advanced photoshop issue 138 - 2015 uk

8/20/2019 Advanced Photoshop Issue 138 - 2015 UK

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COVER

The magazine for Adobe ®Photoshop ®professionals 1

NATRETOUCHING

OHN ROSS’EXPERTGUI

+

20PRO TIPS FORINCREDIBLECOMPOSITE

HOW TO CREATE

FREE $180+

INTERVIEW: CHRIS LABROOY DISPLACEMENT MAPS

4 PAGES OF IN DEPTH TUTORIALS


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INSIDE:

WARP & SELECTIONS

DISPLACEMENT MAP

PHOTOBASHING

COMPOSITINGAPRIL MADDEN

Editor

The problem with retouching is that itcan often go too far. We’veall seen theterrifying examples of plastic-smoothskin, Liquify-ed limbs andeyes that just

aren’t wherethey should be.Equally, there’s anongoing dialogue about the potential pitfalls ofretouching: the idea of ‘truth’in photography andwhetherunattainablyperfect images have anegative effect on some viewers. If only there wassome middleground, where images wereretouched to enhance their natural beautywithoutswamping it with eitherbadly-smudged smoothingor overt perfection...

It turns out that there is,and retouching pro JohnRossis an expert onit. Turn to p26 to findout howhebrings out thenatural beauty inan image, andhow you can too. You’llalso find details ofa coursehe’s running in NewYork State in October 2015,where youcan learn some masterful tricks fromthe manhimself.

@advancedpshop /AdvancedPhotoshop.co.uk

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ISSUE 138 WELCOME

COVER IMAGE

Beautyretouchingcansometimeslook too

perfect, butexpert JohnRoss isa master ofthe

natural look. Joinhim onp26to discoverthe

secrets of successfulretouching; whatto leave

inand what toclone out.

JOHN ROSStheartofretouching.com

Elsewhere in the issue we take a look at anothercontroversial artform: photobashing (p40). There’s abig debate as to whether photobashing is ‘art’ or not(a debate that we in the Photoshop community havebeen used to addressing in our artwork since we firstpicked up a stylus), but our collection of professionaltips from industry experts is proof of both its stunningaesthetic qualities and the level of technicalknow-how it requires to pull off a perfectlyphotobashed piece.

We also take an in-depth look at compositing withexpert Alex Lanier. Follow his ten-page guide on p52and discover the secrets of combining photos like apro and learn how to create incredible composites(and some handy cheats to cover the cracks whileyou’re still perfecting your style!).

Plus we have a packed selection of tutorials foryou, an in-depth review of the Cintiq 27QHD andmuch more Photoshop goodness.Enjoy the issue!

HOW I MADE:FINDING THAT PLACE

78

How Daniel Bogni used digital paintingtechniques to create this peaceful sceneIN THIS ISSUE...


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TECHNIQUESProfessional artists reveal theirhigh-end Photoshop skills

Feature: John Ross’ expertguide to natural retouching26

REVIEWSWe put the latest creative kitand apps to the test

80 Wacom Cintiq27QHDPREMIUM PHOTOSHOP CONTENTDownload free Photoshop assets on p96

96

Feature:Combinephotos like a pro52

Feature: 20 professional tipsfor photobashing40

How I Made:Paradise Cove36

How I Made:What Only Exists in the Mind 62

EYE ON DESIGNWhat’s hot, who’s in and thelatest art & design happenings

RESOURCESAmazing creative resources toenhance your Photoshop work

SEEPAGE24 FOR THELATESTOFFERS

SUBSCRIBETODAY!

72 Workshop: Create shiningskin effects

80REVIEWWACOM CINTIQ27QHD

FOR BACKISSUES, BOOKS AND MERCHANDISE VISIT:

How I Made:Finding That Place78

Pro Panel: Meet thisissue’s experts06Industry News: Meet one ofAdobe’s 25 Under 2508

Portfolio Interview:Transforming the world

Project Focus:Fun & creative children’s packaging

Reader Interview: Young gun86

66 Workshop: Use Warp andSelection tools

Resource Project:Make rock & moss textures90

Studio Interview:Atomhawk

84 Escape MotionsRebelle

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CONTENTSISSUE 138

FileSilo: Bonus resourcesworth over $180

62HOW I MADE:WHAT ONLY EXISTS...JEFFREY SMITH’S AMAZING ART

90RESOURCE PROJECTCREATE ROCK & MOSS TEXTURES

96BONUS RESOURCESFANTASTIC FREEBIES ON FILESILO

PORTFOLIO INTERVIEWINSPIRATION FROM CHRIS LABROOY

ATOMHAWKBEHIND THE SCENES WITH THIS UK STUDIO


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26JOHN ROSS’ EXPERT GUIDE TO NATURAL RETOUCHINGGETTHE NATURALLOOKWITH ESSENTIAL ADVICEFROM A PRORETOUCHER

