140 brushes and over

100 vector images

ISSUE 48

FANTASY
47

THE RULES OF
The rules of fantasy painting | Get creative with Curves | Home studio kit | Interview: Marko Djurdjevic

HOW TO…
Get to grips with the Pen tool
Blend multiple stock resources
Create professional sepia tones

PAINTING
Design a grungy photomontage
Go monochrome with Calculations

Improve your digital paintings with expert

advice on planning, composition and lighting

5-PAGE WORKSHOP

GET CREATIVE
WITH CURVES
Add a metallic effect to monochrome
photos using the High Pass filter and Curves

THI S
E
CRE
A
V
T
ER
CO UR
H O BY-S
WIT STEP- DE
GE
6-PA TEP

INTERVIEW WITH

MARVEL
PRO GUI

BUILD COMIC ARTIST

A HOME MARKO DJURDJEVIC
STUDIO
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk

Must-have products whatever

your budget or skill level

ISSUE 48 £5.99
GETpages
ON OUR COVER!
ISSN 1748-7277
48
pages of of professional
9 771748 727009
professional Upload
tipstoand
ourexpert
website for a
tutorials
WWW.ADVANCEDPHOTOSHOP.CO.UK tips and expert tutorials chance to see your image here

001_AVP_48_CoverWk4.indd 1 19/8/08 17:06:42

 Cover

Cover image
Jeff M.de Guzman is a concept artist for a VFX
company in the Philippines. One of his other images,
Golden Bee, has received many accolades, including Imageer:
an Excellence Award for Ballistic Publishing’s Exposé JEFF M.DE GUZMAN
6 (it was also the cover for the Limited Edition
version), as well as a former Advanced Photoshop Pic
of the Week. Our cover image displays the same
striking painting skills that made Golden Bee so
FIND OUT HOW THIS
popular – find out how it’s done on page 34.
/
IMAGE WAS CREATED
ON PAGE 34
www.jeffmdart.com

4
Advanced Photoshop

004_AVP_48_CoverImage.indd 4 21/8/08 12:50:03

 se
owca d
ry sh e
Galle .advanc .uk
wwwoshop.co
phot

ON THE COVER: SOUTHERN SUNSET

Saizen Media Studios; www.saizenmedia.com
“The feel and the look of the image take inspiration from a
hypothetical Mississippi/Kansas country barn in the mid-
Fifties, right around the time of day when farmers put their
tools to rest and peace takes over the fields.”

ISSUE #48

inside... INSIGHT 7 10
News and showcases from around the globe
News 10
Showcase: Borja Fresco Costal 14
Showcase: Krzysztof Domaradzki 16
Showcase: Bob Cheshire 18
Showcase: Julian Knight 20

COMMUNITY 7 24
Our readers’ comments, feedback and images
from our mailbox, email, website and forum
Mailbox 24
On the web 26
THE COVER
Our cover image this month is courtesy of

7 72
Jeffrey M.De Guzman, a regular on the Advanced
Photoshop website and forum. See more images at
www.jeffmdart.com 34 HELP
Tips, techniques and problems solved
Learn how this image was
created, from start to finish Helpdesk 72
Insider Info: Calculations 74

RESOURCES 7 88
Vital assets to improve your Photoshop work
Hardware and software 88
d va nced p at Book reviews 91
isit the A nline shoo.uk
V o .c
shop ineshop oks
ot o
Ph .imag es, bo 66 76 THIS MONTH’S CD 7 96
www ack issu andise One reader talks us through Our pick of the best reader Superb stock art, project files and more!
for b d merch
his work submissions this month
CD guide 96
an Brush index 98

6
Advanced Photoshop

006-007_AVP_48_Contents.indd 6 21/8/08 15:29:09

 40
Learn the rules of fantasy
painting here

© Andreas Rocha

TECHNIQUES
FEATURES/REGULAR
INTERVIEW: MARKO DJURDJEVIC 7 28
Essential guides to professional Photoshop skills

The artist known for his Marvel creations discusses his work
CREATE THE COVER
Learn how to re-create our cover image here
7 34
FEATURE: FANTASY ART 7 40 URBAN PHOTOMONTAGE 7 48
We take a look at the rules of creating the perfect digital painting Go grunge with our guide to making an urban manip

PEER PRESSURE 7 76 PRO PHOTOMANIPULATIONS

Perfect blending techniques explained
7 54
Our pick of the best Advanced Photoshop reader creations

FEATURE: BUILD A HOME STUDIO 7 82 METALLIC PHOTO EFFECTS

Add a silver sheen to a portrait image with ease
7 60
Whatever your budget, we have the essential kit you need
READER’S WORKSHOP
REVIEWS 7 88 HAVE FUN WITH STOCK IMAGES 7 66
Genius graphics tablet, Panasonic TZ5, iCap and books Make the most out of free resources

7
Advanced Photoshop

006-007_AVP_48_Contents.indd 7 21/8/08 15:29:47

 Editorial

Imagine Publishing Ltd

Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth
Dorset BH2 6EZ

Welcome to ☎

g ca eth dio on
+44 (0)1202 586200

r
w see ing ove
m ritin ou om stu cts
Website: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk

.co w . Y s s e du
Advanced Photoshop

ce d ne re’ om ro

w. is
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w h
en an yo he h t p
Magazine

ni
sp ork ver so t ng a bes
Editor in Chief

at n
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Jo Cole

tw r e s, di e
ar e fo get uil s th
NC
We’re going back to basics this issue ☎ 01202 586224

er d r b re
jo.cole@imagine-publishing.co.uk

PE
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KS
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th ar nce

.
Julie Easton

em e
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NIC
th k Sp
every digital artist needs to know. First, julie.easton@imagine-publishing.co.uk

c
Ni
Senior Staff Writer
Adam Smith
we break down the popular art of Designer
Stacey Grove
fantasy painting, looking at the rules Sub Editor
Sam Robson

of composition, application and Head of Design

Ross Andrews

concept and planning. Contributors

Stewart Michael Bruce, Lee Gough, Jeff M. De Guzman, Amy Neal, Kirk Nelson, Nick
Spence, Lora Barnes (design) and Dani Taylor (design)
Even if fantasy landscapes aren’t your thing, the Disc
practical tips and skills will help improve your work Interactive Media Manager

ot pe les
Lee Groombridge

m nc lan t t rko
ph ca ru
/a d as ab M ,
er .a nt t art th
fa es p nt ic
y.d m sh s
ia e o in
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whatever genre you dabble in. It’s no good having all the

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da va y ou a
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Head of Digital Projects

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st az e fer rap

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Stuart Dixon
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co o itio find f M th
ttp m h ny nc

Multimedia Editor

e m os d r o sy
IE
t h few nd a ela

Steve Litton
researching the ultimate home studio kit to suit every

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apxtrahelp@imagine-publishing.co.uk

co vic m en
w an n jo ork tly a
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of dje ng s be
budget, whether you’re designing for fun, making a
SM

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ur wi ha
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Digital or printed media packs are available on request.

iq e ha rr
AM

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AM
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ot f d e cu

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te m
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in m S
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ne , Am

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de da

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To

Michaela Cotty
photos, including a look at professional ☎ 01202 586441
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photomontage or using free stock imagery to ☎ 01202 586436
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We’ve also had a chance to talk to Marko Djurdjevic, the Cassie Gilbert
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man who designs for Marvel and has a unique style all of
eb o is an at bee

cassandra.gilbert@imagine-publishing.co.uk
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e a se ry en an
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Ph de See tu e y nd
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The next issue of Advanced

Photoshop goes on sale 9 October 2008 RIBU
8
Advanced Photoshop TORS
008_AVP_48_EdIntro.indd 8 21/8/08 15:31:20
 Keeping an eye on the latest trends in contemporary photography, art
and design, Insight sets out to snapshot innovation in the making

Adobe launches new Elements and Lightroom

Adobe has announced the launch of three new products into the
creative market. First, and most recently, it has unveiled Version 7
of both Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements. Pre-orders
have been available from the official Adobe website (www.
adobe.com) since 26 August, with shipping expected
throughout September. Adobe has also updated the popular
image-management software Lightroom, which is now in its
second full incarnation.
Both Photoshop and Premiere Elements come with a set of
specific upgrades to increase creative capacity and professional
workflow. Photoshop Elements 7 includes the new Touch Up
tools within Quick Fix mode. These let you selectively adjust the
image, and when using a Touch Up tool to define an area in the
Quick Fix editing mode, it will be available as a mask in Full Edit
mode to make further adjustments.
Photomerge now adds a Scene Cleaner option to get rid of
elements in an image that you don’t want. It does this by taking
the clean scene from one image and merging it with the busy
area of another image. There’s also more efficient ways to source
files using the Easy Search box, an improved function that lets
you search for tag words and metadata information. You can
SIMPLY THE BEST: Photoshop Elements 7 offers the consumer market all
perform combined searches with more than one variable for the best bits of Photoshop, without the technical overload
concise results.
Premiere Elements 7 has some great new integrated video favourite clips first. Videomerge works in the same capacity as
commands including Instant Movie, which assembles a movie green-screen technology. It works on any colour, although blue
according to scripts based on a theme in minutes, putting your and green are preferable, and visual elements and subjects
remain distinct from the background when cutting out.
This software also contains Smart Tagging. This splits a clip
ENDORSEMENT:
“Photoshop into scenes based on cut points, and applies automatic tags, such
Elements 7 is all as the quality of the clip or the number of faces detected in a
about helping
people to tell their scene, whether there is motion or tracking shots or any zooming,
story. We provide etc. Smart Sound provides 20 songs that can be remixed
the tools to help automatically to fit any length.
them create the
‘wow’ factor with Photoshop Lightroom 2 is designed to be smarter, faster and
their photos, while more accurate, including an enhanced Library module. Its
keeping it quick
primary function is to streamline and accelerate photographers’
and easy to use,”
Mike Iampietro, workflows, demonstrating the ability to visually organise images
senior product across multiple hard drives, Lightroom 2 and its powerful Library
manager for Adobe
consumer products filter bar.
A few other innovations include new dual-monitor support,
which permits users to expand their workspace, giving them the
flexibility to edit and organise images in a way that maximises an
additional display. Then there’s the Graduated Filter, expanding
the toolbox in Lightroom. This allows for edits to be made to
PROFESSIONAL
larger areas by applying gradually diminishing or increasing
PHOTO SOLUTION: adjustment effects, such as exposure, clarity and saturation, alone
Lightroom 2 offers a or in any combination.
professional solution for
digital photographers to These are but a few of the functions that these great new
manage high volumes of packages provide. Photoshop Elements 7 and Premiere Elements
images with improved 7 are PC only at the moment and sell individually at £59, but
Library functions to help
users find images there is also a combined package option at £89. Lightroom retails
quicker, as well as at a price of £175 for new users, with an upgrade price of £69 for
expanded editing tools
registered users of qualifying Lightroom packages. It is
multiplatform, and there are discounts available when buying it
alongside Photoshop CS3.

www.adobe.com

10
Advanced Photoshop

010-012_AVP_48_News.indd 10 21/8/08 15:31:59

 PhotoshopDaily launches
Advanced Photoshop, alongside sister title Photoshop
Creative, has launched a new news service to keep you up to
date with all the latest happenings in the Photoshop world.
PhotoshopDaily, which can be found at http://news.
09.08
This is the latest in a long line of innovative extras from
HOT
or
Imagine Publishing. Recently, these have included the highly
addictive Photo Face-Off feature in conjunction with Digital
Photographer magazine (www.dphotographer.co.uk/

photoshopcreative.co.uk, is in addition to the Editor’s Blog
service that already runs on both magazines’ individual
websites, which keeps you in the know about magazine-
related events and team news (check them out at
NOT
photofaceoff), which lets you choose the best image from
two randomly generated photos. Also, the eMag collection
has been expanded with the launch of Photoshop Creative
Volume 3, a year’s worth of the magazine on one easily

HOT
http://blog.advancedphotoshop.co.uk and http://blog. searchable PDF disc (www.imagineshop.co.uk).
photoshopcreative.co.uk). PHOTOSHOP DAILY: Our new daily news blog will bring you
the latest developments in the Photoshop world, including
product releases, exhibitions, new artists, great websites and
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk much, much more. Share your views on the news with the
www.photoshopcreative.co.uk integrated commenting function

BANG BANG
T-SHIRTS
www.bangbangt-shirts.com
The ‘Anything 3’ competition is just
one of many monthly contests and
promises the winner a line of printed
T-shirts and a £150 cash prize.

CREATIVE EXTRAS: “The launch itself

started with a nice press kit, sent out
to
GREAT BRITISH
100 opinion leaders. It included EDITORIAL
exclusively silver-screen printed €40 (approx £31.69/$63.49)
invitations, a poster, a pinball and the www.indexbooks.co.uk
Absolut 100 bottle in a high-quality
box.” – Frederik Frede A selection of outstanding editorial
design projects produced in Great
SOUNDTRACK ARTIST: The Britain, together with innovative
dedicated David Kamp supplied
design secrets.
the fitting animation soundtrack.
Sample his work at www.
davidkamp.de
PHOTOSHOP
CREATIVE BOOKAZINE
£12.99
www.imagineshop.co.uk
The Photoshop Creative Collection
Volume 4 bookazine includes 250
pages of creative tutorials.

Absolut inspiration BAD PHOTOSHOP

NOT
t brand innovation
If you haven’t yet witnessed the lates photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com
a rang e, Abso lut 100, then check it
in the Absolut Vodk The site itself is great! Good for a
ding a striki ng rang e of print -base d laugh, but it’s such a shame to see a
out. Inclu
g and slick , eleg ant anim ation targeting a powerful program like Photoshop
adve rtisin
inspire animators, pinball machines, we
stylish male key audience, it’s sure to shown during the events and on the going to waste in the wrong hands.
alike. rground, from Hamburg
graphic designers and web desig ners asked motion expert Timo Boese, Lowe
and brought to love his style, and knew he
Commiss ione d by the agen cy K-MB for help and support. We know and NULOOQ NAVIGATOR
oreS leep and Actu ally, he loved the graphics
audiences by the creative studios NoM would perfectly fit for the job. $79.99 (approx £40.91)
one of shee r pleas ure and it te conc ”
ept.
Lowerground, the project is and the black-and-whi www.logitech.com
visit the links below.
shows in the cons isten t style and degr ee of For more information and samples,
al material The NuLOOQ navigator from
professionalism in all the promotion Logitech isn’t that bad a product, just
ciate d. Fred erik Fred e from NoM oreSleep explains:
asso not as smooth to use as promised.
hics and concepts for the www.k-mb.de
“NoMoreSleep provided grap http://nomoresleep.net
flyer s, stick er and even ts.” He goes on www.lowerground.com
mailings, posters,
the anim ation of the clip, whic h also was
to say: “For

11
Advanced Photoshop

010-012_AVP_48_News.indd 11 21/8/08 16:07:07

 insight
Alcantara Lab’s extraordinary contest
Alcantara Lab’s ‘Extraordinary, Every Day Travel
Contest 2008’ wants entrants to design

DIARY
extraordinary objects, elements and
accessories that can be used, transported and
utilised during everyday activities that take
place in a journey.

DATES
Based on the coexistence of functional,
sensorial and aesthetic values that are found in
one material, which can be experienced by
those who enjoy the products they use
regularly, this event centres on the theme of
the nomadic. It addresses the space separating
ABSTRACTION IN us from our environments and the objects we
take with us to improve the quality of our time.
AMERICAN The competition is accessible to all, from
PHOTOGRAPHY graphic to fashion designers, architectures and
19 September – 14 December simply creative-minded individuals. Work
www.slam.org groups’ submissions are also permitted, with one of the EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: The Extraordinary, Every Day Travel
Saint Louis Art Museum, St Louis, US collective designated group leader to be responsible for Contest inspired by “contemporary nomadism” is open to
fashion designers, architects, designers and creative
the project. Not only are there these advantages, but there professionals of any nationality and age
THE LONDON are also impressive cash prizes up for grabs, with the first
DESIGN FESTIVAL prize winning €10,000. visiting the site and downloading the announcement. Those
There is also the promise of an awards ceremony for who wish to enter can do so using the online entry form. The
Until 23 September
info@londondesignfestival.com winners and participants to be recognised for their efforts, deadline expires on 31 October. For more specific information,
London, UK and this will take place in January 2009 in Paris. The visit www.alcantaralab.com.
selection results will be announced on the official
HOW MANGA Alcantara site and passed on to the respective entrants.
www.alcantaralab.com
TOOK OVER Of course, like other competitions of its kind, there are a
set of criteria and rules and these can be digested again by
THE WORLD
Until 27 September
www.urbis.org.uk
Urbis, Manchester, UK
Archive innovation made easy
PETER FRIEDL FILM Indxr seems like it’s going to be a prod
uct with potential.
AND PHOTOGRAPHY Presented by the people at Suprb, this
beta-stage
with all the log-in info from your host
elements sorted on your hard drive
ready to roll and all
SPRING PROJECTS application is designed to perform
web application dedicated to both
as a “self-contained FTP server. Users will be able to uplo
, then connect to your
ad everything and, hey
Until 25 October presenting and presto, everything will automatically
www.springprojects.co.uk archiving mixed-media formats throu appear in the website.
gh the browser.” No HTML coding needed or image crop
Spring House, London, UK If it can deliver on its promises, Indx ping or thumbnail
r will make web creation necessary.
creation a doddle for creative enthusias
ts around the Inventor Andreas Pihlström explains:
THE AFFORDABLE globe. Its utility couldn’t be simpler.
Just buy your domain exact same thing you upload, creat
“Indxr shows the
e and modify on your
ART FAIR CREATOR ENDORSEMENT: The brain
child behind this latest
FTP server. Every created folder has
the ability to be
23-26 October software revelation, Andreas Pihlström, password protected, described with
says: “Indxr gratifies some some words, how you
www.affordableartfair.com and astonishes the rest. Check it out want the images to be displayed, from
yourself” cropped, thumbnail
Battersea Park, London, UK or full size. You’re also able to upload
files, delete files and
folders and create folders directly via
the admin tool.
TRANSFIGURE “You can tag every folder with any word
the content. Just separate them with
s you feel match
Until 2 November a comma and hit Save.
www.kemperart.org If you click any of the tags, you’ll be
taken to a filter page
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, that shows other folders using the same
tag you’ve set and
Kansas City, US the rest of the related tags.” If this all
sounds appealing, then
check out the link below, continue to
the Forum and sign
WALL STORIES: up for the latest beta testing.
CHILDREN’S
WALLPAPER & BOOKS www.indxr.suprb.com
Until 8 May 2009
www.cooperhewitt.org
Cooper-Hewitt National Design
Museum, New York City, US

12
Advanced Photoshop

010-012_AVP_48_News.indd 12 21/8/08 15:33:05

 insight
00:22: “My first big
work, inspired by
Muse’s music. It’s a
cover for the book
Willkommen In Otopia
by Justina Robson
(German Edition) and is
also in Exotique 2”

DRYAD:
FORGOTTEN ot, Jean-
Aleksi Bricl
ssbach and
Sébastien Ro
s are but a
Andrew Jone
l’s major
few of Costa
flu ences an d favourites
in

l
Borja Fresco Costa l, ak a Ne kro , is a firm contributor to the
CGSociety commun
pa ge s of the
ity.

