Photoshop Creative No. 159

This issue, we’re very excited to bring you an in-depth feature on blend modes and the many ways we can use them to make our art look the best it can. You’ll notice some new touches, that may look like small additions, but hopefully give you a richer insight into how you can make Photoshop work to your advantage. This includes even more direct insight from our great range of experts, and a layer stack on selected artworks to show you exactly how some of the artworks in our feature are composed. This issue also comes with its usual variety of tutorials, such as how to create a fully fleshed out comic character (p28), how to turn a sardine can into a fully fitted – if a little snug –…

Grunge brushes Choose from 115 grunge brushes for the right gritty effect. New overlays Use any of the 30 new Flare and Haze overlays to enrich your artwork. Go polygonal A pack of ten trendy polygonal textures to choose from. On the FileSilo this issue… • 10 Polygonal textures • 30 Flare and Haze overlays • White Neon action • 115 Grunge brushes • 100 Watercolour textures and styles • 40 Brick actions • A total of 296 resources Register to get instant access to this pack of must-have creative resources, how-to videos and tutorial assets Log in to www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Free for digital readers too! Read on your tablet, download on your computer The home of great downloads – exclusive to your favourite magazines from Future Publishing Secure and safe…

There’s nothing more inspiring than surfing the internet and seeing what other artists are creating, and we encourage you to do so. Here are some of our favourite pictures that caught our attention recently, created by some of the world’s most exciting artists and designers. Johnny Cardoso  http://johnnycardoso.tumblr.com/ I made this illustration for an indie rock/electro party in my city, and the idea was to create a cosmonaut rider in space. I used the Photoshop 3D tool to make the motorcycle; I downloaded a sample bike, and set the position before sketching above it. Retoka  http://retoka.com/ This work is made from a photograph. We cut the roads out to leave a smooth background, and then we played with multiple colour adjustments, curves and selective correction. LorisAlessandria http://www.lorisalessandria.com/ I was lucky…

Nova Villanueva https://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/s899 Image of the issue The artwork was inspired by Argentina’s boating ports. I started on one layer drawing the boats, then added highlights and shadows on a Soft Light layer. An Overlay layer was created at the end to unify the image with fog. Leonardo Lima https://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/Landras I made this with the idea that many people are unaware of the true brightness of the moon. On the moon I put internal and external brightness and used the Pen Tool to create cables. I added several scratches on the floor of the scene, too. AnnWehner https://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/Anjel This image was created with a start image of a subject and a nebula. Blend modes were important in bringing this image together, and the finishing touches consisted of adding Curves, Vibrance…

We challenged you In Issue 157, we challenged you to get creative with these four images. You were allowed to use any or all of the pictures, and whatever other resources you chose. Here’s what you created. Challenge entries The best entries and overall challenge winner 1 Pamela Woerst Earth - And Everything In It Images were taken from Pixabay and Unsplash, such as the tree and mountains, and were used in addition to the four start images in order to create a panoramic planet-style composition. 2 Jim Ferran The Encounter The landscape and dinosaur that were provided were used in the final image. The witch was my own picture taken in France in July 2017 at a medieval fair. 3 Jonathan Schieffer Corrupted By The Mountain All images were…

TONE DOWN If a blend is nice but too overpowering, you can try reducing it. For a uniform reduction, lower the layer’s opacity. For a more selective approach, use a layer mask. GROUP BLENDS In Photoshop/CC, you can apply blend modes to groups. This is a timesaver if you have a series of layers that all need to be set to the same mode. RANDOM FUN Hit a creative wall with a layer? Spin the blend mode lottery wheel to try and hit unexpected glory! Press Shift-Plus and Shift-Minus to cycle through the blend modes. ADJUSTMENT BLENDS Did you know you can set adjustment/fill layers to various blend modes? Set Levels to Luminosity to prevent colour change. Try Overlay and Soft Light on gradient fill layers. What would Photoshop projects…