, is pretty popular and
to really be a fill that’s simply x pixels larger than the
object it’s applied to. This is particularly odd when you
consider that lowering the layer’s Fill setting leaves the
outline stroke as you would imagine.
usually folks are trying to find a way to add it. So what to
do if it’s already there and you don’t want it? Not
surprisingly, the filter that can be used to add a vignette
can also be used to remove it.
Regardless of the quirky stroke implementation, what Go to Filter>Distort>Lens Correction, and when the
you are really seeing is true of any layer style. By default, screen-sized dialog box comes up, first turn off the grid
they ignore masks. You have to specifically instruct checkbox, because it’s never actually helpful and usually
Photoshop to have the styles obey the mask. Open the gets in the way. Then look under the Vignette section.
Layer Style dialog box and look under the Advanced Slide the Amount slider towards the right to lighten the
Blending section in the Blending Options area. Just check photo edges. Depending on the photo, you’ll need to
the box labelled Layer Mask Hides Effects to make that adjust this carefully and possibly tweak the Midpoint slider
pesky stroke behave itself! as well.
Vignette removal Hit the high notes
Q Q
Dear Helpdesk, is there a good way of Hi there, this isn’t so much of a technical
removing a lens vignette from a photo? And question, but more of a general workflow
please don’t tell me to try a feathered question. We have a small team of designers
24/6/09 14:23:30

A BENCHMARK FEATURE: The Lens Distortion
filter can remove vignettes from photographs as well as
add them
under a single art director. We all use Photoshop as our
primary design tool, and often we swap PSD files
because different artists will be assigned different
elements of a single design. We frequently need to have
an accompanying text file to explain the directions
pertaining to the piece, to contain customer feedback
and more. It seems almost impossible to keep this text
file with the corresponding PSD file. We’ve tried using
text layers in Photoshop itself, but that just led to a mess
because it was frequently confusing as to what was an
instruction and what was part of the design. Have you
run into this issue and how do you deal with it?
Cassidy Beakmann
A
Cassidy, you are addressing a very real concern.
Clear communication is essential for any team
to be successful. Having directions and
feedback written in a form that stays with the design file is
a great solution. Adobe thought of this several versions
ago and implemented a solution with a feature that still
never gets much use: Notes. These are like little yellow
sticky notes that stay with your PSD file. They are easy to
use and turn on and off, and are perfect for
communicating vital design information to your fellow
designer (or even notes to yourself for future reference.)
TAKE NOTE: Keep track of design instructions with
digital Post-its!
Remember to specify whether you’re using a PC or Mac and the version of Photoshop you have.
062-065_AVP_59_Helpdesk.indd 63
Notes used to enjoy a prominent position on the toolbar;
apparently Adobe expected everybody to be using these
as often as their real-world equivalents. Nobody did. So
they have since been buried deep under the Eyedropper
tool fly-out. Dig them out again, and you’ll discover just
how handy they can be.
Top tip: Are you pro-
aliasing or anti-aliasing?
Photoshop isn’t great for working with small type.
At lower resolutions, text becomes smudged and
irregular. However, only so much can be done.
It helps to understand the way Photoshop uses
anti-aliasing on text. Edge pixels are half-filled in
an attempt to prevent sharp jagged edges. Five
different modes are provided to handle the anti-
aliasing approach: None, Sharp, Crisp, Strong and
Smooth. In the image below, you can see text
using each approach magnified by 500 per cent.
There are only subtle differences between them,
but those small changes can add up.
FIVE DEGREES OF SEPARATION: Learn how to
control the appearance of small text
Kirby Krackle
Q Hey there Helpdesk man. I’ve got a true
graphics geek challenge for you. A
measure of your artistic prowess, if you will.
A test of your graphical worth, if you are willing to
accept it. Good sir, I now throw down the gauntlet
and challenge you to the Kirby Krackle!
Chris Brown
A
Work this Helpdesk long enough and
eventually someone’s going to come along
and throw down such a challenge! It’s why
I always carry a supply of Kirby dots in my utility belt.
The Kirby Krackle is an affectionate name for an
effect made famous by legendary comic book artist,
Jack Kirby. The idea is to use several various-sized
circles to define the negative space around an energy
field to give it a type of fractal pattern along the edge.
1 Prep time
Begin with a comic character isolated on a
layer. On a layer beneath the character, create a
rough shape filled with the colour for the energy
field. Over this, create a new layer for the first round
of Kirby dots!
2
Custom brush
Open the Brushes panel and select a small
hard-edged brush. In the Brush Shape area, adjust
the Spacing until you can see individual dots. Enable
Shape Dynamics and set the Size Jitter to around
60%. Enable Scattering and check the Both Axes box,
setting the Scatter amount to around 500%.
3 Energy fist!
Use the custom brush to paint in black dots
along the edge of the energy field. Use mid-sized
dots right at the edge then decrease the size as you
paint in towards the centre. For an added effect, add
more coloured dots on a layer over the black dots to
give a more seamless transition.
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24/6/09 14:23:57
 Q&A
Subtract, Intersect and Exclude. These modes are
particularly important when paired with the Combine
button that appears when you select the Path Selection
tool. They allow you to shape the paths by using other
paths to add or cut away from the shape.
To save yourself extra work, first draw out only the initial
corner and extend the frame only to the midpoints along
CONTROL POINTS: Use the mode icons and Combine the sides. Then use the Path Selection tool to pick the
button to get control of your paths
shape path. Press Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy that shape. Make
sure the Add mode icon is enabled, then paste it back in
Curve wrangling with Cmd/Ctrl+V. The pasted shape will be selected
Group adjustments
Q Greetings Helpdesk! Great magazine by the
way, best I’ve come by. This may seem a bit
obscure, but it’s something that’s really been
bugging me. Is there any way to group an adjustment
layer with several other layers and have the adjustment
limited only to the layers in that group? I keep getting the
layers outside the group receiving the adjustment as
well. I’ve tried clipping the adjustment layer to the group,
but that doesn’t work.
Cecil Cuttersome

Q Howdy Helpdesk! How would I go about

copying and pasting control points from
one portion of a curve to another? I’m trying
to draw out an ornate picture frame and I’ve got one
corner drawn exactly how I want it. How do I copy those
control points to the other three corners in order to form
a single shape?
Chris Clairmont
automatically; be careful not to select anything else and
go to Edit>Transform Path>Flip Horizontal. Slide the
pasted path down until the edges match up with the
original path. Press the Combine button to join the two
paths together into one to form the top half of the frame.
Repeat this same process to copy, paste, flip and join the
bottom half as well.
NORMAL SERVICE: Contain the adjustment layer by
setting the group’s blending mode to Normal
A
Cecil, dear chap, I am going to go ahead and
guess that you have tried solving this by using
some very intricate mask work, haven’t you? If
so, you will have discovered that this technique works, but
the mask then needs to be rebuilt every time a layer
inside the group is moved or altered. And that becomes
more painful and tedious than defragging your hard drive
by hand.

A
Chris, the best way to do this is by using
something I like to call Curve Booleans. When
working with curves, you’ll notice there are
different mode icons along the top Options bar: Add,

Top tip: Filter fanatic

Filters can frequently be frowned upon in
Photoshop circles, as so many artists are almost
afraid to use them. So let’s be clear. It’s really the
amateurish use of filters that’s frowned upon.
Even the most experienced digital artist uses good
old Gaussian Blur on a regular basis! Here are a
handful of tips that will help move your filter fun
beyond that of random button pressing!

• Immediately after running any filter, Edit>

Fade can reduce the filter’s opacity and
change the applied blending mode.
• The Filter Gallery allows you to stack filters
Jump to hyperspace!
1
for combined effects.
Super star field

Q
• Applying filters to a Smart Object allows you
to go back and edit the settings, and even
use a mask on the filter effect.
• Some filters, such as Lens Blur and Lighting
Effects, allow you to load your own selections
when they are saved as channels.
Helpdesk guy, first of all, thanks for all the
great answers you give to us readers. They
are always informative and entertaining. I
can tell by some of your past references to pop culture
that you are the right guy to ask for this one. I’m trying
to get that warp drive effect seen through the window
of ships in the Star Wars movies. Any ideas?
Sean Murphy
Start with a black-filled canvas and go to Filter>
Noise>Add Noise. Set Amount to 15% and check the
Monochromatic box. Next, use Levels to greatly increase
the contrast and then go to Filter>Artistic>Poster Edges,
setting the Edge Thickness to 1, Intensity to 10 and
Posterization to 2.

HATS OFF: Learn how to make filters work for you
A
Wait a second, surely this is a trick question,
isn’t it? Star Wars didn’t have warp drives,
that was Star Trek. Han, Luke, Leia and friends
would jump to hyperspace, which, by the way, ain’t like
dusting crops! I’m sorry about having to call you on
that Sean, but seriously, I’ve got some geek credibility
to hold up here! However, the good news is that I can
answer your question.

Send your emails to us at advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk or post a message on our forum board at www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum.