Borja Fresco Costa the

n be discovered in lped
nceptual designs ca sé and Exotique, which has really he
His compelling, co bli sh ing titles Expo ny doors for me.
Ballis tic Pu s op en ed ma
prestigious plains: “This ha then
nition, as Costal ex people, and clients
him to gain recog rk ha s be en exposed to lots of
wo ions.”
Thanks to them my eresting commiss senting
to work on really int macabre and almost cyber-noir, pre
started to ask me mi x of the e be en dra wing
eclectic stal reveals: “I’v
Costal’s work is an t ch ara cters and places. Co m the reality, where I
d po ign an
inexplicable an way of escaping fro lings.” He adds: “W
hen I
ber. It started as a could show my fee
since I can remem s the be st wa y I as be tte r tha n
and wa and ide
pushed my limits reflect my feelings ally autodidact,
l illustration, I could Photoshop was tot
jumped into digita wa ys. My introd uc tion to
dit ion al
through the tra the computer.”
g hours in front of evolution. Costal
just working for lon s had a huge bearing on his creative artists can indulge in
ch ap plica tio n ha Strok es, wh ere
Su or School and digital
the Trazos School, on, graphic design
studied design at cip lines such as animati a lot of talented
ini ng in dis it, I me t
vocational tra e was really worth improve my
cinema: “That tim s he lpe d to
people that alway ski lls. I really thank
own
them for that.”
Ever since, Costal
ital
has gone from dig
gth to str en gth ,
str en
g his “un iqu e
producin
not
and personal work,
t
better or worse, jus
en t”. He co nc lud es:
differ
oto sh op for all
“I use Ph
work,
the processes in my
tches
from the early ske
d of the
through to the en
e lot s of bru shes
work. I us
g over
that I’ve been makin help
they
the years because
sim pli fy the job.
me to
me feel
Photoshop makes
when
really comfortable
ating dig ita l illu stration.”
cre
kro.es
e work I produced
for the / www.ne
ZERO: “This is som d is
zos Sch oo l in a Photoshop class an
Tra
tured in Exp osé 5” PROPHECY: “Th
fea is was an invited
for The Pepper Pro entry
jec
Pepper, a characte t. A interpretation of
14 ‘13 Inches’ style”
r by Stanley Lau
in my
Advanced Photoshop

014-015_AVP_48_Insight1.indd 14 21/8/08 15:34:35

 09.08
BLUE FRAME:
“Blue Flame was
purely an
experimental work”

IK ARUS: “This
image is an
the
interpretation of
ro in
mythology of Íca t”
ep
a modern conc

REQUIEM: “From
my 13 Inches wo
work is an old on rld, this first
e bu
fully worked in Ph t very important to me, and
otoshop”

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 insight

work from a
: YouReNoIdol is
YOU’RE NO IDOL )
jec t (20 08
personal pro

STORMVOGE
L:
published by Fa Cover and illustrations for St
bryka Słów, 20 ormvogel,
07

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 Krzysztof Domaradzki
09.08
Krzysztof Domaradzki is a typically self-taught digital artist, drawing on a plethora of creative influences,
past and present, to produce his niche style. Studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań, Poland,
Domaradzki specialised in drawing and metal techniques. His earlier years were consumed by his
creative appetite as he showed keenness for anything to do with drawing.
“I got really into comic books, of which I was a huge fan throughout my primary school years and later
in high school. Back in the early Nineties, there weren’t so many comic books around because of the
political system in Poland, but as soon as it changed once the system caved in, I would buy Batman and
lots of Marvel books, especially Spiderman,” explains Domaradzki. However, his attentions soon
matured, as he reveals: “By then, I knew I was going to be either an illustrator or a comic-book artist. That
changed, however, when I went to the Academy of Fine Arts. I discovered there the human body that I
had never seen before. I have continued to discover it ever since.”
Graduating and working professionally for two years on storyboards and product illustrations, it
wasn’t long before Domaradzki turned his attentions towards freelancing, augmenting and enhancing
his skills through his design studio, kxx. He explains: “I mostly work on the computer, combining the
craftsmanship with digital to make it all work. I try to experiment a lot with various techniques and
styles. I never really wanted to be known for one style or one trend. Of
course, it would be nice if one could see that in every medium and in
d Deliria,
each technique there is a certain touch of kxx, but I am not sure if that’s MILD DELIRIA: Mil ese are
200 4, pencil on paper. “Th
always the issue when you work for different clients.” He continues: that I made
large-scale drawings
“Often, the clients first want something dark and the very next day the Academy of
during my study at
as part of my
they desire something sweet and candy-like. I try to do both! But if Fine Arts in Poznań
there were anything I could say about my style, I would say it’s a dip lom a wo rk”
mixture of craft and digital remastering,
often accompanied by abstract
backgrounds and type elements. A bit
chaotic, but all in all, charming!”

/ www.studiokxx.com

KXX BY NIGH
T PROMOTION:
promotional ma Personal
terial, 2008

TH: These are two

IDOLS TO WORK WI
trat ion s from one of
of five illus
projects. Elvis The
Domaradzki’s personal
od, 2008
King and Clint Eastwo

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 insight
Bob Cheshire
Bob Cheshire is a 35-year-old senior concept artist, currently working at Volatile Games, a division of
Blitz Games Studios (www.blitzgamesstudios.com) on a top-secret title for a well-known producer:
“It is incredibly frustrating that I’m not able to discuss the game or the concept work I’ve produced for
it, as it’s still in full development.” While he can’t give anything away about his most recent project, he
is enthusiastic when singing the praises of his employer: “Blitz Games Studios is an awesome company
to work for. I get to work with the best artists and animators, and the company feels like it’s growing by
the day with the ever-increasing amount of fresh directions and games it is taking on.”
The British artist has always been interested in design, but finds it difficult to pinpoint the exact
moment when he knew that it would become his future career: “We’re visually orientated, so we are
always assessing design in some form, whether it’s graphics, architecture, a texture or simply
appreciating a shape or colour. I think I’ve always enjoyed and been interested in colour and shape,
and it’s simply been through education and experience that my appreciation has developed into a
kind of formal understanding. I guess there was no singular moment I signed on to that.”
He uses both Painter and Photoshop in his work, often switching between the two: “Things like
custom brushes, while possible in Painter, are so much more workable in Photoshop. Selection tools
and the versatility of editing your images are just so much more subtle in Photoshop. The concept
artist has an art director to please, so the ability to edit and modify your artwork is simply part of the
job. Certainly in that way, I can’t imagine being without Photoshop.”
Cheshire studied Fine Art at the Falmouth School of Art (as it was known then), before doing a
PGCE. He taught art for ten years in secondary schools, but began freelancing while he was still
teaching. Nowadays, he works on both his day job and as a freelancer: “I’m extremely lucky that I’m in
a position where I’m taking work on in the evenings too, as I continue to do some freelance work for
old and new clients.” He also occasionally teaches at the Compton Verney gallery: “Compton Verney is
far more fine-art based. But it serves as a good reminder that working as a concept artist relies on
strong, traditional drawing skills.” This is something that Cheshire thinks is extremely important: “Art
picture 5: “Again, this was completed very quickly in an improvised way.
Consequently what it depicts is direct and hopefully reads quickly too” education is important, but it is usually one of the first things that is squeezed out at schools. I’m a big
believer in creating students who are visually literate and who are able to have a dialogue with all this
visual information that we’re surrounded by. Traditional drawing skills are becoming less and less
valued unfortunately, especially at degree level, which professionally I find appalling.”

/ www.bobcheshire.co.uk

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 09.08 picture 2: “I created this image specifically with this magazine
in mind. I enjoy these big public spaces that are busy, that are
familiar and unfamiliar, are possible to explore and maybe
suggest part of a story”

picture 3: “I try
no
titles and even wh t to use
en I do they’ll
often be a plain
as po
think they help rea ssible. I don’t
lly and can even
work against an
image. The
interpretation ca
n sometimes
be led by the title picture 5: “I try to create images that retain some gestural
which I’d rather
not do” or painterly qualities if possible. Working intuitively hopefully
helps retains a sense of vigour in the image”

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 insight
red
ally manufactu
idea of genetic ents.
M EA SU RE : “Based on the e up to yo ur exact requirem
MAID TO ls
asur
are made to me ally part of the set, I included
the
th es e mo de orked
women, actu
e elements were to the models’ outfits and rew
h mo st of th
Althoug tached
se, price tags at d”
green garden ho appear more visually balance
gr ou nd to
the back

ELECTRON GIRLGIRL: “Inspired by the electronic genius of Tesla, this

shot shows a fully charged, high-voltage Electron Girl, complete with
shocked-up hair. A lot of the parts came from digging around in the
garage. The sparks were edited in afterwards and careful attention
was paid to the skin to bring out the shiny highlights”

Julian Knight nceptual fashion ph

otographer from the
Julian Knight is a co e work involves a lot of image
os a
United Kingdom wh shop as an everyday tool. He took
ha nc ing , us ing Photo rta kin g a de gre e in
en de
into his career, un
conventional route ba ck of which he lan
ded several
sig n, off the tually moving
Graphic De ab roa d, ev en
in the UK and entertainment
design roles both s an d the
consumer brand
into art directing for ph y, de ve loping the
rks with photogra in design and
industry. Now he wo ts using his ski lls
ic projec
look of photograph
. l
Adobe Photoshop ination of persona
rking, with a comb sy. “Currently, I’m
Knight is always wo bu
projects keeping him th a
and commissioned personal photographic projects wi
complet ing a ser ies of
,” he say s wh en asked about
the near future
view to exhibit in commission came
dertaking. His first
his most recent un ner asked for a ‘look
ny ye ars ag o, wh en a clothing desig l see his work on
ma u’l
d, but nowadays yo us
book’ to be designe ernational hair journal and in vario
ve r of an int
the front co zin es.
graphy maga
digital art and photo ential tool in Knight’s work, as he
Photoshop is an ess ild quite elaborate
a co nc ep t photographer, I bu g.
explains . “A s designs and stylin
e very creative set d polished,
images that includ g ve ry cle an an
images lookin in
Generally, I like my image extensively
I ten d to rea rra ng e and develop the g are au the nti c,
so lin
h all my sets and sty
Photoshop. Althoug es the picture a distinct look and
I do giv y
the editing tha t finish.” It is certainl
r days per shot to
often takes up to fou his images have a unique, crisp
d as a
an effective metho ve and vibrant. It’s
. He de scr ibe s his style as “excessi to highly polished
finish t, wh ich lea ds
d concep ut
fusion of colour an my own style witho
y. I try to maintain
model photograph .”
ne in particular
influenced by anyo
being too heavily
m
ngshotphotos.co
/ www.sli

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 09.08
ENCHANTED GARDEN: “This image illustrated a pathway to a magical
garden. All of the elements (set, hair, costume, etc) are authentic. The image
involved little retouching, mostly tidying up, colour tweaking, editing the two
dragonflies in the top left corner and blending in the prosthetic ear on the model”

NO ESCAPE :
“I wanted this
combining viv image to have
id colours with a lively circus fee
image features supe l,
escape artist Ch rhero villain characters. The
female captor ris Cross as him
keeping him un self, and his
der lock and ke
y”

h of
strates the deat
ATH: “This illu ver fluid and
CYBORG DE sp illi ng of sil
th the d
artificial life, wi a sense of depletion. I edite
ing
gold glitter giv ph ot og ra ph s of lawn
taking
the elbows by hing them in to
nics and retouc
mower mecha
”
appear robotic

21
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020-021_AVP_48_Insight4.indd 21 21/8/08 15:44:32

 Letters

Mailbox
Do you have a question or opinion about the
magazine? Email your thoughts to
advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk
or visit www.advancedphotoshop/forum
SUBJECT: Subscription queries
FROM: Gyorgy Fekete
My name is Gyorgy Fekete and I’m living in
Romania. I’d like to ask if it is possible to
subscribe to the Advanced Photoshop
magazine (not the eBook). On the subscription
page, I can’t decide if it’s the print version or
the eBook version of the magazine that I’m
subscribing to. Also, I’d like to ask if the
shipping of the magazines is free of charge?

Editor replies: Thanks for your email, Gyorgy. The

subscription page in the magazine is for the
print version. We don’t currently offer a
subscription for the eMag, as we only release
them every 16 issues as a collection of those
issues and not on a month-by-month basis. The
price quoted on the subscription page is
inclusive of postage and packing. Order online
at www.imaginesubs.co.uk.
SUBJECT: Brushes on the CD
FROM: Sarah-Jayne Morris
I have just picked up my first ever copy (issue
46). I love digital art and have been buying
other similar titles, but it was the blob on the
front of yours with ‘500 free brushes’ on it that
made me pick up your title. And I wasn’t
disappointed. The brushes are great and I
have been having a lot of fun using them. I
enjoyed reading the magazine, too – I have
been following the vectors and photos
tutorial by Justin Maller, using those brushes
to give it a personal touch.
Editor replies: Thanks for your comments, Sarah-
Jayne. We try and find the best content for our
CD each issue, including brushes, vectors,
images and fonts, so that you can use them in
your creations and to personalise the tutorials. I
hope you keep buying the magazine, and we’ll
keep finding the best artists and resources!
SUBJECT: Insight mix-up
FROM: Advanced Photoshop team
Last issue (issue 47), we ran an Insight special
on the student talents exhibited in D&AD’s
POSTCARD 3 (BELOW): This great image is by
Jason Kerley, whose work was presented at New Blood
2008. To find out more, visit www.jasonkerley.co.uk or
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Our online subscription service is
email him on info@jasonkerley.co.uk
the quickest way to set up your monthly fix of Advanced
Photoshop
New Blood 2008. We printed the wrong
caption with one of the images, or the wrong
image with one of the captions – it depends
how you look at it! In any case, we want to
make sure that credit is given where it’s due.
The image titled Postcard 3 in the Insight is
actually Wind Test by Matt Layzel (www.
mattlayzell.com, matt.layzell@hotmail.com),
whose image Viewing Room is also featured in
the Insight along with his information. The
real Postcard 3 image is pictured right and is
by the talented Jason Kerley (www.
jasonkerley.co.uk, info@jasonkerley.com).
Sorry for the mix-up, and thanks to Jason for
pointing it out!
SUBJECT: Tutorial confusion
FROM: Lawrie Johnston
I have been working through the Reader’s
Workshop in issue 46 (Working With Photos). I
have followed the instructions, but my mask
thumbnail doesn’t look the same as the one in
the screenshot for step 1. Mine is all white,
whereas the one in the screenshot is black
with the model outline in white. Help!

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PARADISE LOST: Images featured are The Root of
a Friendship by Andrew Downie (right), Mi’kmaq
Spring by Stefan Valent (above) and Paradise by
Simon Rudd (above right)
Editor replies: Hi Lawrie. I have received a couple
of emails and phone calls about this very issue.
The step should read as follows: “First, open the
‘Papertexture.psd’ and ‘Anais_colour.psd’ files.
Drag and drop the model image onto the paper
texture and place it in the centre. Cmd/Ctrl-click
on the model layer’s thumbnail (called ‘Anais_
colour’), which will select the model image. Now
add a Reveal Selection layer mask (Layer>Layer
Mask>Reveal Selection) and duplicate the layer,
renaming it ‘Grey’, then move it under the model
image in the Layers palette. Save as ‘Emel1’.”
I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused. I hope
you can now continue with the tutorial.
STEP ERROR: The Working With Photos tutorial
has been causing some problems. Make sure that
you select the model before adding a layer mask to
get it to work
024-025_AVP_48_Letters.indd 25
SUBJECT: What happened to paradise?
FROM: Stefan Valent
I finally got a copy of issue 45 with the Paradise
challenge, and couldn’t find my, or any other
forum member’s, illustration. Did we get cut?
Will my work be appearing in a future issue?
Editor replies: Thanks for your email, Stefan. Back
in issue 45, we had a paradise-themed head-to-
head between Justin Maller and Adam Smith. We
also ran a challenge on our forum (www.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum) asking
readers to submit their own images based on the
idea of ‘Paradise’. However, due to a lack of
entries, we were unable to run them in the
magazine at that time. But I feel that the entries
that did come in deserve a shout, so above are
three submissions from our forum users. Enjoy!
“WE TRY AND
FIND THE BEST
CONTENT FOR OUR
CD EACH ISSUE”
On the
forum
SUBJECT: Where do I start?
FROM: Mams85
Hello all. I am interested in doing
Photoshop as a hobby. What kind of
Photoshop program do I need to buy to be
able to carry out the really interesting
pieces of work?
FROM: revjessecuster
I’d suggest getting Photoshop or Elements
to begin with.
FROM: Nick S
Welcome. You could try downloading the
free trial from the Adobe website or as
revjessecuster suggests, start with Elements,
which is often free with scanners/printers.
Do a lot of reading/watching of tutorials. The
more you read and do, the more easier it
gets. Good luck.
FROM: Mams85
Thank you both for the information. I have
Elements and I’m starting to play around
with some photos. Nothing yet to show, but
I am learning. I appreciate the responses!
FROM: Nick S
When I first started, I bought some training
DVDs (QuickTime) off eBay and found them
really useful. I also got one of those Teach
Yourself VISUALLY Photoshop books; they
are fairly basic and easy to understand.
They also do them for Elements.
FROM: revjessecuster
I find tutorial sites like www.pixel2life.com
very good. Tutorials are a great way to learn.
Join the debate at
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum
25
Advanced Photoshop
21/8/08 15:47:58
 Letters

On the web
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
Our website and readers’ forum is perfect for
showing off Photoshop creations. We present
the best images on the site this month. Log on
and upload to get your images here next issue!
SOUTHERN SUNSET
ARTIST: Saizen Media Studios
EMAIL: info@saizenmedia.com
WEB: www.saizenmedia.com
“Southern Sunset depicts a
warm and dreamy countryside
sunset scene. The feel and the
look of the image take
inspiration from a hypothetical DOWNTOWN
Mississippi/Kansas country ARTIST: Jeff Burgess
barn in the mid-Fifties, right EMAIL: jb-hono@hotmail.com
around the time of day when “This image was created by combining three photos: the
farmers put their tools to rest background, taken with a Nikon D70s, the car, taken with
and peace takes over the fields, while the a Canon EOS 1Ds with a wide-angle lens, and the models,
sunbeams turn the surroundings into a magic place. The digital matte shot with the Canon in a separate photoshoot in a studio.
painting was created for the release of a set of tutorial videos on Photoshop post-processing including use of colour
3D Matte Extraction, a relatively new approach that allows to animate otherwise static enhancement (Curves, Saturation), smoothing of the
matte paintings for the movie and game industry, which is a specific area that we are vehicle surface with the Smudge tool and layers, using an
highly active in. The image, conceived for an animated zooming-in shot in full HD Overlay filter, High Pass and Burn and Dodge tools to
(1,080p) was entirely done in Photoshop, with the exception of the church itself, which emphasise the details.
was first modelled in XSI and then repainted, shaded and texturised in Photoshop. My approach to this type of composition is not to have
The final version of the piece is over 8,000 pixels in width, contains over 60 it accurately reflect reality (ie, light and shadow, etc), but
polished layers and various ambience lighting layers. To see the animated version of to approach the ‘validity’ of an art piece with varied
the piece, or to find out more about this project, please visit our official website at elements that are slightly abstract.”
www.saizenmedia.com.”

FAR FROM
THE CITY
ARTIST: Adam Tredowski
EMAIL: tredowski@gmail.com
WEB: www.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk/
user/tredowski
The model in Far From The
City was created using 3ds
Max software and the
background was created
in Photoshop. The holder
of a CGTalk Choice
Award, Adam has only
been interested in computer graphics for
the last three years, coming from a background in traditional art using
oils, acrylics and pencils, etc, and was featured in our look at 3D software and
Photoshop in the last issue of Advanced Photoshop, so to find out more about him
then take a look in issue 47 and turn to page 84. This was a deserving Pic of the
Week, which was chosen for the levels of detail and use of colour that he exhibits
in this piece.

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 Inter
view

Iron Man, Hercules, Thor, Yellowjacket, Wolverine, Thing, Captain

America, Cloak, Wonder Man, Ms Marvel adn Cable: TM & (c) 2008
Marvel Characters, Inc. Used with permission

MARKO DJURDJEVIC
We question the comic-book world’s artistic ‘poster boy’, as he reveals how he’s
keeping it real and contributing to the creative cause out of obligation as well
as aspiration

M
arko Djurdjevic is an artist with an
infectious enthusiasm for creativity.
Once a local lad with a fervent taste
for pencil and paper, he has since become a
global hit, continuously contributing to the
popular culture design sector. Unsurprisingly, his
creative career has gone from strength to
strength, achieved through his own desire as
much as out of necessity. To quote a well-known
spandex-wearing superhero (or his uncle, to be
more precise), ‘With great power comes great
responsibility’, and Djurdjevic’s own artistic power
comes from him being both a responsive
character and creative.

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WHAT IF, CIVIL WAR: “I think I’m really lucky that I
full with amazing people I met, great places I’ve travelled
to and different cultures and mind-sets I have soaked in”
Creative senses tingling
Presently well known for his reinventive works at
global comic giant Marvel, Djurdjevic’s popular
culture roots run deep and his artistic career
always seemed inevitable, wherever it would take
him. Growing up in a sleepy German town and
experiencing an artistic vacuum of sorts without
guidance, Djurdjevic had to learn and understand
his own artistic powers from scratch. “I just had a
drive to create and draw from early on. I guess I
was trying to kill the boredom and creating
worlds, filling them with stories and characters,
which seemed so much more interesting than
playing football,” he explains.
“I sucked at pretty much everything else and
art seemed the only option. In school I was
always the kid that drew best, so I guess that’s
where I had my first idea of becoming a
028-033_AVP_48_Interview.indd 29
had such a turbulent life with so many ups and downs,
NAMOR #4 (RIGHT): “I started as a classical
illustrator, doing black-and-white drawings,
designing board games and miniatures. I also did
trading-card illustrations, changing to concept art
and production design before ending up in comics”
professional. Self-education was the only way for
me to become a better artist. I spent countless
hours throughout my childhood and teens
doing nothing more than filling piles of paper
with scribbles and drawings. Eventually, every
skill gets sharpened through constant repetition
and my grasp of drawing became more focused.”
Without formal education, Djurdjevic
continued to absorb as much influence from
every location and situation possible, from
literature, movies and music, to pop culture, his
life experience and politics. Djurdjevic explains:
“Limiting your inspiration just to visual
Marko Djurdjevic
Namor & Venom: TM & (c)
2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
Used with permission
influences is going to make your art pretty
bland. Everything you experience expands your
visual language and your possibilities of
narration. Artists who live boring lives tend to
make for pretty boring pictures.” And Djurdjevic’s
life has been anything but boring.
In his tender teens, with confidence riding
high he presented his case for a professional
working capacity. A brave move and one that
went his way, as he reveals: “The only thing I was
really good at was illustration, so I went through
a ton of RPG books I owned in hope of finding
an art director’s address in there where I could
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21/8/08 15:50:30
 Inter
view
WE
STARTED A
GAME,
REDESIGNING
FAVOURITE
MARVEL
CHARACTERS.
I KEPT
SITTING
THERE
DRAWING
FOR THREE
DAYS
and invited me to come over to his office the
following week.” Djurdjevic seized his chance
and was hired on the spot. This job contributed
to the first three years of his career and offered
him invaluable experience. To follow was his
time working in concept art and the
entertainment industry.