50HOW I MADE:FINITE ENERGYA LIGHTBULBMOMENT

72CREATE SHINING SKIN EFFECTSMASTER PLASTICWRAP, CHROME AND THEDISPLACEFILTER FOR METALLIC EFFECTS

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52COMBINE PHOTOS

LIKE A PROCREATE INCREDIBLE COMPOSITES

4020 PROFESSIONAL TIPSFOR PHOTOBASHINGEXPERT ADVICE FROM INDUSTRY PROS

86READER INTERVIEW

LUKE BAILEY’S CREATIVE PHOTOMANIPULATIONS

66USE WARP ANDSELECTION TOOLSTRICKS FOR AMAZING PHOTO EFFECTS

36HOW I MADE:

PARADISE COVEHOW ARQUI9 CREATE ARCH VIS


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EYE ON DESIGN PRO PANEL

PRO PANELMEET THE PROFESSIONALS SHARING THEIR PHOTOSHOPEXPERTISE AND TECHNIQUES IN THIS ISSUE

ALEX LANIERwww.laniercreations.com

MARTIN DE PASQUALEwww.martindepasquale.com

Digitally painting your 2D characters into a 3D baseenvironment can have great results when done correctly.When you export your 3D environment into Photoshop, younow need to paint your 2D characters into the scene. You

first need to add your perspective guidelines so your characters match thebackground. These perspective guidelines will help you pose your characterscorrectly especially when dealing with dynamic and awkward camera angles.■ Get more pro compositing advice from Alex Lanier in his completeguide on p52

Look around you, and see how things look and react inreality; the glass reflection on a surface, how it casts ashadow on a particular area or with a specific light. Observeeverything, take photographs, annotate them, and use

these as a resource for your work.■ Discover more about how Martin De Pasquale creates amazing photoeffects in his tutorial on p66

© A

l e x L a n i e r

© M

a r t i n D e P a s q u a

l e

© J

o h n R o s s

JOHN ROSSwww.theartofretouching.comAs you travel the internet, you will oftenfind interesting imagery. Take ascreenshot or download the artwork andkeep it in an inspirational folder on your

computer. Whenever you are feeling unmotivated, take alook at these images again and let their combined creativityfuel you into designing something extraordinary.■ Get more inspiration from John Ross in his completeguide to natural retouching on p26


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ANDRE VILLANUEVAwww.000-000-0000.com

Camera Raw makes a great finisher to a piece. Merge layers at the top of thelayer stack (Cmd/Ctrl+Alt/Option+Shift+E) then convert to a Smart Object

(right-click, choose Convert to Smart Object). Go to Filter>Camera Raw Filter.Have fun with the myriad settings. Click OK when done. Since you applied it as

a Smart Filter, you can refine at any time.■ Get more expert techniques from Andre Villanueva in his tutorial on p72

© A n d r e V i l l a n u e v a

© Imagine Publishing Ltd 2015ISSN 1748-7277

Magazine teamEditor April [email protected]

01202 586218

Editor in Chief Amy SquibbProduction Editor Rebecca GreigDesigner Rebekka HearlPhotographer James SheppardSenior Art Editor Duncan CrookPublishing Director Aaron AsadiHead of Design Ross AndrewsContributorsJulie Bassett, Martin De Pasquale, Alex Lanier, Kirk Nelson,John Ross, Anna-Lisa Saywell, Kenneth Shinabery, AndreVillanueva, Poz Watson and Mark White

AdvertisingDigital or printed media packs are available on request.Head of Sales Hang Deretz

01202 [email protected] Manager Alex Carnegie

01202 [email protected]

FileSilo.co.ukAssets and resource files for this magazine can be found onthis website. Register now to unlock thousands of useful files.Support: [email protected]

InternationalAdvanced Photoshop is available for licensing.Contact the International department to discusspartnership opportunities.Head of International Licensing Cathy Blackman

+44 (0) 1202 [email protected] all subscription enquiries:[email protected]

UK: 0844 848 8402 Overseas: +44 (0) 1795 592 880

13-issue subscription (UK) – £62.3013-issue subscription (Europe) – £7013-issue subscription (ROW) – £80

CirculationHead of Circulation Darren Pearce

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Printing & DistributionPrinted by: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd, 26 Planetary Road,Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XTDistributed in the UK & Eire by: Marketforce, Blue Fin Building,110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SU

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DisclaimerThe publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicitedmaterial lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is thecopyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazinemay be reproduced in whole or part without the writtenpermission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognisedand used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review.Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure allinformation is correct at time of print, prices and availabilitymay change. This magazine is fully independent and notaffiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.Photoshop is either a registered trademark or trademarkof Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries and is used with express permission.All $ prices are US Dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The magazinefor Adobe ®Photoshop ®professionals

