Resources used:
Stocks: Young Disk Jockey | Traffic | Warehouse by Thomas Boulvin
Brushes: Cosmic Light Brushes
Textures: 47 High Res Light Streaks by Barton Damer | (Alternate Link)
Displacement Map Files

Final Image Preview

Step 1

You should have Photoshop open by now, it’s time to open up your stock image in Photoshop and then use the pen tool or eraser brush to remove the background from your stock image. If you don’t know how to remove the background, please do follow Media Militia’s Tutorial on it – An In Depth Look Into Background Extraction Techniques. Once you have removed the background you should have something like this below. Remember to fill your bottom layer with black #000000

Step 2

Now that we have a extracted stock image in our canvas, it’s time to start putting together the background. Firstly open up the Traffic image that you downloaded from the resources above. Now insert it into your canvas and place it beneath your extracted stock image. Position it where you want it and then go to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate now drop the opacity down to 60% and erase the parts that you don’t want or like. Now insert the Warehouse by Thomas Boulvin image into your canvas and position it at the top of your canvas, go to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate and drop the opacity down to 75% erase the parts that you don’t want. You should have something like this.

Step 3

Now we have to give our background some color, so create a new layer by going to Layer>New>Layer and then grab your brush tool and with a 960px soft brush make three different spots, two of the spots will be pink #ec008c and the top right spot will be blue #00aeef when you are satisfied with your color placement, change the Blending mode of the layer to Color. Check below:

Normal Blending Mode

Color Blending Mode

Step 4

Now we are going to create skew lines to use as some color attraction points. Grab your Pen tool and draw a straight line across the canvas. Make sure at the top toolbar that paths are selected and not shape layers. Now grab your brush tool and set the size down to 15px hard brush. Now go back to your pen tool and right-click on the canvas and select Stroke Path. Make sure brush is selected in the drop down menu and Simulate Pressure is unchecked and hit OK. Now duplicate this layer a few times by hitting Ctrl + J or right clicking on the layer and selecting Duplicate layer. Make sure that you move each newly duplicated layer up a bit so that they are a few pixels apart from each other.
When you are satisfied with the amount and the spacing select all the line layers and hit Ctrl + E or right click Merge. This will merge all the layers into a single layer, which will make it easier for editing and moving around. Now right-click on the layer and go into blending options. Choose Color Overlay and pick Blue #00bdff. Now hit Ok and Ok again. Now with your lines layer selected, Hit CTRL+T or go to Edit>Free Transform and then tilt the lines in a 20 degree angle and then hit Enter. I Then duplicated the Extracted Stock Image layer and moved it above the lines layer and then erased a bit of the lines layer. This is what it looks like below.

Now duplicate the lines layer and change the Blue Color to Pink #ff0097 and then go to Edit>Free Transform and then right-click within the bounding boxes and hit Flip Horizontal. Now position the lines as needed and maybe change the angle a bit too. Erase the parts that you don’t like. You should have this below.

Step 5

Select the duplicated extracted stock image(the one on top) and then duplicate it again now with the newly duplicated layer selected go to Filter>Distort>Displace now set the Horizontal and Vertical Scale to 100 and hit OK now select one of the Displacement Map Templates that you downloaded at the top. After the effect has been applied, erase the parts of the image that you don’t like. Repeat the process again just with another newly duplicated layer. Make use of a different displacement map though. I have this below.

Step 6

Let’s start adding some color to our piece. Create a new layer and fill it with Black #000000. Now set the blending mode of this layer to Linear Dodge and then select your brush tool with a fairly large size and start adding the different colors that you like, I used blue #00aeef | pink #ec008c | purple #43257e, but you can use any colors you want. This is what the canvas looks like without the blending mode set to Linear Dodge.

With the Blending Mode set to Linear Dodge

Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness/Contrast – Now set the Brightness to -14 and the Contrast to +80 and hit Ok. Go back to the New Adjustment Layer>Levels – the levels values from left to right are 0 | 0.84 | 255 and hit OK. Now you should have something like this.

Step 7

Now let’s create a new layer and then grab our brush tool again. Select a moderate sized soft brush and start playing around with some colors, I used the same straight forward colors for this piece Blue #00aeef and Pink #ec008c and now I brushed wherever I thought color would be needed. Once I was done I changed my Blending Mode to Color.

Normal Blending Mode

Color Blending Mode

Step 8

Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation – drop the saturation to -5 and hit OK. Now go to New Adjustment Layer>Brightness/Contrast – Brightness +18 and Contrast +11 hit OK. Now create a new layer and grab your brush tool. Now I used Yellow #fff053 and brushed in the middle of the piece on the dj’s shirt and then a bit of pink #ec008c on the right shoulder. I then changed the blending mode of the layer to Color to portrait the colors in the correct way.

Step 9

Now we will be adding a light streak to the image to add some motion to it. You should have downloaded the Light Streaks Pack by Barton Damer I used the IMG_0920 image from the pack and inserted it into the canvas. I then went to Edit>Free Transform and then clicked within the binding boxes and flipped it vertically and hit enter. I then desaturated the image by going to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate I then positioned it above the dj’s head and set the blending mode to Linear Dodge. I also erased the middle part of the image. This is what I have below.