BLADE #6 COVER:
“Long before, though, I always wanted to
become a cook or an undercover cop.
Inspiration always came to me through
many sources”
Blade: TM & (c) 2008 Marvel
Characters, Inc. Used with permission
apply and make some cash. I eventually found
one; it was a small publishing house in another
part of Germany and I dialled up the art director
at work.
“I told him I was a 17-year-old aspiring
illustrator and that I did a better job than his
current artists. I requested that he take a look at
my portfolio. He laughed, but he gave it a shot
Inventive X-factor
This time in Djurdjevic’s life seems a mixed bag.
No doubt it provided essential commercial and
professional practice and some fond memories,
but it also held some testing times for such an
honest creative. He explains: “Concept work for
the entertainment industry can be a very
exhausting process. Producers, publishers and
other people in command rely too much on focus
testing, so they demand redundant designs over
and over again. Other times there is a big budget
involved so nobody really cares where the money
is burned, and an inexperienced art director might
go into an endlessly spiralling revision mode just
to justify his own position at his company.
“As soon as the big bucks come into play, true
creativity has to make a place for stuff that has
been a proven success years ago. Nobody wants
to risk enormous amounts of cash for a whole
set of new ideas, not when it’s easier and much
more promising to just copy and steal from
established games. Videogames have become a
lot like Hollywood in that the revenues are the
only thing that count, and to be able to forecast
good sales, games have to follow a pre-

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 Marko Djurdjevic

(c) 2008
Magneto: TM &
ve l Ch arac ters, Inc.
Mar
wi th pe rm ission
Used

eir
itists keeping th
MAGNETO: “El about their own
only insecure
secrets are on the
aid to be overrun on”
positions and afr e they ’re sitting
fat th ron

X-Men: TM & (c) 2008

Marvel Characters, Inc.
Used with permission

X-MEN, MESSIAH COMPLEX: “Art is an
unconscious expression of yourself, thus as free to
interpretation as a dream. People claiming they
consciously express themselves through art are merely
creating kitsch”
established line of design.” However, he holds
testament to his relocation to the United States.
“Creatively, it inspired me greatly; my years at
Massive Black still count as some of the best
times I ever had. I learned more from these
people in a short period than I could have on
my own if I spent an entire lifetime on it.”
And so followed the Marvel experience,
which is a collaboration that still exists now.
Djurdjevic tells his story: “I was on a trip through
Germany to visit my good friend and fellow
illustrator, Nic Klein. We sat in the kitchen bored
out of our minds and started a game,
redesigning favourite Marvel characters from
our childhood. I kept sitting there drawing for
the next three days.
“When I looked up again, I had finished 18 of
my favourite X-Men characters, so I decided I
wanted to showcase them online and posted
them over at the www.conceptart.org message
boards. The designs immediately drew attention
from lovers and haters and the thread grew
Thor and Odin: TM & (c)
hourly. The haters, jaded as they were angry, 2008 Marvel Characters,
spread the links to my redesigns all over the net Inc. Used with permission
until someone at Marvel got hold of it and
shared them at the office. They were a success at
the House of Ideas, and the next day I got a call THOR, MAN OF WAR: “As an individual, my life is
from the talent manager, Chris Allo, asking me probably interesting enough to fill a book with, but not
interesting enough to actually make you buy it”
to sign up with Marvel. A month later, I went

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 Inter
view
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #14:
“Once I figured out Pen Pressure in
Photoshop, my life took on a whole
new meaning”

Wolverine and Darken: TM & Daredevil, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist,
(c) 2008 Marvel Characters, Elektra, Bullseye, Kingpin, Gladiator, et al: TM & (c)
Inc. Used with permission 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. Used with permission

IF JUST ONE KID PICKS UP

exclusive with them, and it has been like that
ever since.”

Artistic excelsior
SOMETHING VALUABLE FROM
WHAT I HAVE TO SAY, I’LL
Despite producing such high profile and
mainstream work, Djurdjevic still stays as focused,
forthright and humble as ever, as he explains: “The
only thing I’m interested in is if the viewer likes my
work. All the other metaphysical or HAVE ALREADY ACHIEVED
pseudophilosophical rubbish about art just
bothers the living hell out of me. My work is
rudimentary entertainment, I’m not saving the
SOMETHING GREAT
planet with it and as such it should be seen. If you
like my work, then that’s cool, print it or buy it and high school, I don’t need grades to keep going or It’s this unadulterated and fervent service to his
put it on the wall. Don’t try to analyse or glorify it, to feel good about myself. If somebody likes my creativity that sees him consistently contribute
because there are much more important things to work then fine, but in the first place I’m doing all and seemingly helps him stay superlative in his
do in life. this for myself, to be happy and in balance with industry. This offers him the ability to share his
“I don’t give a wet fart about awards and myself. People who need somebody to pat their creative wisdom also as he reveals poignantly: “It’s
honours. I don’t need somebody else judging my back so they feel good about themselves are full a hard road. You have to figure it out all by yourself
work and telling me that I’m worthy. Life is not of weak sauce.” and without the guidance of others. That means

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you keep repeating the same mistake until your
hair falls out. But once you understand what you
did wrong, you’re never making that single
mistake again. That’s what I enjoy about teaching
the most. It gives me an opportunity to help kids
out there who are possibly in the same situation
as I was when I was younger.
“My approach to certain things might be a
completely different one than that taught in art
schools, but it might be helpful nevertheless. If
just one kid picks up something valuable from
what I have to say, I’ll have already achieved
something great. That’s why I still do workshops
and that’s why I avoid taking any money for them.
Knowledge must be free for all and available to
anyone out there.” It’s this positively liberal attitude
to art, the freedom to experiment, explore and
learn that has offered him the means to expand
and flourish in the competitive industry he
inhabits. He continues: “To quote Bruce Lee, ‘I
028-033_AVP_48_Interview.indd 33
Marko Djurdjevic
DAREDEVIL 100 ULTRA FINAL:
“The art director must have seen something
inside the portfolio that was promising
enough to give it a try, so he hired me on the
spot and I got my first gig at illustrating an
entire book for him”
practise all styles to practise no style’. Seriously, I
try to be as flexible as it gets. I never have a plan
on how something is going to pan out, I try to
be able to change my approach halfway
through and do something completely different
with an image.
“I think having the ability to self-reflect and be
critical about your actions, choices in life, about
Gladiator and Daredevil: TM
your work or your social interactions with people & (c) 2008 Marvel Characters,
formats your character constantly. I’m neither Inc. Used with permission
convinced of being good enough at what I do,
nor do I think I have yet untapped all my potential.
As long as I keep keen and running, I have all the
DAREDEVIL #97 COVER:
opportunities you need to keep growing into “I think music and great literature formed my
whatever you want to call it, a better artist, a personality more than art itself ever did. A
better dad, a better friend or a better human few human beings who inspired me
throughout my life are: Bukowski, Henry
being altogether”. Miller, Remarque, Enki Bilal, Schiele, Rodin,
Sergio Toppi, Repin, Hale and Bradstreet”
To find a comic book store near you, call
1-888-comicbook.
33
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 MASTERCLASS

ate
Crecoveis r
thFined outahgoewfrtohmroomur
f
stic im eated is
fantaer was crnish in th
v
co art to terclass
fi
st o Mas
pr

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 Fantasy character
Learn how the amazing image on our cover was On the disc

created from start to finish On the CD, you will find a custom skin pores

Y
brush, custom scratch brush, colour palette
and an image of scanned decorated paper
ou don’t need to be a master painter to create beautiful fantasy characters. A good knowledge of to help you complete this tutorial.
lighting is the most important thing when creating an image. Observe everything that surrounds you.
See how a light reacts with a certain object, how shadows fall on an environment and how dark an our expert Jeffrey M. De Guzman aka ‘Jeff MD’
object will be in a given light. This knowledge will put the idea that you have when painting into shape and turn it A concept artist for a VFX company in the Philippines, Jeff won
into reality. Also, you just need to push the imagination to create something new out of what has already been made, an Excellence Award for Golden Bee in the Portrait (painted)
category for Ballistic’s Exposé 6, which was also chosen as the
making it original and eye-catching. Feed your mind with stunning artwork and creations. Continue to be inspired, as
cover for the limited edition. www.jeffmdart.com.
it’s easy to create beautiful concepts when you’re in this state of mind.

1
In this tutorial you will learn how to design armour, taking inspiration from Asian warriors and European knights,
combining them to create a fantastic new look. You will also be given a different perspective to using references, Using references
learning how to make good use of something without completely copying it. You will also learn how to create your At the start we don’t need solid references. Even if
own custom brushes for use as textures. The vast amount of Photoshop tricks and techniques that we will be sharing they are just parts of an image and may be small, like
with you will be a big help in creating this kind of artwork with ease. We won’t need fancy brushes as everything will be helmets, armours, costumes, etc, we will not be
done using Photoshop’s default collection, but do bear in mind that you will need extra patience in creating a crisp and completely using them in any way. They will just be
detailed artwork as it takes quite a long time to complete. used as a reference to give us an idea for the new
character design that we have in mind.

2 Painting silhouette
Start off with 4 x 5-inch canvas at 72dpi. From the
images we gathered, loosely paint your character’s
silhouette from combinations you find interesting.
Making something new should always be at the front of
your mind. It is important that we paint the figure and a
costume of shapes that are recognisable even at this
early stage. Choose a grey at 50% to paint it with.
3 Sketch over
Increase the document size to 8 x 11 inches, still at
72dpi. On another layer, outline the female figure first,
then loosely sketch over a costume design based on the
silhouette and references. Don’t think of details yet, as we
should first draw the general shape of armour parts and
how they would fit the figure well.

To pose or not
to pose?
The female figure’s outline needs to be made as
close to precision as possible because this will
dictate the overall armour design, and most
importantly, avoid a bad fit with the final image.
This is an entirely new pose that we created. It is
helpful to have a decent grasp of anatomy when
drawing the female figure. If you’re after another
way, you may take a photo of yourself or a friend

“take inspiration from Asian re-creating the new pose that we made, using
the same lighting if possible. Use whichever

warriors and European knights” method that would work both better and faster
for you.

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 MASTERCLASS
4 Let there be light!
Go to Filter>Render>Lighting Effects and set the
Style to Default and the ‘Light type’ to Spotlight. Rotate
5 Dodge and Burn
Set your Dodge and Burn tools to Highlights and
Exposure to 12%, using the default Photoshop Chalk
by grabbing the tip of the lever arm to put the light brush with the Other Dynamics box checked and set to
source at the upper-left corner of the image from a 45- Pen Pressure. Also take note that we will be using the
degree angle, so it appears as though it’s coming from Chalk brush for the majority of the painting; use it as well
behind her. This gives a good light direction reference for your brush. Use the Dodge tool to give highlights and
that will aid us better when blocking out shapes. the Burn tool for the shadows.

6 Shape references
Are you having a hard time knowing how to light
a certain part? We shall break it into different pieces and

7
apply the Gradient Fill tool as a different style to quickly
do it for us. It shall be created in the same light source Painting grey
with a secondary light that we will add later on. We now have a general idea what our image
would look like. Merge your sketch layers and the
character layer. Use the Brush tool set to Pen Pressure,
with Opacity and Flow at 100%. We will now enhance
the shapes and paint it further. It is better to work in
greyscale as we don’t have to worry about colour values.
This will help us concentrate more in defining and
painting the entire character.

9 Adding colours
After creating our desired colour palette, add a
new layer on top of our greyscale image, with the layer

8
set to Color. We can pick colours from our palette by
Cut and face pressing Alt then releasing it to go back to the Brush tool.
The face should be the most interesting part of the Paint the colours you want for the image, then merge
image. We couldn’t find the right expression as a both layers. Repeat this procedure if you want to add
reference, so instead we mixed and matched parts of the more colours to it, or alternatively you could also set the
face from different images that we found. With this layer to Soft Light or Overlay.
approach, we didn’t have to worry that the face we
painted would look like someone else’s. Take note that
the light source from each image are different. We must
consider this when we transfer it to our character.

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 10 Textured background
Adding texture will make the background
interesting. Use the default Maple Leaf brush, check the
Other Dynamics box on the Brush tab and on its settings,
set Opacity Jitter to Pen Pressure with the Brush Spacing
at 10. Now paint like crazy! Switch between different
colours from your palette to create harmony with your
foreground image.
13 Sculpt-painting details
Notice that simply emphasising the
shadowed parts and the highlights lends volume to the
image, giving you that 3D look. Highlights give images
the bump and shadows lend thickness to them. There’s
no need to sketch into a new layer to create the design,
just let your imagination sculpt away to get new ideas.
15 Cloth
Use a soft round-edged brush when painting
cloth as it gives a soft feel to it. Shift between the Dodge
and Burn tool to emphasise highlights and shadows.
Make sure to use the same brush and setting you used
with the main painting brush for this.
034-039_AVP_48_CoverMC.indd 37
“WE MIXED AND MATCHED PARTS
OF THE FACE FROM DIFFERENT
IMAGES THAT WE FOUND”
11 12
Layer management and image resize
It would be better to work with as few layers
as we can. A maximum of four layers is advisable: the
background, character image, hair and weapon. Then
resize the image to 300dpi resolution with the Scale
Styles, Constrain Proportions and Resample Image boxes
checked. This will increase your resolution size to 2,000 x
3,000px, which is enough to add details.
14 Saving as a different version
As you progress with your image, it is best to
save a new version by changing the filename. For
example, ‘character_01’, ‘character_02’ and so on. This is
helpful for us to go back to the previous version in case
we end up messing up our work.
Making scales
Create a new layer and draw guidelines as
shown in the screenshot. Your vertical and horizontal
lines must conform to the overall shape of the image. Set
your guidelines layer’s Opacity to 30%. Go back to the
main image layer and start painting dark colour just
outside the scales’ guidelines to create shadows.
Custom brush for
skin pores
Create a new 200 x 200px file. Paint speckles
with a 20% grey, soft, round-edged brush, then
go to Edit>Define Brush Preset and name it
‘Base_skin_brush’. Go to the Brush tab and apply
these settings: Scatter = 450%, Control Pen
Pressure = check both axes, Brush Count = 3,
Count Jitter = 98%, Control = Off. Under Shape
Dynamics, set Angle Jitter = 100%, Roundness
Jitter = 72% and Minimum Roundness = 25%.
Set Color Dynamics to Foreground = 11%, Hue
Jitter = 11%, Brightness = 11%, Purity = 0%.
Ctrl/right-click and select Create New Preset
From This Brush. Then name it ‘Skin_pores_
brush’. There will be two skin pores brushes in
your selection – delete the first as it’s no
longer needed.
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 MASTERCLASS
16 Painting hair
Using the default Spatter 59 brush set to Pen
Pressure, first paint the entire volume of how you want
the hair to be with a big brush size. Gradually reduce
your brush size and change colours to paint the hair into
smaller groups. Once you’re happy with the
arrangement, reduce the brush to 2 pixels and paint
some individual strands to make it look more natural.
17 A quick flip
We must not forget to regularly flip our
canvas horizontally. This gives us a fresh eye with our
image and could easily determine errors we have made.
What looks good on the other side might not work as
well when flipped.
18 Skin pores brush test
Create a new file and fill it with your base
skin colour. We must experiment with our new brush
before applying it to our character. This is the outcome
of the brush choosing different colours for it. Use a
Background Colour of either blue or green to have a
better output in the Color Dynamics settings to better
blend with the skin colours.

20 Getting lippy
First paint the base lips as seen in the
illustration. Get a close-up picture of a lip and turn it to

19
greyscale. Cut and fit to the base lips. Set the layer to Soft
Detailing the skin Light then merge the layers.
Skin, like cloth, needs to have soft feel to it.
Use a soft round-edged brush, also set to Pen Pressure.
Pick a colour from the skin palette and paint directly to
your character layer. Texture the skin using our custom
skin pores brush. Add a new layer above it and set to
Overlay. Add pores to the parts where it bulges more.

21 Creating custom brush scratches

Open a file sized 200 x 200px. With a hard
round-edged brush, make random lines. Hold Shift to
make perfect vertical and horizontal lines. Erase portions
of these lines and create as a brush. In the Brush tab, set
to Shape Dynamics with Angle Jitter at 48% and Brush
Spacing at 68%. Ctrl/right-click and select New Icon to
create a new preset.
22
Adding textures to the armour
For a realistic look to the armour, add
scratches to it. Add a new layer and set it to Overlay.
Using our custom brush scratches, add bright colours to
parts that the light reflects more, and dark colours to
shadowed areas. Erase unwanted areas. Reduce the Layer
Opacity to 50%, then merge the layers.

“FLIPPING THE
CANVAS
HORIZONTALLY
GIVES US A
FRESH EYE”
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 23 Cloth details and textures
Again add a new layer. Draw simple flower
patterns then set the layer to Soft Light with Opacity at
35% and Fill 100%. Add another layer and add textures
using the default Scattered Maple Leaves brush set to
Soft Light. Merge all three layers.
Quick
tip
It is best to assign shortcut keys for functions
that we regularly use. For example, we have
set Cmd/Ctrl+. for Flip Canvas Horizontally and
Cmd/Ctrl+/ for the Brightness/Contrast sliders.
Shortcuts help us work more efficiently.
034-039_AVP_48_CoverMC.indd 39
24 Creating a reflective sword
On a separate layer, first paint the shape of
the sword, then sculpt-paint to give volume and details
to it. When done, duplicate the sword layer (Cmd/Ctrl+J).
Go to Filter>Sketch>Chrome, setting Detail to ten and
Smoothness to zero, then press OK. Set the layer to
Multiply at 30% Opacity then merge with the base
sword layer.
26 Background overlays
To make the background look more
interesting, we scanned in some paper decorated with
bamboo trees. Add it on top of your background layer,
set it to Multiply and reduce the Opacity to 50%.
27 Finishing touches
Now we are happy with our image so it’s
time to flatten all the layers. Start filling in and making
touch-ups to the areas that need refining. Add little
details to the hair and highlights to the armour.
25 Adding more details to the scales
The scales look flat, so add a few more details
to them. Create a New Layer Set and add a new layer.
Draw one simple detail for the scales and fit it into one.
Duplicate the layer (Cmd/Ctrl+J) and using the Free
Transform, fit it to another and repeat the same
procedure with the rest. Merge the layer set folder. Set it
to Overlay and merge with the image.
28 Semidesaturated look
Rather than going to the Saturation slider
and reducing the saturation, it would be better to add a
new layer filled with a soft, desaturated gold colour
(R = 152, G = 118, B = 68), then set the layer to Color at a
layer Opacity of 30%. Merge the layers to finish.
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 Feature

FANTASY
THE RULES OF

We explore the rules of digital painting, from concept and

composition through to tools and technique

F
antasy and sci-fi concept painting is one of the biggest sub-genres of digital art, and in
order to be successful in this area, it pays to learn the rules of planning, composition and
ART
application. Artists who master this type of artwork will find their skills essential in the movie,
videogame and entertainment industries, where the need to convey places and objects that don’t yet
exist is common.
Over the next eight pages, we will be looking at the work of four amazing artists who have created
awe-inspiring artworks on the digital canvas, from the likes of Martin Bland’s tech-macabre cyber
cityscapes to Andreas Rocha’s sci-fi utopias. Dedication and practice count for much when achieving
these styles, as well as natural artistic ability, but there are plenty of rules and methods that you can
learn and apply to your artwork to improve your creations. We talk
with some of the fantasy art industry’s top contributors and get them
to reveal their top tips and tricks. Even if you’re not into fantasy
landscapes, the advice here is relevant across all genres of digital art. So read on to start on your path
toward better digital paintings.

Concept and plan ning

T
here is nothing more daunting than staring at a blank canvas with no idea of where to start. Despite this, the world wide web does hold some
When constructing any conceptual landscape work, thorough planning is essential to the visual benefits according to Rocha: “On the other hand, the
development of the piece. But are there any proven methods for getting going on a project,, a internet displays its content in digital format, which is
perfect method of planning that will guarantee the success of a piece? Portuguese artist Andreas Rocha, an great for organisational purposes. Keeping things
up-and-coming favourite in the gaming and editorial arenas, cites motivation and research as key elements organised will transform your initial painting process
in his workflow, but he also suggests getting the basics down first: “Without research, the initial concept can into a combination of fluid, dynamic actions where
lead to failure. I would think it is best to first think briefly about what you want to portray, just the general there is no time for interruption.”
guidelines.” This helps you to find that balance between what your imagination would like to achieve and Rocha endorses the advantages of stock
keeping a sense of realism in the piece. photography to help speed up the workflow in digital
Rocha admits to a preference of using specialist books over the internet when in these early research applications such as Photoshop and other painter
stages. “For instance, you want to use some Art Nouveau motifs in a fantastic castle,” he explains. “You can programs. “Photographs can really be helpful in the
find examples on the internet, but specialised books will give you much better quality images taken by conceptualising process,” he explains. “Photos not
professional photographers, all condensed into one handy resource. If you opt for the internet, you will only contain information about an object, but they
almost certainly not get the best photos and you will lose time filtering the results.” also show us how the object interacts with its

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 The rules of fantasy art
HOME: “Homage to one of Lisbon’s most charismatic
monuments: The Tower of Belém”
© ANDREAS ROCHA

Background only hinted –

overcast sky blurs detail
Central element (tower) placed at
third of layout (rule of thirds)
Observation of the behaviour of nature
(images stored in memory, others from photography)
clouds, reflections, atmosphere

Contrast around main elements;

surrounding low contrast/dark

Low eye-level horizon;

vanishing points off canvas
– low dynamism leads to a
calm setting

Mostly monochromatic;
some hint of red (maybe
flags) later turned into
single light source

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 Feature

surroundings and this can be important in portraying the

object realistically.” He does warn artists not to become too
reliant on photos, though, if you want to maintain some
individuality in your work: “Photos should be used as a
complement. They should not dictate what you are
portraying. Conceptualisation has to involve the creative side
of the brain.”
The value of good motivation and stock resources is in
providing the ability to put down strong ideas in a simple
basic language. Sketches and line work are fundamental in
developing the conceptual composition, as Rocha explains:
“Since they set the limits, you can quickly evaluate the
content as things get defined very early on. Another
advantage is that once the sketch is done, you can quickly
add value underneath the line work by putting this layer in
Multiply mode in Photoshop, above the value layer. Like this,
the filling out of forms becomes a very quick process.”
Different artists have different processes when it comes to
starting their images. New Zealand-based concept artist
Stefan Morrell voices his own opinion on the early stages of
image creation. “For the initial development stages, I try to
avoid colour. I’m always very concerned with values, and as
such, black and white or muted colours are used more often.
In later concept stages, it certainly becomes more important.”
The artist, who is also a content creator for DAZ 3D, sanctions
the use of digital media and its assistance in the pre-
production stages. “In Photoshop, I mostly use the Chalk
brush for roughing images out. It’s the ideal brush for quickly
building up values and, when used with a graphics tablet,
you can work very freely. The initial thumbnail process is
more about values and shapes than anything else. I try to
work with three values in sketches, dark for the foreground,
mid-grey for the middle and a light grey for the background.
These would also be the same values I work with when using
COPIC graphic pens on paper.”
Morrell also finds that digital software allows him to
construct innovative compositions in a novel fashion, as he
explains: “I have explored different techniques of overlaying
many images to ‘find’ an image, but that tends to be quite a
random affair. It’s great if you have no idea to begin with and
just want to explore shapes; you simply overlay several
images in the one Photoshop file and use the blending
modes of each layer to randomly change the look of each
layer. Finally, all the layers combined can come up with some
fun ideas.”