Observe everything, take photographs, annotatethem,and use theseas a resource for your work

MARTIN DE PASQUALE / WWW.MARTINDEPASQUALE.COM


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EYE ON DESIGN INDUSTRY NEWS

TOM ANDERS WATKINS ONHIS ADOBE COMMISSIONADOBE HAS SELECTED 25 AMAZING UP AND COMING ARTISTS TO CELEBRATEPHOTOSHOP’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY. WE CAUGHT UP WITH THE UK NOMINEE

Earlier this year Adobe – to celebrate reaching itsmilestone 25th birthday – launched itscampaign to find 25 artists under 25 that werethe most creative visual artists in their age

group , representing the most innovative, forward-looking work out there and showing the world what thenext generation of Photoshop artists is made of via a

commission from Adobe.

With some of the global 25 under 25chosen, we caught up with the UKwinner Tom Anders-Watkins, to findout about his commission, his goalsand where he sees himself in tenyears time. Tom Anders-Watkins is a

20-year-old student studyingCreative Advertising at the University of

Lincoln. An aspiring art director andself-taught designer, he has produced a vastportfolio of creative pieces. Check them out atwww.behance.net/tomanders and visit www.adobe.com to check out the rest of the 25 Under 25.

WHAT WAS THE COMMISSION ASKING

YOU TO DO?The brief was quite simple; create a work of art, in yourown style, that celebrates Photoshop’s 25th birthday.The only mandatory [part of the brief] was that it had tocontain the number 25 somewhere, and work well forshowcasing on Instagram.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE THEFINAL IMAGE?

My inspiration was Photoshop – which is in essence thebeating heart of digital art and design. I wanted to createsomething relatively abstract and mesmerising thatbeat to a rhythm. So I made a looping animation in myabstract style. I drew on a combination of retro andfuturistic themes, to celebrate Photoshop’s heritage aswell as its future. It’s also full of movement, geometryand vivid gradiented colour, very typical of my style. I’mstill working out my style, but I like gradients, so theyfeature heavily.

WHAT ROLE DOES PHOTOSHOP PLAY IN YOURIMAGE CREATION?

For me, Photoshop is the king of design programs, it’sa powerhouse that can handle almost anythingnowadays. Along with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshopplays a key role in all my artwork – I still use other

OTHER GLOBALLYFEATUREDARTISTS:

programs to do all my construction work, butPhotoshopbrings it all together.

WHAT TOOLS ANDTECHNIQUES DIDYOU USE?

Technique wise,a lotof thecirclesand gradients(myfavouritecombination) were used.Althoughmyfavouritetool hasto be theblendingoptions,becausethey allowyou to create uniquelooksand completelyalterthe colourscheme ofyour elements ina second. Iused a lotof overlay in this particular piece to create afuturisticfeel.

WHAT AREYOUR NEXT STEPS? WHERE DO YOUSEEYOURSELFIN 10 YEARS?

After finishingmy studies, I hope to breakinto theadvertising industry andbecome an artor creativedirector. I’d like to oneday setup myown studiooragency too.

I drew ona combinationof retroand futuristic themes,

to celebratePhotoshop’s heritageaswell as its futureTom Anders-Watkins

FLORA BORSI,21, HUNGARY

Hungarian fine-artphotographer FloraBorsi is currentlystudying at Moholy-

Nagy University and is best known in theAdobe Community as the woman behindthe Photoshop CC 2014 Splash Screen.

ZEV HOOVER,16, USA

If you were to stumbleacross Zev Hoover’swork online, you maybe forgiven for

thinking, due to its quality and spectacularlypolished nature, that Hoover is well beyond hisyears. However, when Hoover started usingPhotoshop he was just eight years old and isnow one of the most recognised and featuredyoung artists under 25.

The final image that Watkins created for thecampaign; “Fast forward seven years, and I’m aself-taught designer with a passionate interest

in just about every creative discipline”


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POLARR TAKES ON PHOTOSHOP MIX WITH NEW APP

INCREDIBLE INSPIRATION FROMWEAPONS OF MASS CREATION

POLARR IS MAKING WAVES AND CONQUERING THE APP STORE WITH ITS NEW FREE PHOTO EDITING APP FOR IOS

GO MEDIA HOSTED ANOTHER YEAR OF THE PREMIERE ART AND CREATIVE DESIGN CONFERENCE IN THE US

Polarr, known for its browser-based photo editing apponline, has recently launched an image editor for iOSthat competes with some of the best pro-level imageeditors on the iOS platform – while maintaining itsease of use.

The editing platform originally began (somewhatunconventionally) as a completely free, advancedonline editor that after picking up pace with followersin their droves later evolved into the Polarr iOS app,which also makes many pro editing featurespreviously found in expensive and complicatedsoftware easy to use and available for free.