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“In the case of silky
smooth waterfall
imagery… the effect
isn’t difficult to pull off
before or after the
shutter button”
Well, I have a wonderfully simple solution for you. Go to
the group that contains the adjustment layer and change
the group’s blending mode from the default Pass Through
to Normal. Yes, that’s it. That’s all there is to it. It really is
that simple. Don’t believe me? Go try for yourself!
Q
Water softener
I’m looking through a bunch of waterfall
images and I see many of them have this
effect where the water looks soft and silky. Instead of
individual splashes, I see streaks of white. It seems to be a
pretty popular effect, as I’ve seen it in work from a variety
of photographers. Is this effect in-camera or is it
Photoshopped? In either case, how do I do that?
Chase Matthensen
A
Ah Chase, you’ve entered into one of my
favourite games: ‘real or Photoshop?’ In the case
of silky smooth waterfall imagery, it really could
be either. The effect isn’t difficult to pull off before or after
the shutter button. The most common method is to
capture it in-camera. What you are really seeing is a
motion blur of the water as it runs by. To capture this, slow
your shutter speed down to stay open long enough to
see the blur (use a tripod to steady the camera). You will
probably have to adjust the ISO and aperture to
compensate for the extra light.
2 Star stretcher
Use the Threshold adjustment to give a tight star
field and then go to Filter>Blur>Radial Blur with Amount
set to 1,005, Method set to Zoom and Quality at Best.
Duplicate the layer and set the duplicate blending mode
to Linear Dodge (Add). Keep creating duplicates until
you start to get a strong hyperspace effect.
Remember to specify whether you’re using a PC or Mac and the version of Photoshop you have.
062-065_AVP_59_Helpdesk.indd 65
Quick t
ip
If you n
eed
precisio more
paintin n when
g, pre
Lock ke ss the Caps
y
your br to change
ush ou
tl
crossha ine to
irs
WHITEWATER CRAFTING: How to get that silky
smooth waterfall effect
If the terms tripod, aperture and ISO made you skip
that last paragraph, then you might be better off doing
the effect in Photoshop. The steps will vary for individual
photos, but the basic technique is still the same. Load the
luminosity selection (Cmd/Ctrl-click on the composite
channel) and copy that to a new layer (Cmd/Ctrl+J).
Duplicate this luminosity layer and begin cutting out
different water directions. On each cutout, use the Motion
Blur filter set to the appropriate direction and distance. On
the original luminosity layer, use the Smudge brush with a
Spatter brush tip set to a low strength to smooth out the
areas the Motion Blur filter can’t quite reach.
3 Make the jump
Combine all the star field blur layers together
and make a duplicate of the merged layer. Run a five-
pixel Gaussian Blur on the duplicate and set the
blending mode to Screen. Add another layer set to
Overlay and run a blue-and-white cloud filter on it.
Finally, put an image of your cockpit on the top.
CS4
spotlight
Create 3D meshes in Photoshop
CS4 Extended
One of the new 3D features found in Photoshop
CS4 Extended is the New Mesh from Greyscale
command. This command uses the greyscale
values of a layer as a depth map to create a 3D
model. While that may sound a bit esoteric, it’s
not as complicated as it seems. Basically, the
layer is turned into a 3D polygonal mesh, the
white areas are pulled up and the dark areas are
pushed down. Photoshop offers several
different projection types for this feature,
ranging from the standard plane to wrapping
the effect around a sphere.
Photoshop is fairly sensitive to the levels of
grey in the image it uses. In fact, if you are
attempting to create a mesh with a high and low
difference that isn’t mountainous, you will need
to greatly decrease the contrast of the greyscale
file. Photoshop picks up even subtle variations
and even the slightest difference is translated
into the mesh.
Utilising this feature effectively can open a
whole new realm of possibilities for your
designs. Pair this with the Clouds filter to easily
generate a mountainous terrain, or use it in
place of the Displacement filter to create true
indentations in a brick wall. While this isn’t the
most glorious of model creation tools, it’s a
tremendous entry into the 3D realm and we
eagerly look forward to Adobe pushing further
down this path.
ANOTHER DIMENSION: Create a 3D mountain
in Photoshop
WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION: True
displacement of bricks in a wall
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 I N D U S T RY ● E D U C AT I O N ● R E C R U I T M E N T ● C A R E E R S

INDUSTRY
A WAKING DREAM: “An image from Utherworlds.
There’s not really an easy way to describe what this
painting represents in the story of Utherworlds, but
in its simplest form it depicts the conflict between
dreams and nightmares”

An interview with…

PHILIP STRAUB
Meet the man behind the newly released
Utherworlds book and website

P
hilip Straub has done it. After years of
hard work, his Utherworlds book and
website experience is complete and is
available from Ballistic Publishing (watch out for
our review soon). The book is one unlike any
other, a must-have for fans of the fantasy genre.
About the We sat him down to have a chat about this
Advanced Photoshop: Tell us a little more
about the Utherworlds project.
Philip Straub: Certainly! At the end of 2007 I
completed my studio art direction duties at
NCsoft and decided that I would take the time I
needed to complete the Utherworlds book I’d
been trying to finish for nearly four years. The

insider
Job Art director
Clients Nickelodeon, Magic:
The Gathering, Sci Fi Channel,
Electronic Arts, Universal
Studios, Fisher-Price and more
Awards Illustrations featured
in Exposé and Spectrum 4
publications, illustrations
awarded in the Society of
Illustrators of Los Angeles’
annual competition and a total
of 12 CGTalk Choice awards
Websites www.utherworlds.
com, www.philipstraub.com
Biography One of the best-
known names in illustration,
Philip Straub is a hard-working
man. He’s featured in all the
best art books of recent years,
is a judge and board member
for many Ballistic Publishing
publications and has worked
Inside guide to everything for a massive list of well-known
clients. He’s also featured on
that you need to know to the cover of Advanced
Photoshop (issue 36)
make it as a professional
digital artist, including
university and college
courses, industry advice
and interviews with pros
» Pg 68........................Industry interview
» Pg 70 .........................Student showcase
» Pg 78 ...........................................Career focus
mammoth project, a real labour of love. book is an original novel of about 60,000 words,
over 100 full-colour illustrations, two unique
Advanced Photoshop: Thanks for talking to written languages, a spoken language and a ton
us, Phil. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and of maps that define the world.
the kind of work that you do? The story revolves around the concept of
Philip Straub: I actually do a bunch of different dreams and nightmares and their connection to
things, but my primary role has been as an art the conscious and unconscious thoughts of
director in the games industry for quite a few sentient beings, especially humans. Our main
years. I started out in publishing working for character is thrown directly into conflict when his
American illustrator Mercer Mayer, producing art family goes missing and he finds himself in the
for 35 children’s books. In 1996 I began my Realm of Nightmares with no memory of who he
career in the games industry, producing a CD-
ROM game based on one of Mercer’s children’s
properties. To date I’ve worked as a lead or art
director on over 25 PC and console titles, but I’ve
always kept my hand in building my freelance
clientele as a concept artist and illustrator.
Over the last five years or so I’ve built a
licensing business for my work, and my licensed
designs are appearing on a variety of products,
such as books, games, wall murals, scrapbooks,
gifts, puzzles, stationery and textiles.
THE CLOUDING: “In the Lands of Hate, there is a
place known as Lake Odium. Here, the most vile
creatures dwell, the atmosphere is toxic and the
sounds piercing. Humans are afflicted with what
is know as The Clouding. The Clouding causes
flesh to burn, eyes to bleed and hallucinations.
This is one of many visions you might see when
experiencing The Clouding”

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 INTERVIEW

“The book is an original novel of

about 60,000 words, over 100 full-
colour illustrations, two unique
written languages, a spoken
language and a ton of maps”

WINTER DAWN: “An image created for Utherworlds,

my illustrated novel and website. This depicts
Lealinnia, the guardian of Hope in The Realm of
Dreams in one of her many forms”

AADYASHA (RIGHT): “An image from my Utherworlds

book and site. Born of The Nightmare Realm,
Aadyasha is a creature of The Lands of Vensialas. Her
scent is intoxicating, her smile disarming and her voice
sweet like the chiming of angels. While everything
about her is meant to seduce and entice, there is a
childlike innocence that lies within her – this is her
weakness and her strength all at once”

was or how he got there. He must find his past and
understand how it is tied to both his future and the future
of the known universe.
In addition to the book, there is an interactive website
I’ve been working on with a few folks that will have
supplemental material to the book – almost like a field
guide with additional information folks can find to enrich
the story. But, if someone doesn’t have the book, it can be
an introduction to the mythology of Utherworlds. The
website features an original soundtrack produced by Alan
Hewitt, a well-known composer. The animations and
development side of things was handled primarily by
Mark Stefanowicz. Stefanowicz is a veteran in the games
industry, having worked on a ton of game titles and is a
very accomplished artist in his own right.
Advanced Photoshop: Do you have any current
projects you’re working on/projects lined up for
the future?
Philip Straub: I just finished a fairly large commission for
National Geographic that should see the light of day later
in the year. I’m doing some cards for Magic: The Gathering
and I have few book covers lined up. I’m also working as
art director for a Big Fish Games title that I think is really
going to push the boundaries of what is possible in the
casual game space.
Advanced Photoshop: What techniques do you use to
create your images? Where does Photoshop come into
the equation?
Philip Straub: My tools of choice are Photoshop, Painter
and Maya for much of my illustration and concept work.
Photoshop has been a cornerstone to my development
process since I began producing my artwork digitally. My
technique varies depending upon the desired output.
Sometimes I just do a ‘stream of consciousness’ rough
greyscale sketch in Photoshop or Painter to find a good
composition and layout. Other times, I might go right into
colour if I feel confident about the subject matter and
have a clear vision in my mind.

Advanced Photoshop: What would be your advice for

artists hoping to follow in your footsteps?
Philip Straub: It comes down to a couple of things
really: determination, practice, more determination and
more practice. All of the creative fields are extremely
competitive and require an immense amount of
UNOHLA: “This painting from the Utherworlds dedication. Working at refining your craft every day is of
illustrated novel is one of a few double-page spreads that paramount importance. The people who strive to grow
span nearly 34 inches across. Unohla is the Lands of
Truth and Knowledge in the Dream Realm” and stay open to learning more are the ones who find
true success and evolve.

