Creative Photoshop CS4 Digital Illustration and Art Techniques - phần 5 pot

164 Part Two: Unconventional Methods 10 12 Use this same method to change the color stop beneath the gradient at the right to a different, darker blue. Drag the gradient midpoint to the right slightly and click OK. Your new gradient will be selected as the preset when you exit the Gradient Editor. Click and drag, from the bottom up, within the current selection on your new layer. This will add your new gradient into the selection. Deactivate the selection and change the blending mode of the layer to multiply. PART THREE: Add the main components Adding a figure Follow this process to create a figure, complete with a giant laptop on his head. 1 Open up the band.jpg file and use the Polygonal Lasso tool to draw a polygonal selection around one of the band members. Control(PC)/ Command(Mac)-click inside the selection and drag the contents into your working file as a new layer. 2 With the new layer targeted, choose Edit Ͼ Free-Transform from the menu. To rotate, move the mouse pointer outside the bounding box, then click and drag. Shift-drag the corner of the box to increase the size proportionately. Press the Enter key to apply the transformation. 3 Open up the computers.jpg file. Select a laptop with the Polygonal Lasso and drag it into your working file as a new layer. Use the Free- Transform function to rotate, resize, and position the laptop so that it overlaps the figure’s head. 165 Chapter 10: Photocopier Meets Photoshop 10 13 Use the Polygonal Lasso tool to draw a selection that surrounds only the screen of the laptop in your working file. Open up the eyes.jpg file. In the eyes.jpg file, draw a polygonal selection around one of the eyes in the image. Copy the selected area and return to your working file. With your current selection active, choose EditϾ Paste Into from the menu to paste the eye into the image as a masked layer. Target the new layer thumbnail in the Layers palette (not the mask) and use Free- Transform to resize and position the eye. 14 Click in the area between your new layer thumbnail and the mask thumbnail in the Layers palette to link them. Now, target the current layer and then Control(PC)/ Command(Mac)-click on the laptop layer and the figure layer in the Layers palette so that all three layers are targeted. Choose Layer Ͼ N e w Ͼ Group From Layers from the menu to add these layers to a group. Now, repeat this procedure three times to add the three remaining figures, add laptops on their heads, put eyes on the laptop screens, link any unlinked masks, resize and rotate as required, and then add each set of layers to a group until you have a separate group for each figure. When you have a selection active and you choose the Paste Into option from the Edit menu, your copied artwork is pasted into the file as a new layer. This layer is automatically masked and the active selection determines which areas of the new layer will remain visible. When you create a masked layer this way, the mask and the layer are not linked in the Layers palette. If you want to move both the layer and the mask together, it is necessary to link them by clicking in the space between the two thumbnails in the Layers palette. You’ll see a link icon appear in this area. Masks are linked to layers here because if the groups containing the layers are moved, we want the masks to move with them. Linking the unlinked 166 Part Two: Unconventional Methods 10 15 Return to your shapes.jpg file. If you have left the file open, there is a chance that it is still inverted . Choose File Ͼ Revert from the menu to revert it back to the original positive state. If it isn’t currently open, reopen the shapes.jpg file. Use the Polygonal Lasso tool to draw a selection border around the starburst shape. Hold down the Control(PC)/Command(Mac) key, and then click inside the selection border and drag it into your working file as a new layer. Use Free-Transform to increase the size and position the layer on the canvas as shown here. 16 Drag your starburst layer onto the Create a New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette to duplicate it. Use the Move tool to drag it over to the left and then down slightly on the canvas. Duplicate this layer too, and then move it to the right. Open up the logos.jpg file. Click and drag with the Elliptical Marquee tool to select the logo at the upper right. Hold down the Shift key to create a circular selection as you drag. Control(PC)/Command(Mac)-drag the selected logo into the working file as a new layer. Use Free-Transform to adjust the size and position. When you are using the Polygonal Lasso tool, try right-clicking(PC)/ Control-clicking(Mac) on the contents of your layer on the canvas. You will see a pop-up menu appear offering you several functions to choose from. Included on the list is the option to duplicate the layer. Try using this method, you may find it even quicker than dragging layers onto the Create a New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette. This method works with any selection tool. Another duplication method 167 Chapter 10: Photocopier Meets Photoshop 10 17 Return to your logo.jpg file. This time use the Elliptical Marquee tool to draw a selection around the black logo at the lower right of the canvas. Copy it and return to your working file. Click on the Create New Channel button at the bottom of the Channels palette to create an alpha channel. Double-click the new channel thumbnail and when the Channel Options appear choose Selected Areas in the Color Indicates options and click OK. Paste the copied art into your new channel and then enable the visibility of the CMYK composite channel by clicking in the column to the left of it in the Channels palette. PART FOUR: Typographic elements 18 Use Free-Transform to increase the size of your pasted selection and position it within the channel so that it overlaps the logo in the composite channel. Press Enter to apply the transformation and then open up the type. jpg file. Use the Polygonal Lasso tool to draw a selection around the “ sonic unyon presents ” that is set against a dark background. Copy it and return to your working file. Paste it into your targeted alpha channel and then use Free- Transform to adjust the size and position it at the upper left within the channel. Load the channel as a selection. When you are rotating the contents of a layer or selection with Free-Transform, try holding down the Shift key while you click and drag outside of the bounding box. When you do this, your rotations will be constrained to 45 ° increments. Constrained rotations 168 Part Two: Unconventional Methods 10 19 With the new channel-based selection active, return to the Layers palette and create a new layer. Click on the Foreground Color swatch to choose a light green foreground color from the picker. Type Alt/Option-Delete to fill the active selection with the foreground color on the new layer and then deselect. Set the blending mode of the layer to multiply in the Layers palette and select the Polygonal Lasso tool. Use the Polygonal Lasso to draw selections that cover each large eye. Then fill these selections with the same color on the current layer and deselect. 