Now I created a new layer above the light streaks layer and then right-clicked on it and selected Create Clipping Mask, I then selected my brush tool and brushed blue and pink over the light streaks and then set the blending mode to Color when I was done.

Normal Blending Mode

Color Blending Mode

Step 10

Now we are going to start with the finer details and some pen tooling. Firstly create a new layer and make sure your foreground color is set to white #FFFFFF. Select your brush tool and set the size to 12px and the hardness to 100%. Now select your pen tool. Create a curve on the vinyl’s with the pen tool. Something like this below. (I’m not going to explain how to use the pen tool in this tutorial as it is a intermediate tutorial.)

Now that you have created the curve and your brush tool is set right-click and select Stroke Path and make sure Simulate Pressure is checked hit OK. Now duplicate that layer on the vinyl and place it where you please. Once you are happy with it select the duplicated layers and merge them down and then set the layer Blending Mode to Overlay. Now duplicate the merged layer and flip it horizontally and place it on the other vinyl’s too.
Use the Pen Tool to create different forms and lines and shapes to compliment your composition. You can see the different lines and shapes I came up with below.

Step 11

Now you are going to be using the Cosmic Light Brushes you downloaded earlier. Open the brushes in Photoshop and create a new layer now with white as your foreground make use of the brushes to add effects to your image. The brushes give a nice misty feel so make use of that. Now download some star brushes and then add them into your piece as well, just to give a nice sparkly feeling. This is what I have below.

Step 12

Create a new layer and use a soft brush to brush over the dj’s face with some yellow/pink/blue colors. To blend it well into the background of the composition. Now set the blending mode of the layer to Color. Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation – Set the Saturation to -30 and hit OK. Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness/Constrast – Brightness 0 and Contrast +18. Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter and then choose Orange from the drop down menu and set the blending mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 53% I have this below.

Step 13

Create a new layer and with the new layer selected go to Image>Apply Image then go to Filter>Other>High Pass and use a radius of 10px now set the blending mode to Overlay and erase the parts you don’t like. Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map and use a Blue to Pink Gradient and set the blending mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 19%
Now go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Color Balance – set the Cyan to -26 | Magenta -31 and Yellow -28
Last but not least go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter and use a Violet color with a 55% density and press OK and set the opacity to 40% you are officially done. This is the final outcome below.

About

Artist: Heinritzh Sales

Time: 1-2 Hours

Software Required: Photoshop

Resources Used

Base Photo
Courtesy of Ms.Camille Cordero
(Must be used for non-commercial purposes only)
Additional Credits:
Model: Yas Neri
Make-up and Styling: Jaime Bautista-Garcia, Pearl Romano, Rem Lucio
Hair: Jay Wee

Paint Tossing Pack by Media Militia

*I will be using PC here, so just change all Ctrl to Command and Alt to Option if your using a mac.

Final Preview

Part 1

Open the “base-image_by-camille-cordero.jpg” image and name this layer “Base Image”.

Part 2: Body Painting

Create a new layer (Shift Ctrl+N) and name it “Body Paint”.  Set the Layer Blend Mode to “Multiply”

We are going to start off by using a brush to paint the face and the left arm of the base image.

First select the brush tool and choose a soft rounded brush. Make the size according to your preference.

After that change the foreground color to #fff200.

Now we are ready to paint. Start off with the face and the neck first. In this step feel free to zoom in and zoom out and change the brush size according to your needs.

Note: Keyboard shortcuts are very handy in this step. The keyboard shortcut for zooming in is Ctrl+ and zooming out is Ctrl -.  To change the brush size, you can use right bracket sign “]” to increase your brush size and left bracket sign “[“ to make it smaller.

Now we are going to do the left arm but first change the foreground color to “#ec008c”

Choose the Pen tool and trace around her arm.

After you are done tracing, press Ctrl+Enter, this will make a selection. The blinking dashed-lines (marching ants)
will appear.

From the menu bar, choose Select>Modify>Feather and choose 0.5, then click OK. (if your using CS3 click Ctrl+Alt+D to show feather option.)

Now choose the paint bucket tool (G) and click on the selected area then press Ctrl+D to deselect.

Part 3: Adding the Paint Toss

Now lets get wet and toss her the paints! (Please remember this part since we will use this technique in the succeeding part).

Open number nine paint toss from the media militia paint tossing pack. Drag this to you working document. Use the magic wand to select the black in this image. Press delete to remove the background.

Press CTRL+D to deselect the selection. Name this layer “face toss” and position the orientation of the paint (ctrl+T) like shown below:

Now we will blend this paint to the color of her face.
a. first select the eyedropper tool (I).
b. then click the area of the face shown below:

Create a new layer (shift+ctrl+N) and name it “face toss color”, check the “use previous layer to create clipping mask” and change the blending mode to “color”.

Now while your still in the “face toss color” layer, use the paint bucket tool (g) and click it into the artboard to recolor the paint toss so we can match it on the color of the face.