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 INDUSTRY Student showcase
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STUDENT 2009
SHOWCASE
Amazing Photoshop artwork by students from
around the world

W
elcome to the fourth instalment of our popular
Student Showcase, presented annually and first
featured way back in issue 17 in 2006 (which also ECOFRESH (MAIN IMAGE): “Someone’s also called it
featured a certain Adam Smith, now senior staff writer of Abstract Madness. It’s slightly bigger than A2 and there’s
a lot of small different things going around, like stock
this very title!). pictures, vectors and simple 3D renders”
Each year, we are amazed by the standard of work on show by Copyright: Mateusz Sypien
those studying art-based courses. Many of the artists featured
here are receiving paid commissions before they have even
graduated, promising no lack of artistic talent in the digital art
world in the future.
The students this year have their own personal websites to
promote their artwork; they are actively involved in online
communities and are regulars in forums, competitions and art
collectives, proving that even the best courses can only take
“Even if I you so far.
decide to run We believe that each and every one of the ten amazing artists

my own studio and designers featured here will go a long way, so expect to see
them featured among these pages again, as they achieve more
in the future, I recognition in the future.
will never Over the next eight pages, we take a look at the students’
artwork, their hopes for the future, how their courses have
become a helped them to develop and how they are progressing their
typical boss. Photoshop skills.

My desk will
be standing
next to my Get your work featured!
Here at Advanced Photoshop, we’re keen to promote the
colleagues’” artwork of up-and-coming artists and designers, which is
– Mateusz Sypien why we have so many ways that you can get your work
seen, whether you are a student or not. First, we have our
regular five-page Readers’ gallery, which anyone can
submit images for. See page 90 of this issue to find out
more about how you can be considered for inclusion.
We also have our popular online gallery site at www.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk. It’s free to join and your
images could be selected as a Featured Gallery, Pic of the
Week or showcased in the Exposure section on our free
magazine cover disc.
Finally, if you are a student then we have a Uni Focus
section to highlight student work every issue – simply send
us details of your course and some samples of your artwork
and we’ll do the rest.

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 F E AT U R E

GENERATIONM: “This was a concept for the front cover

for MTV’s Insight book, which will be produced by The
Youth Conspiracy. This concept shows a young person
who is standing against the wall of reality”
Copyright: Mateusz Sypien

Artist info
Mateusz Sypien
Course: BSc Media
Technology and Production
Institution: Bradford
University; School of
Computing, Informatics
and Media
Personal portfolio site:
www.digi-mental.com
Year on course: First

Mat is 26 and already building

up a large online presence,
with recognition on the
Advanced Photoshop,
Photoshop Creative,
popwhore.com,
j3mag.uniqsole.com and
bestphotoshoptutorials.net
websites and communities.
Krzysztof Zdunkiewicz
Copyright: Mateusz Sypien,
pl), a young designer from Warsaw”
Zdunkiewicz (www.zdunkiewicz.
between me and Krzysztof
RIDE OR DIE: “A collaboration

Q. How would you describe your style and where do your
influences come from?
A. Funky fresh colour boost! The biggest influence in my life is
music, as it pushes me forward and gives me a lot of ideas. Books,
comics, movies, everyday facts… it’s all life.
Q. What essential pieces of design kit do you use to produce
your artwork?
A. Adobe Creative Suite forever! I use different applications, such
as Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, 3ds Max and even a
little bit of After Effects. Everything depends on the project and
my needs. I’m still trying to sharpen my skills in different areas.
Q. Have you had any paid commissions to date?
A. Yes, I have had a couple. I have designed a front cover for
The Seed Ecoversity magazine, done a piece with Lacoste shoes
and I won a competition with a brief for the front cover and
layout design of the MTV Insight book announced by The
Youth Conspiracy.
Q. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
A. I will still be working hard to inspire people like me.
Seriously, even if I decide to run my own studio in the future, I
will never become a typical boss. My desk will be standing next
to my colleagues’ and I will be part of the team.

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 INDUSTRY Student showcase
I N D US T RY ● E D U C AT I O N ● R E C R U I T M E N T ● C A R E E R S

Copyright: Justin Otte

and that is how I came up with Girl Power”
illustrated a girl with awesome power, like a goddess or queen of the seas,
GIRL POWER (MAIN IMAGE): “I wanted to create an image that
DREAMS: “I wanted to capture the
feeling of what this woman would be
dreaming about had she really been
asleep, so I called it Dreams”
Copyright: Justin Otte
Artist info

Justin Otte
Course: Graphic Design Q. How would you describe your style? been done before. It’s not even a conscious decision that I
Major A. I guess I haven’t really found my style yet, but I tend to turn make. I have always naturally, without thought, drifted away
Institution: Long Beach City
College, CA, USA
more towards photomanipulation type work vs the whole 3D and from the usual clichéd type of work out there.
Personal portfolio site: vector-based stuff. Although I would like to get more into that, I
www.behance.net/jotte prefer doing retouching and photo illustration. To me, I like to Q. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Year on course: Second
create scenes that cannot be captured on camera, like surrealism A. I see myself doing high-end retouching for some of the best
Justin is 23 years old and has and fantasy. I like to create the feeling that something is real that agencies in world, using both 3D and 2D. Maya is one program
a number of skills under his cannot exist. that I have been wanting to learn, but I will most likely have to
belt. His work is a blend of 95
per cent Photoshop and five transfer to another school to get the proper education that I
per cent Illustrator, and he Q. Can you explain the inventive ways in which you use need. High-end retouching and photo illustration is my
uses a Wacom Intuos4 tablet.
His work has also been Photoshop within your work? passion, and in ten years I plan on taking the lead in what I do
featured as a Daily Inspiration A. Everything I do, or 90 per cent of it anyway, has no plan – I just and amazing the world with my talent. But who knows, I could
on Abduzeedo.
do it. When I do my art, I don’t want to create something that has be wrong. Only time can tell.

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 F E AT U R E

Copyright: Alexander Reeve

incorporating fluids into work”
ATRIUM: “This was an experiment with

Copyright: Alexander Reeve

was experimenting with fluids, and it grew from there”
DISSOLVED GIRL: “This piece came to me while I
Artist info
Alexander Reeve
Q. How would you describe your style and where
Course: Multimedia Design
do your influences come from?
Institution: Bradford
A. I enjoy experimenting with a wide variety of different styles. I University; Swinburne
find it hard to label myself as a particular one, because I believe it University of Technology
Personal portfolio site:
should be about the piece of art rather than its particular style. My www.behance.net/mimetic
biggest influences and inspirations would have to be artists and Year on course: Second
designers such as Peter Jaworowski, Justin Maller, Pete Harrison
and many others. 20-year-old Alex uses a range
of software to complete his
works, including Photoshop,
Q. How has your course helped to improve your artwork? Illustrator, After Effects, Maya
and RealFlow. To date, he has
A. My work has improved many times over as a result of my course, had some paid commissions
not necessarily from the technical skills that we learn but for the and is about to start work on
an album cover – something
motivation it provides to work and to become a better designer that he is really looking
and artist. forward to.

Artist info
Ee Venn Soh
Course: BSc (Computer
Science), specialising in
Q. How would you describe your style and image processing, computer
graphics and human-
where do your influences come from? computer interactions
A. My works are a saturated mixed Institution: University of
Auckland, New Zealand
media of colours, balance, shapes and
Personal portfolio site:
photomanipulation. I am greatly inspired by www.behance.net/vennsoh
art from the US, UK, Japan and European Year on course: Third
countries. I am also particularly interested in
Ee Venn Soh has been
sci-fi, retro and classic artwork from the published in a number of
good old times. I feel indebted for the international magazines,
including Advanced
advantages we now possess. Photoshop, Almanac of Asia-
Pacific IV and Layers. He’s
also had exhibitions in
Q. Can you explain the inventive ways Malaysia, the US, Singapore
in which you use Photoshop within and Greece, all at the tender
age of 23!
your work?
A. I am particularly interested in colours and
shapes. I normally use the Brush tool, Pen
tool and layer styles to create small details
within my artwork. Having good stock
photos has also saved me a lot of time. There
aren’t any secret techniques behind my
work. It is all about the concept and how I
YABAZZ: “It is a basketball illustration work for my carry out the idea.
client based in Germany. The concepts behind the
artwork are about urbanism, vibrant and energy”
Copyright: Ee Venn Soh
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 INDUSTRY Student showcase
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Artist info

Jonathan Sipkema ANX, COLLABORATION

Copyright: Jonathan Sipkema
of the body through dance and create elegance”
DANCE: “In this piece I wanted to show the movement

WITH ENKERA: “A
Course: Advertisement collaboration with my friend
and Publicity
about how the anxiety about
Institution: High School
CSG Het Noordik death can be very beautiful”
Personal portfolio site: Copyright: Jonathan Sipkema
www.jonathansipkema.com and Enkera
Year on course: Fourth

At 16 years old, Jonathan is Q. What extracurricular activities do Q. Can you explain the inventive ways
beginning his creative
venture. He has already you indulge in to improve your in which you use Photoshop within
produced web-based and
DVD cover projects and
design skills? your work?
hopes to expand his diverse A. I spend a lot of time on deviantART, a A. I establish a colour scheme and a
style – inspired mostly by
music genres – next year on well-known online community for picture I like, then make something
a Graphic Design course. He artists. I also like to keep in contact with original out of these. My favourite tools
sees himself as an
established member of a graphic designer friends. This way I are Sponge, Burn and Dodge and I also
graphic design team in years always get good critique on my work. love to apply Color Range.
to come.

HUMAN NATURE: “A world in a human’s

Q. How would you describe your style and hand, created for a Crestock contest”
where do your influences come from? Copyright: Armen Mnatsakanjan
A. My style has a poetical feel, incorporating
elements of fantasy and surrealism. I use
weird colour combinations, which makes it
unique. Inspiration comes when I don’t
expect it to come; life itself is quite a big
inspiration to me.

