Design.CreativeFan » 3D

Create a Festive Ornamental Christmas Text Effect

Joe Moore — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:22:39 +0000

Christmas offers a plethora of fun design possibilities, with ornaments, stockings, candy canes, reindeer, lights, trees and other items playing signature roles in decoration for the season. One of the most requested Photoshop christmas tutorials is a beautiful text effect tutorial, so in this tutorial, we’ll be looking at how to make an ornamental text effect.

You’ll learn how to create 3D Studio Max 3D text, and then how to import it into Photoshop to create a holiday text effect. You’ll see how to decorate your text with holiday themed items, and how to bring the composition together.

If you liked this text effect tutorial, check out our other PS text effect tutorials:

Happy holidays!

Tools used:

Adobe Photoshop
3DS Max
Various stock images

Final Image Preview

Step 1: 3D text creation

So to start off we will begin by opening up 3DS max and starting a new scene.

Once you have done that we can head over to the create toolbar on the right hand side of your screen. You will want to select the spline tab and then choose text as I have done in the below screen shot.

Now just drop it into your view port!

Once you have done this we can head back over to the modify tab and adjust our settings for our text. Here you can manipulate the font, size and kerning of your text. You can play with settings as you like for the tutorial but we will be using the following.

Now just repeat this process, this time using “Christmas” as your text.

My scene now looks like the below screen shot.

Now we can select the merry text again and head back over to our modifiers so we can make it three dimensional. Click the drop down on the modifier tab and choose bevel, once you have done that set yours up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Now do the same thing for the Christmas text.

Our scene now looks like the below screenshot.

Now that our text is made its time to create a material for it, so go ahead and press m on your keyboard to open up the material editor so we can get started! Once your material editor is open just choose one of the orbs any orb will do and set the color diffuse up as white and your done! If you wanted something extra you could use a falloff map on your reflection section as I have done with my material below, but this is not required and doesn’t have a very drastic effect on the final outcome.

My material:

Which in turn looks like:

Now with your orb selected drag and drop it on top of your two 3D words, this should apply the material to your words.

Once the material has been applied there’s not much left to do! We could apply some modifiers bend, taper or twist but its fine as is. So now let’s render, open up your render settings by pressing F10 on your keyboard and filling in your desired document size. I went with 4000*4000 but the size is really up to you and how large your final image will be.

My render came out looking like the below screenshot.

Step 2: Text implementation and BG creation

Now its time to open up Photoshop, once it has opened, go ahead and create a new document at your desired size. I went with 3000*2000 but you can use whatever you like, be sure to keep your renders resolution in size when creating your document!

Once you document has been created go ahead and fill this with black. Now using a large soft brush 300px soft draw on the canvas with white, try to create a quick spotlight like effect.

Once that is done apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 250 px twice and drop your text in.

Now while holding CTRL on your keyboard click your text layer, this will make a selection around the text.

Now just go back to your background layer and copy the selection. Once that is done paste this over your text and set the blending mode to soft light at 50%. This in turn will cause the right hand sides of the text to become darker and the middle section to become brighter, making the text blend better with the scene.

Once that is done its time to start the coloring! So grab a color of your choice I went with blue and drop it into a new layer under your text layer.

Set this layer up as an overlay layer at 100% opacity.

Now we will repeat this step only over the text, use the previously described method of making a selection around the text and then just fill on a new layer. Set this new layers opacity to about 25% and set the blending mode to overlay.

Now we can head over to SXC to grab a quick light stock to add to our scene. It can be found here : http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=847029

Put this layer on top of all the previous layers and set the opacity to 20% and the blending mode to screen.

Now in the spirit of giving, we will be using a stock brush set provided by Meldir, she has graciously created these and allowed them for use, so a big thank you to her! Her snow flake brush set can be found here :
http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/?qh=§ion=&q=snowflake#/d812eu

Once you have the brush set installed go ahead and make a new layer for our snowflakes! Now open up your brush editor and select one of the many beautiful snowflakes that you would like to use, once you have found one you prefer go ahead and set your brush up as mine is in the below screen shot.

In doing this, we will make it so our brush will randomly plop out with various sizes and rotations, thus making the process much easier!

Now go ahead and plop some snowflakes down on a new layer beneath your text. Once you have done that apply a slight Gaussian blur, a radius of about 4 should do.

Now repeat this process but this time we will not blur them. I kept mine small this time but you can use some big ones to if you like! Its your design and experimentation will only make it better!

Step 3: Christmas props

Now its time to start adding in all of those Christmas time stocks, ribbons, lights and ornaments we all be added in. Our first stock will be a bow/ribbon and can be found here :
http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/f/fa/fangol/1321208_58931672.jpg

Once you have the stock dropped into your new scene just isolate it out as you would any other stock.

Now we can duplicate this layer, hide the original and turn the new duplicated layer into a clipping mask for our text layer. To do this with the text layer selected hold alt and click the line between the text layer and the bow layer. Now only parts of the bow, which are on the text are visible! Once this is done slide the bow around until only part of the ribbon is showing like I have done in the below screenshot.

Now duplicate this layer a few more times and move them around so it appears as if the ribbon is sliding up the letter. Once you have done this enough times unhide the original, remove the ribbon and place the bow on the text, since we want the entire bow visible a clipping mask is not required for this step.

You can add this were ever you like, I added another set up top on the merry text as well, but this time I left out the bow.

Our document now looks like the below screen shot.

Now we can head back over to SXC and grab another bow and repeat the process!

The new bow can be found at : http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/n/na/nazreth/1063045_72610999.jpg

This time however we don’t need a clipping mask, just remove the white and any ribbon parts you don’t need and place!

As you can see mine goes into one of the ‘holes’ in my letters, I pushed this section of the ribbon down to create a sense of perspective using the smudge tool. If your bow does this as well I would suggest you do the same so it does not appear flat.

Now we can grab our first ornament, which like the previous stock images is also on SXC. http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=1071454

Just simply isolate this out and place it so it appears as if its going into or under one of the letters.

Once you have done that you can if you want create a string that wraps around the letter. To do this just select the color of the string in the stock image using you eye drop tool and then grab the 3px hard brush and simply draw a line!

Now we can grab our next ornament. It is located at http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/l/li/lizbethone/744367_86764146.jpg

Just isolate this out and repeat the above process for placement. However this time if you want change the hue to red so it does not blend in too much with the blue background.

Once you have placed your ornament you can use the previously discussed clipping mask technique to apply a small ribbon along the letter so it looks like the ornaments ribbon has been wrapped around several times.

The next ornament can be found at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/744365

Again, just isolate this stock out and place it. If you like adjust the hue with the hue and saturation editor. This time, don’t worry about the ribbon effect just place it as I have in the below screen shot.

Step 4: Ornaments continued, lights added and various other stocks

Now we can head over to Deviantart and grab a pack of pre isolated stock orbs provided by the wonderful redheadstock aka obsidianDawn.com. Again, they are providing a free resource which is of great quality so a big thank you to them!

Once you have downloaded the pack you will notice that they are all transparent pngs, so no isolation is necessary! Which will be a huge help to us time wise, so again, a huge thank you to the obsidianDawn.com crew! Once you have opened it up choose a ornament you like and place it as you see fit!

Now continue on adding in more ornaments from the pack as well as any you find on the web. I will be using one of the ribbons and about three ornaments from the obsidian pack and the rest is from SXC as well as Shutterstock. Take your time when placing these stocks as they are very key to the design of the piece.

Various ornament stock images:

My document now looks like the below screen shot.

Now, to help out with depth you can take a large ornament and place it in one of the corners and apply a Gaussian blur. I used a red one found on SXC and applied a Gaussian blur with a radius of about 10. Once that is done, you can do the same thing with a few small ornaments or even with some of the ribbon from the stock pack.

Once you have created some depth with the blurred ornaments we can head back over to Deviantart and grab another redheadstock/Obsidiandawn.com pack. This time it’s Christmas lights!

The wonderful pack can be found here: http://redheadstock.deviantart.com/art/Christmas-Lights-PNGs-106685197

Once you have opened it choose your favorite and place it!

As you can see in the below screenshots, mine all go off the sides at the end of the strand. This is something you want yours to do as well, the strand should not appear as if its dangling freely, it will create a flat appearance and this is not something we want to happen!

Now, let’s say you wanted to use one of the light strand on one of the loops of your letters, this can easily be achieved. Just simply past in the strand and open up your liquefy filter. Once the filter has opened, use the forward warp tool to push the middle of your strand down, thus creating a curve!

Now continue applying the light as you see fit! Remember though that you can make them appear like they are drooping with your liquefy filter!

Our document now looks like the below screenshot.

Now we can add in some candy canes!

The candy cane is located at: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=374311

Just isolate this candy cane out and place it on your text. Put it upright so it appears as if it is hanging, then erase the section that covers over your text to finish the illusion.

Now you can throw some candy canes to the sides and blur them as we did with the ornaments!

And now we are done! I added in a few extra bits, a glowing star, Santa hat and a tiny present, all of which is located on SXC, and then just sized it down. The final image looks like the below screen shot.

I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and wound up with an image you like, or came out with knowing a few new tricks! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Also, if you have any ideas for future tutorials, please say so!