Contrary to popular belief the team at Polarr hasalways claimed that they are not a Photoshopcompetitor. “We don’t offer layers/masks or vectorcreation.” However, Polarr still offers all the essentialtools for advanced light and colour controls.

Weapons of Mass Creation Fest, created by GoMedia, returned for its sixth year this August.For three days, senior creatives, entrepreneurs,artists, students, and fans gathered in Cleveland,USA to learn, be inspired, collaborate, networkand celebrate their passion for art and design.

“Weapons of Mass Creation is a younggrassroots movement to inspire and enable thecreative mind. We believe that good thingshappen when ideas and talents are sharedwithin the community. This mentality manifestsitself in the lifestyle of a Weapon of MassCreation: a person who defies the hand they’redealt and makes stuff happen.”

The event was packed with intoxicatingdesign, talks by design pros like Michael Bierut,incredible amounts of inspiration, authenticnetworking and a chance to build a sense ofcommunity. Attendees had access to 14speakers, eight workshops, three panels, andover 20 vendors during the three-day event.Alumni include Tad Carpenter, Aaron Draplin,Brandon Rike, Chuck Anderson, Dan

Key features include creating and saving yourown style presets, infinite undo/redo checks anda historybutton to return to any point in yourhistory. Image editing includes the options toaddradial and graduated filters, HSL channelsandTone Curves to help youperfect the coloursin your image. This is all alongside the usualfilters, adjustments, highlights and distortions

Christofferson, Johnny Cupcakes, Mark Brickeyand the Adventures in Design Podcast and NationalPoster Retrospecticus.

Fast becoming an essential event in the creativecalendar, WMC still retains its small-town feeldespite building on its heritage and popularity withevery year. For more information about next year’sevent, visit www.wmcfest.com .

that you would usually expect to find in aphoto-editing app.

Themobile appis currently outon iOSfor free,with an in-apppurchase of £3.99 fora fewprofeatures (local adjustments, saving presets),andwith talks of an Android version being launched atthe endof Summer2015,there isn’t long to wait– sobe sure toadd itto yourwish list!

Landscape unlocks a game-controllerstyle format that aims to maximise

productivity for each artist

A selection of last year’s event images


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EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW

UTILISING VARIOUS SKILLS, CHRIS LABROOY CREATES INTRIGUING3D IMAGERY THAT TRANSFORMS THE ORDINARY INTO SOMETHINGDYNAMIC, REDEFINING SHAPES IN A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE

TRANSFORMINGTHE WORLD

www.chrislabrooy.com@ChrisLabrooy

Having the ability to re-imagine the worldis a great asset for an artist to have, andChris Labrooy has truly mastered thisskill. Whether it’s twisting the bodies of

cars or turning normal objects into typography, Chrisproves that there are other ways to see the world.His work with textures, shapes and typography will

wow the viewer every time. Transforming the knowninto something special creates a sense of artisticfreedom and expression.

YOUR ART IS WONDERFUL AND VERY

INSPIRATIONAL. DID YOU HAVE ANY

FORMAL TRAINING?

I am self-taught on the technical side… 3D andrendering. Creativity however is unique to everyperson and your process is not only learned fromothers, but also through personal experimentation.

WHEN DID YOU DISCOVER YOUR CURRENT

STYLE AND HOW HAS IT EVOLVED?

It’s not something I was doing at all at a young age oreven at art school for that matter. I becameinterested in 3D when I began using CAD to createvital product ideas as part of the design process. Thethings you could do with the tools were amazing. Itbecame interesting to see them in creative ways, so Istarted concentrating on image making.

CREATING TEXT IN UNIQUE AND INTERESTING

WAYS SEEMS TO BE A THEME IN YOUR WORK.

WHEN DID THIS PASSION DEVELOP?

I started experimenting with 3D typography work in2008. Initially it was all about rendering typographyas large-scale buildings and then it developed toinclude all sorts of everyday objects. My backgroundis in product design, so it felt natural for me to designletters as if they were products, food or whateverelse I could think of. I didn’t want to create abstractCGI artwork so I thought letters would be good to try,because they are useful and functional.

WHAT WAS THE CREATIVE PROCESS BEHIND

YOUR PROJECT FOR PRINGLES?

We spent about six weeks on that project start tofinish. The agency had a good idea of the overallconcept and had the different headlines pinneddown. For me the creativity was in the details and

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craftsmanship. I worked hard to create texturesthat were both believable and tasty. To this day thePringles job is one of my favourites and it wasreally satisfying.

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND

AUTO AEROBICS?

