Pop Art

 This is a pop art representation of Don Cherry.  For once his suit is the least colourful part of his close-up.

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Change your image to black and white.

~Adjust the lighting levels to make it look more like a drawing.

~Create a new layer, set the blend mode to multiply, and paint in grey over the background.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  Repeat for the face, the hair, and any other areas that you want to have as a different colour.

~Colourize each layer except for the face with a fully saturated, bright colour.  Colourize the face with a paler, less saturated colour.

~Create a new document that is twice the width and height of your image and paste 4 copies into it.

~Adjust the hue of three of them so that they are all different. 

Tilt Shift Effect

This is a photograph of a real fair that has been strategically blurred to give the effect of a model fair.

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Copy your image and group the copy to a levels layer

~Apply a Gaussian Blur to your top image.

~Use a black to white Reflected Gradient on the levels layer to un-blur a portion of your image.  Drawing straight up works best  (hold shift as you draw).

~Add a new levels layer on top and group it to the image copy.  Play with brightness and contrast to give the blurred colours a boost.

Motion Blur

Hits it down hard over the triple block.  I'm not sure if this is a win for blue or a fail for red.  If you can't tell, I like volleyball.

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Select the portion you want to blur and copy into a new layer (ctrl+j).

~Apply a motion blur and adjust the angle/distance to your liking.  I did the arm and the ball as two different layers

~Group the blurred layer to a levels layer.  Paint or use black to white gradient on the levels layer to get rid of the excess blur.

~With the levels layer still selected, shift+click the blurred layer.  This selects them both.  Duplicate these layers to build up the blur.

Animal Blend

A new species of cat was found in the jungles of Africa.  Apparently they share a common ancestor with the gorilla....

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Find two images of similar size and lighting.

~Paste whatever you want from the second animal into the first.  You may need to re-size or flip the parts.

~Use the clone stamp to seamlessly transition between animals.

Rainbow Eye

Fancy, fancy, fancy!  Those contacts must have cost a fortune.  Who is the eye looking at?  Could it be???  Suzy Blue!?!?

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Create a new layer over the eye.

~Paint over the iris and switch the blend mode to multiply.  You can also use this effect to add make-up using an overlay blend mode.

~Suzy Blue is just a regular layer with lowered opacity.

Crack (Kind Of...) and Peel

This model has a weird skin condition.  Suzy Blue is trying to help, but she's just peeling the model's skin off.

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Fit your texture to the face, lower the opacity to about 50%, and switch the blend mode to multiply.

~Group the texture to a levels layer and paint in black to erase the texture where it looks unnatural, such as on the eyes, the nostrils, or possibly the lips.

~Adjust the lighting levels to your liking.

~Repeat with the peeling layer.

~Burn on the bottom layer around the peel.

Photoshop Liquify: Muscle Enhancement

 Mr. MMA has been working out a lot lately.  Even the fist on his shirt is bigger!

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Under Filter, click Distort and Liquify.

~Use the Bloat tool to puff up his muscles.

~OPTIONAL:  Use the Pucker and Warp tools to play around with him.  I used the Pucker a bit on his nose.

Magazine Cover

A magazine cover made in Photoshop Elements.  The puff in the corner was made using a glow style on a rectangle and rotating it.  I would have liked to have spent a bit more time on this design, maybe making the masthead bigger or adding a full page border.  I would also like to soften or frame the edges of the central image. 

How To Break Up In The Digital Age

Rory doesn't have to pose with Caroline anymore, but she took a part of him with her (his shoulder!).  This was done by using the Clone Stamp Tool to paint the background over Caroline.

Photo Retouching

Before and after retouching skin and eyes in Photoshop.  The "beautiful" people in the media aren't always real.













A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Work on a copy of the background layer.  This way you can easily see your changes by turning the copy off.

~Use the Spot Healing Brush to remove the skin blemishes. 

~Select and colourize the whites of the eyes (See "Changing Colours").

~Under Filter, use a surface blur to give the look of smooth skin.

Placing Photos in Other Photos

Meet Susan Blue.  She finds herself in many strange situations.



She almost looks like she belongs.

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

 

~Select the image you wish to transfer.  Be very careful in your selection.

 

~Invert the selection and delete the background.  Use the move tool to transfer the image to its new background and resize/position it to your liking.

 

~Use the burn tool to soften the edge between the images and make it more natural.

3D Pop-out Effect

A volleyball player jumping right out of the picture to spike the ball.  He's got great hops!  This image plays with your mind because perspective makes the background look flat, even though it obviously isn't.

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary (This one's more complicated):

 

~Make two extra copies of your background image (I'll call them "copy1" and "copy2," bottom to top).

 

~Colour the original background black (alt+delete)

 

~Add a new layer between the copies (I'll call it "frame").  Turn off the eyeball for the top layer.

 

~Select a rectangle around the area you want in the frame, i.e. the court and the player's legs.

 

~Under Edit, click Stroke to create the frame.

 

~Under Image, click Transform and Perspective.  Move the bottom corner out and the top corner in.

 

~Ctrl+click on the thumbnail of the "frame" layer and invert the selection.  Create a levels layer.

 

~Paint outside the frame black.  Drag the levels layer below "frame" and "copy1" and group "copy1" to it (ctrl+g).

 

~Turn "copy2" back on and select what you want to show outside the frame.  Create a Levels layer.

 

~Drag "copy2" back to the top and group it to the levels layer.

 

~OPTIONAL: Play around with your background.  Maybe try a gradient?

Changing Colours

6 different colours of t-shirts... and cheap, too!  They're all the same photo, with different colours.  (For international viewers, the Roughriders are a Canadian football team.) 

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

 

~Select the area you want to re-colour.

 

~Under Enhance, click Adjust Colour and Adjust Hue and Saturation.

 

~Click Colourize and adjust hue, saturation, and lightness.

Power Clip

A power clip with the image of a zebra appearing within the word "zebra."

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Use a wide font and stretch it over the image.

~Make the image the top layer, then group it to the text (ctrl+g).
~ Add bevel, outer glow, and shadow to make your text pop out.

~OPTIONAL:  Add a background layer.

Party Invitation

An invitation with text, a background image, and vector (non-pixel-based) graphics.  The music and the afro, along with many other shapes, can be found in the custom shapes tool.

Veggie Face

A face made from assorted fruits and veggies using the various selection tools on Photoshop Elements. 

Image Blending

Soft fading from picture to picture, creating one image.  Spiderman rules!!

 

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

 

~Open images as separate files

 

~OPTIONAL: Use the crop tool to add extra space to your background image

 

~Drag the second image onto the first.

 

~Create a levels adjustment on the background layer.

 

~Group the adjustment layer to the top image (shortcut ctrl+g)

 

~Paint in black on the adjustment layer to reveal the background. Use a gradient or a soft brush for a smooth transition.


Colour Splash

Lest we forget.

 

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Copy your background image.

~Under layer adjustments, click hue and set saturation to the lowest setting.

~Painting in black will reveal the colour.

Text Reflection

Text flipped and skewed to look like a reflection. The light blue rectangle also gives the illusion of letters standing on a surface.


A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Make your letters pop with glow and bevel effects.

~Flip and skew a copy of the text layer.

~Lower the opacity and use a gradient to fade the reflection.

~OPTIONAL: Add a rectangle of a new colour to create the illusion of a horizon.

Vignette

A vignette of Barack Obama and the U.S. flag.