Create a CMYK 3D Text Effect in Photoshop and 3D Studio Max

Eric Shafer — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:56:37 +0000

3D Text effects are highly popular, and we’ve published a few tutorials on them before. There are almost endless possibilities, with glossy or reflective 3D text, or grungy, dark text, or intricate and ornate 3D text. However, some of the power in 3D text effects can be created by utilizing the paths of the text, and then decomposing the letters into smaller shapes. This results in a unique and stylish text effect that you can apply to a large number of situations.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Photoshop and 3D Studio Max (though any 3D program will work) to create a unique 3D PS text effect using fundamental shapes.

If you need more text effect tutorials, check out these other tutorials, some of which are 3D Studio max 3d tutorials as well:

Enjoy the tutorial and please share it with your friends and share your results with us in the comments.

Tools Used:

Adobe Photoshop
3DS Max
Stock images

Final Image Preview

Step 1: Text creation and additional ball creation

So to start off we will begin by opening up 3DS max and starting a new scene.

Now just drop it into your view port!

Once you have done this we can head back over to the modify tab and adjust our settings for our text. I will be leaving the font, size and kerning all the same but you can modify these if you like. If you do not want to adjust any of the above discussed settings then just proceed by changing the text. I went with CMYK but any text would work. I would go with lower letter words or abbreviations thought. In the end, the longer the word the more balls that you must use which means more lag and more chance of your scene crashing.

Your scene should look something like the below screenshot.

Now we can move on to our material editor to create the materials for our balls. If you are familiar with our past tutorials you will remember this screen. If you are not familiar all that needs to be done here is to select one of the balls and then choose a new diffuse color and your done! I made my colors CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) to correlate with the typo but any colors will do.

If you want to add a reflection and are using mental ray/Vray you can place a falloff map in your reflection map section just like we did in the Hello Color tutorial.

Now its time to start making spheres, so head over to your create tab and select sphere, set yours up as mine and drop one into your viewport.

As you can see in the last image, I’m working in the top viewport (you can access this by pressing T on your keyboard), this makes the entire design much easier by allowing you to keep all of your balls on one plane. I would suggest doing this the entire time up until you start building up your letters.

Once you have placed your first sphere you can press M on your keyboard to bring the material editor back up. This time you will want to click the material sphere (I went with blue) and drag it onto your sphere in your view port. Once you have done that your first sphere should be colored!

Now we can click our viewport sphere, while it is selected switch over to your move tool and move it over while holding shift. A dialog like the below one should appear. This in turn will create a duplicate of the first sphere.

Once you click ok you will see your duplicated sphere appear.

Once you see it you can place it and color as we did previously.

Now continue duplicating your spheres and coloring them. Be sure to stay inside the lines for the most part!

You will notice that this is a somewhat tedious procedure however we can speed it up once you reach a point similar to mine in the below screenshot.

Now select all of your balls and duplicate these as we have done the others.

Next we can switch over to our rotate tool and turn these until they are lined up with the typo outline.

You may need to move some balls around and recolor them so they don’t appear too clustered (a lot of blues in one spot for example) but once that’s done you have saved a ton of time!

Now just continue on until you have filled up all of your letters! Be sure to stay in the lines and avoid clustering colors as much as possible!

My type looks like the below screenshot.

Once your type is done just delete the typo outline and we are done! Well, not quite, we still need to render it. To render your typo press F10 on your keyboard and input your desired size, you can use any size you like but obviously the bigger the better!

Now that your render is finished you can create a new scene (or hide your type). Once you have done this just drop in some large balls and color them accordingly to your previously used colors.

Render these and we are done with all of our 3DS work!

Step 2: Back ground creation and typo implementation

The first thing we need to do is open up our text in photoshop. Mine looks like the below screenshot.

I did not like the fact that it was horizontal so I used the marquee tool (M on your keyboard) to move the C and the M above the Y and K. You do not have to do this but if you want it can help create a bit more flare to your type.

Now its time to create a document for our newly created text .So depending upon your type size, set up a new canvas (CTRL N on your keyboard). I went with a 3000*2000 sized document but you can use whatever you like, remember to keep the size of your type in mind!

Once you new document has been created grab the fill tool (G on the keyboard) and fill the canvas with pure black.

Now we can create a new layer (Ctrl shift n on your keyboard) and doodle a random shape in white with the paint brush (B on your keyboard).

Once you have done this merge the two layers (CTRL SHIFT E on your keyboard) and apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 250px. Apply this blur about twice and your document should look similar to mine in the below screenshot.

Next just drop your text in and place it so it appears as if the light is shining from behind the text.

Now we can drop in a ton of the orbs we created in the end of the 3DS section. If you don’t have enough that’s ok! Just hold ALT on your keyboard when moving the orbs to duplicate them, then all you need to do is free transform them and before you know it your canvas will be filled with orbs!

However, if you duplicate them or you just drop it in be sure the sizes of your orbs vary a little bit.

Step 3: Ray creation and additional background elements added

Our next step is to create the rays of light coming off the orbs. These are quite easily created using the radial blur filter in your filter>blur dialog.
So start off by duplicating your small orb layer. Once that is done drag it beneath the original small orb layer and apply a filter blur>radial blur. Once the dialog comes up crank it up to 100% and set it to radial blur zoom. Apply the filter to get an effect similar to the below screenshot.

Right now its very faint but we can fix that! Press CTRL SHIFT F on your keyboard to fade the last applied filter (the radial blur), set the blending mode for this to screen and press ok. Once you have done this apply the filter again and fade it again. Do this about 4 times and the effect should now look like the below screenshot.

The above screen shot is very grainy and is not what we want at all. To fix this we will apply a Gaussian blur which is found in the filter drop down under blur. Set yours up as mine is in the below screen shot and hit ok.

The effect now looks like the below screenshot.

But we don’t want the trails in front of the orbs only behind them. To fix this we can grab a standard eraser (Press E on your keyboard to select the eraser tool) and erase out the streaks in front of the orbs.

Now we need to spruce up the back ground a tad before we move on. To do this create a new layer under everything except your gradient layer, fill this layer with the fill tool like we did previously but this time use something like blue. Se this layers blending mode to overlay and set the opacity to about 50% opacity. This should create a slight blue hue for our background making it much more vibrant.

Now we can grab some more orbs (larger this time) and place them all over the edges/middle of the screen. These will be blurred to create a sense of depth. To do this simply apply the same Gaussian blur that we applied earlier however this time set the radius to about 10px and hit ok.

Now to spruce up the background some more!

To do this we will create a duplicate of our text layer and drag it down so it is only above the blue overlay layer and the gradient layer. Once you have done this apply a few Gaussian blurs with a radius of 250px.

Now we can grab a free cloud stock image (or a purchased one) from a stock site such as Sxc.hu or deviantart.com I will be using the below image.

Now all we will do is drag this layer in place it beneath the orb layers and set it to overlay at 100% and we are done!

You could continue to add to the piece if you wanted to by adding in stars/nebula pieces etc… but you don’t have to. My final image looks like the below screenshot.

I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and wound up with an image you like! Or came out with knowing a few new tricks! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Also, if you have any ideas for future tutorials please say so!

Create a Cosmic Space Girl 3D Photo Illustration

Joe Moore — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:50:28 +0000

In this tutorial, we’ll be putting together a variety of techniques from previous tutorials, including a 3D wireframe from our Liquid Explosion artwork tutorial, custom brushes from our Wild Effects with Custom Brushes tutorial, as well as some new techniques involving photographs, textures and fractals. Combining techniques is one of the best ways to achieve varied and interesting results in your digital art, and it really helps with your experimentation and creative process when you can rely on a variety of techniques.

This tutorial is jam-packed with techniques and tips for you to apply, so let’s get to it!

Tools Used:

Adobe Photoshop
3DS Max (not required)
Fractal stocks, you can supplement your own

Final Image Preview:

Step 1: Background creation

Ok so to start off we need to create our document. You will need to base this off of your stock image size. I will be using a 2000*3000 size canvas, but you can use whatever you like. Once you have your document open fill it with black and create a new layer. Fill the new layer with black just as we did the first layer.

Now we need to apply a noise filter which will be the base for our stars. To do this go to “Filter”>”Noise”>”Add Noise” and set yours up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Your star field should look something like the below screenshot now.

Our next step is to edit the levels for our star field. Doing this will get rid of the grey stars and help open up some negative space so they don’t look so clustered and awful. So go ahead and press “CTRL L” on your keyboard to open up your level editor and set yours up as mine is in the below screenshot. The three triangles are in order of right to left, black level, gray level and the white level. I have moved the grey level over closer to the black level. This will result in the grays becoming whiter. The white level was then moved to closer to the grey level which means the white spots have become even whiter.

Your star field should now look something like mine in the below screenshot.

Go ahead and click the layer mask button on your layer tab, it should look like a square with a circle in the middle. Now we can apply another filter, this time one called “Difference clouds”. Basically it will render some cloud like blobs in black and white causing our stars to only be seen where the white clouds are on the layer mask. To apply this filter click “Filter”>”Render”>”Difference clouds”. Your results should look something like the below screenshot, however keep in mind that the difference cloud filter is randomly generated.