20 Create a new layer and drag it below the top layer in the Layers palette. Use the Polygonal Lasso to draw a shape that roughly surrounds the “ sonic unyon presents ” box on the top layer. Ensure that the new layer is targeted and then press “ d ” on the keyboard to set the background color to white. Type Control(PC)/Command(Mac)- Delete to fill the selection with the background color and then deselect. Return to the type.jpg file, reopen it if necessary. If you double-click a layer thumbnail in the Layers palette, you will access the layer style box which, in addition to a plethora of other options, allows you to control the blending of the layer. In this case, simply direct your attention to the top slider in the “ blend if ” section. Drag the left slider underneath the “ this layer ” bar to the right. This will lighten all of the shadow areas on the layer. This is a handy way to lighten all of the black components of your photocopied art on a layer. The advantage of doing this versus a color adjustment is that you can always go back to this dialog box and edit or reset your adjustment. Lighten via blending 169 Chapter 10: Photocopier Meets Photoshop 10 21 Use the Rectangular Marquee to draw a selection around the black against white “ sonic unyon presents ” type. Copy it, return to your working file, and paste it in as a new layer. Drag the layer to the top of the Layers palette and change the blending mode to multiply. Use Free-Transform to adjust the size and angle of the layer contents as well as position it over the other “ sonic unyon presents ” artwork on the canvas. Repeat this method to add the “ live at the horseshoe ” text on a new layer. Drag the new layer beneath the figure groups in the Layers palette. 22 Now, return to the type.jpg file. Use the Polygonal Lasso to select a section of type, copy it, and then paste it into the working file as a new layer. Use Free-Transform to size, rotate, and position it. Repeat this method over and over again until you’ve added all of the necessary text elements to the poster. Leave the blending modes for all of these new layers set to normal as you add them. Move the layers up and down within the palette as you see fit. Each piece of photocopied text that is brought into this image as a new layer is resized and rotated by using the Free-Transform function. However, if you look at the word “ live ” you’ll notice that it has been distorted. To distort, rather than scale, while using Free- Transform, hold down the Control(PC)/ Command(Mac) key while you drag a corner handle of the bounding box. Distorting 170 Part Two: Unconventional Methods 10 23 The poster design is complete, but it doesn’t look weathered or distressed enough on the surface. To remedy this, we’ll incorporate a photo of the real thing. Open up the texture.jpg file. This is a photo of extremely weather-beaten poster art. Select all and copy. Paste it into your working file as a new layer and drag the new layer to the top of the stack in the Layers palette. Change the blending mode of the layer to hard light and reduce the opacity to 26%. Save and close your poster file with all of the channels and layers intact. PART FIVE: Application methods Put your poster up on the wall Add your poster to a background image as an editable smart object, carefully tracing it with the Pen tool. 1 Open up the wall.jpg file. Then, choose File Ͼ Place from the menu. Navigate to your layered poster file on your hard drive and open it. This will place your poster file into the wall image file as a smart object. 2 The smart object is placed into your file surrounded by a Free-Transform bounding box. Resize and rotate the smart object while placing it to the left of the canvas. Press Enter key to commit the transformation. 3 Use the Pen tool to draw a closed path around the pink edge of the rotated poster. The smart object’s black background should lie outside of your finished path. Ensure that the Pen tool is set to create paths and the Add to Path Area option is enabled. 171 Chapter 10: Photocopier Meets Photoshop 10 24 With your new path selected and your smart object targeted in the Layers palette, choose Layer Ͼ Vector Mask Ͼ Current Path from the menu to clip your smart object with the path. You will see a vector mask added to your smart object in the Layers palette. If you wish to edit your poster at any point, all that you need to do is double-click on the smart object in the Layers palette. This will open a new document containing a layered version of the poster. You can make any changes you like to the poster file. Once you save the changes, the smart object will automatically update within this file, reflecting the changes you made. Examining the poster you’ve created A successful urban poster art effect is the culmination of a number of essential ingredients. a Converting your images to grayscale and then enhancing the contrast is an excellent way to get started. It allows you to cr eate simple, high-contrast images that lend themselves nicely to real-world photocopier degradation without losing any essential detail. b Scanning the photocopied results and then using the Polygonal Lasso tool allows you to create an imperfect and choppy composition. Because most r eal-world underground posters are put together by manually cutting and pasting, a choppy Photoshop selection technique is necessary to ensure an authentic look. c Creating areas of color that overlap the imagery on a layer with a multiply