Auto Aerobics began in life as a tiny idea for aproject about New York. Walking through Brooklynon a winter evening is truly a memorable

experience and motivated me to build a digital 3Dmodel that captured the various details andtextures of the area. The Pontiac automobile wasinitially destined to be a prop parked on thesidewalk; however, I later decided to make it aparallel subject of the scenes and started toabstract the forms of the cars by hollowing out

the vehicle’s core, stretching the proportions andexperimenting with multiples… Which over timebegan to look extraordinary.

A l l i m a g e s ©

C h r i s L a

b r o o y

Time Magazine – Made InThe USA: Starting out with apreliminary sketch can helpmove an idea forward


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Nike Sneakerboots London: Make a twist on wellknown cityscapes; introduce a product or something

new to create an image that stands out

The internet is great for getting your work infront of people. You just have to work hard to

create your own voice and perspective on things

Tales Of Auto Elasticity: Taking everyday objects thatare familiar to us and looking at them in a different waycan allow you to produce breathtaking imagery

Tales Of Auto Elasticity: Chris uses Cinema 4Dfor all of his modelling and V-Ray for rendering.Everything in his work is created in 3D, thusgiving you a greater sense of realism

Tales Of Auto Elasticity: Chris enjoys using aphoto reference before he begins working i n 3D.

This helps maintain a sense of realism

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All my previous experiences feed into mydigital work. With CGI, anything is possible so

to have a good grasp of the real world is helpful

Pringles campaign: Spending the right amount of time to findthe perfect interaction between texture and light is important

when creating an image and will produce wonderful artwork

Avid Brakes: Diligence, hard work andspending the right amount of time on a

project can lead to perfect images

Land Of The Free: Any object can betransformed into text. Open your creative eye andlook for ways to change the familiar

La Chance: It is important as artist to developyour own voice and give your own perspective

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WHAT IS IT LIKE WORKING FOR BIG CLIENTS,

AND DO YOU HAVE A DREAM CLIENT?

It’s exciting when a big client like Nike wants to workwith you. I was visiting Barcelona when the Sneaker

boots project for Nike came in and I literally droppedeverything I was doing, took a call with the creativedirector and began sketching that night. I don’t reallyhave a dream client... I am more interested incool projects!

WHEN AN AGENCY LIKE GREY COMES TO

YOU WITH A PROJECT, HOW DO YOU TACKLE

THE IDEA?

It all depends on what stage the agency has takenthe concept to. Sometimes the agency will wantme to explore different visual treatments, althoughsometimes they will have a good idea of what theywant with fairly detailed sketches. The project isthen more about execution and craftsmanship of

the images.

WHAT PHOTOSHOP TOOL DO YOU FIND TO BE

MOST USEFUL WHEN YOU ARE CREATING

YOUR ARTWORK?

It’s impossible to pin a favourite tool down because Iuse so many. Photoshop is really about the sum ofits parts because it can do lots of simple things reallywell. I use masks, colour correction tools, blendingmodes, spot healing, cloning and all of the filters. If Ineed to do a quick background extension I will usePhotoshop. For depth of field effects I will use acombination of masks and the various blur filters.Sometimes all I need is a simple Curves adjustmentand it’s great for that.

THE TEXTURES YOU USE ON YOUR 3D MODELS

ARE WONDERFUL. CAN YOU SHARE TIPS ON

HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCH VIVID TEXTURES?

I enjoy photographing and creating my own textures.I will go for walks and photograph any surface thatlooks interesting. Photoshop is used to process allthe photography and make textures that can be tiled.I use the Clone and Spot Healing tools extensivelywhen creating a seamless edge for my tiled textures.For bump maps I will create greyscale versions, thenplay with the Curves and Levels to get good contrast.

WHAT TYPE OF COMPUTER SYSTEM ARE YOU

CURRENTLY WORKING ON? HOW HAVE

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES CHANGED THE

WAY YOU WORK?

I use a Mac Pro with an NEC SpectraView monitor inmy studio. For work on the move, I have a MacbookPro, which is where the big technological advanceshave been in the last few years. The processingpower on a Macbook Pro means that I can work as Iwould on my desktop without compromise. I havemanaged to finish projects in Starbucks when I haveto. I also use various Wacom Intuos and Cintiqtablets for a speedier workflow.

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■PUT INTHE HOURSFormywork,I feel thatit isimportanttoworkhardon myprojectsandputin alot ofhours.Themorehours I putin,themorechancethereisof stumblingacrossthosehappyinspirationalaccidents.

■ DON’TRUSH YOURPROJECTSDonotbe afraidtostepaway froma personalprojectforafewweeksorevenmonths.It isgoodtolet aprojectbreathefora littletimebeforerevisitingit.Youcan alwayscomebacktoa projectanytimeandthenyou willhave afreshoutlook.

■GETA GOODCHAIRIfyou areatyourcomputerall daythenitis importanttobecomfortable. MyHermanMillerchair isoneof mybestequipmentpurchases inthestudio. Itis betterto becomfortable,and havinga goodchairto supportyourbackwillkeep youhealthy.