Now you can adjust the levels and play with other filters to get something that suits you. I used a small 3px hard brush with white and painted some brighter stars to go with my noise stars. The stars I painted are the same size as my noise stars so it’s just basically putting a random dot on your canvas if you wanted to do this.

Now we can create a new layer above the star layers. Once you have done that grab any brush you like (a standard 100px hard brush will work fine) and select two colors. I went with pink and blue as they work very well together. Once you have done this use this brush with these colors and draw all over the canvas as I have done in the below screenshot.

Now we can apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 250 twice. Then set the layer opacity to 15%. Now we can repeat this step on another layer.

Now we will repeat the above process again, this time rather than leaving the layer mode as normal we will change it to screen or color dodge with an opacity ranging from 50-100% depending upon how many additional layers you create. This can be applied as many times as you like, I did mine about 2 more times and also incorporated yellow into the my two colors. Also when doing this be sure that your layers are above the previously created normal layers otherwise this will not work!

Step 2: Figure Incorporation

Alright we need to grab a stock image. You can use whatever image you like. The image I’m using is from shutterstock, you can see it in the below screenshot.

Once you have your figure it’s time to start the isolation process. Now when isolating your figure, it’s incredibly important that you get all of the background off the figure. If you fail to do this properly your image will look terrible no matter what effects you apply. So its imperative that you get this right. This is why I will not demonstrate my isolation, you need to isolate out your stock the way you are most accustomed to do. But, in case you’re curious, I used a layer mask and painted over my figure.

Next we can apply a dust and scratches filter. This is not required but it’s something I thought helped the image. By applying the dust and scratch filter it smooth’s out the skin and gives it almost a painted look. If you want to apply this filter it is located in the noise section of your filter drop down.

The filter gives a result like the screen shot below.

Step 3: Wire frame integration

Ok, so now it’s time to get some wireframes! You could, painstakingly draw out the lines yourself or you could reference a previous tutorial and change a few of the settings. So, we will be referencing. If you have not read our tutorial located at http://design.creativefan.com/create-a-stunning-3d-liquid-explosion-artwork/ then I suggest you go ahead and read up on it!

Once your figure is dropped into 3DS and you have applied a material, try to line it up with your stock image. It doesn’t have to be perfect (see below image) but as long as the basic pose is somewhat close you should be fine.

Now we have two new options. Render the scene using the scanline setting with forced wireframe turned ON or apply a new wireframe material.

I went with the force wireframe since it gives you more control over the wires themselves but you can do whatever you like.
Now just render the scene and save it as a png!
My render came out looking like the below image.

Now depending on your pose you will want to incorporate this in different ways. But below I will describe how I approached and finished the incorporation.

Start off by dropping your wireframe in and placing it so it covers the figure (size it using the free transform tool if needed). Once that is done erase everything but the shoulder/neck area.

Now that we have the shoulders dropped in we can throw some on the neck and in various other places. You can vary the opacity if you like but that’s really the only major adjustment you should have to do. Once you have finished that we can move on to our eye. The eye will become one of two epicenters or dynamic spots for the piece. To create the base for our epicenter on the eye we can drop in a section of the wireframe. I used a section of the top of the head, a piece of the nose and of course the eye. Drop in sections that you like and that fit your scene and then we can continue on, keep in mind that you may want to reduce the opacity of some of the sections so it doesn’t get too cluttered.

Step 4: Fractal implementation and coloring

Ok so now we need to head out to DA to grab two wonderful and free fractal packs. Both created by Greentunic, so much props to him for creating such a wonderful pack and allowing the community to use it.
Pack #2
http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/?q=fractal#/d1we1ib
Pack #3
http://greentunic.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d28h8ra

Once you have downloaded and extracted both packs it’s time to choose your first fractal. I went with a very nice one in pack #3 and would suggest you do the same.

Once you have opened up your fractal you can apply a quick auto color adjustment (CTRL + SHIFT + B) and place it on the eye. Set your blending mode to screen and then just erase anything you don’t like. I erased 90% of the original fractal, only leaving behind the cool hook looking shapes.

Next just grab a few of the curve like areas on the fractal and place them all over your image. I placed mine at the base of the neck and in her hair. Make sure that you don’t leave any hard edges when doing this thought!

Next we can go back to our eye and start building it up. Grab a splatter brush and drop in a few splats here and there in a color that you prefer, I went with yellow since it was so abundant on the eye and would meld well with the eye. Once you have applied the splat set this new layers opacity to 50% and the blending mode to overlay.

Next we can head over to CGtextures to grab a brush stroke. The brush stroke is located at: http://cgtextures.com/login.php?&texid=10476&destination=texview.php?id=10476&PHPSESSID=f33d4d18c63594dcdb4ca05c7dc1aef0
Once you have it go ahead and quickly make a brush out of it. If you don’t know how to do this you can reference a previous tutorial located at: http://design.creativefan.com/combining-custom-brushes-for-wild-effects-in-photoshop/

Once you have created your new brush you can apply one in blue and place it at the base of the eye. Then do it once more using yellow. Set this layer to overlay and we can continue on. Keep in mind you don’t have to use blue and yellow, you can choose whatever colors work best with your stock or colors you like the most.

Next we can another brush from a stock image at CGtextures, this time the stock link is: http://cgtextures.com/login.php?&texid=10916&destination=texview.php?id=10916&PHPSESSID=f33d4d18c63594dcdb4ca05c7dc1aef0

Once you have made a brush place it in black right underneath the eye. Then just grab a few of the far edges of the splatter to make your eyelashes for the opposite eye.

Next we can create a new layer and repeat the method we applied to color the BG to the eye in blue and yellow.
I then went on to use the 3px brush tool to paint in some details, for instance I connected the yellow fractal to the nose and painted a new eye. But these are not necessary.

Next we can create another new layer and grab our 3px brush (or larger if you like). Now you want to just to place a few random white dots where the wireframe intersects. Meaning, choose a few spots where the vertical lines hit horizontal lines and place a dot. You can do this as many times as you like but I would stay away from cluttering them together. This can (and should) be applied to the shoulder area as well as the neck.

Now we can move on to our additional coloring. To do this we will start off by choosing any color (I went with a darker blue) and painting over half of the canvas on a new layer, be sure not to cover the face though!

Next we can apply a Gaussian blur and set the layer to overlay, keep your opacity between 15-35% so it doesn’t appear oversaturated. Now we can create another new layer, use the same color and apply the effect to that side of the face. Why use two layers for this? Well really you could use one but using two allows you to control the opacity with much more ease. Say for instance at 20% opacity your BG looks great but the face is oversaturated, well this is why we use two layers!
I set my face overlays opacity to 20%.

Now do the same effect (on two layers) to the opposite side of the face using a new color. This time I went with a pinkish color, I really like the way pink and cyan complement one another, but you can use whatever color you like.

Step 5: Wireframe touchups and fractals continued

Now it’s time to start making pieces of our wireframe stand out more. To do this you could use the line tool/pen tool or the brush tool. The choice is up to you and what your more comfortable with. I went with the 3px brush as its easier for me then the pen tool. Once you have decided on your method go ahead and look at your wireframe. Look for shapes that sort of ‘pop out’, its more than likely going to look like squares or triangles. I went with the squares and lightly outlined these to make them more visible, this is exactly what you need to do. Just do it randomly all over. I started with the eye and then did the neck and shoulders.

Now go back over your shapes and brighten them up if you feel that they need to be brightened, you can use the shadows as a guideline here. Lines that are in the brighter areas of the face should obviously be much brighter then lines in the shadows. You can also add dots to your squares/triangles if you like now.

Now we can move on to the base of the neck, where I figure ends and space starts. This is where we will add in much more fractals. So open up your two packs and grab a few and start placing them around with a screen blending mode. I started off using two images from pack # 3.

Be sure to use a soft edged eraser when doing this so you don’t have any hard edges!
To finish off the neck I just added in a few more fractals with random color. Varying your color will bring a new dynamic to your piece and is something you should defiantly do.

Now we can grab a fractal from pack #2.

What you want to do here is grab a few of the glowing sparks that are not clustered. Once you have these selected with your marquee tool just copy and paste them all over your canvas. These will be the random super stars if you will. Be sure to vary their opacity as well thought!

Also double check that you have no hard edges!

Step 6: Constellation building and completion

Ok so now we can move on to our constellations. To create the constellations grab your line tool and set it up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Once you have done that create a new layer and look at your stars. Look for any random shapes and then just draw the lines using the line tool to connect these stars!

Once you have drawn the lines right click and select stroke, once the dialog appears select ‘brush’.

Be sure when doing this you have your brush set up the way you want (I used the 3px)!
Now hit ok and the lines will appear!
Repeat this process all over your BG. Be sure not to cluster them up too much though. Once you have all your constellations drown out and stroked set the layers opacity to about 45%.

And now we are done! I added in a few painted details to finish mine and you can as well or you can add anything you think would look cool for that matter. My final image looks like the below screen shot.

I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and wound up with an image you like! Or came out with knowing a few new tricks! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Also, if you have any ideas for future tutorials please say so!

Create a Pulsar Star Inspired Digital Abstract Artwork

Michelle Smith — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:59:24 +0000

Combining abstract 3D elements with lighting effects is a great way to achieve great visual effects. Several major art groups have released entire exhibitions on using similar techniques, using 3D Studio Max or Cinema4D in conjunction with Photoshop and Illustrator to create spectacular effects.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a pulsar star inspired digital abstract artwork using Cinema4D and Photoshop, although these techniques are easily applicable to any 3D program.