Q. What essential pieces of design kit do

Artist info
you use to produce your artwork?
A. Photoshop is my main tool, but from time
to time I do like to use other software as
well: CINEMA 4D to make 3D elements;
ArtRage to sketch; these days I also try to
use Corel Painter but I just can’t adapt to the
Armen Mnatsakanjan
interface as I have worked for seven years
with Photoshop. Drawing on paper is an Course: Communication
and Multimedia Design
important part for me, as you learn the hard
Institution: NHL; Noordelijke
way instead of manipulating digitally. Hogeschool Leeuwarden
Personal portfolio site:
www.young-dream.net
Q. Have you had any paid commissions? Year on course: First year
A. I am working on a web project for Super
Sako, an Armenian rapper, singer and Armen has been in both the
UK and Dutch versions of
producer. It’s going well, as he is open- Advanced Photoshop, as
minded to a new style, which motivates me well as in Publish magazine.
He dreams of being a
to design something new. Sometimes on professional illustrator/
other projects the communication with the designer working for an
agency like Saddington
client made me go nuts! But in the end, they & Baynes and has even
were happy with the results. been thinking of starting his
own agency.

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 F E AT U R E
Artist info

Kristina Gehrmann
Course: Classical Academic
Drawing/Painting
Institution: Angel Academy
of Art, Florence
Personal portfolio site:
www.mondhase.com
Year on course: First year
(2008-2011)

Kristina is a 20-year-old
student who has already
received recognition for her
work through her course,
receiving the O. und I.
Wunsch-Stiftung Foundation
scholarship for studies at
Angel Academy of Art. Her
style is influenced by artwork
of the past, such as
Renaissance and baroque
painting, as well as the work
of the Pre-Raphaelites.

LULLABY: “A scene from the Thirty Years’

War that ended in 1648 and left the German-
speaking countries and duchies in ruins”
Copyright: Kristina Gehrmann
Copyright: Kristina Gehrmann
whom she had brought to death, and not even her mother Herodias was able to save her”
sharp ice fragments would sever her head from her body. She died the same way as the man
legend. She was dancing on a frozen pond when the ice broke and she fell in. Eventually, the
DEATH OF SALOME: “How Salome, daughter of King Herodes, died, according to an old

Q. What extracurricular activities do you indulge
in to improve your design skills??
A. On weekends or sometimes after school, I use my
notebook for digital painting, either working on
personal pieces and studies or on paid commissions. I
also participate in online forums, such as the one on
ConceptArt.org, and post my art in online
communities for feedback.
Q. Can you explain the inventive ways in which
you use Photoshop within your work?
A. My digital paintings are 100 per cent painted in
Photoshop. I make a sketch of everything – mostly a
small concept sketch, no wider than 500 pixels – on a
coloured canvas. As soon as I feel it’s working, I make
a quite exact line drawing on a bigger canvas (about
2,000-3,000 pixels wide) of the same colour. On a new
layer, I block in all colours, light and shadow. Then
everything is refining and detailing.
Q. How has your course helped to improve
your artwork?
A. At Angel Academy of Art, the focus is on learning
how to ‘see’. This skill helps with all forms of drawing
and painting that are based on the observation of
nature. Also, we learn to take our time to render
something as perfectly as possible and to control the
medium used.

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Q. What essential pieces of design kit do

you use to produce your artwork?
A. My toolbox consists of a sketchpad,
graphics tablet, Photoshop, Illustrator,
InDesign and, of course, Advanced
Photoshop. I begin sketching out whatever
crazy ideas may pop into my head and
begin to develop those ideas in Photoshop. I
use Illustrator for some stylish vector
elements and InDesign for type. I often refer
Copyright: Kyle Kargov
that when you’re an artist, things just appear different”
art, and my appreciation for it in everyday life. How
ART BECOMES ME: “This piece is about my love for

to Advanced Photoshop on how to realise

those ideas, which is a great help.

Q. What extracurricular activities do you

indulge in to improve your design skills?
A. Not too long ago I was accepted into the
online art group Intrinsic Nature (www.
intrinsicnature.org). They are a talented
bunch there who offer one another
consistent motivation and in-depth
feedback. The artists, including myself, have
really grown over the past few months, and
that is clear as you progress through the
art exhibits.

Q. Have you had any paid commissions

to date?
A. I’m currently designing as a paid intern
for Youth Unlimited, a youth ministry
located in Toronto. The experience is
invaluable and so far things have been
going great. I think it’s essential for any
designer to get some hands-on experience
before they enter the workforce, so I feel
grateful that I’ve been blessed with such
an opportunity.

SCORCHED: “A cover design (sans type) for a

novel about pyrokinetic killers. The black fire
and ravens represent death”
Copyright: Kyle Kargov

Artist info

Kyle Kargov
Course: Graphic Design
Institution: Seneca College
Personal portfolio site:
www.behance.net/blastd
Year on course: Third year

Toronto-based designer
Kyle Kargov is a young and
enthusiastic artist with high
aspirations. Originally a web
designer, Kyle has leapt out
of his comfort zone to gain
experience in a multitude of
artistic styles. His desire to
produce unique digital
solutions for a diverse
clientele has motivated him
to experiment in a variety of
different design medians,
particularly those involving
Adobe Photoshop.

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 WICKED: “The contrast and paradox of F E AT U R E
beauty and virulence”
Credit: Pauline Nordin (model);

Artist info
Pavel Ythjall (photo)
Copyright: Thomas Ciccone

Thomas Ciccone
Course: Fundamentals of
Typography(justcompleted);
Intro to Flash (enrolled)
Institution: Sessions.edu
(Online School of Design)
Personal portfolio site:
www.pixlmix.com

Thomas is primarily self-

taught in digital art, but is
currently enrolled on a three-
year Advanced Certificate in
Web Design, as well as
undertaking an MA in
Psychology at San Diego
State University. He has
Copyright: Thomas Ciccone
beneath is always apparent outwardly in time”
how it can manifest in the physical or real. What lies
HARBINGER: “A play on psychological tumult and

twice been a runner-up in

Advanced Photoshop web
challenges, so this is not the
first time his artwork has
graced these pages.

Q. Can you explain the inventive ways layering capacity of Photoshop. I

in which you use Photoshop within
your work?
A. I always like to try new things and
techniques that I come across. However,
I have found that I consistently
incorporate certain techniques or
applications in much of the work I do.
More specifically, I like to utilise the
consistently utilise many adjustment
layers to add highlight, shadow, lighting,
colour and emphasis to most of my
work. I’m constantly playing with
Overlay and lighting adjustment layers –
brushing highlights and shadows, and
merging multiple overlays to get even
small effects.

AEON, FRONT 3/4: “Capturing the

dynamic lines of the car front to back.
Fading of colour and detail is a very
traditional technique”
Copyright: David Eburah

Q. How would you describe your style and where

do your influences come from?
A. I aim to blend the more traditional qualities of
Artist info

vehicle design art with newer, more dynamic styles.

I also work quickly, leaving visible line work and
brush marks, which in turn give the render that bit
more character.

Q. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

A. I would like to imagine myself continuing David Eburah
concept work for the entertainment industry. I have Course: Automotive Design
secured a place at the Royal College of Art on its Institution: Coventry
University
famous MA Vehicle Design Course for two years, Personal portfolio site:
beginning September 2009, so I’m remaining open- www.davideburah.com
minded to potential employment routes.” Year on course: Fourth

David is a 22-year-old
Q. How has your course helped to improve student in his final year of his
course at Coventry
your artwork? University. He has been a
A. My understanding of design and the quality of finalist in numerous design
competitions. He has had
my concept artwork have relied on my course and work displayed at the Detroit
the friends that I have made on it. The course has a AEON, INTERIOR THEME: “This Motor Show, Canadian Motor
design was loosely inspired by the Show, FIAT Design Centre in
large emphasis on very traditional sketching and Turin, Building Centre in
forms of WipEout, the iconic
rendering techniques. I think this shows up within London and within various
computer game” design publications.
my current style. Copyright: David Eburah
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 INDUSTRY Career focus
I N D US T RY ● E D U C AT I O N ● R E C R U I T M E N T ● C A R E E R S