LABROOY’STIPS FORCREATIVE SUCCESSWORK SMARTAND HARD

EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW

DO YOU HAVE ANY BIG PROJECTS THATYOU WORKING ON THAT YOU CAN SHAREWITH US?

I have a new Auto Aerobics project that I have

been working on for the last few months. Shouldbe exciting, but I don’t want to share too much atthis stage. I like to keep things close to my chestbefore publishing for maximum impact.

IF YOU HAD THE TIME TO EXPERIMENTWITH ANOTHER TYPE OF ART FORM ORMEDIUM, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRYAND WHY?

Throughout my life, I have been fortunateenough to explore other areas, which havebeen very influential to what I do now. Atschool, I did an art foundation, which coveredpainting, sculpture, design, textiles andgraphics. I did 3D design for my undergraduate

studies, which was all about making stuff and Ireally enjoyed working in ceramics, glass,wood and metal. I did a Masters in productdesign and did all sorts of stuff from furnitureto lighting. It is actually trickier for me to findsomething that I haven’t done. All my previousexperiences feed into my digital work. With CGI,anything is possible so to have a good grasp ofthe real world is helpful.

IN YOUR OPINION WHAT DOES IT TAKE TOBECOME A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST IN TODAY’SCOMPETITIVE WORLD?

I think it is about trying to do something that isnew and surprising. The internet is great for

getting your work in front of people. You justhave to work hard to create your own voiceand perspective on things.

HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME ANYOBSTACLES AS AN ARTIST?

I feel very fortunate to have had a successfulcareer and I don’t feel I have had to face anymajor hardships as an artist. When I wasstarting out and building a name for myself Ididn’t make very much money, but I had anabsolute blast working on my own projectsand trying to make fresh innovative work. I

think my only hardship would be youngerartists making work in a similar style to mineand sometimes just going the whole mile andripping off my work.

WHAT ARTISTS HAVE INSPIRED YOU OVERTHE YEARS?

I like Ettore Sottsass, Frank Gehry, and theBouroullec brothers. When I was younger Iwould follow designers and research everythingthey ever did. Things are different now and it’smore about a particular project or image thatattracts me. It is comparable to musicdownloading today; I just buy the track I enjoythe most and not the entire album.

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My background is in product design, so it felt natural for meto design letters as if they were products, food or whatever

else I could think of

HOW DO YOU PROMOTE YOUR WORK?

I publish my work on my website, Behance,Instagram and Facebook. Behance has really grownover the years and provided me with a lot ofexposure. The curators at Behance do very importantwork and I would recommend all artists takeadvantage of it and think hard about how you presentyour projects. My agent, Debut Art, also helpspromote my work directly to clients, which means Ihave a lot of angles covered regarding promotion.

Sneaker ‘Adict’: Having fun with the way you canre-envision something can lead to brilliant designs


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KeyShot ®Amazing renderings and animations. In minutes.

Model by Steve TalkowskiSketchbot.tv

Learn more atkeyshot.com/keyshot-6/

KeyShot 6 is coming soon. For a limited time only, purchase orupgrade KeyShot 5 and receive a free upgrade to KeyShot 6.

Import your model fileinto KeyShot

Drag-and-drop toapply your materials

Set the camera forthe perfect shot

Choose any HDRI tolight your scene


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EYE ON DESIGN PROJECT FOCUS

OscarRamos is a talented concept illustratorrevered for his signature and unique style inthe animation industry.

It all started early on with an absoluteand complete love of drawing, Ramos then quicklyexcelled in both the animation and illustration genre;

“I studied graphic design because I loved to draw as akid and loved toys. Luckily I found exactly what I waslooking for in the design field – the mix of artand functionality.”

Over the years this expertise has led Ramos todevelop artwork for companies such as Coca-Cola andHonda, however this hasn’t been without learningalong the way.

“In earlier commissions, I felt insecure about mywork, now I realise [that], that feeling helped me not just improve my painting and drawing skills, but also tobe a better listener to my clients and art directors.”

Ramos’ ability to deliver outstanding finishedproducts led to him obtaining this quirky and verycreative project from Moose Enterprise. He was askedto create a whole new concept of cars for their TrashPack children’s toys, Trash Wheels.

CAN YOU TELL USA LITTLEABOUT THE

BRIEF YOU WERE GIVEN? WHAT VISUAL

CUES DID YOUR CLIENT WANT FROM YOU?

I received this great brief directly from Moose’sArt Director. They gave me a brief introductionto the brand and a pretty clear idea of the

product. I was told that artwork should becolourful and light yet have lots of contrast.They also sent me some references, butactually ended up referencing some of my ownportfolio, because they wanted my distinctstyle – dynamic, exaggerated and definedshapes, very volumetric and highly detailed.