Now, we will erase some parts to complete the blending of the paint to its face.

Go to the “face toss” layer, then click the “add vector mask icon”, then change your foreground color to “black”.

Then using a soft brush tool, (while the vector mask is selected) paint over the area you want to erase, to achieve similar result like the one below:

Now, with the same process, do this on the left arm using the file “paint toss no.16“

Now use the “paint toss no.7“ for the clothes. we need to adjust the brightness of the paint for about -92 to blend in with the clothes (Image>adjustment>Brightness/Contrast).

Lets add some flat black paint toss in the part of the hair. I used “paint toss no.9“

Then go to Layer>Layer Style>Color Overlay then choose the color “Black”.

Erase some parts, using vector mask or simply use the Eraser tool. I just preferred erasing parts using vector mask so I can revert in back at anytime.

So here is the result so far:

Part 4: Adding Shape Cut-Outs

Now let’s add some shape cut-outs. To do this we must first select all the layers, duplicate them, then merge them into one.

Go to Custom Shape tool and select the outlined triangle shown below:

Then while holding shift, create a triangle, you can move your triangle
by using “path selection tool (A). Feel free to position your triangle wherever you want.

Then press Ctrl+Enter , then press Ctrl+j to duplicate, then move it to the right, then press Ctrl+D to deselect.

Do another triangle from the merged layer using the same steps and overlap it to the first triangle.

Then lets interlocked the two triangles, first while holding ctrl key, click the left triangle, a marching ant should appear. then go to Select>modify>expand then set it to 15px. then you should have a result similar below:

After that, select the right triangle layer, using the eraser tool, erase the part shown below:

Using the same technique, do this again, but you will start on the right triangle, then vice versa.

So here is what we have so far:

To finish things up, I just add some additional shapes using the same technique:

Download the PSD

Yeah! Its finished! Go get your self a reward! (well if you want to add more its up to you). Hope you enjoy this tutorial, if there’s any question or any part which is not clear , just leave a message in the comments section and I will try to answer it.

Thanks for reading, cheers!

About

Artist: An1ken.com
Time: 1 Hour
Software Required: Photoshop

Resources Used

• Stock: Female Stock 117
• Textures: 47 High Res Light Streaks by Barton Damer (Alternate Link) | Concrete Texture
• Brushes: Square-circle Brush

Final Preview

Step 1

Open up Photoshop and create a 3500x4000px canvas and fill the background layer with Black #000000.
Now open up the Concrete_Texture that you downloaded above and insert it into your canvas. You might need to transform it a bit to make it fit properly.

Create a layer mask for your concrete texture by going to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. You will notice that there is a white box that appears next to the concrete layer on the layer panel. Grab a moderate sized soft brush with black and brush over some of the areas on the texture to darken them. I also added in a splatter brush as well. I then went to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map and added the default Black to White gradient. I then created a clipping mask of the Gradient Map on the Texture by right-clicking the gradient map layer and selecting Create Clipping Mask. This is what I have so far.

Step 2

In this step I took my stock model and extracted the background from behind the stock model and placed her into the canvas. You should be able to extract things from background by now, but if you are unaware of how to do this follow Media Militia’s – In Depth Look into Background Extraction Techniques. You won’t go wrong with those techniques. After extracting the model from her background and placing her into my canvas. I created a layer below the model layer and set the blending mode to Overlay and the Opacity to 36%. I then used a soft white brush and lighted up the background in different places behind her a bit. This is what I have so far.

Step 3

Now create a new layer just above the brushed layer and make use of your soft brush again. Set the Opacity of the new layer to 44% and use a faded blue #2b4554 and brush behind the model.

Create another new layer and set the Blending Mode to Overlay and the Opacity to 55% now brush behind the models head with a soft white brush. Now create another new layer and set the Blending Mode to Soft Light and use a soft yellow and blue brush to brush behind the model on the right and left side. You can use any colors you want in these steps.

This is what I have so far.

Step 4

Here comes the fun part. Create a new layer and select a medium sized brush. I used a dark orange #b25a02 for my first liquefied brush layer, I brushed at the bottom right just behind the model and then with the brushed layer still selected went to Filter>Liquify (Shortcut: SHIFT+CTRL+X) then within the Liquify menu I pressed (C) or clicked the Swirl Tab on the left hand side. I then proceeded to brush and swirl my brush within the liquify menu until I was happy with the result. I kept changing my brush size on the right hand side a bit too.

This is what I have below.

Step 5

Now I duplicated the liquified brush layer by right-clicking on the layer and selecting Duplicate or pressing Ctrl+J. I then set the duplicated layer’s Blending Mode to Screen. Now I held down Ctrl and clicked on the little window in the layers palette next to the liquified brush duplicate. This selects the liquified brush shape.