“PHOTOS NOT ONLY

CONTAIN INFORMATION
ABOUT AN OBJECT, BUT
THEY ALSO SHOW US HOW
THE OBJECT INTERACTS
WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS”

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 The rules of fantasy art

Essential tools
DISTRICT75: “With
this image, I added
dozens of photos of
billboards and neon
signs to add some life
to the city”
© STEFAN MORRELL
Simulated strokes
Photoshop’s improved brush capacity has excelled the limits of
concept painters, as Martin Bland reveals. “The brush engine is now
massively powerful, and any number of effects can be applied with
a few custom brushes. Take painting chain links, for example. It
would have taken an age to do a few versions of the software back,
but now, one custom brush and one sweep of said brush and you
have a chain!”

Setting the mood

Photoshop supplies a range of
adjustment options to later
enhance your colours.
Variations, Hue/Saturations
and adjustment options such
as Channel Mixer
and Color Balance
can enhance
effects, as Sarel
Theron explains. “Just as music helps build
mood, colour can also help create a certain mood within
a painting. A contrast between cooler and warmer hues
can create impact as well as help to define focal points. I
tend to pick the kind of palette that best suits the subject,
eg, warm brown tones for deserts and cool crisp blues for
icy environments.”

THE MAJESTIC: “Here I wanted to show off the height of
the building, adding atmospheric perspective to the very
top of the building so it almost blends into the sky”
© STEFAN MORRELL
Layered effects
Photoshop’s introduction of editable layer
effects have been a real plus for producing
multifaceted compositions, as Morrell explains.
“In a production environment, photographed
elements are essential. Something as simple as a photo of a stone wall can be overlaid onto
a basic Photoshop drawing to give the appearance of a castle wall. Rapidly building up
textures is where Photoshop comes in handy; it’s all about speed and ease of use.”

WATERWO
RLD: : “Again
separate area using values
s to
foreground ar of an image, and darker
eas frame th
© STEFAN M e rest of the sc
ORRELL ene”

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 Feature
“PHOTOSHOP GREATLY ADDS TO THE
FLEXIBILITY REQUIRED OF A CONCEPT
ARTIST. IN MINUTES YOU CAN COMPLETELY
CHANGE THE MOOD OF AN IMAGE”

INDUSTRIAL CITY WIP:

“An industrial cityscape in a ‘steampunk’ setting. While
it’s still a work in progress, it serves as a good example of
how colour can create mood”
© SAREL THERON

The vanishing point is placed appropriately in

the central section grid to draw the line of sight
and accentuate perspective

The horizon is set on the horizontal line

The focal point of the painting is the steam dividing the lower third of the photo from the
train and has been placed accordingly in one upper two thirds. This allows the linear features
third across of the composition in the photograph to flow between sections

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SENTINEL BAY (RIGHT): “Another
fantasy-themed painting that
demonstrates both the use of scale and
atmospheric perspective”
© SAREL THERON
Perfect composition
O
nce you have the basic ideas down on
paper, then it’s time to start thinking
about building up the composition of
your painting. Stefan Morrell uses 3D software to
its full advantage, saying: “In the initial conceptual
phase, I always work with some basic perspective
lines and a horizon drawn out. When working with
buildings or cityscapes in particular, this is very
important. Getting your vanishing lines and
correct perspective laid out in the initial stages
will save a lot of pain down the road. This is not so
important if your scene is pure 3D, but when
working with something like a 2.5D matte
painting, it’s an essential step to get right.”
Once the composition has been realised and
‘fleshed’ out, be it line drawing or colour washing,
the next logical creative step for a concept artist is
to visually substantiate the scene and here
modern digital software really excels – something
040-047_AVP_48_Feature.indd 45
The rules of fantasy art
MISTY MOUNTAINS: “A spectacular snowy mountain
range done in a very wide cycloramic format”
© SAREL THERON
that Morrell agrees with: “Using a program like Photoshop greatly adds to the flexibility required of a
concept artist. In a matter of minutes you can completely change the mood of an image. Embracing
technology has helped my art grow in ways I could never have imagined, and it’s through tools like
Photoshop that these ideas can be imagined.”
Digital matte painter Sarel Theron also agrees with this attitude: “I would say that Photoshop has
definitely advanced the possibilities of colour application. Adjustment layers and colour overlays enable
the artist to make chromatic changes without permanently affecting the layers beneath.” This encourages
experimentation, which in Theron’s opinion can only lead to better, vibrant artwork. Providing much of this
himself, including high-end commercials, television productions and various pitches, Theron continues:
“Clever use of scale can help to provide depth. Naturally, the further away the object is the smaller it
appears. Often the challenge with fantasy landscapes is portraying the scale of objects that don’t exist in
real life. This can best be achieved with the use of atmospheric perspective as well as juxtaposing real-life
objects with the imaginary ones.”
To Theron these are mere suggestions, believing art should be without any hard rules. However, there is
one valuable exception that he sanctions: the rule of thirds. He explains: “Simply put, a canvas is divided up
into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. The focal point of the painting is then placed either one third
across or one third up or down the picture or where the lines intersect. Framing helps to prevent the
viewer’s eye from leaving the canvas while also guiding it back in towards the focal point, and you can see
that in any good photo.“
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21/8/08 15:56:59
 Feature
Don’t be afraid to use colour, keeping it the
same level of saturation and brightness
throughout as the others in its plane

A balance between sharp edges and soft areas

adds a lot of visual diversity as well as the
impact of perspective

Utilise custom brushes to take some of the

effort out of highly detailed areas

Sharpening edges in the final stages will make

detailed areas ‘pop’

TERRA ARIOSE: :“This

futuristic cityscape was
laying down custom bru aided by
shes as a base to work from
”

Create atmosphere
© MARTIN BLAND

O
nce the basic ideas have been put down and the composition is decided, it is time to start creation of depth.” Addressing the application of paint
thinking about the lighting and colours that you are going to use in your images to help to create light and colour, Bland exposes further
create atmosphere. practices to creating realism. “Even if you paint 99 per
Sarel Theron talks about ‘atmospheric perspective’ in his images: “This defines our perception of objects as cent of your scene from scratch, an added texture or
they recede into the distance. The further away the object gets, the lighter the tone becomes, while colours effect can make a huge difference to the end product.
tend to cool and contrasts lessen. Air is not invisible as most people seem to think, and it’s important to take A well-placed texture overlay to age an area of
it into consideration when painting distant objects.” Here he observes another key factor in concept art metalwork, ground planes muddied up with a texture,
production. The use of colour and lighting in an image is essential. This can be crucial in correctly portraying overlaid and skewed into perspective to add to the
theme and obtaining an emotive response. believability and an Unsharp Mask on your final-sized
Theron agrees, saying: “Just as music builds mood, colour can also help create such within a painting. flattened image to make detailed areas pop. Used
Contrast between cooler and warmer hues can create impact as well as help to define focal points. I’m also subtly, these can add a lot to a final image.”
aware that certain colours can produce certain feelings or emotions, although generally I tend to pick the Yet when practising concept art, the ‘end product’
kind of palette that best suits the subject, for example warm brown tones for deserts and cool crisp blues for goes beyond mere invention. Presentation is just as
ice environments.” He continues: “However, lighting is probably the most important aspect. It helps to essential in delivering powerful visuals. Bland
describe the form, colour and texture of the landscape. A landscape artist does not outline shapes; he paints provided some authoritative final thoughts when he
them as light defines them. Colour helps a lot with setting the overall mood and atmosphere and, as with commented, “It depends a lot on the image; if it is a
light, can be used to define focal points.” very low contrast, darker image or a very light image,
The correct application in the creation of light gives a composition a pragmatic essence, as UK-based then you need to be careful and consider the
conceptual artist and tutorial provider Martin Bland explains: “Successful lighting and colour choices make background of where your image will be. If you put a
the difference between something looking real and dark image on a very light background it can lose
tangible to something that looks like a flat 2D illustration. detail, so a dark border or matting may be necessary
Conceptually, more often than not, you are asked to take “LIGHTING MAKES THE to alleviate the effect.”
an idea, and bring it to life. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN While the tips and tricks revealed over these eight
Bland continues: “Without proper lighting there is no
SOMETHING LOOKING pages are based on the creation of fantasy
life, no spark to an image, no realism. In order to make
people believe what they are seeing, you need to trick the REAL AND SOMETHING landscapes, they are just as relevant across any genre
of art where composition and atmosphere are
eye into believability, which is all done by lighting and the THAT LOOKS FLAT” essential to building a great image.

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 The rules of fantasy art
Learn more
Throughout this feature we have gleaned some
amazing advice from our four top artists. However,
there are plenty of resources out there that can aid
your learning further. Our artists reveal the places
they turn to in order to continue their learning or gain
inspiration.
Martin Bland says: “A tricky question to answer as it
is better to learn from a thousand sources than to
stick to one. What I can add is, for concept art, seeing
people’s raw unfinished brushstrokes on quick
sketches and paintings can teach you much more
than any tutorial can. Picking apart strokes and seeing
what made an image come together is the closest you
can get to seeing into an artist’s soul, so speed-paint
threads are a massively important resource. There are
a few very busy and useful threads at http://sijun.
com/forums, CGTalk and ConceptArt.org forums.”
Andreas Rocha also has a list of resources that he
recommends for further learning: “I would say 3D
Total’s excellent Digital Art Masters books and
CGSociety’s brilliant D’Artiste series of books. I also
strongly advise artists to build a library of inspirational
works by other artists appearing on CGTalk.com
and ConceptArt.org.”
Finally, Sarel Theron suggests: “Online community
forums such as ConceptArt.org, MattePainting.org
and CGSociety are great places to meet other artists,
talk shop and have your work reviewed by peers. Even
better is if you can get an internship at a post-
production facility, such as ILM (Industrial Light and
Magic). Finally, there is a lot to learn technique-wise
from trade magazines such as Advanced Photoshop.”

THE AUSTRINGER: :“722-

705 BC – an Assyrian bas-
relief found in the ruins at
Khorsabad during the
excavation of the palace of
Sargon II (or Saragon II) has
been claimed to depict
falconry. It’s only fitting that
the tradition would go on
way past our understanding”
© MARTIN BLAND
auty
d to bring a little be
LUSTRAL: “I wante so at first glance, you
sce ne,
to a classic sci-fi you
ugh looking deeper
see a sunset, altho
see a story unfold”
D
© MARTIN BLAN

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 MASTERCLASS

Urban photomontage
Compositing that fine art look to your illustration in Photoshop

I
n this magazine, it is our goal to help you
expand your Photoshop horizons and provide
you with new creative avenues by showing you
a fresh approach to the basic Photoshop tools. In this
tutorial, you will discover how to create a stunning
illustration with photographs and painted textures by
utilising only layers and without using any of the filters.
Personally, we have turned away from using the filters
that you find in Adobe Photoshop. We also prefer to
avoid the sharp crispness and lines found in some digital
art that you find these days (however, we’re not saying
that those looks don’t have their place in the world of art
and design). To overcome this sharpness, we are going to
add a ‘fine art feel’ to our illustration creations. To help
create that fine art look, you will be going back to basics,
so go down to your local art supplier or dust off your
brushes and get out your paints and start painting.
In this tutorial, you will work extensively with the
Layers palette to create your image, basically dragging
and dropping your photographs onto the canvas. You
will also be working with the Mask tools throughout.

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ON THE DISC
The files you will find on the CD are all that
you will need for this tutorial: Downtown
LA.tif, El Segundo.tif, Light Yellow
Background.tif, Man.tif, Parking Sign 1.tif,
Parking Sign.tif, Red Background.tif, Speed
Limit.tif, Spring Street.tif, Stop.tif, UTurn.tif,
Yellow Background.tif, Yellow NYC Taxi.tif
and Yellow Taxi1.tif.
OUR EXPERT Stewart Michael Bruce
Stewart Michael Bruce merges painting and photography to
create phantasmagoric images that capture the imagination.
He studied Art and Design at Norwich School of Art and
Design. His work has been featured in galleries and digital art
magazines, both domestically and internationally. See more of
his work at www.stewartbruce.clara.net.
048-052_AVP_48_UrbanMontMC.indd 49
Paint
by numbers
The image pictured right was created in much the
same way as this tutorial. All in all, there are over
40 layers that make up this illustration. It features
a hand-painted background to add a fine art
effect, which gave this digital image both a
modern traditional feel and a fine art look to the
illustration. Working like this can make it difficult
sometimes to get the right mood and to
communicate the emotion of a piece to its viewers
without losing them in the image. Finding the
right colour palette to enhance what you’re trying
to say is a very fine balancing act. Working with
opposite colours can give you an interesting
contrast of mood, which can help convey some
complex emotions. Similarly, you can utilise just
one if you have only one point that you want to
make. If you wanted to convey anger, for example,
a mixture of red tones will help contribute to the
overall feeling.
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21/8/08 17:42:58
 MASTERCLASS
1 Create a new canvas
Regardless of your composite’s complexity,
always plan your illustration ahead. Start by creating a
sketch in your art book first, figuring out where different
elements go before starting work on the computer. To
begin, go to File and select New Document. Set the
image size of the new document to 460mm in width
and 230mm in height, then set the Resolution to
300dpi. Name your document ‘Exit Signal’.
4 Undulating
From the folder ‘Exit Signals’ on your desktop,
import the photograph ‘El Segundo B/W’ onto your
canvas. Next, scale up the photograph until it looks like
the image in the tutorial. In the Layers palette, set the
blending mode to Vivid Light and the Opacity to 100%.
6 Black and
white or colour
Next up, duplicate Layer 3
and place it on top of
Layer 4. Rename this layer
as ‘El Segundo B/W copy’.
In the Layers palette, set
the layer blending mode
to Vivid Light and the
Opacity to 100%.
7 Street level
This image of downtown Los Angeles first started
off as a coloured photograph, but by going into Adobe
Lightroom, you can manipulate the image to suit your
needs, in this case changing it to black and white. You
can also reproduce this effect in Photoshop by going
into Image>Adjustments>Black and White. Lightroom
has some great tools for professional photographers, so
check them out to expand your repertoire.
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2 A little bit of paint
To start off with, you need to import all the files
from the CD onto your desktop. Before you do that,
3 Swatch your colour
Repeat Step 2 with the ‘Yellow Background’ file.
Drag and drop it, then scale it up to fit the canvas. If you
make a folder and name it ‘Exit Signal photos’. Import don’t want to use the background that comes with this
‘Light Yellow Background’, then drag and drop it into tutorial, you can get out your paintbrush and
the main canvas. Next, scale the background up to fit watercolour paper and try creating your own swatches.
the canvas by going to File>Transform. Once you are This is a great way to lend a fine art feel to your
happy with the size of everything, click OK. In the photomontage. In the Layers palette, set the blending
Layers palette, set the blending mode to Normal and mode to Lighten and the Opacity to 100%.
set the Opacity to 100%.
5 Red-hot
background
At the moment, you
have added your
colour swatches and
one photograph. As
in the last couple of
steps, drag and drop
‘Painted Red
Background’ on top of
the ‘El Segundo’
image. Go to File>Edit
>Transform>Scale. In
the Layers palette, set
the blending mode to
Darken and the
Opacity to 100%.
Create a
library
Creating your own library of hand-painted
textures and text that you can call on when
required is sometimes a life-saver when
working for newspapers or magazines and the
deadline is tight. Experiment by painting with
different mediums, from thin washes of
watercolour to thick layers of oil paints. If you
have Corel Painter X at hand, you could use it
to create backgrounds. Another tip is to try
using different paper stock to create subtle
textures to use.
21/8/08 16:19:25
 8 Lasso vs mask
Name the layer ‘Downtown LA B/W.’ Take out
some of the sky by adding a mask, then set the
blending mode to Hard Light and the Opacity to 100%.
Next, duplicate ‘Downtown LA B/W’ and name that
‘Downtown LA B/W 7 copy’. Duplicate the layer twice
more and give these a suffix of ‘8 copy 2’ and ‘8 copy 3’.
Set the mode for 7 and 8 to Hard Light and for 8 copy 3
to Normal, with all layers at 100% Opacity.
9 Spring into action
You are now going to add the next image to the
foreground. From your folder, open up ‘Spring Street’
and change this photograph to black and white as well.
Position it at the bottom right-hand corner of the
canvas, add a mask to this layer and with your Brush
tool, slowly take out the elements that you do not
need. Once you are happy with your results, duplicate
this layer and name one ‘Layer 9’ and the other ‘10
Spring Street B/W’. Set each layer to Hard Light with
Opacity at 100%.

10 Switching on
the background
The next thing you are going to do
is switch back on Layers 6, 7, 8, 9
and 10. As you will see, you are
slowly building up the foreground
of your illustration; once you are

11
Hailing a New York taxi
Switch off all the layers now so you can work
on the taxi. Drop the image ‘NYC Taxi’ onto your canvas
and place it at the bottom right-hand corner of the
canvas. Next, add a mask layer to your image. With the
Brush tool, erase the entire element around the actual
taxi, as you can see in the next step. Set the layer to
Hard Light and the Opacity to 100%.
happy with everything, you can
then switch back on the five layers
you have been working on. Keep it
in mind to take out all of the sky
and to cut back to the building. If
you don’t want to use the mask for
this part of the tutorial, you can
also use the Lasso tool if you find
that easier.

12 Mellow yellow?
Switch on Layer 1 (‘Light Yellow
Background’). Duplicate Layer 17 and rename it ‘Layer
18’. As you will see, the taxi is covered by the
background. Add a mask to Layer 1 ‘Light Yellow
Background’ and erase the background around the ‘NYC
Taxi’. What you are trying to do here is bring the taxi
forward from the background. Do this to each step until
the taxi is the main focus of the illustration.

13 Switching on
Now switch on Layers 2 and 3. As you can
see, the taxi has been obscured by the background. To
get around this, go back to the Mask tool and erase the
part of the background that is obscuring the taxi.
Repeat this with Layers 4 and 5, adding the mask and
erasing the background so you are left with just the
taxi. Once you are happy with everything, switch back
on Layers 6-10. You will need to erase part of the image
within the taxi on the ‘Spring Street’ layer.
14 Just like a London bus, two taxis
come at once?
As with your NYC taxi cab, you are aiming to add depth
to your illustration. Open up the ‘LA Taxi’ file and
position it at the bottom left-hand corner of the canvas.
Once happy, add the mask layer and take out any
unwanted background, as in the screenshot below. Set
the layer to Hard Light and the Opacity to 100%.
15 Focus on the main image
The next step is to switch on the remaining
layers of your illustrations. As you can see, it is slowly
taking shape. You have the background and the
foreground with your two main images, the NYC taxi
and the LA taxi. Duplicate Layer 19 (‘LA Taxi’), place this
layer above Layer 19 and rename it, setting it to Hard
Light and the Opacity to 100%.

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 MASTERCLASS
16 Getting that fine art look
You are aiming to create a fine art feel. As you
can see in the last step, this was lost in the foreground.
So with this in mind, go back to Layer 4 (‘Painted Red
Background’). Duplicate this layer and move it above
Layer 20 (‘LA Taxi’). Rename it ‘Layer 21’ and set it to
Lighten and the Opacity to 100%.
17 They call me mellow yellow
The image ‘Spring Street’ behind ‘NYC Taxi’
has been washed out by the ‘Painted Red Background’
that you have just added, and this is also the same for
the ‘LA Taxi’ layer. To bring both of the images back Quick
tip
to the fore, duplicate the layers, place them above
Layer 21 and set both layers to Lighten and the Opacity
to 100%.