WERE YOU GIVEN FREE REIN OVER THE

PROJECT OR WERE YOU GIVEN MORE

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS?

At the beginning of the project, they sent me thefirst concept drawing of the toy, to see how Iwould interpret the design into a sketch. Oncethey approved my style, they developedsketches for the rest of the cars based on thefirst sketch I made. From that point, it was justadapting and improving the sketches, until thefinal finished design.

HOW DID YOUR IDEAS EVOLVE THROUGH

THE PRODUCTION STAGE?

I got pretty clear instructions for every pieceand I had to produce many images with thesame quality in [a] short time. Then, Ideveloped [a] better understanding of the keyrequirements for each image: how to createtextures, light, and volume in a simpler waywhilst producing stronger results… I had torevisit my own processes in order to gainspeed without impacting on the quality.

CAN YOU TELL US WHAT YOUR MAIN

STYLISTIC INSPIRATIONS WERE?

Traditional paintings are very inspiring,probably the classical style. I also takeinspiration from illustrators like NormanRockwell or Leyendecker, but at the sametime I like the comic stylings of Mark Rydenand Todd Shorr. More recently, I’ve beenlooking to 3D for inspiration, it has brought

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ramos started his career early bylearning the basics of illustration and

graphic design. After working inanimation-based roles for many

years Ramos then decided to devote100 per cent of his time to illustration.He has since worked with numerousad agencies around the world and for

clients including Coca-Cola, Mazda,Puma, Opel, and Honda.

OSCAR RAMOSwww.piensapositivo.cl

TRASH WHEELSILLUSTRATIONSFOR PACKAGING

NAME OF PROJECT

WE DISCOVER HOW CONCEPT ILLUSTRATOR OSCAR RAMOSAPPROACHED THIS QUIRKY COMMISSION FROM MOOSEENTERPRISE TO DESIGN THEIR TRASH PACK CHILDREN’S TOYS

FUN AND CREATIVECHILDREN’S PACKAGING

Space Dragon illustration


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also saveme a lot of time. For instance, I haveanaction preset to colourfill.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MOST

IMPORTANT AREA TO FOCUS ON WHEN

CREATING AN ILLUSTRATION LIKE THIS?

Definition, definition, definition. All the elementshaveto be pretty clear and easy to read. No partcanbe weak. Despite the fact that this particularproject wasabout gross and dirty cars, there wasno reason to for thepainting to be messy. Even thedirt and worms shouldbe adorable. Everyelementshould be easy to understand, despite beingdamaged or rotten.

me a clear insight into the physics of light. The3D technology adds elements like reflections,opacity and subsurface scattering to the imagein order to produce a realistic effect.

WHICH PHOTOSHOP TOOLS DID YOU FIND

PARTICULARLY USEFUL WHEN APPLYING

YOUR EDITS?

To create my painting style, I use maskselections, Quick Mask mode and layers. I alsotend to use blending modes, transparent pixelsand clipping masks. Not forgetting the classicPen tool and its selections feature – these twoare very important to my work. Action-set tools

WHAT TIPS OR TRICKS WOULD YOU OFFER

TO OTHER ARTISTS LOOKING TO CREATE A

SIMILAR EFFECT?

I think everyone has to look for their own way tokeep an organised workflow. To get a powerfulresult, and a rich image with detail, your imageshould have some kind of order and logicalprogression. In Photoshop I work with manylayers, and try to keep the highest possibledefinition whilst gaining control over my speed.The main idea is to be able to manage every part,to improve integration or contrast on the whole orwhatever is needed to achieve the desired effectof the general composition.

Product pack image

The specular lights are in a dif ferentlayer from the volume. This specificlight helps to improve the idea ofvolume and give an additional pushof realism to the image

Enhance textures in everypossible element. The idea is thatthe picture is funny to look at inevery way. Caricaturing from an

overall more general view, downto the smallest elements

All the images have the samelighting, this is key when creating aseries of images. All should have amain warm light and an opposingcold light helping to suggest volumeand enhance certain textures

Sketches Base colours in each layerAdjusting coloursand rendering volume

Adding texturesand refining shapes Final image


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MEET THE PASSIONATE TEAM WHO HELP BRING IDEAS TO LIFEFOR FILMS, VIDEOGAMES AND INTERACTIVE MEDIA, WORKINGFOR SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST NOTABLE CLIENTS

ATOMHAWK

EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW

018

Creating striking, high-end visuals for hugeblockbuster films, such as Marvel’s Guardiansof the Galaxy , and best-selling videogames,like Mortal Kombat X , it’s hard to believe that

Atomhawk studio is just six years young.It was founded by Ron Ashtiani (creative director and

CEO) with his best creative team from Midway Gamesstudio, which closed in the tough economic times of2009: “We set off on our journey into the creativeservices sector, armed with just our talent, experience

and creative vision.” Since then, the team has workedon eight number-one charting videogames, threeblockbuster films and won five awards. The team itselfhas grown from just four to twenty, and it aims tobecome “the world’s leading design agency for games,film and digital media”.