I now created a new layer and then went to Select>Modify>Contract and I set it to 10px and hit OK. Then I filled the newly contracted/selected shape with White #FFF in the new layer and then set it to Overlay and 44% opacity. Lastly I created another new layer and set the blending mode to Overlay and used a smaller white brush to brush on the liquified shape to act as a stronger light source. This is what I have.
Without brush source:

With brush source:

Step 6

In this step I continued to repeat Step 5 four times each time adding in a different color. Firstly I added a nice bright pink #f806a8 and then I added a nice bright blue #0b70d0. I then continued to add another Orange #f19803 and Green #c2bd18 liquifed shapes too. I repeated the above four times exactly and played around with the liquify each time. Your shape will never come out exactly the same with the liquify tool, this makes it unique in a few ways. This is what I have below.

Step 7

Now I downloaded 47 High Res Light Streaks by Barton Damer and used IMG_0928 and placed it into the canvas behind the model. I then set the Blending Mode to Linear Dodge and positioned the layer to where I was happy with it.

I now continued and used IMG_0924 and added it into the canvas. I set the Blending Mode to Linear Dodge and then went to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. I adjusted the Hue levels till I was happy with the blending Yellow. I then used my Dodge Brush to light up a bit of the yellow and blue streaks as they come out from behind the model.

Step 8

Now it’s time to starting working on some lighting and effects on top of the model. Let’s start out with her face. I created a new layer above the model layer and set the Blending Mode to Soft Light, I then used a small soft pink #ff00f0 brush to highlight her cheeks. I then created another new layer and did the exact same thing to her lips. I just used a stronger Pink and dropped the Opacity to 63%

I then continued to create another new layer that’s Blending Mode was set to Soft Light / Opacity 41% and used a soft blue #03adec and brushed inside her eyes. I then deleted the blue color over the black pupils in her eyes. I then created another new layer and set it to Overlay / Opacity 58% and used a soft white brush to highlight her blue eyes so they really stick out. This is what I have below.

Step 9

In this step I used a square brush that I created and brushed vertically and horizontally on both forearms to create a nice block effect. See below

Now I set the Blending mode of the two layers to Overlay and Duplicated both of them twice. See Below.

Step 10

Create a new layer and fill it with Black #000000 and set the Blending Mode to Linear Dodge. Now I grabbed a soft brush and alternated colors according to the colors on my canvas and highlighted spots on my model and shapes. See the Canvas below without the Blending Mode activated.

Step 11

In this step I repeated the step 5 brush Liquify effect. I used a red #f41c07 color and used it on top of the model I played around with this effect to get to my desired shape and until I was happy with it. I then proceeded to create a new layer and fill it with black and repeat Step 10 with some colors and dots. I just used a bigger soft brush in this step than in the previous, I also set my Layer to Color Dodge instead of Linear Dodge.

Step 12

Time to add some more brushing to the canvas. Make use of the Circle Brush that you downloaded and create a new layer and use White to brush onto the canvas and on the arms of the model. I then set the Blending Mode to Overlay and duplicated it once (Ctrl+J). This is what we have below.

Step 13

Create a new layer and set the Blending Mode to Overlay. Now using a Soft Blue Brush, brush over the blue lighting streak on the right and the top of her head. It will make the model blend into the canvas better and the lighting pops.

Now create another new layer and fill it with black. Make use of the Circle brush you downloaded earlier, just drop the size quite a bit. You can use whichever colors you want, but I stuck to the colors of the piece. I set the Blending mode of the layer to Linear Dodge. This was the last step to finish it off.

Types of Alternates

Ligatures – This is where two or more characters are linked together. If you look at the example below the T and H characters are linked together. The font used in this example is Aphrodite Slim Pro.

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Logotypes – This is where a word is stylized as a logo to be included in your type. You will usually find these in the Show Entire Glyphs and not as an alternate.

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Biform characters – These alternate characters can make capital letters have a lowercase look or lowercase letters with capital letter look while keeping the same size and weight. The font used in this example is Press Gothic Pro.

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Swash characters – This is where a certain letter can have a fancy look to them. You will see swash characters in lot’s of calligraphic fonts. They are very useful at the beggining and end of a word. The font used in this example is Burgues Script.

How To Access Alternates

To gain a better understanding of how you can benefit from using alternate characters, we should first look at how you can access them. Both Adobe Illustrator and InDesign have a great way to access these alternate characters. Unfortunately, Adobe Photoshop does not have a way to access them via a Glyphs panel. In this tutorial we are going to use Illustrator.

Step 1

The font I am going to be using is Aphrodite Slim Pro. It is an amazing handmade font full of alternate and ligature forms designed by Sabrina Lopez and Maximiliano Sproviero. You have to purchase it, but it is well worth your money. You can buy it from myfonts.com here. Make sure you buy the Pro version as it includes all the different alternate characters.

Step 2

Using the Type Tool, type out Media on one layer and change the font to Aphrodite Slim Pro. I set the font size to 72 pt.

Step 3

Using the Type Tool create another type layer and type in Militia. Place it where you feel fit.

Step 4

Open up the Glyphs panel by going to Window > Type > Glyphs

This Glyphs panel gives you the ability to see all of the characters as well as the alternate characters for any given font. This panel is the heart to this tutorial. It opens by default showing all the characters available for the font.

Step 5

It is great to see all the different characters available to us, but the real power of the Glyphs panel is being able to show the Alternates for a selected character.