Let’s get started, and if you have any comments or suggestions, let us know in the comments! Also, please help share this tutorial.

Tools Used:

Photoshop
Cinema 4D

Final Image Preview:

Today we will be creating a piece that I got inspired by a specific type of star, called a “Pulsar Star”.

Pulsars are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards Earth. This is called the Lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name. Because neutron stars are very dense objects, the rotation period and thus the interval between observed pulses is very regular.

In other words, Pulsars are just drums in space each having it’s own unique beat to it. Some musicans have even recorded the beats and composed music around them. Some Pulsars can rotate about 400 times a second.

Because this interested me greatly, I decided to compose an art piece around this information and model the figure after a Pulsar.

Step 1:

We are going to start off with a black canvas, to represent the depth of space. Choose two corresponding colors which will be your bases for the rest of the piece. Take one of your Soft Brushes, and press one time in the center of the canvas with your main color. Continue to press the brush in other places for your second color, adjusting the opacity of both to match your liking.

Step 2:

Take your smaller, Hard Brushes and press with the color white to places you’d think you’d need “stars”. Later, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussain Blur and blur to even out the lightness of all of them, making sure they are not too overpowering but still visable. Set the blur setting from around 1.3-3.

Step 3:

Continue to add more stars to fill up the canvas. You may also make shiny orbs in Cinema 4D, then import and adjust lighting in Photoshop. Remember to keep everything in your focal, so the piece doesn’t look jumbled together. When your happy with where your objects are, we’ll go in depth on how you make the simple cinema objects in Maxon Cinema 4D.

Step 4:

Begin with two spheres and add a Metaball action to the two shapes, spreading them apart to form your desired shape. Add any other details like explosion if you feel its necessary.

Step 5:

Now you can add any transparent material to your sphere and adjust your lighting to your desired product.

Keep these shapes for later when we add our main focal.

Step 6:

Now, we are going to make another object in Cinema. I chose to make it a light, circle-shaped figure which will blend nicely with the rest of the figures in the piece already.

Paste evenly through the focal.

Step 7:

Take your Elliptical Marquee Tool (M), and fill circles with your two colors around your focal. Change the opacity to around 50%

Step 8:

Go back to the step in which I explained how to make the shapes, and add the objects we made in Cinema, preferably one of the main colors you have chosen, and import to Photoshop.

Line up the objects so that the final look will resemble the Pulsar Star.

Step 9:

Your going to create a layer mask attatched to your main objects, and using your Soft Brush, put your second corresponding color to the place where you plan on having your light source. Do not over do it, the last thing we want is monotone. Spread the colors out evenly, and adjust opacity. Then, take your Soft Brush again and with white, we’re going to add our lightsource. This will be in the center of the figure.

Step 10:

Keep adding to the light source by adding more brushing to the figure, and add a Brightness and Contrast adjustment layer. We’re going to set the Brightness setting to 7.

Step 11:

Take a 1 px Hard Brush, and start brushing with the white outward in two directions. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussain Blur and and set the value to 3. This is going to represent the beams that Pulsars emit when spinning.

Step 12:

We are going to simulate a light glare, so in order to do that we are going to take the Elliptical Marqueet Tool (M), go to Edit > Stroke and change the color to white, and the Width to a value of 1 px. Go change your brush size to a 1 pix soft brush. Then, take your Pentool (P) and make four lines spreading out from the inner circle. Right click > Stroke Path and change the setting to “Brush”. Once your figure looks like the one below, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussain Blur and set it to about 3.

Place it right above your light source.

Step 13:

Take your 20 px Hard brush, and the color white. We are going to use the brush around the focal evenly. Then take your Eraser, with the same sized Soft Brush and erase most of the circle until there’ a sliver left. Adjust opacity to your liking.

Step 14:

You may now add and balance the rest of your composition. I chose to add yet another object I made in Cinema, and insert it around my focal.

Make the rest of your adjustments, like another Brightness and Contrast layer. I set my Brightness setting to 36.

Step 15:

We want to add more details to our piece so first up we’re going to create different shapes and going to arrange them around the focal. These layers are going to be set to Softlight.

Step 16:

Take you Pentool (P) and go around your piece with white and set the layer once again to Softlight.

Step 17:

Now we’re going to Click-Ctrl + Alt + Sift + E and it will automatically paste visible. Go to Filter > Distort > Twirl and set the opacity to a number where it’s still visable, but not overpowering.

Step 18:

We’re going to add more shapes and stars I talked about in earlier steps and add them in the negative spaces of the piece to even it out.

Step 19:

Let’s add another adjustment layer which will be a Brightness and Contrast layer and set it to 31.

Step 20:

Finally, we’re going to resize the piece to your desired size, and Click-Ctrl + Alt + Sift + E and it will automatically paste visible. Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen and make the setting around 23, and your finished!

Colorful Candy 3D Text Effect in Photoshop and 3D Studio Max Tutorial

Joe Moore — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:38:20 +0000

Text effects are a common way to spice up typography for graphic design. Instead of using a plain font with a solid color, a text effect can create a visual impactful design. There are a variety of effects that can be applied, from 3D to inset typography and everything in between.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create colorful candy 3D text using Photoshop and 3D Studio Max, and how to incorporate a few other 3D elements into a final Photoshop artwork. You’ll get a great look at how to model and texture 3D text and how to render it using v-ray, and how to then composite it together in Photoshop.

Let’s get started!

Tools used:

3D studio max – Vray (not required)
Adobe Photoshop

Final Image Preview:

Step 1: Text creation

First off we will need to open up 3D studio max. If you are unfamiliar with 3D studio max you should read up on my other 3D text tutorial here : http://design.creativefan.com/create-a-beautiful-3d-text-composition/

Next we will go to the right hand side and choose the text tool like in the below screen shot.

Once you have selected the text tool go ahead click somewhere on the screen, this will drop the MAX TEXT into your perspective.

Now we need to go into our texts parameters and change them so they look a little better. We can also go ahead and change the text from MAX TEXT to Hello.

As of now, our text should look something like the below screen shot.

Now create another text object, set it with the same settings but change the text to Color. Once you have done this move your Color text over to the right as I have done in the below screen shot.

Next, with our Hello text selected, we will go to our modifier drop down and select Bevel. This modifier will turn our flat 2D text, into 3D text.

Once you have selected bevel, set your screen shot up as mine in the below screen shot.

Now we can click our drop down modifier (still with the Hello text selected) and choose bend. The bend modifier will obviously bend the text, this will in turn make it much more interesting.

Our text should now look like the below screenshot but your text color may look a little different.

Now just apply the same effects to the Color text.

Now its time to start building our material, so to start off press M on your keyboard to open the material dialog box. The dialog box should look something like the below screen shot, granted, yours will be all grey.

If you do not have Vray, yours will all say standard rather than Vray. In this case, click the button and change it to “RayTrace” it should transfer over nicely.

Now, on to the diffuse map creation. Click the box next to the Diffuse color and select falloff. Once you have done this set your bar graph and all the settings as I have done below.

Then you will select two noise maps, one for the yellow color and one for the red. To set these you just need to click where it says “MAP #” and select noise.

Next we can go back to the first dialog on our material editor. Once you have done this click the small gray box next to the reflection color. Once you have done this set your map as a falloff, then set your gradient off as mine Is in the below screen shot.

Your material should look similar to mine in the top left hand corner.

Now just drag and drop your sphere onto your two text objects. Doing this will apply the new material to the text.

Step 2: Light setup and rendering

Now we need to go back to our creation tool bar on the right hand side. Once you have done this select the light icon, if you don’t have Vray you will select standard and then choose omni.

Once you have created the light pull it way down beneath the text.

Now set yours up as mine is. You can see where I circled Vray, on this, if you’re not using Vray select standard here.

Next create another light and place it way above the text as I have done here.

The settings for this light should be like the below screenshot.

Below is screen shot of my left view frame. You can see from here how far away both my above text light and under text light are from the text.

Now just render! To bring up your render settings press F10 on your keyboard. This will allow you to set up your size and any alternative settings. I rendered my text at 4500*4500, but you can do whatever size you like.

Step 3: Extra shape creation

Before starting we need to remove our text, but you want to keep the lights as are. After this we can continue on.
Ok, to start off we need to examine our creation tool bar located on the right. In the below screen shot you can see the standard object creation menu. Listed are all the basic shapes you can use in 3DS.

If you check standard parameters and then select extended parameters It will look like the below screen shot.

Now, if we look at both dialog boxes we can see all of the shapes we will be using to create our shapes. We don’t need any fancy modifiers or anything just the basic shapes. Below I marked all the shapes I used to create my set of shapes. All you need to do is click and drop them on the canvas!

My perspective view now looks like the below screen shot.

Once you have done this open up your material editor once again. This time we will make two new materials. Everything will be the exact same as our last material except this time we will not use a map for our diffuse, instead we will use just a standard color.

Now we will create the yellow. Again, it will be the same as the previous material but with yellow as our diffuse color rather than red.

Now just randomly apply these three mats to your shapes and hit render!

