In this tutorial we are going to cover the parsecs of merges painting and photography to create phantasmagoric images that capture the imagination. In this tutorial we will work extensively with layer palette to create our image. Don’t be intimidated by the layer palette - basically, just drag- and -drop your photographs onto your canvas. We’ll also work extensively with the lasso and mark tools.
This tutorial was first created in Photoshop CS3
In this tutorial we’re going to use just seven images to create this photomontage, I find the best thing to do is always take your camera out with you, you never know if the photo will come in handy. In Lightroom or Brige make a collection folder of all the diffrent photographs you have taking.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 Is A Powerhouse Tool For Artistic Freedom
Whether you are just beginning or are a seasoned professional, it is my goal to help you expand your Photoshop horizons and provide you with new creative avenues by showing
you fresh applications of basic Photoshop tools. In this tutorial, we will discover how to create a stunning montage of photographs, textures and text by utilizing only layers and without using any filters.
More often than not, the crispness and sharp lines of digital art can leave it looking flat and mechanized. To overcome this, we are going to add a “fine-art feel” to our photomontage
creation. To help create that fine-art look, we will be going back to basics, so dust-off your paint brushes and get out your paints!
A Pre-project Tip: Always keep your ideas in a sketchbook and have a good stock photo library. I find that looking through the images I have in my photo library sometimes kicks-off a good idea or two. It’s also helpful to sketch-out your ideas first and then go out to shoot the photos that you will need for your project.
In this tutorial we will work extensively with the layer palette to create our image. Don’t be intimidated by the layer palette—basically, just drag-and-drop your photographs onto your canvas. We’ll also work extensively with the lasso and mask tools.
Think Off the Wall
Stewart Michael Bruce merges painting and photography to create
phantasmagoric images that capture the imagination. In this tutorial we will work extensively with layer palette to create our image. Don’t be intimidated by the layer palette - basically, just drag- and -drop your photographs onto your canvas. We’ll also work extensively with the lasso and mark tools.
This tutorial was first created in Photoshop CS3
01 Creating a new canvas
To being with,open up Adobe Photoshop, go to File and select New Document. Set the image size of new document to Width 7.47 x Height 11.023 inches, the Resolution to 300 doi, the colour mode to RGB and set at 16 bits. Name the canvas(Think off the Wall) and then click OK.
02 Blank Slate
You should have a transparent canvas on which you can now start working. Name this first layer (Think off the Wall).
03 Creating background
I like to create my own background for these type of projects by painting or drawing the feel that I am looking for on watercolor paper. From there, I scan the washes that I have made and file it under a separate folder. I feel that by using these watercolor washes, I add something new to the pot, something special to my images and give them an overall fine art look to the illustration.
04 Transform your background
Open up the folder (Think off the Wall) from your CD and drag the folder onto the desktop . Next, go to File>Open>image and double click on Background 1. Drag - and - drop this image onto your new canvas then go to Edit >Transform>Scale and scale the image to fit the Canvas.
05 Name that Layer
After you have resized the image to fit the canvas,
set the layer to Normal and the Opacity to 100%. Save this layer as Background One.
06 Abstract Backgrounds
Next open up the folder (Think off the Wall) and open the image Background Two. As you can see, I have created a very abstract collage using paint,paper, and wax crayon. Have fun playing around and creating your own backgrounds.
While the filter in Photoshop are good, it’s also nice to get paint on your hands and the satisfaction that you have created something without going to the program’s filters.
07 Looking a bit muddy
As in Step 5, drag-and-drop this background on to your canvas and resize it. In the layer palette, set the Layer to “Overlay” and the Opacity to 100%. (This will momentarily render the image very muddy, but just stick with me and it will soon all become clear…)
08 Chance meeting of Photography and art.
This photograph was taken one day when I was on one of my walks. I came a cross this old car that had been crushed, burned, and left in a field with the word “THINK !” written across it by the police. It certainly did make me think—thus, this tutorial. If you can, take your camera out with you whenever possible: you never know what you will come across or how it might inspire you!
09 Think before you work
Go to the sub-folder “Image” and open up the document called “Think.” Add this photograph to the canvas. Set the Layer to “Lighten” and the Opacity to 100%. Use the Photoshop “Transform” feature to adjust the layer to fit the main subject. Name this layer “Think.” Make sure that you adjust the layer to fit, as in the picture below.
10 Pulling into the station
This photograph was taken at the Bank Street Underground Station in London, England. Go to your “Images” folder and open up the file named “London Underground.”
11 Going Underground
As in Steps 5, 7, and 9, drag-and-drop “London Underground” onto the canvas and resize it to fit. Naming the new layer “Underground Station.”
12 Add a mask
To isolate just the piece of the image that we want to feature, erase the extra information using
the mask tool. Next, go to the mask tool and add a new mask to this layer. With the brush tool remove all of the sky from the original image. You should be left with just the building.
13 Brushing away the sky
Now that you have taken out all of the sky, you should end up with the layer looking like this (below). I like using the mask and the brush tools. I get more flexibility in using this method: if, at a later stage in my creation, I feel that I need to put back or take out any part of the images I am using, I easily can with this method. Of course, if you feel more comfortable using the lasso tool, please feel free to do so.