Get the job you want with tailored advice from industry insiders

So you want to be a…
Concept artist
If you aspire to create concept artwork for films, comics
and videogames, then read on for some hints on how
to get a job in the industry
Introducing
F
ancy creating artwork for your favourite film or
videogame franchise? That’s what the role of
the experts concept artist could involve. It’s a highly specialised
Maxime Desmettre
Maxime works for Ubisoft
yet highly creative job that involves working closely with
Montreal; he’s created images for the project’s art director or producer to visualise their ideas MEDIEVAL W
AR
Prince of Persia and is currently in order to develop quick sketches into finished piece by Goran, RIOR: A personal
working on Assassin’s Creed 2. which also serve
renderings. We spoke with four concept artists to get their the home page s as
illu
www.maxisland.net website to show stration of his
Devon Cady-Lee advice on securing a job in this sector. case his talents
© GORAN BU
KVIC
Devon is employed by Turbine
Entertainment. His portfolio
includes work on the Lord of the What skills do I need?
Rings videogames and Dungeons What are the essential skills that a concept artist needs? Maxime Desmettre: A good portfolio in concept art is a
& Dragons Online.
Per Haagensen: You need a good foundation of simple one. Don’t put too much in, and keep a coherent
www.gorrem.com
Per Haagensen traditional art skills and an understanding of different level of quality – this means getting rid of the unattractive
Per is a freelance illustrator and styles. You should always be open to exploring ones, even if you’re attached to them. If you have an
concept artist for Funcom. His
previous projects include work on
new designs and ideas through proper research attractive portfolio then you’ll be able to convince an art
the Age of Conan and Lord of the and experimentation. director to hire you with as few as ten pieces of artwork in
Rings: Conquest videogames. Devon Cady-Lee: Draftsmanship, the ability to your hands. If you are not sure about which artwork to put
www.artbyper.com
Goran Bukvic
understand forms in space and being able to illustrate in your portfolio, then you could ask some trustworthy
Goran has worked in concept art them for others. A keen sense of design and problem- people or even an industry professional what he or she
for eight years. His clients include solving skills help in making believable artwork. thinks about your work.
Electronic Arts, Propaganda
Games, Disney Interactive and
Pandemic Studios. What about putting together a portfolio? What’s the best way to get work experience?
www.crazybrush.com I’d like to present a decent portfolio to clients or potential I’d like to get a feel for the industry. How can I do this?
employers – any tips? Devon Cady-Lee: There are a lot of private developers
that are always producing games and animations on a
lower scale than company-funded projects. You can
always try working with them to understand the
production pipeline from concept to the finished product.
It will also give you a sense of what it’s like to be under
What’s the the pressure of a deadline, which is really important to
best way to get used to. These types of projects usually pay very little
create original or not at all, as they are strictly for the experience.
artwork? Per Haagensen: You could try freelancing as a concept
artist; it is a lot easier to get into, as it is low risk for a
studio. Another benefit is that you can test yourself within
the typical work environment.
“Keep faithful to
your style – mimicking Is it best to work freelance or in-house?
other artists’ work is I can’t decide whether to work for myself or a company –
great in order to learn, what do you suggest?
but doing it for too Per Haagensen: Working in-house is great because you
long will prevent you will learn from others and get instant feedback. You’re
from finding your
own identity” THE WICKED: Haagensen made this illustration for a university project where
Maxime Desmettre he had to concept three characters and an environment for them based on
local buildings in his neighbourhood. He compiled these individual concepts
Concept artist into something of a movie poster presentation
Ubisoft Montreal © 2008 PER ØYVIND HAAGENSEN

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 CA R EER FOCUS

also more likely to develop much faster and more
CASTLE: Maxime created this piece
diversely as an artist there than when working alone at a
of concept art for the latest Prince of
home studio.
Maxime Desmettre: Personally, I would go in-house. This
will be the best work environment to learn among
experienced people, see what they do on the same tasks
and gather contacts for a potential freelance career.
Devon Cady-Lee: In-house can have work benefits, like
health insurance and pensions. Your salary is guaranteed
every month, too. Working freelance means you need to
be constantly promoting yourself as an artist, attending
conventions and getting your name out. However, you
will most likely have a wider variety of work because you
will have different projects from different clients, and you
Industry insight
A closer look at how one
designer got into the
world of concept art
Goran Bukvic
Concept designer
Crazy Brush
“My father was a sculptor so I grew up among art and
artists. He was a crucial influence in my life, both when
it comes to art and the way I see things today. I
eventually ended up following his path and studied
Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo
(Bosnia). When I moved to Toronto, Canada, I started to
shift my career interests from fine arts back to comics,
animation and games, which led to my three years at
Sheridan College studying Classical Animation.
I stayed in the animation field for a few years and, as
turbulent as the industry was, sometimes struggled to
find work. Luckily, I always knew what I wanted to do,
so giving up and doing something else was never an
option. At some point, my work drew some attention
from the gaming world and I had a chance to work on a
six-month, off-site contract with Pandemic Studios,
Australia, doing realistic character design.
I’ve been working in games ever since and really
PRINCE OF PERSIA – HIGH enjoy the darker subject matter and the way the gaming
production pipeline works. I would love to work on
Persia videogame movies too but these days they are pretty much the
© MAXIME DESMETTRE, same thing. I am fortunate to be able to work from
UBISOFT
home, which gives me the chance to catch the creative
bug whenever it comes, day or night, and give it my all.”
How do I find out if my artwork
is any good?
Per Haagensen “Get feedback. Try to expose your work to people in the
Concept artist industry as much as possible – online forums are great for
Funcom this. You should always compare your best pieces to similar

{
can manage your own hours instead of going to work 9-5. work from successful artists”

Does the job pay well?

What sort of salary should I expect to start on? Want to know more?
Devon Cady-Lee: In my opinion, a respectable starting Learn more about becoming a concept
salary is about $40-45k. artist with this selection of great resources
Maxime Desmettre: Even to start with a salary will vary a
Inspirational websites
lot depending on the field you’re applying for (movie vs
www.conceptart.org
videogame, for example). Moreover, the salary difference
www.cgsociety.org
between countries can be significant, which makes it
difficult to give an exact figure. However, concept artists Essential training
usually get a decent wage – in videogames it’s better WHAT OTHER BSc (Hons) Games Concepts Design
SOFTWARE Cost: £3,145 (per year) Location: Staffordshire University
than level or texture artists with the same level of PACKAGES WILL Website: http://tinyurl.com/staffordshire-uni/
experience – and it seems to be harder to find people in I BE USING?
Photoshop and Corel BA (hons) Game Art & Design
this field of expertise. Painter are the most common Cost: £3,225 (per year) Location: Futureworks Media
pieces of software used to School, Manchester Website: http://tinyurl.com/
produce concept art, so it’s futureworks-course/
Any other tips? best to ensure that you’re
Do you have any other career advice for a wannabe very familiar with these Must-have resources
concept artist?
programs. In addition to that, Massive Black
knowledge of various 3D Author: Ballistic Publisher: Ballistic Publishing Price:
Per Haagensen: You should always push yourself towards applications such as 3ds Max, £46.49 Website: www.ballisticpublishing.com
Maya and even the modelling
your uppermost potential. Also, be aware of the quality tool ZBrush can be a benefit Concept Design 2
level of what other professional artists are producing and to you as well, however, it’s Author: Various Publisher: Titan Books Ltd
not normally an essential
constantly compare your art to this level. requirement for the role. Price: £19.49 Website: http://titanbooks.com/

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resources

Canon EOS 500D

Canon’s latest 15.1MP model with HD movie recording promises to pack a
punch on paper – does it deliver?
LIGHTWEIGHT BUILD: A plastic outer shell
encases an aluminium chassis, keeping the camera
light enough for prolonged shoots

but it is a bit of a cumbersome system when

On the back of the camera, a large, bright
920,000-dot, three-inch LCD takes centre stage,
framed by a smattering of controls. Above and
you’re in a hurry. Saving the Format command in
the customisable My Menu settings does save a
bit of time, however.
One of the 500D’s headline features is its
ability to shoot full HD (1,080p) movies – a
quality that puts it ahead of its rivals and
broadens its appeal among the creative
community. At the highest resolution (1,920 x
1,080), video is shot at 20fps – fine for most
applications – but dropping the quality down to
1,280 x 720 buys you 30fps, which looks
smoother, if less detailed. If you intend to shoot a
lot of top-resolution movies with the 500D, make
sure you’ve got plenty of space, as just 57
seconds of footage fills 265MB of storage space
(shoot 20-minute videos regularly and it’ll soon
stack up). You’re also restricted by the fact the
camera can only record sound in mono and
there’s no facility to attach an external
microphone, so serious movie enthusiasts will
probably want to look towards the pricier 5D
Mark II instead.
The 500D sports a useful Live View function,
which performs well in bright conditions, less so
in low light or overcast situations where the AF
system struggles to find a lock. We were also
somewhat puzzled as to why you can’t access

T he latest launch from Canon slots

perfectly into the mid-range DSLR
category, replacing the older 450D. The EOS
500D builds on the success of its predecessor,
carrying over a few choice features as well as
integrating some new ones, which we will look at
in more detail momentarily.
In the hand, the EOS 500D feels fairly solid and
well made, although you’re acutely aware of its
plastic construction, which takes the shine off it
to some degree. The grip is sculpted to
accommodate your digits and is rubberised for
added comfort.
“The EOS 500D builds on
its predecessor, carrying
over a few choice features
as well as integrating some
new ones”
to the left, a Menu button offers dedicated
access to the 500D’s uncluttered menu system,
and a DISP. (Display) button turns the LCD on
and off. To the right, an exposure compensation
button highlights an on-screen scale that lets
you fine-tune your exposure, below which sits
the Live View/Record button. The usual four-way
control pad and OK button combo offers further
soft key access to frequently used settings,
including WB, AF mode, Picture Styles and Drive
mode, keeping you from having to delve into
the menu system too often.
In operation the interface performs well, with
most settings being quick to access without
having to trawl through the main menus. The
one exception to this rule is the Format
command. Often you’ll want to clear your
memory quickly, but to do so with the 500D you
have to enter the menu system, scroll five tabs
over to the right then four items down, with a
further three button presses required to
complete the process. This does mean that
you're unlikely to format your cards by accident,
DETAIL: The 500D’s 15.1MP sensor captures plenty
of sharp detail