Step 4: Photoshop work, document creation and basic setup

First off we will need to create a new document. You will want to base this off your text size; I went with 3500*2500. Next we need to drop our text in and size it to fit in the center as I have done in the below screen shot.
The text dropped in:

The text sized:

Now we need to start on our back ground. To do this create a new layer under your text. Next fill it with black and draw all over it with white as I have done in the below screen shot.

Now just apply a few Gaussian blurs with a radius of 250px. After you have done this your document should look something like the below screen shot.

Next we need to color our gradient. To do this choose a dark aqua blue and fill it on a new layer. Once you have done this, just set the layers blending style to overlay and your done!

Step 5: Text manipulation and shape incorporation

Now we need to duplicate our text layer and set it to overlay. Once you have done this we can go to our filter drop down and select Filter>Artistic>Plastic wrap. Once you have select plastic wrap (while on your overlay layer) set yours up with the below settings:

Highlight strength: 20
Detail: 1
Smoothness: 15

Now just apply the filter. Your result should look something like the below screen shot when zoomed in.

Next you need to drop in a few of your shapes as I have done in the below screen shot. Once you have done that you will need to apply the same effect as we did above. My document now looks like the below screenshot.

Now we can set a few a few more shapes in and blur them. This will create a nice light effect as well as helping to create a sense of depth. I applied my blur with a radius of 34px, but yours will depend on the initial size of your shapes.

Step 6: Drip painting, finishing touches and closing

Now its time to start adding in some drips and blobs to our text. There are various ways to do this; I will be using my brush tool as I have done in previous tutorials. I would suggest you use this method unless you’re fairly well versed with the pen tool. A tutorial on how to paint drips is located here on creative fan at: http://design.creativefan.com/create-a-fantastic-environmental-awareness-composition/

Now just start painting on drips! Its important that your color is the same as the part of the text where we begin painting, to ensure that your color is the same use your eye drop and select a color from your start point. I went with the top section of the H and choose a deep red that’s almost brown. Once I did that I painted the first drip.

As you can see in the below screenshot its important that you have highlights as well as shadows. Below you can see an example of this.

You can create the shadows and highlights using the burn tool/dodge tool. You could also set your brush up as overlay and paint these on with your brush. But its up to you, there’s no easy way to do this.

Now continue on painting.

Try to spread your drips around and change their size up as well as their color.

Once you have created enough drips to where you are satisfied. My document now looks like the below screen shot.

Now we need to create our shadow. To do this grab all of your layers except the background layers and merge them. Once you have done this duplicate this layer. The newly duplicated layer will be our shadow. To create the shadow go ahead and go to your edit tab, once you have done this select transform > distort. Once you have selected the distort tool go ahead and use the points on the sides and corners and smash the text down as I have done in the below screen shot.

Once you have done this go ahead and press enter to apply the effect. Now we need to make the text completely black, you can do this with your level editor. Just move the triangle on the far left hand side all the way over to the far right hand side. Now apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of about 10. Once you have done this set your layer up as overlay. Your shadow should look something like the below screen shot.

Now its time to create some simple light effects using the Gaussian blur tool. So to start off create a new layer and make a small thin line using the marquee tool.

Once you have done this we can apply a motion blur, the motion blur filter is located at Filter>Blur>Motion blur. Once your dialog is open set your blur up as mine is in the below screenshot.

Our line now looks like the below screen shot.

Now duplicate your layer and go to your edit tab, then select Transform>rotate 90 degrees. Once you have done this you should have a cross as I have below.

Now just merge these two layers down and set it up as a screen layer (or linear dodge) and place a few on some of your texts highlights.

And we are done! My below image looks like the below screen shot.

I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial! I hope you came out with a nice piece, learned a thing or two or at least got some inspiration for your next creation. Remember if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. And if you have any ideas for future tutorials please don’t hesitate to let someone know!

Create a Dramatic Urban Raining Composition with 3D Elements

Joe Moore — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:20:58 +0000

Urban scenes can be used to create dramatic works of digital art. The grunge feel of graffiti, concrete and the darker textures can result in great environments for a design or artwork. Perhaps typified by movies like Sin City, the grayscales of urban environments, particularly when combined with rain, are captivating.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to take some stock photos and create a dramatic urban environment, complete with rain, and then build a design composition around it using some 3D elements. You’ll learn how to create a nice raining effect, and how to use urban styles to enhance your work.

If you have any questions, let us know in the comments. We’re always accepting suggestions as well!

Tools used:

Adobe Photoshop
Photo stocks
3D render stocks

Final Image Preview:

Step 1: Document creation and background setup

To start off we need to create a new document. I would suggest a 2000*3000 document but if you cannot work at a size that large then just work at a size that works good for you.

Now we need to get our background stock. We will be trying to create some sort of urban decay type scene so any road shots, store fronts, or city shots will work. My background stock looks like the below screen shot and you can get it at ShutterStock.com

Once you have your background stock we need to drop them into our document and begin editing them. Your editing will depend on your stock back ground, mine consisted of clone stamping out a few sections to clean up some areas and then clone stamped it to fit the my target document. It looks like the below screen shot now.

Now we need to grey scale the image and adjust the levels. To do this we need to press ‘CTRL SHIFT L’ and then ‘CTRL SHIFT U’ on your keyboard. My image now looks like the below screen shot.

Once that is done we will create a new layer and set the blending mode to overlay. Once you have done that we need to grab some splatter/brush stroke brushes and throw them around. The point here is to darken the image whilst applying texture. If you don’t have any brushes you can read my tutorial here on creative fan, use a texture or find some brushes on the net.
Just splat them around in black and then switch to white around any lights if your background image has any. My image now looks like the below screen shot.

If your image is not as dark at the bottom as you would like you can repeat this step on another layer as many times as necessary. I had to create an additional layer to create the effect that the background is fading to black.

Step 2: Rain creation

Now we need to create a new layer and fill it with black. Once that is done we need to apply a noise filter. So go to your filter drop down and select noise>add noise and then set yours up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Your layer should appear as mine does now in the below screen shot.

Now we need to create a motion blur. To apply this filter we can go to our filter drop down menu and select blur>motion blur. Once you have done this set yours up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Your layer should now look something like the below screen shot now.

Next we need to apply a manual level adjustment; to do this press CTRL L on your keyboard and set your level editor up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Your layer should now look something like the below screen shot.

Now we need to apply a layer mask. Once that is done go to your filter drop down and select render>difference clouds. Once you have applied this filter apply it again around 2/3 times and then set the blending mode to screen. My image now looks like the below screen shot.

Now duplicate the layer, on the new layers mask apply the filter one last time and reduce the opacity to around 50%.

Step 3: Figure implementation.

Now you need to find a stock image. The stock image I chose was a very popular stock that you can find on shutterstock.com. It looks like the below screen shot.

Once you have isolated out your figure you can drop them into your document under your rain layers. Now we can grey scale our figure by pressing CTRL SHIFT U. Once that has been done you need to fade the grey scale, to fade the grey scale press CTRL SHIFT F on your keyboard. Fade the grey scale by about 55% and press ok. My image now looks like the below screen shot.

Next you need to do the same effect with the splatter brushes on the figure. When you do this be certain that you don’t get any of the brushes off the figure, keep them only on the figure. My image now looks like the below screen shot.

Step 3 part 2: Rain drop creation.

Now we need to grab a standard three Px brush like the below screen shot.

Now we need to create a new layer and start drawing small circle shapes bouncing off the figure. Try and space the circles out as much as possible and keep their opacities random as well as their size.

Continue drawing the circles as well as drawing some water streaks on your figure as if the water is sliding down him or her. Its best to stay focused on one significant area and then move to the next area.

Now once you finish with the first area you can move into the next area. I started moving downward towards the arms/hands.

Next once you have added a lot of circles (rain drops) you can start adding some hashed lines as if the splashes are moving so fast that they are blurred.

Step 4: Graffiti implementation

Now we can add in some graffiti stocks in to help produce more of the urban decay effect. To start off we can grab a stock from CG textures:
http://cgtextures.com/login.php?&texid=7066&destination=texview.php?id=7066&PHPSESSID=418f77724472d17169673b32a8d66258

Once you have dropped the stock in you will need to grey scale it as we did with the other stocks. Next we need to adjust the levels as we did before. Set your levels up as mine is in the below screen shot.

The image should now look like the below screen shot.

Once you have done this set the layer up as multiply layer and just place it where you like.

I duplicated mine, inverted it, set the blending mode up as screen and placed it a second time.

Now you just need to repeat this process a few times until your image has the right ‘feel’ to it. Below is a list of stocks that I used to create the effect on my image as well as a few screen shots to show you how the process went about.

Stocks:

If you’re having trouble it’s easier to use a single stock multiple times as we did with the SICK stock. Keep in mind that you can use it as a multiply layer or a screen layer and that size can be varied multiple times to help vary the stocks up.

Step 5: Render implementation and closing

Now we need some renders to place behind the stock image. I used a few of my own as well as some from Angelius Hellions pack.

Render packs:

Just drop them in, grey scale them and place them behind the render as I have done here. If you like you can apply a few colors but I chose not to. You can also apply the splash effects as we did with the figure if you would like.