14 Switching on the layers
Set the layer palette to “Hard Light” and the Opacity to 100%. With all the layers switched on, you can see the final image slowly start to emerge. It still looks a bit of a mess, but all will come clear in the next couple of steps.
15 Stopping traffic
Next go to the file Police Bike from our folder “Think Off The Wall.” Open the photograph in Photoshop.
16 Overlay
Add the image Police Bike to the photomontage.
The idea is to make the police motorcycle appear as if it is driving across the word “THINK.” You’ll have to play a little with the size of the image to get it to fit just right. Set the Layer to “Overlay” and the opacity at 100%. As you can see the photomontage is slowly starting to evolve.
17 Masking out
To build the image’s depth, continually add layers. Highlight layer “Background 2”, select “File—Layer—Duplicate Layer.” Add this duplicated layer on top of the layer “Police Bike,” set the layer to Lighten, and add a mask. With the brush tool, take out most of the information from the left-hand side. Keep switching the layer off and on to judge how much you have to take away from the background in order to reveal the building underneath.
18 Upping the depth and color
As you can see, removing some of the background
from “Background copy 2” brings back some of the information that was lost from the rest of the image. Play around with the image as much as you like to get the quality that you are looking for.
19 Losing the mud
To further enhance the image’s depth and color, duplicate the layer “Police Bike” and set it on top of the layer “Background copy 2 with mask.” Set the layer’s Overlay at 100% opacity. This step visually strengthens the details in the image that before were muddied and lost.
20 Think is the word
As a sculpture chisels at a block of marble to reveal the figure hidden within, so are you doing to the different layers that will ultimately come together to create the piece you envision. Duplicate
the layer “Think” and drop it on top of the layer “Police Bike Overlay.” Add a layer mask.
21 Cutting back the word
Slowly take out all of the background until you are left only with the word “THINK!” Cut in as close to the word as you can (as in the example below)
and set the layer to Overlay and opacity at 100%. You can use the brush tool or if you prefer, the lasso tool works as well.
22 Saturate the image with more color
Switch on all of the layers to see the effectiveness
of adding the layer “Think.” As you can see, the word “Think” now shows thought a lot clearer, thus adding more depth to the photomontage.
23 Masking out the background
Go to the layer “Background 1,” duplicate this layer, and rename this copied layer “Background 1 with mask.” Add a layer mask to this new layer and take out the background around the figures in the top left-hand corner. Change the layer to Soft Light at 100% opacity.
24 Refocusing on the image
These next steps change the color settings and refocus the overall image organically and without
having to artificially generate this effect with filters. (Personally, I think that it’s more challenging
working this way, being more creative in my creativity.)
25 Photography over paints
Whenever possible, I use my own photographs as background color instead of going to the paint bucket in Photoshop. Just taking samples from different areas within a photograph would work for just about any given image. Rather than manufacturing the “sky” by using the fill-in tool, I prefer to use photographs as my palette. I feel that doing so helps maintain a realistic, organic image.
26 Blue Sky
Back to our image. Next, add “Blue Sky background”
from the folder to the working canvas. Add this layer on top of the layer “Background 1 with mask.” Go to File > Transform > Scale, and fill the canvas with the “blue sky” that you have just opened up. Name this layer “Blue Sky” and set the layer to Soft Light at 100% opacity.
27 Underground - Aboveground
To neutralize and soften the distracting colors from the top of the image, you need to bring forward some of the colors from the under layers. Click on the layer “London Underground.” Duplicate this layer and move the duplicated layer on top of the “Blue Sky” layer. Name the new layer “Underground Station Copy 2.” Remember to delete the mask layer from this section before continuing to work on this layer. Set the layer to Color and the opacity to 100%.
28 The perfect body
The next step is to add the photograph “Body Basics” to our photomontage. (Fun fact: this photo was taken just across the road from Liverpool Street Station London England.)
29 The Perfect Body
In order to work on only the “Body Basics” image, click on all of the layers in the palette and set them to off. Place the image at the bottom of the layer and resize it to fit the canvas. Set your layer to Overlay and Opacity at 100%. Name this layer “Body Basics.”
30 Looking good now
We have now placed the “Body Basics” photograph
at the bottom of the canvas. At the moment,
it’s looking rather muddy—you can hardly distinguish the “Body Basics” image that was just placed into your photomontage. Somehow, you have to get around this problem and bring “Body Basics” back, so…
31 Welcome back Body Basics
Duplicate “Body Basics”—this layer will now be named “Body Basics with mask.” Add the mask and with your paintbrush tool, slowly remove the elements above the ledge of the Body Basics and The Arcade storefronts, as shown in the image below. Set the Layer to Hard Light at 100% opacity.
32 Looking for the body
Switch back on all of the layers. As you can see, your image now looks very close to the finished image. Just one final step left, we’re almost home!
33 Blue Sky All the way
Adding a very light “wash” in a single, complimentary
color will help pull the image together. To do this, duplicate the layer “Blue Sky.” Name this new layer “Blue Sky copy 2.” Set this new layer to Soft Light at 100% opacity. Adding the layer “Blue Sky copy 2” (the duplicate of the layer “Blue Sky”) lightens and refocuses the entire image,
clearing away all the muddiness.
34 Finish
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial as much as I did designing it. To find out more about my Photomontages, check out: http://www.stewartbruce.com