Light can dramatically alter your image and

help to create mood and tension. Think
carefully about this aspect of your artwork,
because some digital images can sometimes
lack these final touches of artistic flair. Be
aware of how colour and light changes can
change the entire mood of your illustration,
and how this could impact on how the viewer
sees the message you are trying to put across.

18 Building block
Each time you add
something, you have to add
19 A lighter shade of grey
The illustration still doesn’t look quite right.
The reds and yellows are too muddy and the image is
more layers to bring back the not pulling together, so the best thing to do is add a
composition. To connect this, white background. Go to the Layers palette and create a
duplicate the ‘El Segundo B/W’ new layer. Next, go to the toolbar and click on the Fill
layer, placing the new layer Bucket tool. Set the foreground colour to white, then set
above Layer 21. Add a mask the layer to Saturation and the Opacity to 100%.
and erase all of the unwanted
image around the taxis. Set
your layer to Vivid Light and
the Opacity to 100%.

20 Uptown cab
The illustration is looking good now but has
too much black and white, which is not what you are
trying to achieve. To make the taxi cabs really stand out,

23
duplicate the Layer ‘NYC Taxi’ and ‘LA Taxi’. Set Layer 26
(‘Taxi’) to Overlay and the Opacity to 54%, but Layer 27 Exit, stage left
(‘NYC Taxi’) to Normal and the Opacity to 70%. This will You have now created an illustration in
bring the two cabs to the forefront. Adobe Photoshop without using any of the filters, just
laying down photographs and painted backgrounds in

21
your Layers palette. We hope that you enjoyed working
Grab some background on this illustration as much as we had creating it. It is our
Duplicate Layer 1 and add it to the top of the hope that this tutorial will inspire you to get out your
Layers palette, naming all of the layers as you go. Make paintbrush and create stunning
Layer 28 ‘Light Yellow Background’ and set to Color Burn illustrations of your own. To
and Opacity to 100%. With the Mask tool highlighted, find out more about this style
use the Brush tool to eliminate any part of the of imagery, go to
background from Layer 28 to bring back the cab. www.stewartbruce.clara.net.

22 Exit parking
Open up the file
referred to as the ‘signs
photographs’ and place these on
top of Layer 10 (‘Spring Street’).
Now you should have layers from
11 through to 16. Move each
image into its position and set all
the layers to Normal and the
Opacity to 100%.

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 MASTERCLASS

l
a t ionsas
pirercla
Insa st nal artisPthsosthoasrheop
MProfessioets and help you
secr to ills
their chniquees your sk
te prov
im

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 Professional photomanipulations
From bionic women to time-travelling cyborgs, there has always been room for
mechanically enhanced humans. Find out how to make your own BY AMY MARIE NEAL

T
hroughout this tutorial, we will be learning
how to combine several different inorganic
elements with a person to create a mechanical
human. Feel free to follow along, but remember that
we all have to find those special stocks in order to make
a piece truly unique. Nik Ainley (www.shinybinary.com)
was the inspiration for this piece and perhaps now his
On the disc
work can inspire others as well. We will use Photoshop
There are no files for this tutorial on the CD,
as it has the tools needed to create the effects seen as it is intended to serve as inspiration for
here. Get some stock of something mechanical and a your future projects. Find out more about
the stock used in this image at http://
good model to work on. And remember, patience is the
starfantazy.deviantart.com/art/Quit-
key when making something that’s difficult. being-so-technical-55530906.

our expert Amy Marie Neal

1
Amy is currently a freelance graphic designer. She has worked
Enlarging a canvas many different types of design jobs and have been published in
I picked this image for the pose and attitude she Exotique 3 and a few magazines.

conveys. It is a little crowded so I decided to copy the

image and post it onto a larger canvas. The background
colour doesn’t matter because I like the grey colour as it “remember
is in my image.
that we all
have to find
those special
2 Making the background fit stocks in
On a new layer, get your Smudge tool (100-
300px), soft at 100%, and pick a spot that doesn’t order to
include the model in the background. Brush out to the
edge of the canvas. We will fix some areas like the one make a piece
above her head in the next step. At the corners, smudge
at a 45-degree angle. truly unique”
4 Cleaning the model
There are a few ways to clean up the model. I
chose to use the Pen tool to select the edges of the girl.
Change your path to a selection, then invert your
selection and apply a layer mask. For the hair on the
back of the head, I simply erased it with a soft, large
Eraser set to a low Opacity.

3 Smoothing it out
Picking a large, round, soft brush at 50% Opacity, start sampling from the layer you just created and smooth the
areas you smudged in Step 2. Above the head, I sampled from both the top corners to the middle above her head. I
then set my Opacity to a low setting to better blend the areas.

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 MASTERCLASS
5 Fake an elbow
For the elbow, I decided to fake one. My method
was to make out a path in which the elbow would
usually fill. If you have problems with this, get an elbow
somewhere, trace it and then copy and paste the path
into the scene.
6 Fill it in
Next up, I changed my path into a new selection
and made a new layer. Using either the Smudge or
Clone tool, start filling in the area. Make sure that you
sample from the darker area as well to keep the
dimensions of the arm.
7 Make it more natural
To make the elbow look a bit better, use the
Healing tool or a low-Opacity clone brush. Feel free to
add a hint of a dimple in the elbow, but in my image I
planned on covering most of it so it wasn’t actually
necessary here.

“SAMPLE FROM 8
Shirt strings
The strings
coming out of the

THE DARKER shirt were originally

based on an image of

AREA AS WELL wire. I made the new

ones by selecting

TO KEEP THE 17px, Jitter 0% and

Control Fade at

DIMENSIONS OF 1,000px. On paths

made using the Pen

THE ARM” tool, I stroked them

using the brush and
added a Bevel and
Emboss layer style.

9 Colouring to add interest

On new layers and using different paths, I made
each set a brighter hue with the second lightest on top.
11 Transition from fake to real
Next, I grouped the layers of strands and
shadows then added a layer mask to get the strands to
For adding depth, I used the setting seen here. It’s transition into the shirt. Using the brush at a low Opacity,
better, however, to add a new layer for each strand and I made the very ends of the strands. This is trial and error,
add the effects then merge, but that is up to you. so just keep changing from black and white to get it
looking good.

10 Give them life

I also made sure that I added shadows. To
show more depth, on a layer above each strand layer I
brushed in certain curves wherever it looked good. I
then selected the strands and masked out the shade
that was outside of them. I blurred the layer, not the
mask, using a Gaussian Blur of around 40 or so and set it
to an Opacity of about 30%.

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12 Easing the look
Making a selection of the layer on which the
top strands are, I cloned some of the shirt onto the
strands on a new layer. This new layer should be on top
of the strand group as it helps with the transition.
14 Isolate the object
Next I duplicated the gear image, deleting
the Background layer. I made the path into a selection,
inverted the selection and cut it so I was left with just
the gear. Next, I simply dragged the gear onto my main
workspace with the Sel ection tool.
16 Fixing the detail
After erasing all the parts I wanted to keep, I
then inverted my mask (Image>Adjustments>Invert).
You may want to go in and blur a couple of areas to
blend the gear more into the skin on the mask using the
Blur tool.
054-058_AVP_48_PhotomanipMC.indd57 57
13 Getting an elbow gear
I found a few gears, but wanted to go over
the elbow one extensively. Taking the Pen tool, I made a
path around the gear in the original image. This way I
could make out the gear easier in my image, and if I
wanted to add or subtract, I could without having to
worry about its background.
17 Masks are important
This is what I am left with after masking all
the spots I wanted to keep. Again, masks are important
in playing around with this, so if you erase something
you wanted to keep, then without a mask you have to
redo all that work you just did.
Quick tip
Remember to always revisit spots to fix shadows
and rough edges. Writing this tutorial forced me
to see flaws that I didn’t see before. Know your
Pen tool’s blending modes and how to fake it. If a
piece doesn’t fit, do not force it. Masks are
extremely important in blending different
elements together.
15 Resize and mask
I resized the gear to fit the elbow space and
put it over the elbow itself. Using the Pen tool, I set
about selecting the bar piece and cutting it out using
the mask. I used a Round Eraser set to white as the
foreground to mask what I wanted to keep.
18 Colouring the gear
On a new layer, I selected a colour in the
middle of the arm. I selected my gear and on the new
layer I filled it with this colour. Drag it under the gear.
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21/8/08 16:33:30
 MASTERCLASS
19 Layer modes
Set your gear layer to Luminosity then
duplicate it and set it to Hard Light at 79% Opacity. Put a
layer mask on the gear copy layer and mask a few areas
to make it look better.
22
Attach some wires
I grabbed a couple of wires and resized and
rotated them as I saw fit. I attached one to the gear and
erased part of one so it looked as if one was behind the
arm. Another two were placed coming out of the hair,
again erasing part of it to give it more dimension.
23
Get them to move
I then made a copy of the layer wires and
applied a Motion Blur to each of the tips. Play around
with fading the effect to get a good result (after using
an effect, you can fade it by going to Edit>Fade).
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054-058_AVP_48_PhotomanipMC.indd58 58
20 Get your head together
I selected a few gears for the head and using
the Pen tool, I cut them out as in Step 13. Placing them
so that you can see how they would look is very
important. Don’t start working until you are happy with
the placement.
24 Color adjustment layers are
your friends
Using Color adjustment layers, I proceeded to make the
image more balanced. You can find these in Layers>
New Adjustment Layer. In this image, I used Hue/
Saturation and Color Balance adjustment layers. Feel
free to play around with different adjustments to get a
good overall feel.
21
Making some hair
For putting in hairs over the gears, I made a
new layer and selected the Smudge tool. I set it to a
small size with 100% Hardness, Size Jitter at 0% and the
Control Fade to 100px or so (you will need to change
this as you go). Sampling from the existing hair, I
smudged pieces of hair over the gears. Change the
brush size every so often to make different-sized hairs.
Duplicate this layer and put it underneath the original
hair layer. Add a slight Gaussian Blur and move it up and
over under the hair to create a shadow.
25
Final accents
Then I used a couple of flourish brushes to
accent the image as a whole and make the mechanical
objects a bit more organic. You can find these types of
brushes all over the internet, but the set I used is
unfortunately no longer available.
21/8/08 16:26:39
 Step-by-step
Workshop

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 MASTER METALLIC
PHOTO EFFECTS
Our resident Helpdesk expert takes on the mystery
of the metallic images
P
eruse any Photoshop or photography
forum long enough and it’s likely you
will find a discussion regarding black-
and-white images that have a metallic or
silvery effect applied to them. This effect
produces fascinating dramatic shots that are
gritty and hypersharpened. Usually the effect is
applied to portraiture, and creates striking
images that cause a viewer to pause and study
images of people seemingly carved out of silver.
Many times this is accomplished by the photo
being printed onto an actual metallic film and
then scanned back in. The inevitable question
1 Select an image
First select an image to use. Portraiture
works best and it needs to be of sufficient
resolution for the technique to work well.
Avoid using images that are blurry or soft
focused, as we’ll need as much grimy details as
we can get! We chose this image of a boxer
that looks tough and ready to rumble.
2 Fixer-upper
Make any necessary adjustments to the
image to bring it to a solid starting point. Use
Levels or Curves to even out values and set the
black and white points. Remove any colour cast
and clone out any unwanted artefacts or
elements. A touch of sharpening with
Filter>Sharpen>Unsharpen Mask will prove to
be helpful as well.
060-064_AVP_48_MetallicWS.indd 61
ON THE DISC
There are no files on the CD for this
issue as it will work on any source
photo, so grab any image that will
work well in black and white and
get going!
OUR EXPERT Kirk Nelson
Kirk is a graphics artist and freelancer hailing from the
Washington DC area. With over a decade of Photoshop
always arises: can that be done in Photoshop? experience, he usually pens our Helpdesk and
occasionally steps in with tutorials on digital effects.
Several techniques are suggested, perhaps a
simple Levels adjustment, or some type of
Curves manipulation, but the answers always
seem to fall just short of the desired effect.
We turned to Photoshop guru Kirk Nelson to
Image selection
figure it out. The question was briefly addressed The success of this technique relies
in the Helpdesk of issue 47. Here, Kirk refines the heavily on the type of image selected to
technique and gives a thorough step-by-step work with. The effect is traditionally used
tutorial on how to achieve this gorgeous effect. on portraits of elderly men with many
So find a dramatic portrait, fire up Photoshop wrinkles, skin blemishes and often facial
and follow along as we crack the case on the hair. These types of elements lend
metallic image effect, Photoshop style! themselves well to the gritty,
hypersharpening process to produce
appealing results. The technique isn’t
limited to grandfathers, any image with
loads of interesting details will work, but
it should be a subject matter that seems
naturally grungy. Think rusty tractor
instead of shiny new car. This effect is not
at all flattering for beautiful young
women with porcelain-smooth skin.
3 Maximum Black (CS3 only)
We’ll start by converting the colour image
to a black-and-white image. Duplicate the
background layer by going to Layer>Duplicate
Layer or by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+J. If you are using
Photoshop CS3, go to Image>Adjustments>
Black and White and select Maximum Black from
the preset menu. If you have an earlier version of
Photoshop, skip to the next step.
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 Step-by-step
Workshop
4 Black and white for non-CS3
To achieve a similar black-and-white conversion in an earlier
version of Photoshop, duplicate the background layer and go to Image
6 Create a touch of glow
Duplicate the filtered layer and go to
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. We found a setting of
>Adjustments>Desaturate. Then add a Curves adjustment (Image> eight pixels worked well with our image. The
Adjustments>Curves), add a point in the centre of the curve and drag it goal is to create a soft glow around the sharp
down about a full grid space. The image should appear very dark but details created in the previous step. Make sure
retain the bright highlights. that the blending mode is set to Overlay. Note
the effect is subtle, but important.

5 Use High Pass to enhance

the details
Duplicate the black-and-white layer and go to
Filter>Other>High Pass. Set the Radius to an
amount that brings out the most detail in the
image. For ours, we found 15 to be a good
choice. Click OK and change the layer’s
blending mode to Overlay. This should give

7
your image a sharp, gritty appearance.
Gradient Map

Add an adjustment layer by going to Layer>New Adjustment
Layer>Gradient Map. Select a black-and-white gradient and make
certain that the black portion is on the left. This adjustment remaps
the image tones to the gradient and creates more contrast within
the image.
8
Stay in a group
To keep things simple and organised, let’s
group these layers together. Hold down the Shift
key and select all the layers in the Layers palette
except the background layer. Then go to
Layer>Group Layers and rename the group ‘Max
Black.’ Grouping layers is an excellent strategy for
keeping yourself from drowning in a stack of
dozens of layers.

9 Bring back the light details

While the black areas are looking
excellent, we’ve lost detail in the lighter areas.
The eyes and face look too dark and vacant, and
we’ve lost the entire left side of the body. We’ll
use the same technique adjusted to bring back
the light areas. Duplicate the Background layer
again and move it above the Max Black group.

Quick tip
10 Maximum White (CS3 only)
On the newly duplicated layer go to
Image>Adjustments>Black and White. From
In this tutorial, the gradient map
adjustment layer is used to exaggerate
the contrast in the black-and-white
the presets list select Maximum White. This will
image. But it can also be used to create
convert the layer to black and white with a
faux duotone effects. Change the
much brighter result than with the previous gradient colours to something other than
conversion. If you do not have Photoshop CS3, black and white to create an assortment.
skip to the next step.

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 11 Black and white for
non-CS3 versions
To achieve a similar black-and-white conversion
The master at work
in an earlier version of Photoshop, desaturate
the layer with Image>Adjustments>Desaturate. Rodolphe Simeon is a gifted Parisian
Bring up the Curves adjustment dialog box (Ima photographer best known for mastering
ge>Adjustments>Curves) and click on the this metallic image effect. For inspiration,
middle of the curve to add a point. Move that check out his gallery entitled The Street at
www.m-peoplephotography.com,
point up about two thirds of a grid space, then
where he captures the gritty reality of
pull the bottom point slightly to the right.
urban life without comfort. Take
particular note of how his bold choices of
subject matter are as inspired as the
execution of the technique itself. His
photostream on www.flickr.com is
captivating, and many of his photos have
generated thousands upon thousands of

12
views. One glance at his work and it’s
Lasso the skulls obvious that the attention is well
Duplicate the black-and-white layer deserved. Rodolphe, you are truly a
and go to Filter>Other>High Pass. Set the master craftsman of your trade and for
Radius to an amount that brings out the most that we salute you!
detail in the image. We kept the setting of 15
that we used before. Click OK and change the
layer’s blending mode to Overlay. The gritty
details should be readily apparent.

13 Another Gaussian Blur

Duplicate the filtered layer and go to
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Once again, the same
eight-pixel setting from before worked well.
Remember to set the blending mode to
Overlay. The glow created is less subtle on this
brightened layer due to the larger amounts of
bright pixels.

16 Lighten up
With the mask still the active
element, select a large, soft paintbrush and
change the foreground colour to white. Use this
to paint on the mask and reveal areas to be
lightened up, such as the eyes and face. Here,

14
we also used the mask to let the shiny
Another Gradient Map highlights of the boxer’s body to come through
Add the gradient map again with as well.
Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map.
After selecting the black-and-white gradient,
double-click on it to open the gradient editor.
Select one of the bottom slider handles to
reveal a small diamond for the midpoint. Slide
this midpoint marker towards the left just over
halfway. Notice how the image changes as
adjustments are made.

15 Hidden group
Group the layers together into a
‘Max White’ group. Then hold down the alt/opt
key and click the ‘Add Layer Mask’ icon at the
foot of the layers palette. Holding down the
Opt/Alt key while adding the mask
automatically fills the mask with black, thereby
hiding the entire group.

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
Other black-and-
white effects
Often a black-and-white image is merely
a starting point for an even more
interesting effect. The metallic effect is
just one of the many that can be used to
enhance the visual interest of the piece.
Duotone
Go to Image>Mode>Grayscale and then
convert to Duotone in the same menu.
Selecting a black and light brown ink will
yield a true sepia tone image.
Selective colour
An adjustment layer is used to create the
black-and-white image, then the mask is
utilised to allow the background colour to
show through.
Low key
The low key effect is when a single key light
is used to create a moody effect with harsh
shadows. Add a Levels adjustment layer,
and slide the black point toward the centre.
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060-064_AVP_48_MetallicWS.indd 64
17 Background blur
Press Cmd+Opt+Shift+E
(Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E on a PC) to create a
merged layer at the top of the layer
stack. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur
and use a setting that nicely blurs
out the details of the background –
we used 8.3 for our image here.
Create a selection around the boxer
and go to Layer>Layer Mask>Hide
Selection to restrict the blur to just
the background.
18
Added warmth
The image can use a touch of
warmth to enhance the metallic effect, so go to
Layers>New Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter.
Select the colour swatch and keep the default
orange hue and the Density at 25%. These
settings will need to be evaluated on an image-
by-image basis and depend upon the exact
effect that is desired.
19
Vignette
Create a ‘Vignette’ layer at the top of
the layer stack. Select a very large, soft-edged
paintbrush and change the foreground colour
to black. Reduce the brush Flow and Opacity to
around 30% and brush in a vignette effect
along the image’s corners and edges.
20 Final inspection
As a final step, go back over the “GROUPING
image with a critical eye. Watch for areas where
the masks could be tightened up or the LAYERS IS AN
selections weren’t quite right. Sometimes
flipping the entire image will help see the work EXCELLENT
STRATEGY
with fresh eyes and reveal problems that were
difficult to see before.
FOR KEEPING
YOURSELF
FROM
DROWNING
IN DOZENS
OF LAYERS”
21/8/08 17:36:48
 Step-by-step
Workshop

d e r’sp
Rea r k s htheoartists
wGreo ages
from nced
a
at imn the Adv website
o op tail
osh de
Phot lained in
exp

HAVE FUN WITH STOCK IMAGES

Create a vibrant funky masterpiece using a combination of stock images, blending modes,
a little imagination and the infamous Pen tool

T
his tutorial will demonstrate just
how easy it can be to create a
complex-looking photomontage
using only a handful of Photoshop’s vast
array of tools.
We will be using plenty of stock images and
shall also have a go at creating our own
graphic effects using the Pen tool. Before you
start, go to the CD and follow the links to
download all the stock images that you need
(they’re all free!) to complete the project.
blank canvas wondering where to start, and
all you have to do is pop in a CD, put the
headphones on and let your creative
thoughts take over.
Photoshop is the perfect platform for
creating images like this as it gives you plenty
of flexibility to experiment; it’s surprising how
much an image can change just by
performing the smallest task.
Also during this tutorial, feel free to express
yourself and add your own touches. Use the
ON THE DISC
On the CD, you will find links to
free stock images and the rest of
the source images. There are also
links to www.vecteezy.com and
www.myphotoshopbrushes.
com for the vectors and shapes.
OUR EXPERT Lee Gough
Born and raised in Manchester, England, Lee has been using
Photoshop for just over five years. What started as a hobby
has now turned into an exciting new career. www.
fluidwebdesigns.co.uk.

The inspiration for this tutorial comes from tutorial as a guide, and if you can, add your
my love of music, and the way it integrates so own images and use the techniques
well with art. So many times we stare at a described here to create a unique work of art.