With the Type Tool, select the first "e" in Media. In the drop down box for Show change it to Alternates for Current Selection. This will show all the alternates for the letter e. Find one you like by clicking on each of the different thumbnails.

Step 6

Continue going through and selecting different characters and seeing which ones look the best. Don’t over do it though!

Step 7

You may have noticed while selecting some of the characters that there are ornaments included with the type. I created two new type layers and found two ornaments that fit in perfectly with the type. The letters I used were X and Y. Using the selection tool I put them up against the other letters.

Tip:

While Photoshop does not have a Glyphs panel, you can create your typography inside of Illustrator and copy and paste it into Photoshop to manipulate.

Great Fonts With Alternates

Aphrodite Slim Pro
This font as seen in the tutorial above has more than 1000 glyphs. It a beautiful calligraphy based font.

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Ministry Script
Ministry Script was designed to be “A time capsule that marks both the American ad art of the 1920s, and the current new-millennium acrobatics of digital type.
Over 1000 characters

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Affair
Affair is an extraordinary new calligraphic typeface by Alejandro Paul with a party full of swash characters, ligatures, and ornaments.

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Mussica
Mussica is a crisp font created by Corradine Fonts. It feature a few extra glyphs for your characters that add a wow effect.

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Blanchard
Blanchard is a revival and elaborate extension of Muriel, a 1950 metal face made by Blanchard Trochut for the Fonderie Typographique Française, that was published simultaneously by the Spanish Gans foundry under the name Juventud. Blanchard is a script that embodies the post-war narrow decorative aesthetic that would become the instantly recognizable feature of that era’s design.

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Metroscript
Metroscript is a handwritten script with styles from the 1920s and the 1950s. With a huge vintage sports theme, it has many ligatures, swashes, alternates, foreign accented characters and tails—all of which connect seamlessly.

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Liza
Liza Pro, Underware’s latest creation, is a live-script typeface. Thanks to its extremely intelligent OpenType architecture, she approaches human hand lettering as close as technically possible. Liza Pro deeply analyzes the text. Out of a stock of 4000 hand crafted characters, Liza creates the most optimal combination. All of this works automatically. All you need to do is typing your lettres d’amour, and Liza makes the text always look different.

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Nelly Script Flourish
Nelly Script Flourish is the jewelry to a beautifully appointed lady, the icing to the wedding cake, the VaVoom! Nelly Script Flourish comes complete with a large variety of alternate upper and lowercase forms in OpenType format.

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Mon Amour Script Pro
Mainly for invitations; Mon Amour Script Pro, is an Open-Type font, which will delight you. It has the alternate, swash and ligature functions.

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Quijote Sauvage Pro
Quijote Sauvage Pro is a very expressive calligraphic font. It includes all the ligatures, alternates and swashes..

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Buffet Script
Buffet Script is based on fantastic calligraphy by Alf Becker, arguably the greatest American sign lettering artist of all time

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Paradise Script
Paradise is a script font thought to be used in a wide range of pieces of design. From packaging to invitations, Paradise really looks elegant and sometimes playful at the same time. The possibilities of alternates, ligatures and combinations of them are huge. Calligraphy lovers know that words sometimes start or end with extra flourishes: This is the reason of Paradise Starters and Paradise Finishers, which will always give a sensual touch to the written word.

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PF Champion Script Pro
PF Champion Script Pro is the most advanced and powerful script ever made. Four sets of alternate swashed capitals as well as a plethora of ornaments and frames (117) was included.

Required Resources

Download the Resources (Includes the final PSD)

Final Image Preview

Take a look at the design we’ll be creating.

Step 1

To start off this tutorial you will be creating the main glowing object using a program called Apophysis. You can download it for free here

Note:
If you would like to skip the creation process using Apophysis, I have included the rendered output in the resource files. Skip to Step 8 where we open the rendered file in Photoshop.

After you have downloaded and installed Apophysis. Open the application from the Windows Start menu.

Step 2

In the left hand panel of Apophysis, double click on different flame titles until you find one that you like. Try to find ones that don’t have a lot of noise and could look like a great glow effect. These are all random batches. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect as you will be rendering the flame and bringing it into Photoshop later.

Step 3

Hopefully you found a good flame to use. The flame I choose looks like this:

Tip #1: You can mutate flames.
If you would like to keep the same look yet get a different result go to View > Mutation and click on the different squares.

Tip #2: Try Zooming in and out

If you find a look that you like but it is out of frame or you would like to zoom in. You can go to Flame > Adjust and edit the camera Zoom.

Step 4

Once you have perfected your flame, go to Flame > Render to Disk.
Width 3000
Height: 2000
Quality: 4000
Filter Radius: 0.4
Oversample: 2

Finally click on Render. Rending takes some time, so just sit back and relax.

Step 5

Now that the render is finished, open your rendered JPEG into Photoshop. If you would like to use the file I rendered out, open Render.jpg in the resource files for this tutorial that you downloaded.

Duplicate the Background Layer.

With the Duplicated Background layer selected, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Change the Radius to 4 pixels.

Set the Blending Mode for this duplicated layer to Linear Dodge (Add)

If you feel like you want some more glow, then duplicate it one more time. You can also play with the Levels to get a crisper look.

