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Technique 63

02 Add a radial gradient belowthe merged circles layer and play withthe opacity o the circles. To experiment

with the colours o the piece, I addanother layer on top, ll it with yellow,and select the Exclusion blending moderom the Layers panel menu. Thisinverts the colours o the layersbeneath, and brings a whole new tone tothe artwork.

01 When I wasworking in a company inLondon last year, I alwayshad Photoshop open orthose moments when Iwas waiting or eedbackor more work. I would playaround with dierentPhotoshop elements andeects the circle was acommon element, as itssimple to create andduplicate, and easy tomake interesting shapesrom. First, I simplycreate a circle and ll itwith a gradient colour.Create more circles, thenmerge the layers totransorm the circles intoa single layer.

03 To add more depth to thecomposition, I create some moremerged circles on a new layer beneath

the top layer and go toFilter>Distort>Polar Coordinates,checking the setting Polar toRectangular. This will give the circles anew look, and ensure the piece so arcan be used as a larger backgroundelement without massive quality loss.

Photoshop CS3 or later

All-newabstractillustrationtechniques

Per Gustafson

demonstrates how tomake an abstractmasterpiece romsimple circles

In this tutorial I will show the Polar coordinates filter

techniques I discovered when creating my new series,

Renaissance.As always, in this tutorial I use standard eects inPhotoshop not additional plug-ins ocussing more on howtouse them rather than what they do. Its not tools that make thepiece great, but what you do with those tools; its more aboutpushing boundaries and trying out new perspectives on techniques.

Per Gustafson

This Swedishgraphic designer andartist uses his siteModern Style (www.modernstyle.se) as aplatorm to publishand develop his art,which is a mix otraditional paint anddigital techniques.See more o his workat www.pergustason.com

Time needed

1 hour

SkillsWorking withcolour schemesWorkingwith ltersUsing the PolarCoordinates lter

05 When we added the Exclusioneect to the top layer in Step 2, it alsoaected all layers beneath. UsingImage>Adjustments>Hue/Saturationwill change the colours o these layersslightly, and make the piece moreinteresting. I like to experiment with thecolour adjustments as I go.

04 Use the Free Transorm toolto adjust the elements so theyre just asyou want them. It shouldnt be tooobvious what eects have been used.

www.computerarts.co.uk Computer Arts May 2010

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64

12 Now turn all the layers on, and begin adjusting thecolour o the background. Its always good to never fatten theimage (unless your machine is grinding) and to save elementson separate layers, or at least make back-ups o layers i youwant to start merging them. This way you can experiment withcolour schemes throughout the whole session, bringing morelie to your composition without taking too many risks.

10 To make this layer even moreinteresting, I use the Ripple lter(Filter>Distort>Ripple) then cut andpaste parts o the shape to create atotally new orm.

11 In this piece, Ihave used circles in alower opacity to get thedierent shadow eectswhen I duplicate thelayers and transormthem over each other.They can be made much

more solid i you like, butI like the slightly palecontrast in thecomposition. I transormthe nal object rom Step10, to build a largerobject. This is going towork as the centralelement o mycomposition, and sit ontop o the background wecreated earlier.

08 An alternative way o transorming an object is toblend it with another image using the Displace eect(Filter>Distort>Displace). This is a new avourite o minebecause you can either control it careully, or have un creatingrandom patterns.

07 Now I hide the background layer and show the other earlier circle layer,created in Step 3. Were going to use this in ront, and transorm it with the Wave eect

(Filter>Distort>Wave). It takes some practise to learn how to control this eect , so Irecommend duplicating the layer and saving a back-up o the original element.

09 Choose the Photoshop imageyou want to use or the pattern. In thisartwork, I have used an early version othis piece to add a twist. This lter takessome practise to use to good eect , sotake your time and, i it doesnt turn outthe way you hope, use history to go backto the original.

06 I continue to apply eects such as the PolarCoordinates lter, to the background layer. I also work with theTransorm tool (Edit>Transorm), playing with the Perspective,Warp and Distort options. Be careul not to overwork it, to keepthe layers sharpness. This can be tricky as Photoshop is pixel

based, but I preer experimenting in this program as I ee l thereare more dierent ways to work than in Illustrator.

Computer ArtsMay 2010 www.computerarts.co.uk

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www.computerarts.co.uk Computer Arts May 2010

Technique 65New abstract techniques

13 I continue with the colour adjustmentson the various elements. To make it come together, Iadd another layer with the Color mode rom theLayers panel drop-down and a low opacity. I ll itwith a colour picked rom the background.

15 I drag a line onto a new empty layer andadd Shear (Filter>Distort>Shear) to it to get someshape. Ater that I add Motion Blur again. I do thisater adding the Shear lter, rather than beore, toget the variation in the shape o the line.

17 I merge all the light layers,then invert the result to be able to see itin the Preview area o the lters. I playwith the Wave eect a little, then whenIm satised I invert it back. I duplicatethese layers, then rotate them to suchpositions that they increase the lighteect in the piece.

14 To add some light, I once again create acircle but paint in it with a regular brush instead olling it solid. In a new layer, I start to paint with avery smooth brush in a low opacity to make a gloweect. I add some motion blur (Filter>Blur>MotionBlur) and tweak the perspective a bit.

16 I duplicate the line, merge the layers,duplicate again, move the duplicates alongsideeach other to create a pattern, then merge thelayers. Finally I transorm it into the position yousee above.

18 When the lighting threads are in position, I duplicatethe layer and change the colour balance to make it a bit morealive. For the nal touch I add another colour-lled layer on topo the whole composition. I play around with the layer blendingmodes but nally go or Hue at 38% opacity.

Per GustafsonFive favourite worksfrom the designersback catalogue

VisualCVInpictures:agu

ideto

thecareerandworkof

our Techniquewriters

Renaissance

series

November 2009

One o my

Photoshop

creations in the

Renaissance

series, this was

made or my

personal gallery

(www.modern

style.se). Its also available as a wallpaper

and iPhone background on request.

Shield February

2010

This is based on

paintings composed in

Photoshop. Its made

via one o my many

new work processes.

The original le is a

painting by me, but this

is the nal artwork.

Neo Cartoon Lover

cover art

August 2009

This is a record

sleeve I made or the

Swedish group Neo

Cartoon Lovers new

record. It was created in Photoshop.

Clouds January 2010

This is one o my latest pieces, made

or an upcoming release on the Modern

Style website. It was created in

Photoshop, with help rom acrylic

and watercolour paints.

Untitled

February 2010

Another piece

rom the new

series or Modern

Style, created with the use o acrylic

and watercolours.

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