Well that’s all; all you need to do now is size it down and sharpen it. I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and you came out with a nice looking image. My image looks like the below screen shot. If you have any questions regarding my images creation please don’t hesitate to ask!

Composite an iMac Render into an Incredible Apple Advertisement

Bruno Kenzo — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:33:53 +0000

A little while back, when CG.CreativeFan had just launched, we published a tutorial about modeling, texturing and rendering an iMac in Cinema4D that would be the basis for a product advertisement tutorial in the future. Well, the wait is over, as here is the promised tutorial.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to take a 3D render of an iMac, and composite it into a scene. You’ll then learn how to take a variety of 3D abstract elements, textures and images to create an incredible advertisement. You’ll learn about composition, color usage and the use of abstract elements in design.

Hi everyone! First of all, thanks for reading this tutorial and I hope you can learn something, not only how to create an artwork like this, but also to use in other artworks. During this tutorial I will explain some tips and effects that I think fit very well with any style. =) You will learn how to create a high quality fictitious advertising with some cool effects and many details! I think it’s an easy tutorial, but you need some understanding of composition, color and of course, good taste! So, let’s start!

Tools Used

Photoshop
iMac Render from CG.CreativeFan tutorial: http://cg.creativefan.com/model-texture-and-render-an-imac-in-cinema4d/

Resources

3D Renders – iMac, Spheres, Particles… (by K3nzuS) http://k3nzus.deviantart.com/art/Some-Stuff-2-169562709?q=1&qo=1
Carbon Pattern (DeviantART) http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=carbon+pattern
Texture – Old Paper (DevianART) http://ofruin-stock.deviantart.com/art/Old-paper-33-stock-72496013?q=boost%3Apopular+old+paper&qo=9
Splatter / Paint Tossing (Media Militia) http://mediamilitia.com/paint-tossing/

Final Image Preview

Create a new document on Photoshop and set the size that you prefer, for this job I used 800 x 1200 pixels, 72dpi and 8bits/channel, because I did this artwork just for viewing on the Internet.
So, add a Linear Gradient with the following settings:

Add an Old Paper Texture, desaturate it (Shift + Ctrl + I) and change the blend mode to Multiply and Opacity: 30-50%.

After that, change the Levels settings to something like the following image. So, the texture will become softer.

Add your iMac render (you can use the render that you did, or if you prefer, you can download my render pack). I placed one big render in the middle and smaller ones around, forming a triangle, because the composition fits better.

So, we will do some adjustments on the renders. Select a Soft Round Brush, Opacity: 10-20% and start doing some clicks on the corners. Try some blend modes like Normal, Soft Light and Overlay, you can obtain some interesting results.

Here are more examples:

Now, we will make the shadow of the main iMac. Create a white circle shape (this is the “spot light” that illuminates the floor) and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and choose Radius: 2-3 pixels.

Create a black circle shape, smaller than the first one (this is the twilight/soft shadow) and go to Gaussian Blur again.

Create another black circle shape, smaller than the others and go to Gaussian Blur, but now, choose the Radius: 1-2 pixels.

Now, we will add some abstracts in our scene. Select these “aqua renders” and place them behind the iMac renders. To fit better and improve the composition, try to rotate and resize these renders.

Instead of using only purple renders, you can use white ones too. Copy some of them and desaturate (Shift + Ctrl + U). After that, add a Levels layer and change its settings to something like the image. And you can obtain a result like this:

Now, select these “black spheres” and add them in your artwork. And again, change its color to something more interesting. Create a new layer, fill it with pink or purple and create a Clipping Mask (Ctrl + Alt + G). So, change the blend mode to Screen.

After that, select these “green abstracts”, desaturate it and add a Levels layer with this config:

So, you will obtain something like this:

And again, to improve the composition, rotate and resize these renders. Here are some examples:

Follow this same sequence with these “spirals”:
Desaturate > Create a clipping mask > Change the blend mode to Screen.

Now, select the Brush Tool and choose a Hard Round Brush, Opacity: 15-25%. The size, choose according the composition. Here are some colors that I think fit very well.

It’s pretty hard to see, but here are some examples. Ranging in size and color, you can get something like this:

Now, select those “green abstracts” again (after that treatment) and change the Opacity: 10-15%. So, place them behind the iMac renders. You can use this effect too with those “black spheres”.

After that, we will do some pen lines. First, select the Brush Tool and choose a Hard Round Brush with Size: 1 pixel and Opacity: 100%. So, select the Pen Tool and clink on the second icon “Paths” like the image:

Then, make a curve, click with the right button and choose Stroke Path option. On the Stroke Path window, choose Brush and click Ok. And now, you have a cool line which fits very well with the composition. Moreover, this type of line is used to join separate elements.

Here are more examples:

Create more white lines and go to the Blending Options properties. Go to the Stroke tab and change its settings like the following image.

So, a neon light will be created. Here is an example:

Now, select these “particles”, desaturate them and change the Opacity: 40%. Place them behind the iMac renders.

After that, select some of these “splatter/paint tossing” images.

Place them behind the other elements and change the Blend Mode to Screen or Overlay.

Here are more examples:

Create a new layer and fill it with any color. Go to the Blending Options properties. On the Pattern Overlay tab, select one carbon fiber pattern.

Place it behind the iMac like a floor. Then, create a new layer, select both and merge them (Ctrl + E).

Now, you can erase some parts, like an infinite floor. And change the Blend Mode to Soft Light and Opacity: 60%.

And finally, we will do the typography. In this case I chose Arial Rounded, 25pt, Crisp. Go to the Blending Options and on the Stroke tab change some values.

Choose a cool slogan that fits with the image and place the Apple logo.

So, I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned something. I also hope to do more tutorials of my work and thanks for reading! =)

Combine 3D Geometric Shapes and Flowing Lines for a Sleek iPhone Ad

Joe Moore — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:10:21 +0000

Abstract and geometric 3D shapes are an incredibly useful element when designing. They create the illusion of motion, add diversity to an artwork, and also provide an excellent splash of color. When combined with flowing lines, it can create a beautiful cosmic style background that can work well in a variety of situations.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a variety of 3D geometric shapes and combine them with some abstract flowing lines and a splash of color to create a vibrant and exciting sleek iPhone product advertisement. You’ll walk away with added knowledge of how to use these techniques in your own work.

If you have any questions, let us know in the comments. Let’s get started!

Tools Used:

Adobe Photoshop
3DS Max

Final Image Preview:

Step 1: 3DS shape creation

We will begin this tutorial by opening 3DS Max. These shapes can also be created in other 3D applications such as Cinema4D, Maya and Blender, however if you are familiar in making similar shapes to what we will be making in a different program such as Illustrator; by all means use that program and just skip ahead to the post work sections. If not, well then open up 3DS and let’s get started!

In this section I will show you how to create 3 basic shapes that we can later use to bring life to an otherwise boring piece. Our first shape will be the square. So click the icon that says box and create a square.

Next we will need to create a material; we will be using the same material for all of our shapes so its important to get it right! To begin, we can press ‘M’ on our keyboard; this will open up the material editor. Next we can select the first sphere and then click the large button under the grid that says “Standard”. This will bring up a new window which will show us all the types of materials to choose from, we will select “Architectural” and select ‘ok’.

Next we will set it up as it appears in the below screenshot.

Now click and drag your sphere and drop it directly on top of your square to apply the material. Your square should now look something like the below screenshot.

Now we need to render! So press F10 on your keyboard to open the render settings. We will adjust the output size to about 1850*1850. Then hit render!

Once you have rendered your shape go ahead and save it as a PNG. Then make about 6/7 variations of your cube. Change the perspective and angles to make it appear not so repetitive in the final piece. Once you have done those delete your square and let’s move on to our next shape! Our next shape is a O or a tube if you like. So we can go back over to the section where we originally selected “BOX” and this time select “TUBE”. Once you have created your tube apply the material and tada!

Like the last one, the tube should have about 6 or so variations!
Our last shape will be a plus sign. To create the plus sign we need to go way over to the right and click the icon that looks like a square, a circle and a triangle all arranged behind one another. It should be in the middle of the sphere and light icon. This is the shapes icon. Once that is selected, go ahead and click the text button. Then just put a plus sign in and your screen should look similar to mine in the below screen shot.

With the “+” selected, choose the arc shaped tab on the right hand side entitled “Modify”. It should be the right of the arrow button. This will allow us to change the settings for our text. We won’t be changing any settings, but we will add a “Modifier”, so click the drop down menu entitled “Modifiers” and select “Bevel”. Once you have chosen the bevel option set your screen up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Now your plus should look something like the below screenshot, do note that this is without our material applied!

And now we can render this as well!

This is where we will stop, however it isn’t were you have to stop! You could for instance make some shapes that look like “/’,”?”,”>” or various other characters; you could also create some spheres or triangles! Just be sure to experiment, with 3D, you can make nearly anything.

Step 2: Scene Setup and Postwork of 3D

First off we will open up Photoshop and create a new document; our document size should be 2000*3000. Once that is done invert the background color to black. Now we need to open up all of those shapes we made and bring them into the scene. To make things easier we will be making one giant mess of shapes and then later altering it. So drag one shape in your document at a time, size it down to about 50% and apply a diffuse filter. The diffuse filter is located at Filter>Stylize>Diffuse>Anistropic. When dragging your shapes in be sure to vary the sizes, have some tiny and some large (50% of the original size should be the largest you use). Also vary your shapes colors and placement.
My array of shapes looks like the below screenshot.

