Author Archives: Julie Langford

[Tutorial] Photoshop Transform tools to make critters, posted by Julie Langford @ Mon, 19 May 2008 22:54:26 -0000

Ok, so here is how I used the Edit transform tools in Photoshop to create

Wiseman

and Fish Monster

Have loads of fun and be creative – things just appear right before your eyes using this method.

1. Open Photoshop and create a new transparent document 3200 high by 2400 wide [you can post a Tshirt with these dimensions as well as an art piece].

2. Create a new layer and fill the bottom layer with solid black [you will need this dark background to see what you are doing later].

3. Working on the top, tranparent layer – draw a random shape using the pen tool [create smooth curves by clicking and dragging, until you get back to your first point to close the path].

4. Down on the bottom right click on the Paths tab on the layers palette. At the bottom of the palette, click on the convert to selection icon [shown in red below] – this will convert your path to a selection.

5. Fill this selection with a multicoloured gradient [or two colours of your choice].

6. Click on Edit [up the top], then on Free Transform. This puts a border around your selection so that you can resize it. hit enter when you are happy with the resize to apply it. Then use the move tool in the toolbar on the left to move it to the centre of your canvas.

7. Back in the bottom right Layers palette, click back onto the layer tab. Duplicate the top layer [right click it and click duplicate].

8. Working on the top layer again, click Edit, Transform, rotate. This puts a border around your image and allows you to drag the corners to rotaate the layer. Rotate it enough so that it moves slightly away from the layer beneath [see below]. Hit enter to apply the rotation.

9. Repeat the layer duplication and rotate until you have about 6 layers – keep the rotation reasonably uniform.

10. In the layers palette, click the top layer, hold ctrl on the keyboard and click all the other layers – except the bottom, black layer. This will highlight [select] them all. Once selected, righ click them, and click on merge layers. You will now have two layers in the layers palette again. A black layer [at the bottom], and a new layer with your rotation work above it.

11. Working on the top layer, click on Edit, transform and warp. this puts a grid over the image, which you can drag in multiple places and directions to completely change the appearance of your image. Work with this until you have a long warped shape like below. hit enter to aply the warp efect.

12. Repeat the whole process again, duplicating and rotating the layers until you have something like the image below.

13. Select all the layers except the black layer again and merge them. [youre now back to two layers again].

14. Duplicate the top layer again, move it away from the other layer on your canvas. Warp it so that it is longer and thinner than the original layer that you duplicated [see below]

15. Click Edit, Free Transform to resize it.

16, Rotate it and place it over the other layer on your canvas. In the layer palette, drag the long thin layer to underneath the other layer, so that it appears underneath it in the platte [and on your canvas].

17. Select both layers [but not the black layer] and merge them.

18. Click on image [up the top], and then on rotate canvas, then on 90 degrees CW. Duplicate the top layer, then click on Edit, Transform, then flip horozontally. Now move this new layer over until it lies side by side to the other layer. Select both layers [but not the black layer], and merge them.

19. Working on the top layer, click layer up the top, and then New, and then Layer. Draw an oval selection using the circular marquee tool in the eye area, and fill it with white.

20. Duplicate this layer and drag it over using the move tool to cover the other eye with a white oval.

21. Create another new layer, and use the paintbrush and black, and click once on each eye white to create pupils. Ctrl click all the eye layers in the layer pallette and merge them.

22. Working on this eye layer, click the word Layer [up the top], then Layer style, then Inner shadow. Apply the settings below to give your eyes life.

23. Click on the black layer in the layer palette, then click on Layer, new layer up the top to create a new layer above the black layer.

24. Use the Polygonal Lasso tool and draw a shape within your image for a beak [see below].

25. Fill this selection shape with a dark grey to yellow gradient [top to bottom].

26. Still working on this beak layer, click on Layer [up the top], layer style, Inner Shadow, and use similar settings to when you did the eyes to give depth the the beak.

27. Crtl click all the layers except the black layer and merge layers. You are now back to two layers – one black, and one with your image above it. It will look something like the image below.

To save your image to post as art on a black background, go to file, save as, and save as a jpeg. This will merge and flatten the work.

To save your work to post as a Tshirt, first, click the eye icon next to the black layer in the layer palette to make it disappear – your black background will become invisible. Now go to file, save as, and save as a png file.

Voila – you have created a critter using transform tools in Photoshop.

You can also use this method with parts of photographs, like I did with Fish monster. Try all sorts of things to get neat effects – a spoon, as nail, a scewdriver even.

Most importantly, transform, transform, duplicate and transform some more – the more you use, the better your results will be.

Have fun!

[Tutorial] Walkthrough - Matte Painting , posted by Julie Langford @ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:00:19 -0000

Guardians – and how I created the effect.

Ok – First I want to pay credit to both Susan Davies , who provided the base image of Castell Coch and to Rose Moxon , who kindly created the 3D dragons that I used in this composition. Thank you both – I could’nt have created this without you guys.

I used Photoshop CS2 to create this image

I started with Susan’s image below

I used a duplicate layer [made the background invisible with the eye icon in the layer palette], and used a medium hardness eraser to erase all of the backgroung behind the castle to produce the image below.

Then, I had to remove all those trees from the image, that were covereing the castle. For this I used various sized, soft clone brushes and fine paintbrushes to paint back in detail that was lost due to the cloning process – Very time consuming, but also very rewarding at the end of it. The image then looked like the one below.