Step 6

We are going to create a brush out of this render. Choose the Rectangle Marquee Selection tool and in the Options Bar change the Style to Fixed Size. Change the Width and the Height to 2500 px

Step 7

Click in an area that you would like to make a brush with. Since we changed the options to make the selection exactly 2500 x 2500 it will constrain to those exact dimensions.

Step 8

Go to Image > Adjustments > Invert

Step 9

Now that we have a white background we can create a brush. Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset

Create a new Photoshop Document. I created it at 1744 x 1282 with the resolution set at 300 ppi.

Step 10

Make your background layer is Black and Create a New Layer. Choose the Brush tool and select the new brush that we just created. Click in your document to lay down the pixels. Name this Layer Glow Brush

Double Click on the Glow Brush layer to bring up the Layer Style window. Check Gradient Overlay and edit the gradient to be the Violet, Orange Gradient.

Step 11

Go back to your original JPG that you rendered out of Apophysis and Copy and Paste it into this new PSD. Name this new layer Original.

Change the Layer Blending Mode of this layer to Linear Dodge (Add). You will have to use the Move tool to properly align this Original layer with your Glowing Brush layer.

Step 12

Create a New Layer above the Original Layer and name it Colorize.

With the Gradient tool, select the Violet, Orange gradient again and choose Radial Gradient. Make a gradient that resembles something like this:

Step 13

Now change the layers blending mode of the Colorize layer to Hue. You should end up with this:

Step 14

Now we are going to add some text into the design. Add the text DESIGN IS BILLIANT. For the font I used Helvetica Neue – Ultra Light Extended. For the color I used – #ffca53

Make sure this text layer is right above the background but below all of the other layers.

Step 15

Open the Bokeh image from the resource files into Photoshop. Copy and Paste it into your PSD and place the layer above your text. Change the layer blending mode to Screen and the Opacity to 28%

You will want to Scale the Bokeh layer down to fit nicley with your text.

Step 16

Open the Particles – 9.jpg file and Copy and Paste it into your PSD. Scale it down and place it just below the Original Layer. Change the Layer Blending mode to Linear Dodge (Add). Name this layer Particles Pink

Duplicate the Particles Pink layer and change the layer blending mode to Overlay.

Step 17

Create a New Layer just below your particles pink layers. Using the Elliptical Marquee Selection Tool, create some solid white circles in your document.

Step 18

Now change the Layer Blending mode to Soft Light. Name this layer Circles – Soft Light

Step 19

Finally, I decided to crop the image since the right hand side was not too appealing. You could easily add some elements over on the right side and bring it all together.

So that’s it. Have fun with your new tool!

Step 1:

Open up Illustrator and create a 3000 pt by 3000 pt document.

Step 2:

Next choose the Pen Tool.

Step 3:

Using the Pen Tool, draw a unique shape. Here is the shape I came up with. You can come up with any shape you prefer. I also incorporated some stars using the Star tool.

Step 4:

Using the Direct Selection Tool, select some of your shapes and change the color.

Step 5:

Select all of the shapes with the Selection Tool and go to Edit > Copy

Now deselect everything by clicking in a blank area of your artboard. Choose Edit > Paste in Front. This will create an exact duplicate of your shape. Now without deselecting the copy, use the right arrow key and move the shape over to the right. Give a good amount of space in between the two shapes.

Step 6:

Now go to Object > Transform > Reflect

Step 7:

Select Horizontal for your Axis to reflect and click on OK

Step 8:

Now go back to Object > Transform > Reflect and this time choose Vertical for your Axis to reflect and click on OK

Step 9:

Using the selection tool, select both of your shapes and go to Edit > Copy. Then go to Edit > Paste in Front

Finally go to Object > Transform > Rotate

Step 10:

This is where the fun starts. You can put in a simple division equation into the Angle box. I choose to put in 360/10. Then click OK

This will rotate both shapes 36 degrees.The reason I use the put in a division equation instead of 36 degrees is because it will create a perfect radial that will line up when you are finished.

If you are not happy with the preview, try a different angle.

Step 11:

Keyboard shortcuts come in very handy at this point. With the copied rotated copied shape still selected, press CTRL + C then CTRL + F then CTRL + D.

Those keyboard shortcuts do the following:
CTRL + C = Edit > Copy
CTRL + F = Edit > Paste in Front
CTRL + D = Object > Transform > Transform Again

Step 12:

Now that you have a finished radial, you can end here or add more to it. If you would like to make the radial more complicated, then continue reading.

With the Selection tool, select the whole radial and go to Edit > Copy. Then Edit > Paste in Front. Now Scale down the copy so it is in the center of the first radial.

Step 13:

Now let’s add more color into the radial where the white space is.

Using the pen tool, trace around the yellow areas of the inner part. Make sure you close off the path.

Step 14:

While the outline shape you just created is still selected. Open the Gradient panel (Window >Gradient) and choose Copper Radial.

This should apply a copper gradient. Obviously it does not go good with our previous colors. So click on each of small color boxes and change the colors to shades of pink.