You can see in my close up how I duplicated a shape, changed the hue and moved it to the side of the original shape to make a more interesting color scheme. This is a good idea to try but its not the only idea, you could for instance trace your shapes in another color or use blending modes and layer masks to create duo-tone shapes. Again just be sure to experiment!

Once you have made your array, merge all the layers except the background and then duplicate the shape layers about 10 times just to be safe.
Next we need to drop in our phone. The stock of the Iphone we will be using is located at : http://media.obsessable.com/media/2008/09/18/iphone-3g.jpg once you have obtained the stock image go ahead and drop it in your new document. Now we need to isolate the phone out, I would suggest you use whatever isolation method you prefer when doing this. However it is a very simple isolation so I will be using the magic wand tool with a tolerance of 30%.

My isolated phone looks like the below screen shot.

Now duplicate your phone layer and go up to your filter tab; we will be using the high pass filter so go to filter>other>high pass and set the % at 77. Once you have done this change the blending mode to overlay. This will help our phone have a better contrast rather than just a regular overlay layer.
The newly modified phone now looks like:

Step 3: Shape Implementation

To start off incorporating our shapes we will grab one of our layer copies and remove about 90% of the shapes with our eraser. Next we will apply a Gaussian blur. To apply the Gaussian blur go to your Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it up as it appears in the below screen shot.

Our scene now looks like the below screen shot.

Now we can grab another one of our merged layers and size it down to about 50% and place it beneath the phone. You will want to do this about 5 times, each time slightly adjust the hue by about +5 or -5% and change the angle when free transforming it.

Now we grab your soft 200px eraser, set the opacity to 35% and erase some of the shapes slightly so it appears as if they are drifting away.

Now continue placing more shapes. At this point it’s a good idea to open up your shapes once again and bring in two or three shapes at a decent size to place around the phone. That way everything’s not so tiny.

Once you have placed all of your shapes you want to place and brought in some bigger ones we need to open up one shape and drag it in at its actual size. Once you have done that place it in the corner and apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 9.

Step 4: Background creation

Now we need to create a new layer beneath all of our existing layers. Once you have done that grab any brush you like (a standard 100px hard brush will work fine) and select two colors. I went with pink and blue as they work very well together. Once you have done this use this brush with these colors and draw all over the canvas as I have done in the below screenshot.

Now we can apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 250 twice. Then set the layer opacity to 15%. Now we can repeat this step on another layer. Once you have done that your scene should look similar to the below screenshot.

If you zoom in closely you will notice that the blur has caused some strange ripple effects! This is exactly what we want so don’t be upset when you see these!

Now we will repeated the above process again, this time rather than leaving the layer mode as normal we will change it to color dodge with an opacity of 100%. This can be applied as many times as you like, I did mine about 2 more times and also incorporated yellow into the my two colors. Also when doing this be sure that your color dodge layers are above the previously created normal layers otherwise this will not work!

Now we will do the same again, this time however we will do it on a layer that’s above the phone. And once it’s done you will need to delete everything except the colors that are atop of the phone. This layer should be set as overlay at 100%.

Step 5: Light stocks and closing

To finish off our piece we will need to add in something more, something to help bring everything together. That will be light stocks! So we will head over to SXC and grab this stock and drop it into our document.
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1114780

If you don’t want to use stock images for this part, you can easily create your own flowing lines:

Once you have dropped the above stock into your document you will need to drag it beneath the phone, free transform it to about 50% its normal size and set the blending mode to screen. Now just move it about so that it barley sticks out.

Now do the above process again, this time on the opposite side.

Now drag a copy of both of these layers above the phone and remove about 80% of the stock that’s on the phone. This will leave the impression as if it were barley creeping onto the phone.

Now we will grab our final stock, it is located at:
http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=1111541

This stock we will make a screen layer with opacity of about 10%. Now just leave it at its original size and angle it and we are done!

My finished piece looks like the below screen shot.

I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial and maybe learned a thing or two! If you have any questions regarding a technique don’t be afraid to post a message and ask!

Create a Cool 3D Graffiti Text Effect using Line Art in Photoshop

Joe Moore — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:41:11 +0000

Graffiti style text has a variety of applications in modern art, advertising and other forms of design. While it can be created with 3D programs, similar effects can also be achieved using pure Photoshop.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to take a line art sketch of text and turn it into a 3D graffiti style text effect using some simple techniques and stock images. You’ll learn how to take a concept, add the initial coloring, then use some well placed images to achieve a 3D effect, then finally use some brushes to add awesome extra effects.

Let’s get started!

Tools used:

Adobe Photoshop
Sketch or line art
Stock images

Final Image Preview:

Step 1: Obtaining or creating your own line art

The line art is the foundation to the final piece, without it we would have nothing. So where do you get it? The line art I used was created by a good friend named Sempai-tem (http://sempai-tem.deviantart.com/ )who collaborated with me on the creation of this piece. However you can create your own, find some on the net or just make a wireframe in a 3D application. Regardless of how you get it just make sure it’s something that you like.

The BXXX line art looks like the below screen shot.

Once you obtain your line art its important to figure out how you want to ‘transfer’ it into a digital piece. You have a few options; the pen tool, the paint brush, illustrator, the line tool etc… In the next few steps I will try and explain how I transferred Sempai’s line art into a digital piece and once that is done I will show you how to continue on to the final piece.

So step one, create a new document in Photoshop. As far as canvas size goes go with a ratio you like, I went with 2000*3000. Now just change your background color to black.

Next create a new layer and grab your 3px hard brush. Now trace the line art in white (or another color if you choose to do so).

While you still have the brush enabled start to draw lines along the top of your line art. This will be were our water ends, it’s the tip of the waves inside of our line art. If your water lines look rough don’t worry about it, the final piece is going to look very chaotic and the roughness of your lines will only add to the wonderful anarchy.

You can also take this time to shade some of your line art. This will help later on in determining where the light source could be, plus it looks cool!

Now we need to color our line art. To do this we will create a new layer and then grab a new brush.

Since we are going for a water theme I would suggest using a blue colored brush however the actual variation of blue does not matter. When filling your line art in use a lighter blue in the center and as you work your way out switch to darker tones of blue.

Also be sure to keep all of your colors inside of the lines, I know we want it chaotic but we don’t want it looking sloppy.

Now using the same brush on a new layer we will paint some shadows around the edges of our line art.

Step 2: Bringing life to the piece

So now that we have our line art colored we need to start dropping in stocks to make things a bit more interesting. So we can head over to Sxc and grab this stock image of the coral reef for starters :

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1106518

Next we can free transform it down to about half the size and then grab a soft large erase and erase a good bit of it out. Be sure to erase any part that goes out of your line art!

If you’re having troubles with the colors mating up you can use your smudge tool with a soft brush to help and mix the colors.

Now we just repeat the process with a few other stocks, below Is a list of stocks that would work great for this!

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/289370

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/703374

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/785400

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/205441

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1224059

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/902726

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/550988

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/520853

Next we can start adding in some fish and other animals. So to start off the fish isolation we will head over to Sxc once again and grab this stock http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=226753

Once you have copied our fish into our Photoshop documents we can then press ‘CTRL SHIFT L’ to apply a level adjustment. However for these fish this step is optional, as you can see by my screen shot the fish only truly is adjusted on his bottom side, so it’s a personal taste, one I prefer but you may not. Now we need to cut that fish out of the white background. But there is no reason to further complicate things, so for this isolation we can just use the magic wand tool. To enable the magic wand tool press ‘W’ on your keyboard; once the tool is enabled go ahead and set your tolerance to 31% and then just click away. You will see it really only takes one click to isolate the little fish. Once you have grabbed it with the magic wand we can press the ‘DELETE’ key on our keyboard to erase that selection out.

Now just place him were ever you like and we are done with the first fish!

Now we will go back to Sxc again and grab this starfish http://www.sxc.hu/photo/204970 and paste him into our document.

Once our starfish is in the document we will begin isolating him out the same way we have isolated our fish. So press ‘W’ on the keyboard to enable the magic wand tool; with the magic wand tool select all the white as well as all the grey shadow areas around our starfish.

Now that we have our selection we can press ‘DEL’ on our keyboard to remove it all. Now we need to free transform the starfish as well as place him. To do this we will press ‘CTRL SHIFT T’ on the keyboard to enable the free transform tool and just drop the star fish down to a size you like. Now just place him somewhere on your line art and ta –da!

I choose to go back to the 3px brush and draw some lines as if the star fish is sliding and leaving goo behind but this is not necessary.

Now we can repeat this process with this stock image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/204974

Now we just continue isolating and placing fish/animal life all around and in our line art. I have compiled a list below of very nice stocks that you can use when doing this:

Step 3: Adding a bit of flare to the final piece

To start off we will go back again to Sxc and grab this stock of the shore.

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1152037

Once you have dropped this into your document we will need to apply a layer mask and then invert it so nothing Is visible. **to apply a layer mask click the icon that looks like a square with a circle in the middle on your layer palette**

Once you have done this just grab one of your splatter brushes and throw down a few splates. Now move the layer to the very bottom and you should have something that looks similar to the below screenshot. But do note that you can do this as many times as you like with various stocks so long as you like the outcome.