blending mode simulates authentic silkscreen-printing effects . Usually, urban posters that are silkscreened are hastily created with poor registration and as a result, colors overlap and tend to look sloppy. d Now, even though we started with a folded piece of paper in the background, the results were still a little too crisp looking. Adding a photo of actual torn-up posters on the top layer helps to provide a gritty, textured effect. a d c b a d c b 172 Part Two: Unconventional Methods 10 Try varying your color scheme Because this style of urban artwork is comprised of flat, solid colors, it lends itself nicely to hue/saturation adjustments. As is evident in these poster designs for The Weekend , a hue adjustment, after all is said and done, can open the door to a plethora of new color combinations. Sometimes you’ll be taken by surprise to see how well a color combination that you’d never think to try will work out. Source : Original Weekend press photo courtesy of Teenage USA Recordings. 173 Chapter 10: Photocopier Meets Photoshop 10 Other inferior devices Although we explored the thermal qualities of old fax machines in the previous chapter, they can also be used to deteriorate, just like an old photocopier is used in this chapter. The central figure in this composition is the result of copying and re-copying black-and-white printouts with a fax machine instead of a photocopier. With fax machines, you’re likely to see line patterns form rather than the random noise patterns caused by photocopying. In any case, it still helps to create a wonderfully distressed result. Source : Model photo courtesy of Paul O’Connor: www.paulandpaul.co.uk . [...]... control and flexibility when it comes to creating custom selections from black -and- white data 176 11 Chapter 11: Urban Lowbrow Art PART ONE: Building the background 1 To get started, open up the bkd.jpg file from the CD This will act as the background layer in our new working file Next, open up the black -and- white heart.jpg file Type Control(PC)/Command(Mac)-a to select all of the image contents and then... the black -and- white artwork in the Layers palette Reduce the layer opacity slightly, revealing some of the painterly texture beneath Use this same method again to add color into his skin and hair on other layers beneath the group containing the black -and- white art PART FOUR: Bitmaps and type layers Add the heart A scanned drawing, converted to bitmap mode, provides the basis for the heart-shaped selection... working file Paste the copied art into the file as a new layer and use Free-Transform to adjust size, rotation, and position 182 3 Open up the lefthand.jpg file and repeat the process Apply filters to the original background and duplicate layers Flatten the file and encircle the hand with a path Load the path as a selection and copy Paste the art into the working file and transform the layer contents... granted is something that we Photoshop artists must carefully plan and calculate In order to achieve similar results, it is up to the digital artist to devise a process that mimics the techniques of the real-world approach This process is outlined step-by-step within this chapter So lower your chair, lean back, and let’s create an urban lowbrow masterpiece The techniques used in this chapter are not... mainstream art Paint is thrown around with abandon, new elements are added on top of old, and the visual result has an incredibly loose feel to it This is something that is rarely achieved or even addressed in the world of digital art Things are often very contrived and the feeling of abandon is rarely even attempted The recklessness and abandon that the paint slingers take for granted is something that we Photoshop. .. understanding of shape layers, path creation, and the Lasso tool is required 12 Part Three: Real World Photoshop What you’ll learn in this chapter Creative Techniques and Working Methods Preparation of image components As you read through this chapter and begin the process of creating the featured illustration on the previous page, you’ll not only create something impressive but also gain an understanding... begin with real-world resources Visualize puncture effects Converted and adjusted black -and- white art is an infinitely useful tool when compositing The usefulness of this as a resource extends beyond the obvious use as an image component on the canvas By creating selections from the art and hiding regions of groups via masks based on the selections, you’ll learn to puncture holes in artwork that is... uses the current foreground and background colors to produce its results; so in order to create a black -and- white effect, we need to set the foreground and background colors to their default blackand-white state Press the “d” key on the keyboard to set the foreground and background colors to their default state Choose FilterϾSketchϾPhotocopy from the menu Adjust the detail and darkness settings until... Layers palette and fill the selection with black 179 11 Part Two: Unconventional Methods PART TWO: Introducing painted textures 5 Deactivate the dice selection Open up the bluepaint.jpg file and use the Magic Wand to select a range of blue color from within the image Hold down the Control(PC)/ Command(Mac) key and drag the selected paint into the working file as a new layer Choose EditϾFree-Transform from... contents of the image and copy them Return to your working file, create a new alpha channel, and invert it by typing Control(PC)/Command(Mac)-i Paste your copied dice into the new, inverted channel 3 Enable the visibility of the composite channel Position your selection contents to the left and then load the channel as a selection Invert the selection by typing Control(PC)/ Command(Mac)-Shift-i Target the . file. Next, open up the black -and- white heart.jpg file. Type Control(PC)/Command(Mac)-a to select all of the image contents and then type Control(PC)/ Command(Mac)-c to copy the contents of the. foreground and background colors to produce its results; so in order to create a black -and- white effect, we need to set the foreground and background colors to their default black- and- white state that we Photoshop artists must carefully plan and calculate. In order to achieve similar results, it is up to the digital artist to devise a process that mimics the techniques of the real-world