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 1 Set the tone
Open a new file
at A4 landscape, CMYK
2 Bring in some texture
Place the ‘backgroundimage.jpg’ provided
on this month’s CD above the new Background
and 300dpi. Duplicate layer and set the blending mode to Overlay.
the Background layer, Next, we want to distort the image using the
then add a Gradient Motion Blur filter, with the Angle at 0 degrees
Overlay layer style. and the Distance set to 999 pixels. You could
Choose a Foreground also experiment a little with the pixel distance
to Background gradient to achieve a different effect.
and add a new colour
stop, setting the hex
value to ‘#67062C’,
changing the white
stop to black. Keep the
Angle at 90 degrees.

“ADD SOME PERSPECTIVE TO YOUR

IMAGE AND CREATE A NICE FLOW
TO ENGAGE THE VIEWER’S EYE”

3 DJ
Download the DJ image. Use the Pen tool
(set to Paths) to draw around the model. Ctrl/
right-click and choose Make Selection. Hit Cmd/
Ctrl+J. Place the cutout model on the
background you created, then scale him to fit.
4 Replace the arm
Apply a Luminosity blending mode. We
are going to replace the DJ’s missing limb
using the Marquee tool (M). Draw a rectangle
downwards over his arm, making sure to
include a bit of his tank top. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J,
then go to Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal. Use
the Move tool (V) to position the arm correctly.
5 Add some atmosphere
Ctrl/right-click the arm selection’s
thumbnail and select Merge Down. Next,
duplicate the model layer and add a Motion Blur,
setting the Angle to 90 degrees and the Distance
to 80 pixels. Reduce the layer’s Opacity to 60%, as
this will mask the image’s lower resolution and
give it a subtle glow.

6 Mix it up
Repeat Step 3 to cut
out the decks image.
7 Bring back the colour
With the ants still marching, create a new layer and set the
blending mode to Overlay. Select the Brush tool and adjust its painting
Insert it into your project, Mode to Linear Dodge (Add), then reduce the Opacity and Flow to
Duplicate the layer and 18%. We are going to use a soft brush with a diameter of 300.
Flip Horizontal. Desaturate
(Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+U).
Select the Magic Wand
(W) with the Tolerance set
to 50. Hold down Shift
and select the light and
dark areas of the left deck;
Cmd/right-click and select
Similar. You should have
selected the record deck.

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
8 More colour
Select a dark shade of purple and start
painting over a corner of a deck. You will notice
9 Piano
Open ‘Piano.psd’
provided and place
that with every brushstroke, the hue appears below the decks. Use
brighter. Repeat these steps on the second deck, Edit>Transform to
and don’t be afraid to experiment with different distort the piano. The
colours and always start with a dark shade. aim here is to add some
perspective to your
image and create a nice
flow, which will engage
the viewer’s eye. Next
up, add a Layer Style
and select Outer Glow
with a Linear Dodge
(Add) Blend Mode.
Experiment with the
other settings to suit.

10 Graphics
Create a new layer and place it below
the piano. Using the Pen tool (P) set to Shapes,
draw a curved path from the piano to the edge
of the canvas and back again. Fill the path with
white and add an Outer Glow (as in Step 9).
Merge the piano and graphic layers together
and get ready with the Pen tool.
11 More graphics
Create a new layer and draw some curved paths; anything
goes here, so get creative. Fill the paths with any colour you like. Here,
we chose a gradient. Next, we will erase part of our curves to give the
illusion of weaving in and out of the piano layer and the other
graphics. This will give extra depth to the image.
12 Photo elements
Now, we are going to add some
photographic elements to our image using the
same techniques as Steps 3 and 6. Feel free to
use your own images or download the ones
suggested on the disc. As with Step 6, add
some colour to your new additions. We want to
make them look like they belong to our image.

Layers
When creating an

13 14
image like this,
it’s easy to lose Vectors Custom shapes
track of your Now we are going to add some vector flowers (use the link Create a new layer and then, using
layers, so it makes provided on the CD to find some). If you don’t use Illustrator, image the Pen tool, draw a simple eight-point star
good practice to stock will work just as well, so just repeat the previous step. Place the shape. Next, go to Edit>Define Custom Shape
name layers as we vectors onto the canvas under the deck layers, then scale and rotate. and click OK.
create them. We Next, rasterise the layers and adjust the Hue (Cmd/Ctrl+U) to suit.
will also be
moving layers
about a lot. The
reason for this is
the composition –
we don’t want the
image to appear
flat and lifeless;
we want to add a sense of depth. Also
experiment with different layer
blending modes; a simple click of the
mouse can change the whole
atmosphere of an image and give a new
lease of life

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 15 Stars
Select the Custom Shape tool (U) set to
Paths and choose your star. In the left-hand
corner of the image, start to place several shape
paths. Fill the paths white (using the Paths
palette’s drop-down arrow and Fill Path). Add an
Outer Glow layer style with the Blend Mode set
to Linear Dodge (Add), Opacity to 75% and the
Size to 24px. Create a new layer.
16 Music notes
Hit D to set default colours. Use the
music shapes in the Custom Shape tool (set to
17 More fun with the Pen tool
Select the Pen tool (set to Paths) and create a new layer in-
between the lower deck and the vector. Draw a rounded star shape and
Paths). Set the Brush tool to 7px hard. In the close the path. Cmd/right-click and make a selection. As with Step 7,
Paths palette, double-click the thumbnail to select the Brush tool and set its mode to Linear Dodge (Add), Opacity
make the shape a path. From the Paths palette’s and Flow to 19%, with a soft 200px brush.
drop-down arrow, select Fill Path and fill with
white (Background). Next, select Stroke Path,
choosing Brush to add a black stroke.

18 Colour the selection

Select a dark shade of green and start
brushing over the corners of your selection; as
19 Lighting
Create a
layer above the
before, each brushstroke makes the colour background image,
brighter and more vibrant. Repeat this process select the Brush tool
around different parts of the image. The key is to with a Normal
use lots of layers and lots of shapes. You could Mode with the
also experiment with different blending modes. Opacity and Flow set
to 100% and a soft
brush of 900px.
Choose a deep red
colour and paint the
area behind the DJ,
then Filter>Blur>
Gaussian Blur and set
the Radius to 250px.
Now repeat the
process with different
colours, in various
areas of the image.

20 Vinyl
In order
to add some more
21 Finishing off
Finish the image by adding your own personal touch. Here, I
added some more music notes to the background, duplicated the star
interest to our layer and repositioned it to the top right corner. For any elements that are
image, download added, set the layer’s blending mode to Overlay; this way, the
a vinyl image and background colours still show through.
cut out the record
with the Magic
Wand. Place the
image above the
keyboard,
duplicate the layer
three times and
use the Transform
tools to scale and
distort each
image accordingly.

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 Helpdesk
Has Photoshop got you puzzled, ponderous and perplexed? Send a question in to the
Helpdesk as Kirk Nelson applies his knowledge of innate Photoshop behaviour to
some of our readers’ quandaries BY KIRK NELSON
GOLDEN OLDIES: Several surprising sepia solutions
SEPIA TONES
How can I add a sepia tone to my photos?
Ryan Montgomery
Hey there Ryan! My mum had this proven method
of adding this ‘olden’ effect to her snapshots. She
threw them into a box in the attic for 30 years. But
I’m guessing that you want to know how to simulate
the effect in Photoshop; after all, this is Advanced
Photoshop, not Ancient Photograph.
Photoshop provides several methods for
accomplishing this. Although it should be noted that
these effects usually work best on a black-and-white
image, it’s not required. The first and most
straightforward method is through the Photo Filter
function (found under Image>Adjustment). Select
Sepia from the list of available filters and adjust the
Density as desired. The second is the more traditional
SPLIT SCREEN: See your work in two places at once with
multiple views
72
Advanced Photoshop
072-073_AVP_48_Helpdesk.indd 72
method of using a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. in two windows. You can verify this by painting in one
Make sure the Colorize box is checked and set Hue to window and seeing the other window show the changes
30 and Saturation to 15. This method is useful as it too. So arrange your windows as you like, keeping one
allows great control over the sepia colour and comes zoomed out and one zoomed in nice and tight for
with a mask to further control the effect’s application. working those details.
A third common method is to create a new layer and Yes Sarah, I know. You’re welcome.
fill it with the sepia colour; I tend to use ‘#93806d’.
Change this layer’s mode to Color or Overlay. With this
method, the depth of sepia colour can be adjusted by SAME DIFFERENCE
using the Dodge and Burn tools found on the Color My eyes are going buggy! I had to scan in a
Overlay layer. large map and it was too big for my scanner,
so I scanned in sections at a time and now I’m
trying to assemble them in Photoshop. Please
MULTIVIEW tell me there’s an easier way to line up
Is there a way to have two views of the same overlapping layers than reducing the opacity
document open? Not a copy but two actual and looking really, really close.
views, so that one can be an extreme zoom-in Maria Wills
good for detail painting and the other is a full
canvas view that updates as I paint?
Sarah Reginald
HELPDESK
Sarah, I hear your cry! Tired of constantly
zooming in and out while trying to paint
CALL FOR QUESTIONS
tight details, yet not wanting to disrupt the Want help with Photoshop?
overall image? Or possibly you have worn
Send your emails to us at:
out the plus and minus keys as the zoom
shortcuts. Worry no more! advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk
With your document open, go to or post a message on our forum board at
Window>Arrange>New Window for www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum.
(your filename) and Photoshop creates
Remember to specify whether you’re using
a duplicate window of the document.
Be aware that this isn’t a copy of your a PC or Mac and the version number of
document (that is done with Image> your edition of Photoshop.
Duplicate) but the same file being viewed
21/8/08 16:46:37

Oh! What do you do with a problem like Maria’s?
We’ve all been there, trying to align overlapping layers
and constantly adjusting the transparency to try to
make things line up. Save your eyes, Maria, there is a
better way. Or two!
First up is the nifty Auto-Align feature. Position your
layers roughly where they should go, select all the layers
and go to Edit>Auto-Align Layers. Photoshop does the
work for you with surprising accuracy.
What’s that? You don’t trust the automation? Can’t
really say I blame you, Maria (it’s all a conspiracy!). Or
maybe you just have an older version of Photoshop
that doesn’t include the Auto-Align feature. In that
case, use the Difference blending mode. Change the
top layer’s blending mode to Difference and the pixels
that are identical to the underlying pixels will turn
black. Pixels that don’t match are brightly coloured.
Nudge the layer around until the overlapping area
turns a solid black and you have perfect alignment!
MANAGING PRESETS
Thanks to the magazine, I’ve got more
brushes, patterns, gradients and fonts than I
know what to do with, and have noticed that
the time it takes to open the CS2 version of
Photoshop on my Mac is taking slightly longer
after each issue. Is there a better way to store
my resources than in the Presets folders? I’m
sure there is and if so, what’s the best way?
Paul Douglass
Who doesn’t love all those great brushes and
gradients on the disc every month? It’s part of what
makes every issue of Advanced Photoshop so special.
So what do you do when all those things start
bogging down your Photoshop?
Let me put it this way, Paul. Suppose you drive a truck
every day up a hill. Now also suppose you enjoy collecting
interesting rocks that you find along the road. Every time
you find a rock, you throw it in the back of the truck and
carry on your merry way. Eventually, your truck isn’t going
072-073_AVP_48_Helpdesk.indd 73
es
n iqu
ch
Te
WIREFRAME EFFECT
How can I create a wireframe effect in
Photoshop without using a 3D file?
Marc Arthur
Using the 3D tools in Photoshop Extended provides an
easy answer, although not everybody has the luxury of
the Extended version or access to a high-quality 3D file
to use. So here’s a method for you to get the wireframe
look by hand.
1 Find a photo
Begin with a photo of the object you’ll be
working with and use your favourite selection
technique to isolate it from the background.
PIECING IT ALL TOGETHER: Align overlapping
layers without the eye strain. Use the Auto-Align feature
or Difference blending mode
to be climbing that hill quite as fast as it used to. So you
go to your mechanic and complain that your truck is
moving slow these days. If your mechanic is anything like
mine, he’ll smile slyly, take your money and then just
unload all your rocks and your truck is back to its normal
speed. I hate sly mechanics. What’s all this got to do with
Photoshop? Well, every time Photoshop loads, it has to
read in all those fun brushes, gradients, patterns, etc.
2
Those things are like the rocks in the metaphorical truck
slowing it down. Smart Blur
So what’s the answer? A bigger truck? Fewer rocks? Go to Filter>Blur>Smart Blur and change the
Smaller hill? All of the above? Well, there is actually a mode to Edge Only. Then invert the layer to get a
technique that can help quite a bit. It involves black-on-white line drawing of the subject.
organising your extras into saved files that are easily
loaded when needed and then unloaded to keep
Photoshop slim and trim. Bring up your Preset
Manager (Edit>Preset Manager) and sort through the
Preset Types to find the area with the most loaded
elements, such as brushes. Select several brushes by
holding down the Shift or Ctrl/Cmd keys while
clicking on them and hit the Save Set button. After
saving the set, you can hit the Delete button to
remove these brushes from the preloaded list. You
can always get them back by using the Load button.
3
Alternatively, if you saved the set under the default
Presets folder, they will also be available through the Warped grid
fly-out menu. Create a new layer and fill a rectangular
selection with a grid pattern. Then use the Warp tool
(Edit>Transform>Warp) to shape the grid into a
flowing mesh that fits a portion of your object. Then
just repeat as needed.
GET SORTED: Use the Preset Manager to organise your
brushes and speed up Photoshop
73
Advanced Photoshop
21/8/08 16:46:58
 Insider
Info
INSIDER
v INFO
Calculations
This lesser-known Photoshop command allows users quick and easy masking and
selection utilities, as well as chromatic creation capacity. Explore this all-inclusive option
and its powerful creative potential

A
dobe Photoshop has an array of commands that present a multiple
option capacity, and the Calculations command is one of the most
useful when considering digital creative application. Of course, it has
been overlooked at times due to the advancements made throughout the CS
series, with some of you perhaps never even activating it at all, so we’ll be
educating you on its powerful potential.
Fundamentally, the Calculations command allows you to blend two individual
channels. This can be done from more than one source image and the results can be
applied from several specific options with various outcomes. Each combination
applies a different effect to your active image and is allied by its relation to and
interaction with the Photoshop channels. Each blending can create diverse outcomes
and be put to a specific creative use.
This Image command excels in its BEST BLENDS: If looking to make selections for specific image areas, thus creating editable Alpha
OUR EXPERT Adam Smith ability to apply such manifold functions layers, then Color Burn, Vivid Light and Hard Mix create defined image areas
Employing the use of Photoshop since version 6, senior in its all-inclusive options dialog box.
staff writer Adam Smith has seen his fair share of Start by activating the relevant dialog channels. When used to create Likewise, the utility of selecting and
advancements. But Photoshop doesn’t forget its old
friends and is littered with commands that, although
box by simply selecting competent monochrome, it’s unlikely applying channels and blending can be
not so apparent, are nevertheless fundamental in Image>Calculations. to set your Source 1 and Source 2 to used to great effect in a masking and
contemporary creative practice. anything other than Merged. active selection capacity, allowing users
Monochrome magic This will make sure you treat the image to affect specific image areas. Again, to
For those of you without CS3 and its as a whole, but specifying individual get the direct and desired selected area
Black & White Image>Adjustment layers from your palette can contribute can be down to trial and error, but there
options, then the Calculations nice and alternative effects. As expected, are a few key Blending options that will
Masks included command can be significant in
producing monochrome imagery,
the designated mixed channels in each
Source menu will determine effect
lend themselves to defining areas.
Couple these applications with specific
These options allow you to apply being just as efficient as using the efficiency, altering from image to image. selections from the Result drop-down
blending through a mask by simply Saturate and Adjustment options. This is due to the variance in image menu options. Here, you can specify
activating the Mask option and Calculations provides you with two sets tonality and its relation to the coloured whether to place the blending results in a
opening related options. Here, you of Source option sets where you can channel, which will map the luminosity of new document, channel or selection.
can choose any Alpha channel to
designate an image, layers and corresponding colour levels. So best Deploying the New Channel options will
use as the mask. The mask can be
effects are either down to intuitive apply your effects in the form of an Alpha
based upon active selections or
chosen layer boundaries. Selecting POWERFUL CHROMATIC understanding of channel selections or channel in your Channels palette. After
CAPABILITY: Calculations can be used trial and error. this, selections can be redefined for
Invert will reverse the masked and as a highly sophisticated chromatic creation
unmasked areas of the channel. device, which is fantastic news for users with isolated accurate image areas.
pre-CS3 software Active selections Choosing the Selection menu option is
The Calculations dialog box also best when applying live layer masks to
accommodates blending mode options. active layers in your Layers palette or
These to can be utilised to great effect isolating areas that need treatment and
with your altering channel choices to retouching with Brush, Clone and Dodge
create specific visual effects. With these and Burn toolsets. Obviously, selecting
you can darken, lighten and balance the New Document option lets you
image tone to create detail and produce finalised effects or Copy>Paste
exposure within coloured or layers that can be affected with the Layer
monochrome imagery. palette’s blending modes.

Things you can’t do

There are a few factors to consider that can restrict user ability at times. First
of all, if you are using more than one source image then the images must have
corresponding pixel dimensions. Also, Calculations commands to composite
channels are prohibited.

74
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071_AVP_40_eMagAd.indd 1 14/1/08 17:19:37

 Our pick of the best reader submissions
sent to us this month

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

Visually striking
NAME: Derek Kimball
EMAIL: derek@getyourgraphics.com
WEB: www.getyourgraphics.com

Derek graduated from the Computer Art and Design programme at Alfred
State in New York in 2000. Not being able to find a job after school, he had
to choose other routes to pay the bills. “I pretty much lost my desire to
become a graphic artist, feeling I just wasn’t good enough,” he admits.
However, in recent months he has rekindled his passion for becoming a
successful graphic designer. “Tired of working construction and not doing
what I want to do, my drive to become a successful designer has grown.
Now I can’t get enough of Photoshop. I’m teaching myself Illustrator,
photography, web design and even screenprinting. I’ve built myself a
website and am all ready to go. Now comes the hard part of actually
finding the work.”
Despite the college course, Derek says that it is other sources that have
provided him with his skills. “It’s funny. I think I have learned more from
the internet and from awesome magazines like Advanced Photoshop than
I ever did in college… and that information didn’t cost me tens of
thousands of dollars! The vast amount of knowledge and information that
can be found on the web is truly priceless. Between the forums, blogs,
tutorial sites and search engines, it’s almost like having a teacher over
your shoulder at all times – only they take a bit longer to answer!”

SEDUCTIVE: “I was pretty happy with how this image turned out. It
was my first drawing with my Wacom tablet. To create this image, I
scanned a photo of the girl and then traced an outline of the main
contours. From there I pretty much just painted away, using regular
ted mostly using soft brushes and colour swatches I created based off the photo. The
HAND: “This image was crea
CAN EYE GIVE YOU A n tools. I desaturated the image and kept the hair is on its own layer and was created by doing endless strokes with
Bur
masks and the Dodge and ctly what you want a small, harder brush”
your own images to get exa
irises coloured. Photograph out of your montages”

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 COLORS IN BLACK AND WHITE: “This is another
nice photo, desaturated and then retouched with the Pen

BEST
tool to create all the swirls. The sunglasses effect was
obtained with a Color Dodge blending option and some

IN SHOW
custom brushes”

CREATING A
started life as a
N EW MIND: “T
royalty-free ren his is of particular note, seein
exploding in bla dering of a comp g as it
ck uterised head
implemented in and white. The lights, text an
Photoshop” d face were

Art from the heart

NAME: Francesco Mugnai
EMAIL: mugnai@gmail.com
WEB: www.francescomugnai.com

Francesco is a “graphics designer, web designer,

web manager and technical evangelist” according
to his website, which is a glossy affair, proving the
calibre of his design work. The 27-year-old
multitalented designer was born in Florence, Italy,
and currently works as a teacher of Digital Graphic
Techniques in a renowned Italian institute of Art
and Design in Florence, where he also works as
web manager.
Somehow, alongside this busy career, he also
finds time to work as a freelance graphic designer
and is passionate about his work: “I have always
loved all things related to computers and computer
science. When I was still at university (I graduated
with my first degree in Communications and
Multimedia), I began my career as a freelance
graphic designer. After working for a number of BARE SKIN: “This is a picture
different businesses throughout Italy, I started to of a model removed from its
background and completely
expand my knowledge into such areas as website
staged in Photoshop with
development, advertising, blogs and creative several custom brushes and a
patterns for various international companies.” lot of masks”

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 Discover the thinking behind the art

CONTEMPLATION: “This piece was created using a combination of Adobe Photoshop CS3
and Illustrator CS3 on a Wacom Cintiq. I had my wife pose for the piece while I proceeded to sketch
and refine the artwork by hand, utilising blending modes, custom brushes, layer masking as well
as manipulating individual colour channels for the desired effects”

Out of this world

NAME: John Butler
EMAIL: john@planetproductions.net
WEB: www.planetproductions.net

John began studying illustration and design at a very early age. He used to
draw inspiration from his favourite comic books as a kid and tried his best to
duplicate the artists’ depictions with coloured pencils. Now, paired with his
Cintiq, he is able to create those same illustrations – forged from his own eye
and design.
He began his career as a student of Graphic Art at Richland College of
Dallas, all the while working with his current production company as its ‘up-
and-coming’ young artist. “After recruiting me very early on, my creative
director, Brian, placed at my disposal a multitude of industry-standard
applications such as Photoshop 6.5, Illustrator, After Effects and Vectorworks,”
John explains. “I was like a kid in a candy store. I studied night and day,
devoting every minute I could spare to the pursuit of idyllic expression
through digital technique. I’ve always gravitated towards Photoshop, simply
because it gives me the freedom to express myself in a much more fluid and
distinct way than almost any other method.”
When asked about the inspiration behind his work, he says: “I find myself
drawing inspiration as of late by turning my studies towards the techniques of
other artists such as Mondrian, Ruben Toledo, Carlos Nichols and Alex Ross in
order to refine my own style. I find that by studying the works of fellow artists
such as these, I can sharpen my own skills in terms of form, lighting and
conveying an idea.”