Now we can start adding in a few splash stocks. First off go ahead and grab this wonderfull water splash stock located at Sxc.

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1131843

Now just grab your elliptical marquee tool and select the top splash section as I have done in the below screenshot. Once you have this selected clear everything else.

Now, set your blending mode to screen and place it along the outside of your line art.

Next up is this stock image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/884261

We will repeat the above process of selecting only the part of the splash we want, erasing the rest, setting the blending mode to screen and placement.

Now we can just drop in a few more splashes and we are done with the splash section! Below is another list of splash stocks that would work great for this:

However keep in mind that when using splash stocks that have color you must desaturate them (CTRL SHIFT U).

Finally we will finish off with some bubbles. Bubbles are extremely easy to draw, but very hard to find nice stock of. So we will be drawing them. To do so set your brush up as mine in the below screenshot and then draw a few spheres with a light source and your done!

Now we are done! I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial and picked up a few things along the way. If you have any questions regarding a procedure I used in the final creation or a step your didn’t understand please don’t hesitate to ask!

Create a Shattering 3D Composition using Sketching Techniques

Joe Moore — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:07:51 +0000

Shattering and exploding effects have been a staple of design over the past few years. With the prominence of 3D programs, combined with an improved ease of use, designers around the world have sought to use 3D effects in their works. 3D renders naturally have a depth and various dynamics to them, and they provide an excellent base around which to design.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to setup and render a 3D figure, and then combine some simple sketching techniques to create a cool shattering effect. These techniques can be used in a variety of other ways in design, and you’ll get a glimpse into the 3D workflow and how you can use 3D objects in your designs.

Let’s get started!

Tools used:

3DS Max
Poser
Adobe Photoshop

Final Image Preview:

Step 1: Figure Creation

We will start off by opening Poser. Poser will have a template figure placed in your viewport. We need to delete that figure and place our own. To do so, with the figure selected select the drop down titled “Figure” and choose “Delete Figure”.

After you have deleted your template figure create a new one, to do this select “Figures” on the right side bar. You can choose any you want, for mine I chose the folder titled: “Poser 6” and the figure called “James”. Depending on your version of poser you may have to select a different figure, don’t worry you can use anyone you like for this.

Once you have placed your figure in your virtually done. I have moved my figures arms down as shown in the screen shot below, but this is not required.

Once you have your pose you’re done with poser, now we need to export it to 3ds so we can continue editing it. To do that we will click the “File” tab and go down to “Export” -> “3D Studio”. This will bring up a screen displaying each part of the body along with the ground and any other objects you have put into your scene.

Mine looks like the screen shown above. I have chosen a “single frame”, deselected the ground and checked yes when it asks to export object groups for different parts of the body. Now just save it and open up 3ds.

Step 2: 3DS work

In 3ds we will import our new figure almost exactly the same way we exported it. Select the tab titled “File” -> “Import” and just choose your figure. A dialog box will appear and you should select “Replace current scene”. This will drop our figure into a completely new scene so we can continue editing him or her. Once your figure is placed into the scene we can start off by deleting everything below his knees as in the below screenshot.

Now that we have placed our figure and removed some areas go ahead and press “M” on your keyboard to open the “Material Editor”. This will load a set of duplicate standard materials, so you can choose any of them you want to edit. I choose the first one and set it up as follows:

• Ambient and Diffuse where linked and increased slightly.
• Specular was set to a light grey.
• Specular level was set to 102.
• Glossiness was set to 31.
• Soften was set at 0.1.
Your material should look similar to the way mine does in the screenshot. Now you want to select your entire figure and apply the material. To do this your simply click the circle with a square icon in your material editor. But note, if you haven’t selected your figure it will remain grayed out. So be sure you have each object group highlighted when doing this.
Once you have applied your material we can go ahead and change our view. So use your rotate tool in the lower right to rotate your perspective viewport. Try and get your view port to match mine as closely as possible.

Now we need to blow our figure up some. 3DS has a “Space warp” tab right by the light tab on the right hand side; it looks similar to a wave in the ocean. Once you have clicked the “Space warp” tab choose the drop down and select “Geometric/Deformable”. This will bring up all of the deformer warps that 3DS offers, we will select bomb and place it by our figure.

I usually place about four bombs around my figure in the final scene, one for each body section, but you should play with just one bomb first.
Now that we have our bombs out we need to make them blow up the figure. To blow the figure up select the “Bind to space warp” icon, this should be up in the top left. The icon looks like a window, a wave and a red magnet.

Once you have selected this we need to click our bomb and drag to a part of the body. Since we exported the body into groups, where you drag the dashed line to will drastically change your figure.
I always start with the head and then make additional bombs for additional body parts such as the back/torso and arms. But on occasion I do use more than one bomb on a object, for instance in my scene the same bomb attached to the back also affects the head object. Just remember to play around with were you place them and how many you use

Now we need to click our bomb and choose the arc shaped tab on the right hand side entitled “Modify” this will allow us to change the settings for our bombs. I setup all of my bombs differently depending on the scene, and which body part it is, for the head I did:

The parameters that need explaining here are the “Falloff”, “Seed” and “Detonation”. The “Falloff” when enabled sets a radius for our explosion. The “Seed” parameter is a random seed for the way the fragments will travel and which sections of your objects will move. The “Detonation” Parameter is basically the timer for our bomb; it allows you to set which frame the bomb will detonate on. Experiment and add bombs or take them away until you’re satisfied. Now we will select the toolbar at the bottom that looks like a ruler and slide it forward. I kept mine on 7 as you can see in the above screenshot, but you can stop at 5 or take it to 100 if you like.

My scene now looks like the below screen shot, but yours will differ depending on your bombs.

Now that you have your exploding figure the way you like with the material you like, press F10 or chose the drop down titled “Render” and select “Render” you can see my settings in the screenshot above, I only changed the size and selected render. Your size will depend based on your system and what size canvas you will be using later in Photoshop. Once it’s finished select the save icon in the top left and save it as a .PNG or if you would rather a .TIFF. This will allow us to edit the rendered figure without the black backdrop, unlike a jpg which would have kept the backdrop.

Step 3: Post work

NOTE: Take note that the post work will be done with a tablet, if you feel you are able to use a mouse then do so. If you don’t think you can use your mouse and you are without a tablet you can use the pen tool or the shear filter but you will not be able to get the same sketchy effect.
Now on to the fun part! And in this case the quickest/easiest parts. So to start off you need to create a new document. I went with 2000*3000 but anything similar should work. Once your document is created we need to drag our figure in and then get a background. I will be using a slightly textured BG I made however you can get a nice texture off of Sxc (www.sxc.hu) or you can use pure black, the choice is yours! Once you have dropped your figure in, positioned him in the middle and added the BG your document should look similar to mine in the below screenshot.

Our next step is to duplicate the figure, do this by right clicking the layer and selecting duplicate layer. Once that is done we need to turn the fill down to 0% and leave the opacity at about 70%. Now we can add a stroke to the layer and only the stroke will be visible. So click the F on your layer platelet and choose stroke, when the dialog for your stroke appears set it up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Now just nudge your stroke layer a tad to the right (or left) so it looks like the below screenshot. Be sure that the stroked layer is under your figure! You don’t want to have any weird things atop your figure.

Once you have positioned your stroke layer we can start the brush work! So create a new layer above all your other layers and name this layer “Brush work”. Now we need to create a new brush so set your brush up as mine is in the below screenshots.

Now we can choose our colors, we will be using two colors, the pink (the same color as the stroke layer) and a light blue. So grab these two and start sketching out some lines around your figure as I have done in the below screenshot.

Just try to follow the shape of the figures body. It’s okay if it drifts out off of the figure or inside him, it’s going to look messy either way!
Continue drawing more lines around the arms/torso.

Continue doing the above process but now start adding in lines that look sketchy and that follow the path of where the explosion happened. Also, start doing small detail doodles, such as coloring around the eye sockets.

Start filling in your star polygons with color and tracing them.

Now you can start going down towards the torso and filling in the gaps where the polygons were tearing apart.

Continue doing all of the above and start shading in polygons, be sure to keep swapping back and forth between colors.

Now using the same brush draw a few ink drips coming off the polygons. Note that this is optional but it does add to the piece.

Now on a new layer continue doing the same as all of the above. However once you are done sketching and doodling apply a Gaussian blur with a 2px radius. Once the Gaussian blur has been applied we need to fade it; press CTRL SHIFT F and set the blending mode to screen. This should cause them to have a slight glow.

Now we can create a new layer under our figure, this layer can be entitled “Lines”. Using your polygon lasso tool create some hash marks and then fill them. Duplicate this layer and change the hue (CTRL U) to the opposite color (if the lines were pink, make them blue). Once you have done this merge the two layers together and duplicate them about behind the figure.

Now we can create one last layer, this one will be called “Shapes and sketches”. Using the same brush but with your color selected to white just draw some random lines coming out from behind our figure. These should be really rough lines, so don’t hold back!

Now to finish just add some random shapes, cubes, triangles, spheres, and write some random numbers; be sure to draw these as well!

Now we are done! I hope you enjoyed reading the tutorial, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!