Step 15:

If for some reason your gradient shape is above some of the radial shapes, select the gradient and go to Object > Arrange > Send to Back.

This is what you should have now:
.

Step 16:

Now we want to fill in the other white areas as well. Using the same technique above, create another path with the pen tool on the outer most area of your radial.

Step 17:

Now select everything with the Selection Tool and choose Edit > Copy. Then go to Edit > Paste. Now Scale the copy to the center of the radial and you’re finished!

Download this AI file.

About

Time: 1-2 Hours
Software Required: Photoshop CS3+, 3ds Max 2009 + (Don’t have 3ds Max? Download the free 30-day Trial)

Required Resources

Download the Media Militia Resources

Final Image Preview

Take a look at the design we’ll be creating. The final PSD will be available for download at the end of the tutorial.

Detail

Step 1:

First off, we need to create the text.

Open up 3ds Max. In the Create tab, click on the Shapes button. Click on the Text object type button. Then type in JEYA in text area in capital letters. We will use Arial with the font size at 100.

Step 2:

In the Front view, click, drag and align the text to the X axis as shown below.
Tip: You can use the Select and Move tool to better align the text.

Step 3:

With the text still selected, click on the Modify tab. In the Modifier List drop down choose Extrude.

Step 4:

In the Parameters roll out, change the Amount to 579

Step 5:

In the Modifier List drop down, choose Lattice. Use the following Settings:

Radius: 6.5
Segments: 23
Sides: 3

It should look similar to the following image:

Step 6:

Now we are going to create the other text that will go below our main JEYA text. Because we want all the same settings on the new text, we will clone the original JEYA text.

In the Edit Menu, choose Clone (CTRL+V). In the Clone Options, choose Copy. Click OK

Step 7:

Make sure the Select and Move tool is selected. In the Front View port, drag the Y green arrow downwards. The cloned text should be just below the original JEYA text.

Step 8:

Make sure the cloned text is still selected. In the Modify tab, click on Text in the stack order. Change the Text to say "one" in lowercase.

Step 9:

Using the Select and Move Tool, reposition the "one" text to the right side – just below the "JEYA" text. I aligned the bottom of the "Y" with the top of the "n"

Step 10:

Open the Material Editor by clicking on the button in the toolbar or press M on your keyboard.

Step 11:

Click on the Diffuse Color Selector and type in the following colors:

Red: 214
Green: 35
Blue: 35

Change the Specular Level to 25 and the Glossiness to 22

Step 12:

Now we need to apply the material. Drag the material from the Material Editor on to both of the text objects.

The text should change to the color Red. If they don’t try dragging it again.

Step 13:

In the Perspective View, you need to activate it by right clicking anywhere in the view. The view should turn yellow.

Click on the Front side of the ViewCube.

Tip: If you don’t see the ViewCube, you can use the keyboard shortcut: Alt+Ctrl+V.

Step 14:

Im the bottom left, use the Pan View tool and drag the text into the view. Then use the Zoom Tool to pull away by dragging downwards in the Perspective View.

Tip: You can also pan by dragging in a viewport while pressing the middle button of a three-button mouse. To zoom, roll your mouse scroll wheel.

Use both of the tools until you get it matched up like the following:

Step 15:

In the Create Tab, click on the Lights button. In the Lights drop down box choose Photometric.Then click on Free Light.

You should get a dialog box asking you to change the Exposure control, choose Yes

Step 16:

In the Perspective view, click and drag the Free Light just over the "o" in the "one" text.

In the Left view, move the the light with the Select and Move tool to look like the following:

Tip: Look at the grid spacing to judge distance. You might need to use the zoom tool to find the light in the viewport.

Step 17:

In the Photometric – Free Light Modifier properties change the Color to Halogen (Warm)

Step 18:

In the Create Tab, click on the Lights button. In the lights drop down choose Standard. Click on the Skylight button.

Step 19:

In the Front view, place the skylight in the upper right hand corner as pictured below:

Tip: Remember you can use the Pan View Tool to pan around the view.

Step 20:

In the Front view, using the Select and Move tool, select the JEYA text.

Open the Modifiers Tab. Control click on the Lattice and Extrude modifiers to select both of them.

Step 21:

Right click on one of them and choose CUT. You should be left with just the JEYA text.

Now Right Click on the JEYA text and choose Convert To: > Convert to Editable Spline

Step 22:

In the Modifiers Tab, Selection roll out, Click on the Vertex button.

Step 23:

In the Front View, select the end of the letters vertex points to extend them.

Step 24:

Use the Select and Move tool and drag them all the way up.

Tip: Zoom out to drag the vertices higher.

Step 25:

Do the same with the "A" and "Y". I also pulled the top part of the "E" into the "Y"

Note: You will need to move on both the Y and X axis for diagonal lines.

Step 26:

With the JEYA text selected, go back into the Modify tab. right click on Text in the modifiers stack and choose Paste.

This will paste back in the Lattice and Extrude modifiers.

Step 27:

Right Click on the JEYA text and choose Convert To: > Convert to Editable Mesh.

In the Modify tab, click on the the Vertex selection button.