I then wanted to place the castle onto a rock tower, so I used a shot that I took at a local beach in the summer of 2007. This rock is only about 12 ft high.

I pasted this rock image onto my composition as a new layer behind the castle, then again used the eraser to remove the parts that I didnt want, until I reached the result below.

I then merged these two layers and used the edit transform perspective tool to change to perspective of the image – I wanted the image to look as if I were looking up at the caste slightly and I wanted the rocks to appear large and towering. The result is below.

Now for the sky – I used an image that I took of a sunset in Cameroon in November 2006

I placed this sky image behind the castle – rock layer to produce the image below.

Next I worked on the sky and castle layer in turn and adjusted the colour, using edit adjustments colour balance, until I created a nice tone for each layer, which both balanced with each other. I also adjusted the exposure slightly on the sky layer to give it a bit more kick. The image now looked like the one below.

I wasn’t happy with the shadows and highlights on the castle in relation to the sky, so next I worked on both layers in turn and used dodge to add highlights and burn to add dark shadows and gloomy clouds.

I then adjusted the levels to make the castle layer a bit darker so it blended in with the sky – the result then became my base image which you can see below.

I now wanted to add atmosphere to the image, so I created a new fill layer and used a very soft brush to paint in a light green fill at about 30% opacity, covering the whole layer in one go. I added a litttle noise and changed the blend of this layer to Colour Burn. The result was a deep rich feel that you can see below.

I then flattened the image and just went over it to add any final highlights and shadows with the dodge and burn tools.

I then used two dragon images that Rose kindly created for me – you can see them below.

I placed these images onto the composition, using edit, free transform to resize them and then added a new layer to create some foggy mist around them. For this I used a lasoo tool, with feathering set to 30 to select the area that I wanted to have mist and filled it with white at about 30% opacity. I then added noise and added a box blur. I then added a glowing edge with a high spread to this layer by adding a layer style. The last step was to erase any mist that had covered the dragons with a fine eraser and using the dodge tool once more to bring out highlights on the creatures, before flattening and saving the image as Guardians

To see the finished piece, click Here

[Tutorial] Creating a Galaxy from scratch, posted by Julie Langford @ Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:42:08 -0000

Ok, so I am designing something for a competition, so my overall image will not be about space, but there will be some space aspects within it.

As I work through my image, I will be sharing some of the steps I use to create it.

This step, is how to create a space galaxy in Photoshop without any photography.

These tutorials will work as stand alones, but you are welcome if you wish to follow the whole series and create along side me.

This was all done in Photoshop CS2, but as no specialist tools are used, most versions of Photoshop will suffice.

Have fun – and here we go.

1. Open Photoshop and create a new black image 1400 wide x 1000 high
2. Duplicate this layer [up the top, click on the word layer, then on duplicate, click ok on the box that appears] so that you have 2 identical layers in the layer palette [bottom right hand corner]

Layers Palette

3. On your keyboard, hold ctrl and press D once to set the foreground/background colours to Black and White
4. Working on the top layer in the layer palette [make sure its highlighted, click on it if it isn’t] – click on the word filter [up the top], then on Pixelate, then on Pointilize – a window will appear. Set the cell size to 7 and click on OK to apply the filter. you now should have something similar to the image below

Image after Pointilize filter has been applied

5. Working on the same layer, select the eliptical marquee selection tool on the left hand toolbar. Set the Feather [up the top] to 40 pixels, and draw a selection like the one below by clicking and dragging the mouse on the image

Eliptical marquee selection

6. Click the word Select [up the top], then click inverse – to inverse the selection, and press delete on the keyboard. This will remove all the dots and texture outside the eliptical selection.

7. Click on the word Image [up the top] then on adjustments, then on Levels – a box will appear. Change the settings to match that of the image below and click ok.

8. Click on the word Filter [up the top] and click on Distort, then on Twirl. Change the settings to that of the image below and click on OK.

Your image should now look similar to the one below.

9. Now click on the word Edit [up the top] then click on Transform, then on Distort. This will place lines and points around your image. Drag the bottom right corner point upward and to the right until you get something similar to the image below. Once you are happy with it, hit enter on your keyboard to apply the effect.

10. Use the move tool over on the toolbar on the left to move this layer into the centre like shown below.

As you will see, you now have your galaxy and all we need to do now, is add some life to it.

11. Change the foreground colour to a very light creamy yellow and click on the paintbrush tool in the toolbar over on the left. Set the brush size to about 250 with ZERO Hardness and the brush opacity [up the top] to about 75. Click the brush on the centre of the galaxy once. Now reduce the opacity to 25, click the mouse slightly to the left of your last click position, and then do the same to the right – this will give a disc shape light in the centre of the galaxy.

12. Now click on the Dodge tool over on the left toolbar, Set the brush size to 75, the Range to Highlights and the Exposure to 60. Now drag the mouse from the centre of the galaxy in outward spirals to create the galaxy trails. Finish off by adding a little dodge to the centre of the galaxy to brighten it right up.

13. You now have a fihished galaxy which you can rotate to suit. Once you have the position you want and are happy with all the brightness, contrast etc, to finish click on the word Layer [up the top] then on flatten image, and then save your file.

It should look similar to this after you have rotated it etc.

You can have a different colour galazy by changing the foreground and background colours at stage 3 of this tutorial, and can have different shapes by changing the amount of dodge and rotation at the end.

The one below was created using light blue and purple instead of black and white at stage 3, and a lot of dodge applied at the end.

Hope you enjoy, and I would love to hear how you get on.

Jul