CHAOTIC: “I create
Photoshop CS3’s lay d this hand-drawn piece for my office
er masking tools an utilising
d multiple blending
simulate the feeling modes to
of gritty chaos”

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 HERIDO: “I started

best in
with a photo I took of
a friend. Here, I
worked with different
textures. This
artwork has an
esoteric concept – it
is about an angel
that was wounded in
a celestial battle”

show
Sponsored by…
Not only is Francesco Mugnai this
month’s Best in Show, he has also
won a year’s full Option 3
membership to The Illustration
Source, worth £150, and Featured
SHE FROZE (ABOVE): “I Artist slot for September. The
took a photo of my own Illustration Source Ltd is the newest
footstep in ice outside my source of original art, freelance
house at wintertime. The illustrators, photographers, artists
technique I used was layers, and designers on the net. Visit
many layers of ice. This www.illustration-source.com for
artwork is a metaphor for the more information. If you’d like to
Norwegian midwinter. It
stand a chance of winning an
carries hope that one day the
snow and the ice are going to Illustration Source portfolio, send
melt away and we will have your images to advancedpshop@
springtime. The spring brings imagine-publishing.co.uk.
lights and new vibrations”
Image requirements
You’ll stand a better chance of
seeing your work in print if you
adhere to the following criteria:
make sure that your images are
high-quality TIFFs or JPEGs (RGB or
CMYK), 300dpi minimum, and can
be printed at 15 x 15cm minimum.
Don’t forget to include a small text
file detailing how you created your
work as well.

Terms and conditions

By submitting images to Advanced
Photoshop’s Peer Pressure, you
Environmentally inspired SUMAG HUARMI II: “I
started with a photo of my
hereby grant Imagine Publishing
and, if relevant, clients to whom the
NAME: Miguel Tinizaray wife that I originally used relevant work has been provided,
EMAIL: migueltinizaray@gmail.com for an oil painting. After I an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-
WEB: http://migart.deviantart.com/ put together the photo and free licence to use such intellectual
the background, I worked
property in relation to work similar
with the Levels in the Blue
Miguel is an old-fashioned artist. He paints and makes traditional drawings, mostly and Red channels to get a or equivalent to the work. This
working with the human figure and portraits. Miguel got interested in Photoshop at gothic atmosphere. This includes the right to showcase work
artwork is a metaphor for on multimedia formats. By
the same time that he discovered his interest in photography: “At the beginning, I
the summer when the light submitting work you also confirm
didn’t think that manipulated photos or artwork were real art. But I started to read a is stronger and the sun hits, that your images do not infringe
lot about Photoshop and found out that this was a new world of opportunities!” Now, but with a gothic, any copyright regulations should
he is able to reproduce his original artwork in different colours, add and remove melancholic look that they be published.
symbols, edit backgrounds and sell images as prints but keep the original. reminds us of wintertime”
He sees Photoshop as an essential tool these days: “To make commercial
designs, Photoshop is necessary to know. Everything looks more professional.” Of
his personal development with the program, he says that it has made him a more
all-round artist and he has spent the last year in front of the computer, with the last
six months spent experimenting with digital artwork.
For his own images he uses Adobe Photoshop CS3, but also tries to use his own
photos and original artwork in his compositions. “I spend a lot of time taking photos
around my neighbourhood,” says Miguel, who comes from Ecuador, but for the last THE PRIZE: Check out The Illustration
four years he’s been living in Norway. “In Norway, the inspiration is the climatic Source’s website to see the portfolios of
previous winners of Best in Show
diversity, especially ice and snow.”

79
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076-079_AVP_48_PeerPressure.indd79 79 21/8/08 16:49:34

 web
Discover the thinking behind the art

chall
enge THIS
MONTH’S
PRIZE
Our prize this month is the newly
released David & Charles title Bold
Visions by Gary Tonge. The lucky
Peer Pressure WEB winner will receive a copy of this
essential read, which walks you
CHALLENGE – THE WINNERS through everything you need to know
Challenge reference: AP 047 about digital painting, using helpful
step-by-steps and professional tips.

On our website, www.advancedphotoshop.

co.uk/competitions.php, we run a web NAME: Richard Davies
challenge where you are asked to create EMAIL: rich_daf@yahoo.co.uk
an image in Photoshop using at least one of
three images provided. Up until now, these A CLOSE ENCOUNTER: We chose this
image as our winner because of the wonderful
challenges have been running for three
integration of the source image, the beautiful
months at a time, but due to their popularity, colour palette used and those eerie can’t-quite-
we are now making this a monthly event. see-what-they-are lights in the sky. Very well
Check out the website for details of our done Richard!
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.

Runner-up
NAME: Maria Masiar
EMAIL: maria.masiar@
gmail.com
WEB: www.
mariamasiar.com
END OF DAYS: “I made the
mammoth lifelike in CS3 by
drawing each individual hair
using a Wacom tablet, the
Brush and Smudge tools. It
took roughly ten hours
before it looked right to me”

Runner-up
NAME: Adam Browning
EMAIL: addsgraphics@gmail.com W EB
W I NNE R
ASYLUM OF MY MIND: “I used the image
of the house as the basis of the work, and the
concept was to transform it into a spooky
abandoned asylum. Originally, it was
just supposed to look like an old photograph,
however, I added poems to establish the setting
while the weathered hands and many texture
layers helped to enforce the sinister atmosphere”

www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/competitions.php
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 Feature
1

INSERT
2

INSERT
INSERT

INSERT

INSER
INSERT T

✃
1
✃ 3 ✃
2

Build your own

home studio
Setting up your own home studio can help lay the foundations for a
thriving career, but at what price? BY NICK SPENCE

I
f you work from home, it’s only a short walk between bed, bathroom,
breakfast and the office each morning. The rush hour might involve a
queue for the toilet, but little else should keep you from being at your
most creative.
The benefits of working from home are clear: the time and money that is
saved on both travelling and studio space can be ploughed back into your
business, and cost cutting is always helpful when you’re just starting out.
Unless potential clients have X-ray vision, they won’t know you’re still sat in your
underwear and working from a corner of a bedsit or spare room. The internet is your
shop front and with work being delivered digitally, your studio could be anywhere
in the world.
However, working from home requires discipline and a focus on the work in hand.
Running to some sort of daily routine and timetable will ensure long days don’t stretch
into nights, and quality time can still be enjoyed with friends and family. Maintaining a
defined and tidy workspace will help guarantee a level of professionalism and make
sure your office doesn’t overwhelm your home. It’s a good idea to take regular breaks,
exercise and adhere to all the health and safety concerns associated with working in a
traditional office, including good lighting and knowing the risks of RSI. Remember a
percentage of home bills, gas, electricity, telephone and internet charges, along with
furniture and equipment will be tax deductible, so keep check of all your running costs
and expenditure. You may also be liable for costly business rates if a room is devoted to
your work, so be discreet when dealing with the council.

82
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 Build your own home studio
BUDGET KIT
A GOOD START
M
ost studios grow organically over time,
and even successful and established
studios won’t necessarily have the latest
hardware and software to hand. Think about what
you really need and not what you’d ideally like. A
computer, some software, a web presence, a
telephone and funds for promoting yourself are all
absolute essentials.
If you’re lucky, you might be able to inherit or buy
cheaply the hardware and software you’ll need to get
started. Websites like eBay (www.ebay.co.uk) and
Gumtree (www.gumtree.com) are both great sources
of bargains, with new, ex-display and refurbished
computers often sold well below the manufacturer’s
suggested retail price. Perfectly acceptable older
models can also be picked up cheaply but second-
hand computers may prove problematic if you don’t
know their history. BigPockets (www.bigpockets.co.
uk), dabs.com (www.dabs.com) and Ebuyer (www.
ebuyer.com) are all online retailers who offer value-
for-money deals, and for bargain spotting, Martin
Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert.com (http://forums.
moneysavingexpert.com) has forums full of savings.
The great debate, PC vs Mac, is thankfully a thing of
the past, with few – if any – compatibility issues
between the two. Both Microsoft (www.microsoft.
com) and Apple (www.apple.com) offer compelling
reasons to use their products, but ultimately it may
come down to personal choice and what you know
and like best. Laptops are portable and desirable, but
in comparison to desktops, cost a premium when
similar specifications are compared. Smaller screens
found on laptops are fine for email and web surfing,
but are hardly ideal for creative applications such as
Photoshop. Many laptops remain rooted to the same
desk, so unless you intend to travel then a desktop
computer should be your first choice.
Apple’s cheapest laptop is the fastest MacBook
ever, powered by the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor
at speeds up to 2.4GHz, although you’ll pay a
premium for a stylish black model. The affordable
PP /$1,0 K
CO 99
W.A 699 OO
Samsung R700 Notebook, meanwhile, has been well
WWOM £ ACB
reviewed in recent months and has a generous,
L E.
FR PLE M
potentially desktop-replacing 17-inch screen and
sleek and stylish appearance. Apple’s entry-level
AP
082-087_AVP_48_Feature.indd 83
elegant all-in-one iMac desktop currently costs £100
more than the cheapest MacBook, and comes with a
20-inch monitor and bigger hard drive, ideal for
creative work. The cheapest budget PC is the one you
buy and build yourself; online guides and books will
show you how. Acer (www.acer.co.uk), Dell (www.
dell.com), Fujitsu Siemens (www.fujitsu-siemens-
shop.co.uk) and Mesh (www.meshcomputers.com)
are all popular suppliers of PCs, and offer custom-built
options to suit all budgets. For instance, Dell’s new
range of Studio Hybrid computers are inexpensive,
compact, colourful and energy efficient.
Decent-sized monitors can be had for under £100,
and printers for less, but check the price of
A P O M .A P P replacement cartridges before you choose a bargain.
FR W W
P L £7 L E
A graphics tablet is a big plus and industry leader
W
E 2 99 . C
Wacom (www.wacom.com) offers the competitively
0- /$1 OM
IN ,1
priced Bamboo range, the successor to the Graphire4
CH 99
series. Google ‘alternatives to Photoshop’ for free and
IM
AC
cheaper options, although Adobe Photoshop
Elements (www.adobe.com) has many fans and is
often bundled free with printers, scanners and tablets.
If big-name software sold on eBay and in markets
seems ridiculously cheap, it may be pirated, so buyers
beware. Website providers, including Mr. Site (www.
mrsite.com) and Clikpic (www.clikpic.com), offer
simple but effective ways to get your work online, and
keeping a blog costs nothing but your time. External
storage is prudent to back up your valuables, but if
cash is tight, consider emailing yourself important
files and artwork. Gmail (http://mail.google.com)
offers around 6.8GB of free space. File-sharing sites
may be controversial but several, including
4shared (www.4shared.com), offer around 5GB
for free.
WACOM BAMBOO FUN
FROM £60/$100
WWW.WACOM.COM
HY R O M . D E
DE D DE 29/$ OM
F WW
BR £ LL
W
LL SK 49
I
ST TO 9
UD P
IO
.C
83
Advanced Photoshop
21/8/08 17:13:20
 Feature
MID-RANGE KIT
MOVING ON UP
A “Annual awards,
ny purchase, small or large, should ideally
follow some research online and in
magazines. Annual awards, editors’ picks,
five-star reviews and best-in-show recommendations
are all good pointers. Word-of-mouth
recommendations are always useful, particularly from
those whose opinions you value. It pays to shop
around, and price-comparison sites are a good
pointer but can miss more local bargains. Developing
a relationship with a local independent computer
dealer can pay dividends, especially if you need
repairs or upgrades done. Local computer fairs can
also be a great place to find cheaper computers and
peripherals, including graphics cards, processors,
motherboards, monitors, storage options, inks, paper
and blank media.
There are several reasons, good and bad, why you
may need to upgrade and improve your tools of the
trade. In-built obsolesce, peer pressure, clever
marketing, the need for speed as applications
become more demanding, wear and tear or simply
rewarding yourself for your hard work and diligence.
The feel-good factor that comes with buying
something new can motivate and inspire you to
produce great work, experiment and be creative at a
pace that is not dictated by the age and condition of
your hardware and software. One quick fix is to buy
additional memory; online retailers such as Crucial
(www.crucial.com) offer quality memory upgrades at
competitive prices. A little extra computer oomph can
also be achieved by good housekeeping, keeping
everything in good working order, defragmenting
and freeing space and deleting the software you are
unlikely ever to use. If you’re on a PC, keep antivirus
software up to date, and regularly download any
operating system patches associated with security.
For those with extra cash to spend, Apple’s 24-inch
iMac offers ample real estate to digitally design, draw,
APPLE MACBOOK PRO 15”
FROM £1,299/$1,999
WWW.APPLE.COM
84
Advanced Photoshop
082-087_AVP_48_Feature.indd 84
paint and edit in style. The top model has an
impressive 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB
memory, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics card and editors’ picks and
500GB hard drive. With a 15-inch screen, the smaller five-star reviews are
of the MacBook Pro models is still big enough to use
as your main computer and useful to have as back up, all good pointers”
especially if you want to work away from home or
even in another room. Helpful online comparison
guides explain the differences between the MacBook MP C
and MacBook Pro. The Dell Studio 15 and Studio 17 97 AN
0 A ON
are stylish PC laptops that fall somewhere between W LL PI
-I X
W
W. P N - O MA
the budget Inspiron and the high-end XPS range. Dell CA £19 RIN NE
also offers a range of XPS desktops, which, while NO 4/$ TER
N. 30
aimed at premium users, are still within the budget of CO 0
M
many. Remember that Dell and others will configure a
PC to suit your needs if you’re not a gamer; for
instance, you ought to then avoid a computer aimed
at videogame enthusiasts.
Upgrading your monitor to something bigger and
better will ease the strain on the eyes and hopefully
encourage creativity. Dell offers the S2409W, a good-
sized 24-inch widescreen monitor, while the Samsung
SyncMaster 245BW (www.samsung.com) is vibrant
and stylish. Backing up your files is vital and a 1TB
external hard drive from the likes of Freecom (www.
freecom.com), LaCie (www.lacie.com), Maxtor (www.
maxtor.com), Seagate (www.seagate.com) and
Western Digital (www.wdc.com) are now affordable
to many. The HP Photosmart Pro B9180 (www.hp.
com) and Canon PIXMA MP970 All-in-One (www.
canon.com) are two excellent professional-quality
photo printers that shouldn’t break the bank. Digital
compact cameras from Canon, Nikon (www.nikon.
com) and Olympus (www.olympus.co.uk) are ideal
for sourcing your own imagery. The Wacom Intuos3 is
a noticeable leap in quality from the Bamboo and
Graphire4 ranges, with a sleek design and quality
cordless pen.
21/8/08 16:59:57
 Build your own home studio

FROM £1,149/$1,799
APPLE 24-INCH IMAC

WWW.APPLE.COM

WACOM INTUOS3
FROM £178/$230
WWW.WACOM.COM

© Matmi

LACIE LITTLE BIG DISK

QUADRA 1TB RIK
£420/$700 CATLOW’S
WWW.LACIE.COM STUDIO

Creative Q&A
Case study: Rik Catlow
www.rikcat.com
Rik Catlow is an artist and designer living in Charlotte, NC.
His wonderful studio space and resident cat Bobo can be
viewed on his website and Flickr.
Q. Did your studio grown organically over time?
A. I moved into this house in 2005 and was in a much smaller
space before that, so it’s grown a lot. I bought two big
Rubbermaid storage drawers that house a lot of supplies. The
art on the wall has also grown by trading with other artists.
Q. What would you say your must-haves are?
A. Having a computer is a must for me. My work is reliant on
the computer. I love having a corner desk, as it saves a lot of
space in the room. Also, the drawing table is something that
was given to me as a gift and is something that I intend to
keep forever. Also music. I love to listen to music while I work.
Having a good floor plan that is open and inviting is essential
as well.
Q. How important is it to surround yourself with
inspirational knick-knacks?
A. Those things reflect a part of my personality and it makes
me comfortable. It’s not for everyone, though. I’m sure there
are people who really like a serene, neat workspace, and mine
would feel cluttered to them. My inspiration board is a living
organism. It changes and evolves slowly over time as I add
and subtract from it.
Q. Do you think it’s best to separate a workspace
from the rest of the living space?
A. If the space allows it, then yes. Before I bought this
house, I was in a one-bedroom apartment and my
workspace was where the dining room was supposed to
go. I made it work. It took a while to get used to, but you
have to make do.
Q. Finally, what advice would you give to anyone
setting up their own studio?
A. Have it reflect your personality and make it a place
you’d want to hang out in. You will probably spend a lot of
time in the space so make it comfortable. Don’t skimp on
the chair and desk, and test out different floor plans to see
what works.

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 Feature
Creative Q&A
Case study: Linda Zacks
www.extra-oomph.com
Linda Zacks is a versatile art director, illustrator, designer
and artist, with clients including Country Music
Television, eBay, Nickelodeon and Sony Style.

Q. What do you think makes an ideal home studio?

A. Space, storage and a door that can close out the chaos,
windows, light and a high ceiling and having all of your
things around you for inspiration. A place for
experimentation with physical materials, desks for messy
inks, glue sticks and drawers of things you might just need
when you least expect it. Living in your workspace is often
quite challenging, but as the third place I’ve lived in New
York, it has definitely been the best so far.

Q. Do you try to keep up with the latest tools of the APPL

trade, or try and make do as long as you can? EPS
ON FROME MAC PR
A. I try to make do as long as I can, but my tech-savvy S
R28 T YLU WWW £1,749/ O DESK T
.A P P $2 OP
husband forces me to upgrade things. It took me forever 80 S
A3 P H O LE.CO ,799
M
to go from OS9 to OSX, but once I make a tech jump, I end WW £5 PRIN TO
6
W.E 9/$ TER
up being happy I did it. Being a freelancer, it’s expensive to PSO 1,21
N.C 6
keep up with all the latest stuff that comes out. I pretty OM
much use Photoshop in the way I always have, even when
it upgrades, so I’ve been using plain old CS forever.

Q. Are there any essentials you couldn’t work and

live without?
A. Tons of art supplies, paint, torn paper and my trusty
little scanner. A place for painting and a separate place for
the computer, scanner and printer.

Q. Do you think that work/home needs to have two

distinct spaces?
A. I think it’s best if they have close proximity but are two
distinct rooms. This is what I hope for one day!

Q. Finally, what advice would you give to anyone

setting up their own studio?
A. It’s always an organic work in progress, never perfect,
but keep changing stuff around and move on from there.
Be resourceful; you don’t have to go to a fancy store to get
furniture, simple solutions can be found in the trash or at
the hardware store. You just have to find a space and make
it work. Once you have your cherished things around you
and the motivation to express yourself, you can’t go
wrong. Add in the love and support of your family, and the
sky’s the limit!

LINDA
ZACKS’
STUDIO
£1,679/$2,000
WACOM CINTIQ 21UX
INTERACTIVE PEN DISPLAY

WWW.WACOM.COM

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 Build your own home studio
PROFESSIONAL KIT
IDEAL HOMES

A
dvances in technology in recent years has
seen a dramatic fall in the cost of high-end
computers and peripherals that were
previously the reserve of top professionals and
major studios only. While still a substantial
investment, you can purchase some seriously pro-
level kit that will allow you to compete at the highest
level without resorting to robbing a bank. Apple’s
mighty Mac Pro workstation desktop computer is a
prime example, capable of satisfying the needs of
even the most demanding of users. Available in
numerous configurations, the Mac Pro is a good
investment because, unlike the iMac, it offers a level
of upgradability beyond simply adding additional
memory. For a PC equivalent the choice is endless,
but Dell offers very high-performance workstations
designed specifically to maximise performance,
including the Dell Precision T7400 and T5400.
Meanwhile, the Dell XPS One is an all-in-one solution
that is attractive and has been compared favourably
with the Apple iMac.
As for laptops, the 17-inch MacBook Pro is equally
impressive and can be hooked up to an external
monitor up to 30 inches for super-size clarity. The 30-
inch Apple Cinema HD display offers a natural format
for arranging documents the way your brain
processes them, side by side and left to right. Every
Apple Mac Pro supports two displays, including one
30-inch display and can be expanded to drive an
array of up to eight displays. The Dell UltraSharp
3007WFP-HC is another impressive 30-inch model
that has won rave reviews and offers superior image
quality for pinpoint pixel editing. The Samsung
SyncMaster 305T, HP LP3065 and NEC MultiSync
LCD3090WQXi (www.necdisplay.com) all offer
outstanding large displays and would look impressive
on any desktop.
Good monitor colour calibration will ensure
uniformity between what you see on-screen and in
print, which is particularly important when providing
artwork to clients digitally. A correctly calibrated
display is essential for colour-critical work, such as
graphic design, illustration and photography.
Companies such as Datacolor (http://spyder.
datacolor.com), Pantone (www.pantone.com) and X-
Rite (www.xrite.com) offer a range of excellent
calibration solutions. The Spyder3Elite from Datacolor
will calibrate LCD/TFT, CRT and laptop monitors in just
five minutes, and includes a built-in intelligent
ambient light sensor, which is especially useful when
working from home. The ColorMunki Design from X-
Rite is an all-in-one colour creation and inspiration
tool for designers, which reads spectral data rather
than purely emulating it and can coolly capture
colour from any surface. Adding a good scanner such
as the recently launched Canon CanoScan 5600F
Color Image Scanner will allow you to create and
store your own unique textures to use in Photoshop.
Professionally printing your artwork can impress
clients and add an additional source of income if you
choose to sell them. The Canon PIXMA Pro9500 is a
robust and reliable true ten-colour A3+ photo printer
that’s capable of producing stunning studio-quality
prints. The Epson Stylus Photo R2880 (www.epson.co.
uk) offers wonderful A3+ borderless printing at a
resolution up to 5,760 x 1,440dpi, and provides
outstanding light fastness for long-lasting prints. A
desirable digital SLR camera, such as the reasonably
priced Canon EOS 1000D and Olympus E-520 or the
more expensive Nikon D700, will take eye-catching
images and allow you to work from your own high-
resolution photographs. The premium Wacom Cintiq
range of interactive pen displays will allow you to
work quickly and naturally directly on-screen, and are
a fantastic addition to any serious home studio setup.
The substantial Wacom Cintiq 21UX and smaller
Cintiq 12WX offer some more choice if space for your
home studio is limited.