Step 28:

In the Left view, you need to delete all background vertices that don’t look good in the perspective viewport.

Select them by using the Select and Move tool. Make a selection around them and press delete. Here are the vertices I deleted.

Step 29:

Make the Perspective view active, then click on the Orbit Tool.

Anywhere outside of the Orbit right drag to the left making it rotate about 30 degrees or until your text looks good to you.

Tip: Remember you can use the Pan View tool and Zoom to get a look that you like.

Here is what I ended up with in each of the views:

Tip: Look at the light placements. Do yours match up?

Perspective:

Front:

Left:

Top:

Step 30:

Now go to Rendering > Render Setup. Change the Output Size Width to 1500 and the Height to 1000.

Click on the Advanced Lighting tab.

Change the Select Advanced Lighting drop down to Light Tracer

Step 31:

Finally! Make sure the Perspective view is still active and Click on the Render button. After it is done rendering, click on the Save icon in the render window.

Change the Save as Type to TIF and click on the Setup button.

Make sure you put a check mark on the Store Alpha Channel. Press OK. Name the file and press Save.

Here is my final render:

Step 32:

Now it’s time to open Photoshop.

Open your TIF into Photoshop. I included my TIF in the resources if you would prefer to use that for the following steps.

In your layers panel, ALT + Double Click on the Background Layer to unlock it.

Now go to Select > Load Selection. Make sure the Alpha channel is selected and Check Invert. Click OK

Step 33:

Press Delete to remove all the black from the background.

Go to Select > Deselect

Name this Layer "Main Text"

Double Click on the Main Text layer to bring up the Layer Style dialog.

Check Stroke and Change the stroke Size to 5. Make the color = Black.

Step 34:

Create a New Layer by going to Layer > New > Layer. Name it "Background." Make sure it is below your Main Text Layer.

Using the Gradient tool, make a Radial Gradient from #aeafaf to #000000. Make the center point black as shown in the picture below.

Step 35:

In the resources you downloaded, open Bokeh.jpg. Copy and paste it into your PSD.

Make sure it is above the Background Layer but underneath the Main Text Layer. Change the Layer Blending Mode to Overlay.

Name this layer Bokeh.

Step 36:

Hold down the CTRL key and click on the layer thumbnail for the Main Text layer to create a selection.

Step 37:

Create a new layer just below the Main Text layer. Name it “Outer Stroke.”

Go to Edit > Stroke. Make the stroke color #12e2ca and the Size = 16 pixels.

Step 38:

Using a brush fill in the areas in the center of the text that didnt get filled in with the stroke. It should look like this now:

Step 39:

From the resources, bring in Spraypaint1.png and place in the PSD. Move it into the left side. Make sure it above the bokeh layer. Name the layer “Spraypaint1″

From the resources, bring in lined graffiti.png and place in the PSD. Move it into the right side. Make sure it above the Spraypaint1 layer. Name the layer “graffiti”

Step 40:

From the resources, bring in splash1.png, verticle lines.png, and lineart.png. Arrange them so they look like the following:

Step 41:

Duplicate the Splatter layer by going to Layer > Duplicate Layer

Double click on the duplicated layer and add a Color Overlay. Use the color #d5006b

Step 42:

Duplicate the Splatter layer again by going to Layer > Duplicate Layer. Move it to the right hand side.so you can see if better.

Duplicate it two more times and add a color overlay using this color: #12e2ca. Move the layers around the canvas.

Step 43:

Open the Brushes panel. Click on the pop-up menu and choose Load Brushes. Use the Graffiti Brushes you downloaded from the resources.

Brush in some spray paint splatters and drips to your liking. I used the color #12e2ca

Tip: Change the brush size to get different looks.

Step 44:

Create an Adjustment Layer by going to Layer > New Adjustment Layer and choose Hue/Saturation Use the following settings:

Hue: -18
Saturation: +12
Lightness: -2

Step 45:

Now we need to create a clipping mask, so that the Hue/Saturation will only effect the Main Text Layer

Hold down the ALT key and position your cursor in between the two layers (the cursor changes to two overlapping circles) and click. It should create a down arrow on the Hue Saturation layer.

Tip: You can also create clipping masks by choosing the top layer and going to Layer > Create Clipping Mask

Here is the layers stack so far:

Step 46:

We are now going to do the same with a brightness and contrast layer.

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer and choose Brightness/Contrast

Change the Contrast to 58

Step 47:

Make sure this adjustment layer is also a clipping mask. If it is not, then make it one.

Now create another adjustment layer. This time choose Levels. Use the following settings:

62 – 1 -255

Step 48:

I added a MEDIA MILITIA text on the side of the A with the same light blue we used earlier. The font I used is Metal.

Create a new layer and name it “Blings Baby!” Using a white brush outline the right and bottom sides of the letters.

I used a White brush – 20 pixels at 100% hardness. You should have something like this now:

Step 49:

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Make the Radius: 28.9 pixels.

Change the Layer Blending mode to Soft Light and lower the Opacity to 54%.

Step 50:

That’s it! Here is the final design. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Download the Final PSD