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CREATIVE CONTROL: The 500D’s Creative Zone
exposure modes let you control settings like the depth
of field in your images
the feature when shooting in any of the Basic
exposure modes – only the Creative ones.
The 500D’s 15.1MP resolution trumps the
competition and – in addition to the
aforementioned HD video capability – Canon
has shoehorned a few other top-notch features
to further broaden this camera’s appeal. For less
experienced photographers, there’s a plethora of
automatic Scene modes to choose from, falling
into what Canon terms as the camera’s Basic
Zone. These include Portrait, Landscape, Close-
up, Sports and Night Portrait, among others.
Seasoned enthusiasts are also well catered for,
with the Creative Zone offering the full range of
semi and fully manual exposure modes, in
addition to the somewhat anonymous CA and
A-DEP options that are also featured. CA
(Creative Auto) sits somewhere in-between the
Basic and Creative Zones, allowing you to hand
over most of the control to the camera but still
allowing you to alter options like picture
brightness, depth of field and Picture Style,
offering a bit more control than the camera’s full
Auto mode. A-DEP stands for Automatic Depth
of Field AE – basically, all you have to do to keep
your subject in sharp focus is ensure the red AF
points seen through the viewfinder cover it/
them. The camera then automatically picks the
necessary aperture to keep them all in focus.
Driven by the latest generation DIGIC 4
processor, whichever of the 500D’s modes you
choose to shoot with, you can expect sharp,
detailed and vibrant images straight out of the
camera, and plenty of extra detail to be resolved
from RAW files, too. With a native sensitivity
range of ISO 100-3200 and well-controlled noise
throughout, you’re able to obtain sharp shots in
all manner of lighting conditions, with minimal
noise reduction needed during postproduction
work. You can expand this range further via an
option in the Custom menu, which unlocks
further options right up to ISO 12800
(equivalent); however, unless you’re a fan of
pointillism we would recommend you steer
clear of these. 5
Manufacturer: Canon
Web: www.canon.com
Price: £969.99/$899.99 (with kit lens)
Req: 15.1MP CMOS sensor
Full HD (1,080p) movies
Up to ISO 12800 for low-light
shooting
Three-inch Clear View LCD with
Live View mode
DIGIC 4
SUMMARY: Overall, the EOS 500D
represents a solid option for any
developing enthusiast, with a good balance
of automatic and more advanced functions,
and a few standout features that set it apart
resources
Competitors
Nikon D5000
Manufacturer: Nikon
Web: www.nikon.co.uk
Price: £719.99/$729.95 (body only)
Spec: 12.3MP DX-format CMOS
sensor
D-Movie mode with sound
Vari-angle LCD monitor
Live View
11-point autofocus system with
3D Focus Tracking
Nikon’s latest DSLR, the
D5000, is aimed at
photography enthusiasts
with an additional
penchant for making
movies. This camera’s 2.7-inch vari-angle
LCD flips out from the body to allow the
user to take better shots from awkward
angles using the camera’s Live View mode,
and incorporates the D-Movie mode
pioneered by the Nikon D90. The D5000
sports an 11-point AF system with 3D
Focus Tracking to help you keep up with
the action and can shoot continuously at a
rate of 4fps, which should satisfy the
trigger-happy sports enthusiast. Auto
Active D-Lighting restores lost shadow
and highlight detail in high-contrast
captures, and Nikon promises low-noise
images throughout the D5000’s ISO
sensitivity range (200 to 3200).
9/10
Sony Alpha 380
Manufacturer: Sony
Web: www.sony.co.uk
Price: £699/$849.99 (with kit lens)
Spec: 14.2MP CCD sensor
BIONZ processor
SteadyShot INSIDE
Quick AF Live View
2.7-inch tilt LCD
The lightweight Alpha 380
is the latest addition to
Sony’s Alpha DSLR range.
Pitched as an ideal
companion for jet-set
photographers, the compact body
incorporates Sony’s SteadyShot INSIDE
technology to help combat camera shake.
In addition, Quick AF Live View is
complemented by a 2.7-inch tilting LCD
for easier composition of high- and low-
angle shots. In-built D-Range Optimizer
with Advanced mode adjusts brightness
and contrast to improve backlit scenes,
and the camera’s HDMI output is coupled
with PhotoTV HD to enhance still image
playback on compatible BRAVIA TVs.

8/10
GREAT FEATURES: The Canon EOS 500D boasts from the competition.
an impressive feature set to satisfy advanced
photo enthusiasts
8/10

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resources
Nikon COOLPIX S630
The latest compact from Nikon to attempt to get a grip on the point-and-shoot market
Manufacturer: Nikon
Web: www.nikon.com
Price: £290/$280
Spec: Megapixels: 12
Resolution: 3,984 x 2,656
Lens data: f/3.5-5.3 (37-260mm)
Zoom: 7x optical, 4x digital
Focus/macro: 60cm-inf/2cm-inf
Shooting modes: A, P, 17 scenes
Weight: 140g (excl. batteries)
Dimensions: 96.5 x 57.5 x 25.5mm
Storage: 44MB int, SD/SDHC
LCD: 2.7 inches
W hile Nikon’s top-flight DSLR range has
a solid reputation, the manufacturer
has struggled to replicate the same level of
success in the point-and shoot category. So
does this new model break the mould?
The S630 sports an unusual inward curvature
of the right side, offering a slightly thicker end,
known as the ‘Sure Grip’ and aimed at providing
a more comfortable finger fit. Elsewhere, the
aesthetics are much more traditional. The top
edge hosts an On/Off button and zoom dial. A
2.7-inch LCD screen, featuring a market-average
230,000 pixels, shares the rear panel with the
aforementioned grip as well as a Rotary Multi
Selector and buttons for Shoot mode, Playback,
Menu and Delete. Connections and battery-
cum-card compartment are securely tucked
away. On the whole it’s a pleasingly stylish bit of
kit, but one small niggle is the positioning of
the Exp Comp symbol, which has been
relegated onto the right edge of the device.
Its feature set can claim to offer more than
many of its peers: a 12MP CCD sensor when
competitors in this price range hover around
10MP, and 7x optical zoom Nikkor lens (usual for
the price point is 5x) with a wider aperture
BATTERY LIFE: This point-and-shoot kept
going and going
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082_AVP_59_CameraReview.indd 82
FLASH RANGE: The
flash range on this
compact works to 5.5
metres, which isn’t a
bad stretch
came
ra
the latesst and
For release eviews,
pth r ily
in-dedated da
up
range than most (f3.5-5.3). It offers one of the
highest ISO capabilities we’ve seen for its
stature (6400), white balance can be affected
through five preset options and slow sync is
included in the flash palette. What’s more, the
internal memory of 44MB will accommodate a
handful more shots than the market-standard
24MB, and users may need the extra room as
the camera can deliver up to 11fps in
Continuous mode.
Operating the S630 is as simple as the brand
makes out. The Scene mode is easy to navigate CONTROLS AND BUTTONS:
to and use, and inputting your own choice of Sensible methodical layout of buttons
commands – such as white balance, exposure
compensation and flash – is a doddle. More resonate bright, lifelike colours, rich blacks,
advanced photographers may lament at the crisp details and strong texture. There are few
restriction of Auto, but there are ways of using exposure qualms when using Scene modes,
the scene feature set creatively. but in Auto there’s a tendency for overexposure.
The image results of the S630 are equally On the whole, metering is fantastic. Flash is
surprising. 90 per cent of the time the compact strong, but marginally dilutes skin tones and
excels, punching out shots with little lag that flattens textures. Chromatic aberrations occur
in some instances, mainly on overcast days or
in low light. Noise is uncomfortably visible at
ISO 800 and above and features in the shadows
at 400 and above. Finally, results at full zoom
house a significant amount of noise with
subjects blocky and distorted, the results of
which are quite unusable. 5
SUMMARY: A stylish compact that is capable
of producing sharp results and is easy to
operate. However, perhaps the S630 is
pitching slightly above its weight in terms of
6/10
its price tag at the moment
MEMORY AND STORAGE: A larger-than-
average internal memory of 44MB
24/6/09 14:48:38
resources
Alien Skin Snap Art 2
A painterly plug-in for Photoshop, but can it challenge the best?
Manufacturer: Alien Skin
Web: www.alienskin.com
Price: $199 (£125 approximately)
Req: PC: Intel Pentium 4, Windows XP
or higher
Mac: PowerPC G5, OS X 10.4.11
or higher
Adobe Photoshop CS3 or higher;
Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 or
higher (PC); Adobe Photoshop
Elements 4 or higher (Mac)
D igital painting is a hot topic right now,
with programs vying with each other to
produce effects that are ever more realistic.
Advanced users of Photoshop or Corel Painter are
masters of making the digital look real, but for
those not blessed with the years of practice
required or the patience to attain them, there is
another way.
Snap Art 2 is a plug-in that boasts a range of
real-media effects, from the craggy, smeary look
of impasto brushstrokes to the slightly misaligned
smoothness of comic art. For those who want to
quickly and easily transform their photos into
works of digital art, we’re told that it can work like
a dream. Except when it doesn’t, that is.
Snap Art 2 is supposed to be compatible with
Photoshop CS4 and lower, Photoshop Elements
(a minimum of Version 6 on the PC or 4 on the
Mac) and Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.
Admittedly, these programs have disparate and
sometimes completely illogical ways of loading
plug-ins, but Snap Art 2 doesn’t make any of
them easier unless you’re running CS4. If that’s
the case, it will launch its own little program
window, on which you can find all of its effects as
well as the Help key and menu options sadly
lacking and much needed when using this plug-
in with other imaging programs. There is, then, a
clear benefit for Photoshop CS4 users when
compared to performance in other programs.
FOCUS REGIONS: The ability to add focus regions means that you can tailor the
effect more precisely than in the previous incarnation
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084_AVP_59_SnapArt2.indd 84
SIMPLE TO USE: The
interface is, like all
Alien Skin plugins,
easy to understand
from the first time
that you open it, with
a selection of presets
Get the plug-in running and you’ll have
access to a reasonably good range of effects. All
are designed to make photos or Photoshop
projects look more ‘arty’.
Some offer better results than others. The
Pointillism filter – designed to reproduce the
small, dotted brushstrokes of broken colour seen
in the work of artists like Seurat – is noisy and
cast with red, making your images look like
something from a cheaply videoed art
installation rather than a classic of 19th Century
painting. The Comics filter can produce some
excellent bold linear effects when used with the
PAINT TEXTURE: The textures are
right kind of image. The Impasto filter gives designed so that they look realistic
reasonably good results, producing appreciably when printed on canvas
thick brushstrokes at the expense of fine detail,
but there’s a certain sameness to them. Smart Stroke and Smart Settings features. You
Experienced users of digital imaging software are always aware that you are looking at a
will soon conclude that Snap Art 2 is a nice filtered photograph.
enough set of filters, but it doesn’t produce the Where Snap Art 2 does do better than its
more organic-looking results that Corel Painter’s main competitor, apart from on price, is in its
Autopainting feature does using its unique ability to allow you to section off parts of an
image and apply different levels of effects to
them. This does allow you to create a more fluid
application of the filter’s brushstrokes and keep
the details you want sharp while deliberately
fading others. This is a great function in any
imaging product. Sadly, we reckon you’re better
off looking at one of those instead of Alien Skin’s
Snap Art 2. 5
SUMMARY: Real-media filters are great for
applying paint effects, but this particular one
has a few problems and should only really be
SKETCH EFFECT: There are a number of
6/10
used in Photoshop CS4.
different art effects to choose from,
emulating traditional materials
23/6/09 12:35:11
 resources
Photoshop CS4 Video and
Animation
Discover how to create animation using Photoshop – in 3D!
Manufacturer: PhotoshopCAFE
Web: www.photoshopcafe.com
Price: $99.99 (£62.70 approximately)
Req: Windows XP or Mac OS X 10
DVD-ROM drive
Speakers and headphones
Minimum screen resolution of
1,024 x 768