NE
W C
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.N £
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WWOM £ MER 1000
W.C 399/ A D
AN $70
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.CO
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“A correctly calibrated display is

essential for colour-critical work,
such as graphic design, illustration
and photography”
Note – all prices are approximated based on SRP July 2008. Discounts can be found in store and online

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resources

Genius G-Pen M712

A multimedia tablet for a lot less than a Wacom, but does it work as well?

Specifications
Manufacturer: Genius
Web: www.geniusnet.com
Price: £100/$150
About: 12 x 7.25-inch and 9.5 x 7.25-inch
switchable working area for
wide and standard screens
4,000 LPI accuracy
1,024-level pressure sensitivity
Pen flicks trigger common
functions to speed up work
Customisable macro keys, as
well as five hot keys for
common functions

Functional design: The tablet is

quite large, but it does accommodate five

W hen we think of graphics tablets, our

thoughts automatically go to Wacom,
but there are other options out there
hot keys and 34 macro keys to help you get
around in your programs

designed to give you all the benefits of using
a tablet in your workflow, but at a reduced
price. Aimed at professional and creative users,
the G-Pen M712 is just one of those options,
coming in at just under £100 (or $150).
While the price is comparable to a Wacom
Bamboo, this tablet has more in common feature-
wise with the Intuos range at a fraction of the
cost. The M712 offers the same 1,024-level
pressure sensitivity for accurate use, although it
pen flicks: It
is surprising how
handy the Pen Flick
functions come in
when navigating
your software
packages
did take a little tweaking to get it working
perfectly for us. The pen is chunkier than we’d
like, but this is due to the fact that it houses an
AAA battery rather than being cordless, and
there’s no eraser on the end for making quick
corrections. Still, it feels natural in the hand and is
responsive, and that’s all it really needs to do.
In terms of aesthetics, this is no Wacom, but it’s
like comparing an Apple iPod to any other MP3
player – there is nothing wrong with any of them,
it’s just that we’re used to the sleek, stylish lines of
the nano. The Genius tablet feels less durable and
is quite large, but it is light. The reason that it is so
big is that it can accommodate a widescreen
working area of 12 x 7 inches (but can be
switched to a standard-screen working area, too),
and there are 34 programmable macro keys that
you can set up to short-cut to commonly used
functions. A scroll wheel in each of the top
corners makes for swift two-hand navigation,
while there are five hot keys that control Scroll,
Zoom, Voice, Wide and Standard.
This tablet isn’t just aimed at creative users and
it has a whole host of features that would suit
those needing a professional tablet, too. It is
compatible with Vista, has handwriting
recognition, incorporates pen flicks to make
working even faster, and offers digital inking in
Office and snipping functions.
As a creative tool, it comes bundled with a full
version of Photoshop Elements 5 and Ulead
PhotoImpact 12, clearly there to support its
claims of being “the best choice for artists and
designers”. However, already having Photoshop,
chances are that you won’t actually install either
of these products – and if you work on a Mac
then you don’t have the choice, as the software is
PC only. The tablet itself does work with a Mac
and comes with the drivers that you need to
install the product. The only thing that you’ll miss
on a Mac is that you can’t install the Macro Key
Manager for configuring the hot keys, which is a
real blow.
We think that Genius has the potential to
compete with Wacom in terms of price and
functionality, but it needs to become aware of
the fact that most creatives use Macs, so if it really
wants to break into the market, the products
need more for those users than just drivers.
Summary: If you use a PC, then there’s
plenty here to play with and it’s a perfect
option over a Wacom if you’re on a budget.
Mac users who just need a basic tablet will
also find it useful, but be aware of its
limitations on the platform.
Rating: 4/5

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
If you want professional photography made easy, then this is the camera to purchase
COMPREHENSIVE NEW SCIENCE:
Panasonic provides users with a new image-processing
engine, the Venus Engine IV, which utilises advanced
signal processing to give you high-quality images
T he Lumix DMC-TZ5 is the latest in
Panasonic’s ‘photography made easy’
digital camera range. This product, like its
predecessors in the Lumix range, is a model that
strives to make professional photography as
simple as possible for the enthusiastic
photographer. Here, we can confirm it achieves
this goal.
It reflects a few key functions that should
really appeal to digital artists, painters and
photomanipulators alike. First of all, there is the
28mm wide-angle lens, sure to capture the
maximum visual capacity of any scene, be it
portrait or landscape. Couple this with the
hardware’s 10x optical zoom and you have a
camera with the capability of a 28-280mm zoom
on a 35mm film camera. Not bad for a compact
camera solution.
Focusing on the word ‘compact’, the DMC-TZ5
sports a professional and lightweight design that
accommodates easy transportation, so you can
snap that perfect picture on the go at all times. It
also accommodates more time-efficient features
inside and out. Returning to the matter of the
zoom, this model has an innovative feature in its
Easy Zoom button. Pressing this will allow you to
access the maximum 10x optical zoom
immediately, while a second press delivers the
extra optical zoom.
The results of using the latter function were
hit and miss and compromised the image
quality at times, but this is to be expected. So it’s
not good if you rely on crisp visual elements in
089_AVP_48_Resources.indd 89
your compositions. With the DMC-TZ5, however,
image blur is almost nonexistent using the 10x
optical zoom. This is further enhanced by the
MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) science,
which compensates for the blurring caused by
hand shake.
Couple this with the new Venus Engine IV,
controlling the shifting of the blur-stopping lens
with greater precision thus increasing detection
accuracy, and you can capture blur-free shots
easily. We took the camera for a test run on a hot
summer’s day and found that both the flash and
Scene commands really helped. The Panasonic
DMC-TZ5 provides iA (Intelligent Auto)
technology and Scene modes will compensate
effects best suited for a particular shoot.
This may seem a common feature these days
but this camera will intuitively select and apply
the situation to your snapshot, and intuition
seems to be this model’s strong point as it also
incorporates an Intelligent Exposure function.
This essentially detects and rectifies exposure in
underexposed areas, detecting brightness level
part by part in the picture. We also appreciated
the Auto Flash under the Backlight option. Using
this, the flash is forced against backlight if the
compensation isn’t enough. This is great when
taking model shots against bright backdrops,
eradicating shaded features and capturing all
detail, optimising the creative potential of your
stock. However, be aware that the utility of such
functions can be essential because in low-light
situations, levels of noise affect the TZ5’s images.
But when utilised accurately, the visuals are
crisp and more than adequate for
resources
Specifications
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Web: www.shop.panasonic.co.uk
Price: £299.99 (approx. $598)
About: 28mm wide-angle 10x optical
zoom Leica DC lens
MEGA O.I.S. shake detection
New Venus Engine IV
HD motion images (30/15fps)
and Zoom-in Motion Picture
300-shot battery life
FACE TO FACE: The iA options include Face Detection
functions, which detect faces for up to 15 people in a
single image simultaneously, and automatically
optimises the focus and exposure settings
PICTURES ON THE TELLY: Users of the Lumix DMC-
TZ5 can really enjoy high-definition 1,920 x 1,080px
images with a 16:9 aspect ratio and can view them in
their own home on large-screen HDTV sets
comprehensible creation with a download file
size of 4MB, and offer so much more, including
recording capabilities for 720p HD 16:9 motion
images and stunning full-size movies in WVGA
(848 x 480 pixels at 30/10 fps) or standard motion
images in VGA (640 x 480 pixels at 30/10 fps).
Each of these can be coupled with the Panasonic
Lumix DMC-TZ5’s powerful zoom functions for
fantastic end results.
Summary: Panasonic delivers on the
‘professional photography made easy’
promise with the Lumix DMC-TZ5 and throws
in some advanced extras for the
more mature and dynamic user. A really
proficient all-inclusive product, the pros
outweigh the cons.
Rating: 4/5
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resources
Axiotron Modbook
An innovative piece of hardware that has stood the test of time
Manufacturer: Axiotron
Web: www.axiotron.com
Price: $2,279 (approx £1,140) at
www.eshopmacsales.com
Spec: 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
160GB 5,400RPM SATA hard drive
Double-layer super drive
Multiview 13.3-inch widescreen
ForceGlass screen
T he Axiotron Modbook has been the long-standing
answer for those creatives who want maximum control
and comfort. This is a less-than-modest piece of machinery as it
presents premium duality, with the functionality of the Wacom
Cintiq coupled with the internal memory and power expected
with MacBook systems.
The Axiotron Modbook also provides some wonderful
creative sciences that make digital production a pleasure. With
512 levels of sensitivity, this hardware shows little difference to
the application in the commonly used Wacom Intuos models,
obtaining the same sensitive response while drawing. However,
it’s fair to say that this is apparently less than that of, say, the
Cintiq 12WX, which is also over £100 less on the pocket.
Notebooktent iCap
A resilient piece of apparel that will make the elements
simply elementary
Manufacturer: iCap
Web: www.e.icap-shop.com
Price: €59 (approx £47/$93)
Spec: Silver-coloured, reflective surface
Water-resistant bottom, robust PU-Material
Antislip undersurface
Three cable openings
Six clew mounts
T he Notebooktent iCap is a seemingly austere product
that has found a large amount of admirers across the
continent of Europe. This multifunctional piece of creative
apparel really is one of those products that is so simple, you
wonder why it’s taken so long to be designed? Laptop lovers are
sure to take it to their hearts, and at a retail price of just €59, it’s a
cost effect necessity for the well-travelled creative.
Assembly of the Notebooktent iCap is intuitive, with the
product’s spring-based construction inflating itself. Just make
sure to hold the product away from your face when unfolding
from its zip case to avoid any unfortunate eye accidents. The
function of the Notebooktent iCap is twofold. When fully
90
Advanced Photoshop
090_AVP_48_Resources.indd 90
Regardless of this, the Axiotron
Modbook is still an excellent
mobile sketchpad to take on the
road and away from the home or
office. The 13.3-inch screen is
apparently more slight than a
homework station, yet adequate for
mobile use and in fact larger than the
12-inch Cintiq model. And, in spite of
resolution and price comparison, the
Modbook offers a few more extras its
Wacom opponent doesn’t acquire.
First, it comes standard with Mac OS
Mod cons: The QuickClicks
software keyboard pops up while
surfing the net or writing notes,
fading in and out as needed
X v10.5 Leopard platform and also an integrated 24x Combo
Drive or 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support. This not only
makes it the ‘Largest Screen Portable DVD Entertainment Summary: Mac fans that want a
dynamic, portable and powerful
System’, but also is a dynamic capability considering that
workstation should look no further than
creatives can design, touch up, make last-minute adjustments
the Axiotron Modbook. It’s a responsive
and then save while on the go or on their way to see clientele. digitiliser with some great additions and
Also considering its 2.1GHz-plus of processing speed, 1GB- upgrades. One of the best after-market
plus of memory and full range of Apple MacBook connectivity modifications around.
via Ethernet, USB, FireWire, Bluetooth and AirPort, it’s a highly Rating: 4/5
recommended product for creatives on the go.
extended, it acts as an extremely
competent protection faculty, preventing
the hazards of rain and sunlight to your
monitor and hardware on the whole. Its
efficient ergonomic design presents three
front flaps that effectively help diminish
screen glare.
As we’ve said, this is great for creatives on the
go, for example, when sat at a café meeting and
presenting to your latest client. It balances equally as apt
on the lap, even if it does look a bit impractical. Additionally, it
comes in an adequate size to contain home computers in case
Standing firm: Not only is the Notebooktent
iCap’s exterior resilient, but it also accommodates
six clew mounts to combat wind. It has a water-
you wish to work at a window station. The product can also be resistant bottom made of robust PU-Material
decreased with a simple corner fold to accommodate public
Summary: The Notebooktent iCap is a
space use, such as on the train or bus. Once folded, it can also practical, portable and creative piece of
act as a simple cooling cover, with its reflective material surface. apparel, which is long overdue. Once
This is likewise waterproof so, as stated, it lends protection from you have got hold of one for yourself, it
all of the elements. will surely become a fundamental part
The only tricky thing you’ll find about this product will merely of your itinerary.
be just how to decrease and put it back into its zip case, but Rating: 5/5
once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s not too much trouble.
21/8/08 17:16:39

How To Do Everything: Digital Camera
A bold claim in this book’s title – can it live up to it?
Author/Publisher: Dave Johnson/McGraw-Hill
Web: www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk
Price: £14.99/$24.99
About: In-depth guide to using your camera
Large section on editing your images
Informal yet informative writing
Written by an expert photographer
Eight-page colour section showing some
images in better detail
W ritten by Dave Johnson, editor of PC World’s weekly
digital photography newsletter Digital Focus, this
book takes you through everything that you need to know
about shooting great pictures with your camera, whatever
your current skill level. This is the fifth edition of the book and
has handily been updated with more information on DSLR
cameras, which are becoming more widely used thanks to their
dropping prices.
Flicking through the pages isn’t the most inspiring process,
as everything is in black and white with the exception of an
eight-page colour section with photographic examples of
common photography types. However, there is little to fault
Digital Retouching for Fashion, Beauty and
Portrait Photography in Photoshop CS3
A digital PDF book with 190 pages of retouching advice and tutorials
Author/Publisher: Gry Garness/Eureka
Imaging Publications
Web: www.grygarness.com
Price: £18.50 (about $37)
About: Password-protected digital eBook, which
loads in Adobe Acrobat
190 pages of advice and practical skills
Introduction by Gry Garness
Click-through Contents page to get straight
to the section you’re interested in
Actions and gradients provided
G ry Garness is a digital retoucher and Photoshop
trainer, whose website is packed full of handy tips,
tricks and advice. She has recently starting publishing her
advice in a series of downloadable eBooks, all of which are
available from her website.
The eBook format is something that you can expect to see
more of in the future, and it has its definite pros and cons.
First of all, it is amazing to be able to click on the topic you
are interested in on the Contents page and go straight to it.
You can zoom in to see things better, which is something
that is just not possible in the traditional printed form.
However, if you want to follow the tutorials, the constant
flicking from Acrobat to Photoshop can get quite testing.
091_AVP_48_Resources.indd 91
resources
ALL IN ONE:
Essential
information for
all camera users
that’s written in
an informal but
informative
manner by an
expert in the field
with the actual content of the book. There are 18 in-depth
chapters ranging from Go Digital and Push Your Camera To Its
Limits, right through to Digital Photo Projects and Share Your
Pictures. It works through everything in a logical order, from
the basics of choosing your camera and working through its
controls, to shooting and composing all types of images and
then managing, editing and outputting them.
It is easy to read and the pull-out How To boxes give quick
information at a glance. There are pictures on every page –
screengrabs, photos, product shots, etc – but because these
are in monochrome, it is hard to really see what it is trying to
show. This is especially true in the Special Effects section, Summary: If this book was in colour, it
where you are adding lighting, blurring backgrounds and would be a five-star read, but the
images just don’t do the content justice.
using filters, but you can barely see the changes being made
A title like this relies on the images to
within the images.
help people understand what they are
It’s a real disappointment that this isn’t in colour as it is such trying to achieve.
an essential read for anyone trying to get to grips with
Rating: 3/5
photography, but the images really let it down.
BLACK AND WHITE: The spreads are all
in monochrome, which detracts from the
excellent content
When you download you are given a password, which
enables you to view the book on up to two computers, but
you’re also allowed one printout. We recommend making the
Our one complaint, if we had to find
one, is that at £18.50 we really would
rather like a hardback version. But the
most of this, even though the 190 pages are going to take a information is worth every penny – check
lot of time and paper to get through, as it will allow you to out her other eBooks on the website, too.
follow the steps much more easily.
The advice inside is top-notch and really easy to follow. Summary: For anyone interested in
The tips and projects are incredibly practical and the images retouching, then the information within
these pages is essential. We’re not
used are of such a great quality. There are other retouching
completely sold by the eBook format yet,
books out there, but this one is so thorough and explanatory
though – definitely print it out to get the
that we learnt a lot more in a short space of time. Screenshots best of it.
are clear and easy to see, and there are handy boxouts to give
Rating: 4/5
you time-saving short cuts.
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resources
Signs And Symbols
An in-depth look at the origins of signs and symbols, new and old
Authors/Publisher: Mark Hampshire and Keith
Stephenson/RotoVision
Web: www.rotovision.com
Price: £15/$25
About: The latest in the Communicating With
Pattern series
Explores the meaning and origins of
familiar symbols
Source of inspiration for designers across a
range of disciplines
Written by the directors of Absolute Zero
Degrees, a multidisciplinary agency
Unusual square-format design
S
igns and symbols have a big impact on our daily life,
informing us, representing us and directing us. As such,
they are important to get right, especially for any designer who
is working in logo design or on branding campaigns. This is
where Signs And Symbols steps in. It is a 256-page, square-
format reference book to signs and symbols, from early cave
paintings through to modern icons.
Much of the book is made up of images, with captions
explaining what they are and where they come from. These
Elemental 3
The world’s best Autodesk art brought into one essential collection
Author/Publisher: Ballistic Publishing
Web: www.ballisticpublishing.com
Price: £45/$69 (hardcover), $170 (about £85)
(limited edition)
About: Showcases the best art created using
Autodesk programs
Excellence and Master accolades awarded
to the best art
Foreword by co-publishers Daniel Wade and
Mark Snoswell
Introduction by Autodesk CEO Carl Bass
Images selected by well-regarded advisory
board and judges
M ost designers and artists are familiar with Ballistic
Publishing and its range of essential art books, most
famously the Exposé series. The company also releases more
specific titles aimed at particular markets, including the D’Artist
Digital Painting title that we reviewed last month, which brings
us nicely to Elemental 3. Described as ‘the world’s best Autodesk
art’, this book does what it says on the tin, showcasing the very
best art created using Autodesk’s range of products, including
the popular 3ds Max and Maya packages.
The layout of the book will be instantly familiar to those
who have looked through the Ballistic books in the past, with
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captions are informative although very short, leaving you to
mostly draw your own conclusions as to why a sign or a
symbol works. Throughout and in-between the pictures is the
meat of the book, the story of the history of symbols, written
in an entertaining yet authoritative manner. And it should be,
as the writers are the two directors of Absolute Zero Degrees,
an agency that designs corporate identities, packaging,
books, wallpaper and interior accessories. With such a
multidisciplinary outlook in their working life, it is no wonder
that the examples presented in this book come from a wide
range of sources, including graphics, packaging, textiles and
products. The variety means that you can flick through the
book at leisure, stopping at points of interest to read more SQUARE EYES: The shape of the book is
unusual, but it makes it recognisable as part of
about the image in question.
the Communicating with pattern series
Really, though, this book comes into its own as part of a
series. It is the fourth in the Communicating With Pattern line,
with previous titles looking at Squares And Stripes, as well as Summary: The Communicating With
Pattern series is incredibly collectable,
Circles And Dots. Together they form a unique reference
and together the books form a
library for designers working to both inspire and educate in
contemporary reference to design
equal measures. If you already have others in the series, then conventions, full of inspiration and
Signs And Symbols is probably already at the top of your advice. Happily, this is no exception.
shopping list, and if you’re new to the collection, it’s a great Rating: 4/5
place to start.
HARDCOVER: The
standard version of the
book comes with a glossy
hardcover, but a limited
edition version is also
available to purchase
luscious images spread over full pages and brief captions
giving the name of the artist, their country and the programs
used. It’s really a coffee-table book to flick through and gaze
in awe upon the images within. And there are plenty of them
– 246 examples to be precise, by 170 artists from 43 countries.
These are split into categories and the best in each category
are labelled as Excellence or Master.
While the main focus of the book might be on great 3D-
based art, take a look through and
you’ll find that the majority of the
images are created using
Photoshop alongside the 3D
program of choice, proving the
importance of Photoshop in any
artist’s workflow, a point backed
up in our 3D software feature
LARGE IMAGES:
The images are given
room to breathe and
are themed into
in last issue. specific categories
The book is available in two
versions: the standard hardback or a limited edition. The
Summary: A must-have for all fans of
latter comes with four bonus prints, making it highly digital art. This is a luscious book with
collectable, although stocks of this are – as implied – limited. fantastic examples of what can be
We love this title, as we do all of the Ballistic titles, as it achieved with today’s digital tools.
shows what can be done with the tools available to us all, Rating: 5/5
giving a constant source of inspiration.
21/8/08 17:18:13