T he first and perhaps the most awesome

thing you’ll notice upon opening this
tutorial DVD is that there is a pair of 3D
glasses in the box. The second is that the
program you spent years creating images in has
been moonlighting as an animation resource for
ages, and it’s actually pretty packed with
features. This tutorial from Macworld expert Jeff
Foster will show you what those are, how they
work and what you as a Photoshop user can do
with them.
The tutorial kicks off with a guide to how
animation in Photoshop works, and it does
require you to be pretty familiar with the
program straightaway. The first thing Foster
demonstrates is the Animation workspace and
how it rearranges the program interface, adding
the Animation Timeline, reorganising tools and
providing easy access to functions you may have throughout. Foster makes sure that you’re aware VIDEO LAYERS: Projects range from the simple, such
never realised Photoshop had. This simple, logical of the similarities between these tools and as opening short video files and learning about video
layers, to the more in-depth tasks of video editing
approach permeates the entire disc – chapters regular imaging ones, so you have a good idea
are bitesize and Foster’s decisive on-screen of what to expect from them and what you can the tutorial DVD equivalent of watching a sci-fi
manoeuvring shows you exactly where to go do with them. This is the reason why you need movie at a Fifties drive-in, and while it’s cheesy,
and what to do. Projects start out simple, like to know your way around Photoshop first before it’s nonetheless amusing and adds a frisson of
opening short video files and learning about approaching this disc. cinematic flavour to the proceedings.
video layers. These work in much the same way Once the basics have been covered – layers, Created by an expert with a clear and friendly
as still images and you’ll see this theme repeated text animation and basic movement (such as teaching style, distributed under the auspices of
bouncing a ball) – the tutorial moves on to video the PhotoshopCAFE tips and tutorials website
editing. Foster makes no bones about the fact (www.photoshopcafe.com) and boasting a
that Photoshop is not a dedicated video editor great unique selling point, this is a well-
and that you can’t expect it to have all of the structured and professionally produced DVD
functionality you’d expect from, for example, tutorial. Fast loading and Flash-based, four and a
Adobe Premiere. What he does do is teach you half hours of tuition justifies its $100 price tag for
the basics of transitions, including screen wipes those who want to discover animation with
and fades, keyframes and the Animation Photoshop CS4 – after all, it saves you purchasing
Timeline. From there it’s on to filters, masks, additional and expensive animation software! 5
green-screen compositing and applying effects
like liquid and clouds. You’ll learn how to clean SUMMARY: An excellent guide to
up old film footage and make new digital video Photoshop’s capabilities for animation; it is
look antique. easy to follow, full of information, well
It’s after this intense yet approachable course produced and a must if you’re interested in
in animation that the 3D fun begins, and every the subject.

8/10
KEYFRAMES: Macworld expert Jeff Foster teaches
the basics of transitions, such as keyframes (pictured), so often this is shamelessly denoted with
screen wipes, fades and the Animation Timeline flashing text screaming ‘Get 3D glasses now!’ It’s

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resources
Printing with Adobe Photoshop CS4
A thorough look at what you can do in Photoshop to get better print quality
Author/Publisher: Tim Daly/Focal Press
Web: www.focalpress.com
Price: £24.99/$39.99
About: Entire workflow covered to result in better
photographic prints printing in the future. This covers things like RAW vs JPEG and
Practical jargon-free advice to getting the
best out of your prints
Authored by working photographer Tim Daly,
also an acclaimed educator
18 in-depth chapters from Shooting Essentials
to Digital On-Demand Services
P rinting can sometimes feel like a bit of a dark art. In
essence it’s simple – you just hit Print! – but for those
of us for whom the quality of our prints is really important,
then it’s a lot more in-depth encompassing good colour
management and an understanding of colour theory.
This is where Printing with Adobe Photoshop CS4 comes into
play. Like all Focal Press titles, it does what it says on the cover
and has an expert author, in this case working photographer
Tim Daly. While the book is aimed at getting perfect
photographic prints, the advice inside will work just as well for
all types of digital art, so don’t discard it because of its photo-
heavy slant. The topic of printing is broken down over more
than 280 pages, so you’re getting a lot of advice for your cash,
which just goes to show how complex a topic it can be.
The Adobe Photoshop CS4
Layers Book
A hands-on guide to using the power of layers in Photoshop
Authors/Publisher: Richard Lynch/Focal Press
Web: www.focalpress.com
Price: £22.99/$39.95
About: Correct and enhance colour, fix composition
problems and repair damage and flaws
Isolate image areas for changes,
adjustments and experimentation
Layer blending, clipping masks, Opacity, Fill,
layer masks and so on explained
Comes with a free CD
L ayers are the most important Photoshop tool for most
digital photographers, artists and designers. This book
is a dedicated look at layers and what you can do with
them, aimed at users of CS4 but with much of the advice
covering all versions of the software.
It’s hard to believe that you can fill 290 pages just on layers,
but author Richard Lynch has done just that. There are ten
chapters, each covering a specific feature on layers, from image
isolation to layer masks, applying layer effects to advanced
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086_AVP_59_Books.indd 86
Like all good instructional guides, this tome follows a logical
workflow to help you achieve good prints from the very start of
photo creation. For example, the first chapter looks at Shooting
Essentials: how you can make your shots better to aid accurate
using light meters for better exposure.
Moving on, there is an in-depth look at colour management,
which is where anyone can pick up from, photographer or not.
Then it moves through file processing, looking at Photoshop
tools to help improve your images (while it is CS4-focused, most
of the tools and techniques are not version-specific). There are
some more creative chapters too, looking at creating special
effects or working in monotone, before it moves onto preparing
images for print. This has some basic advice on choosing a
printer and preparing for any type of printing, including inkjet
and C-type. There’s also a lot of information on printer profiles, Photo perfect: An in-depth guide to getting
which is handy for more experienced artists and designers. perfect photographic prints from Photoshop
Latter sections, looking at soft proofing and evaluating print
quality, will be better suited to those looking to print for display Summary: Slanted towards
or portfolio purposes – commercial endeavours always benefit photography, but packed to the brim
from impeccable quality. with handy printing advice for CS4 users.
Overall, this is a great book that covers everything you need Covers an entire workflow, in and out of
to know about accurate printing. Sample imagery is Photoshop, giving you an overview of
photographic, but the advice will translate to perfecting what makes a good print.
graphics and digital art. If printing is an important part of your
workflow, then this is your one-stop manual. 5 9/10
blending using the Blend If command. Each of the techniques is
accompanied by large-scale screenshots that show you what is
being taught clearly. There are also a number of coloured boxes
throughout, denoting tasks (‘Try it now’ boxes) and quick tips.
The tasks that it sets for you come after written instruction
and are laid out as a series of listed steps. These are easy to
follow so that you can learn hands-on. There is a free CD that
comes with the book that has the files that you need to
complete the tasks, which is a real bonus. The CD also contains a
Value for money: As well as over 290
set of custom actions to help you get through sections of the pages, there is also a free CD that comes with
book faster to get quickly to the bits that you need. the book to help you learn
The actual editorial and the educational portions are fantastic
and it’s very easy to learn the skills – even advanced users will
get a lot out of this. Our main complaint with the title is that it is
Summary: Though there is good advice
for advanced users, this is better suited to
not very visually exciting, with very little artwork. Though it’s not those coming at Photoshop for the first
needed to provide information, it would be nice to have some time and want to progress to more
colour breaking up the book to make it less intensive. advanced skills. The lack of artwork makes
You do get a lot of information for your money and those it less visually interesting.
new to layers in Photoshop, or who want to get more from
them, will definitely benefit. 5
7/10
24/6/09 15:40:59
resources

Exposé 7
The seventh collection of the ‘finest digital art in the known universe’
Author/Publisher: Ballistic Publishing Soak it up,
Web: www.ballisticpublishing.com though, as it’s the
Price: Soft cover: $64; hard cover $75; Limited only bit of
Edition $170 (approximately £40; £47; editorial in the
£106)
book. After that,
About: 20 categories of artwork
you launch
Image captions detailing software used, artist
straight into the
name and country
first of 20
Biography of Grand Master Ralph McQuarrie
categories. These
Introduction by Mark Snoswell, the president
change from
of CGSociety and creative director of
edition to
Ballistic Publishing
edition, depending hugely on the work that is submitted, and

E xposé 7 is the latest art book to come from the Ballistic

Publishing stable, showing off a wide collection of
fantastic digital art.
It’s simply a coffee-table book, full of glorious images spread
out over more than 200 pages. There’s no instruction – that’s
what the d’artiste series is for – instead, just a simple showcase.
The quality of this year’s 391 images is as high as it has ever
been before, but with a judging panel that includes Max
Dennison, Phil Straub (see our interview on page 68) and Chris
Stoski, that comes as no surprise whatsoever.
It opens, as the series always does, with a biography of the
edition’s chosen Grand Master. This time around that’s Ralph
McQuarrie, who is best known for his work on the original Star
Wars series. His images are sublime and his story inspirational.
this time around new categories include Steampunk and
Robotic/Cyborg to meet the rising quantity of artwork in
these genres.
Each category presents first its chosen Master in that genre,
followed by all the Excellence awards. Trends tend to pop up in
these books, and this time around it’s clear that there are more
fantasy and sci-fi images submitted than ever before, which is
also reflected in the new category additions.
At the back of the book are the handy Index pages, which
lists all the artists featured and their contact details, which is a
great way of checking out digital art talent to help you with your
own projects.
If you liked the first six editions of Exposé, then you’ll know
exactly what to expect here and you won’t be disappointed. 5
TOUCH OF GOLD: The cover image is painted
in Photoshop by Bente Schlick from Germany
SUMMARY: Inspirational images, this
is a tried-and-tested format by Ballistic
Publishing that contains no surprises if
you’ve seen the previous incarnations,
but why change something that works
so well?
9/10

Black and White

An in-depth guide to monochromatic imagery in Photoshop CS4 and
Photoshop Lightroom
Authors/Publisher: Leslie Alsheimer, Bryan O’Neil
Hughes/Focal Press
Web: www.focalpress.com
Price: £22.99/$39.95
About: Illustrated by professional-level photography
Dedicated chapters for Photoshop and
Lightroom users
Extended introduction looking at ‘taking
the shot’
In-depth workflow practices explored
Covers printing and scanning techniques
photographers’, looking at the ways that Photoshop and
Lightroom can help improve your workflow.
There is a long introduction to the book that talks about
photography, composition and creativity, which is great if you’re
a keen photographer needing inspiration. There is then a map
showing five phases of a good workflow solution, which is also a
guide to the way that the book is laid out. It all seems quite
technical on first glance, but when you start going through the
chapters the information is well delivered and easy to follow.
Author Leslie Alsheimer is a photographer herself, so there
are plenty of images inside to help you on your path to taking
DEDICATED ADVICE: Does what it says on
better black-and-white shots, as well as splashes of colour when the cover, looking at tips and techniques for

B lack-and-white photography can appear simple from

the outset – take a colour image into Photoshop,
convert using one of the many monochromatic methods
illustrating before and afters. The information is very thorough,
split into Photoshop and Lightroom sections so that you can get
to the bits you need quickly.
getting better monochrome shots

and you’re done.
Well, not quite. Not if you want to create black-and-white
images with a perfect tonal spread, balanced exposure, impact
and focus. The way you shoot, edit and print monochrome
images is all-important when it comes to creating images that
pop off the page. Black and White in Photoshop CS4 and
Photoshop Lightroom is a dedicated book ‘for photographers, by
88
Advanced Photoshop
SUMMARY: If black-and-white
This is version two of this book, so a lot of the information is photography is a particular interest for
repeated from the first version but with updated sections to you, then this is probably the most
cover CS4 functions and the latest Lightroom release. Overall, informative and educational book we’ve
there are a lot of great tips and techniques, but you need to come across in the genre; however, it is
have a specific interest in monochrome photography to get very specific.
much out of it. At the time of going to press, the eBook version
is available now and the printed version will be out soon. 5
7/10

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 ! A sh
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99
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SPEECHLESS: “Semifinalist
submission for NVIDIA’s Speak Visual:
Design Digital competition”

GALLERY We showcase the very best of your artwork

Readers’

FABRI CATE: “The Un

Washington’s iversity of
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the years 2009 r design for
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worth £99. See page
94 for full details.
www.ohfolio.com
90
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090-094_AVP_59_ReadersGallery.in90 90 25/6/09 09:55:47

 Daniel Ra
WEB: http://cornerstone.carbonmade.
com/

“I’m a 19-year-old freshman attending

the University of Washington,
majoring in Cell Biology and hoping
to become an oral surgeon one day.
Once a sponsored skateboarder
who was raised in Guam, I currently
reside in Seattle. I was introduced to
design during my sophomore year
in high school from a friend, who
unfortunately passed away earlier
this year due to diabetes-related
“My designs causes. Having been an officer of at
have helped least four student-run organisations
and working 20 hours a week while
fund multiple attending soccer practice, I was
causes, forced to postpone my practices in
design during my junior year in high
including an school. In senior year I started to pick
it up again, and have been actively
organisation designing ever since. My designs
called New have helped fund multiple causes,
including an organisation called
Life New Life Presbyterian, for which
Presbyterian” I raised over a grand in funds by
designing and selling shirts for their
Daniel Ra annual Mexico mission.”

ANIMOSITY: “For Luminarium’s VI

exhibit entitled Illuminate”

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 Readers’ gallery
Sean Harris Ferguson
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/devian

“I’m a 24-year-old graphic artist living in Bethel,

Connecticut, with a degree in Visual Communication.
I’m a member of the digital art group Raster (www.
rasterized.org), run by Keith Kennedy and Luis
Araujo. These two people, as well as the members of
Raster, have helped me grow so much in my work. I
have been creating digital art since I was 14 when I
began to play with Photoshop. It became an instant
addiction. The best gift digital art has is the ability to
inspire the uninspired. Each of my pieces represents
a significant time in my life, from depression to
heartbreak, personality changes to joyous times,
death to life. I try to invoke these emotions to the
viewers through my work, feel what I felt during these
times or strike a memory within them. I don’t control
my emotions, I just make them digital.”

BEST
IN SHOW

EVERYTHIN G’
told me she wa S BLUE: “After my wife
s no
heart broke. Try t in love any more, my
ing to get some
emotion out an of that
d how painful it
this time turned felt during
into this”

PIECE OF ME: “My father passed away in 2008. When he

did, it felt like he took a piece of me with him. While grieving, I
started to create this piece. This piece means a great amount to
me. Rest in peace Robert W. Ferguson”

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 TURE:
THE ADVEN this
ally feel that
“I re
es the spirit
image captur
e
of the song Th gels
An
Adventure by iginal
. Or
and Airwaves pdtnc.
://
photo by http /
m
deviantart.co

“Each of my pieces
represents a
significant time in
my life, from
depression to
heartbreak,
personality changes
to joyous times,
death to life”
Sean Harris Ferguson

SHATTER: “This was inspired by Feeder’s

song Shatter. I used the same photograph
as the base for four separate images, which
was challenging yet enjoyable”

Liam Wong
WEB: www.eluu.co.uk

“I am a digital artist situated in

OF BLOOD, LOVE AND TEARS:
“During my marriage, things were not as easy
as they appeared. It takes a lot of emotion
and strength to keep things running
smoothly. Each element in this image has a
significant representation”
Scotland. I am currently a student at
the University of Abertay, Dundee. I
began using Photoshop in my free
time while still at school, at which
point it was very much a hobby.
After discovering the advantages of
digital art, I was instantly hooked.
Since then, I have been constantly
learning new software, including
Maya, ZBrush and the remainder
of Adobe’s Creative Suite. As a
result, my portfolio covers not only
photomanipulations but also 3D,
animation and web design.
In an effort to further my
knowledge of digital art, this
summer I will be taking part in
the games competition ‘Dare to be
Digital’, where I will be creating
art assets for a game to be created
within ten weeks.”

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 Readers’ gallery

What you can win…

HYPERGRAF: “A collaboration with James
Knowles for The Luminarium’s Illuminate exhibit. We
wanted to create a strong contrast between a rough
background and the smooth futuristic graffiti”

H
RT
WO
99
£

Past examples:
Each month, one of
the featured artists is
selected as Best in Show.
This artist will win a
fantastic prize, courtesy
of ohfolio.com. The lucky
winner will receive a
year’s subscription to the
website service, a fully
designed Flash website
template and a free
domain name.
Alastair Temple
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/ • A unique Flash
SmilingDemon
website template
“I am 19 and study Civil Engineering and CMS hosting
at the University of Edinburgh. In my service
spare time I love to create, whether it
is via the medium of photography or
through digital art. I enjoy participating
• Create and
within art groups, co-running The edit your own
Luminarium (www.theluminarium.net) website content,
and contributing to Intrinsic Nature using the easy-to-
(www.intrinsicnature.org). The beauty understand tools
of an art group is that it can offer
a reliable foundation for providing
feedback on your work and present • Templates
the incentive to design and improve. designed by artists
Collaborating on big team projects
and individual pieces is a great way • Host up to 2,000
to share knowledge and a brilliant
way to produce something unique;
images
combining the skills of many talented
artists is elemental in creating a Terms and conditions
piece that may not have come to exist By submitting images to Advanced
Photoshop’s Readers’ Gallery, you hereby
through the mind of one artist. My own
grant Imagine Publishing and, if relevant,
art often consists of 3D abstracts, and clients to whom the relevant work has
I employ strong textures to provide THE TR been provided, an irrevocable, perpetual,
IP
depth that you can almost feel.” Luminariu : “This was created royalty-free licence to use such intellectual
m for
show the ’s Prismatic release. The property in relation to work similar or
un Iw
bright colo real feeling of a trip anted to equivalent to the work. This includes the
ured abstra with the right to showcase work on multimedia
ct”
formats. By submitting work, you also

94 confirm that your images do not infringe

any copyright regulations should they be
Advanced Photoshop published.

090-094_AVP_59_ReadersGallery.in94 94 25/6/09 09:52:56