The studio is based in Gateshead in the north east ofthe UK. Being a relatively small team means that thereis a strong bond. “We all know each other really well;whether we’re hanging out in the games room orhaving lunch together in the kitchen, we’re like a bigfamily,” says Dan Gilmore, lead interactive designer.“Atomhawk is a company totally committed to qualityand design flair, so it’s quite demanding, but there’s agreat community of talented artists and designers herethat all spur each other on to do bigger and betterthings each day.”

As well as the dedicated team, Atomhawk makesthe most of the latest technology and software toachieve its visions. The studio’s high-end visuals relyheavily on the power of Photoshop, especially forcreating concept art for videogames and films, explainshead of operations, Tim Wilson. “This could be anythingfrom a set of stylised character concepts through to thedesign of photorealistic objects and environments.Photoshop is the key tool that we use to create thesedesigns. It allows us to iterate quickly on projects atearly stages, producing sketches for initial approval,then polish the imagery through to an awesome finalstandard. Since we work on such a variety of projects,Photoshop is essential because of how well itintegrates with the rest of the Adobe suite. The UI/UXteam often work in Illustrator and After Effects;incorporating work from the concept art team that wasdone in Photoshop is really straightforward.”

Photoshop is the key tool of the trade for the team,but it does utilise other packages, including 3Dsoftware such as Modo, Autodesk Maya, Z-Brush andKeyshot, which are helpful when creating basecharacter models and block-outs for environments. Interms of hardware, some of the team have found that

Photoshop is the key tool that we use to create thesedesigns. It allows us to iterate quickly on projects at

early stages, producing sketches for initial approval, thenpolish the imagery through to an awesome final standard


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Atomhawk is an award winningdigital art and design studio. It is aleading specialist creative provider ofhigh-end concept art, UI/UX design,2D and 3D animation, motiongraphics and marketing imagery. At just six years old Atomhawk hasalready been involved in majorprojects including work with Marvel.

ATOMHAWKABOUT THE STUDIO

www.atomhawk.com@atomhawk

Dan GilmoreLead interactive designer

Ron AshtianiCreative director and CEO

Tim WilsonHead of operations

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Studio space: “We’re a relatively smallstudio, which is nice because we all knoweach other really well,” says Dan Gilmore


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theWacomCintiqscreenis a realbonus,thanks toitsunique, naturalinterface fordrawing andpainting.

Other areasof thebusiness alsobenefit fromcutting-edge technologyin differentways. “For userinterfacedesign,we often have to work withproprietary systemsso thatour designsfit seamlesslyintothe final product,which could be anything from agame optionsscreen through to a vendingmachinemenu. OurUI/UXteamuses AdobeIllustratorfortraditional2D graphicdesign work andAfterEffectstobring their designsto life,”explains Wilson. “We’ve alsofound thatsoftwareplaysa massive role in successfulproject management. We’veembraced a numberofweb-basedtools,such as Basecamp, to helpus trackandshareprojects.This hasmade a huge positiveimpacton thewaythatwe communicate asa team,resulting in workbeingcompletedfaster.”

Atomhawk is certainly not lacking the talent or thetools, and its impressive client list, which includesMarvel, Sony and Microsoft, means that the studiocan work on the right projects for them. “Whenpossible, we seek out projects where the client iskeen for a creative collaboration,” says Ashtiani.“This is because as artists and designers, wealways like to be involved in the generation ofideas. Plus, with a talented team like ours, we canbe a huge creative resource for our clients.However, we do of course love a well-presentedbrief and the challenge of hitting it in style.”

While Atomhawk might be known forproducingstriking concepts andmarketing art forfilm andvideogames, it is also well versed in interactivemedia design, and the team are no less passionateabout their work in thisarea. “The user interfacedesign we didfor Costa Coffee’snew flagship coffeemachinewas a really interesting project,” saysAshtiani. “Costa engaged with us dueto ourgamesindustry background to develop a UI/UX that wouldbe easy to use, entertaining andvisuallystunning.We also got to work in partnershipwith fellowdesign gurus Pininfarina ( www.pininfarina.com ),whoweredesigning the physical aestheticsof themachine. Theaudio wasbeing developedby SteveBelgrave of EMIXPRO(www.emixpro.com ), whohasworked with bands like U2. It wasinspirational tobepartof a teamwithsuchpedigree and to deliver atrulyground-breakingmachine that has already wona numberof design awards.”

As TimWilson explains,being skilled in the UI/UXarenacouldprove very important with the waythatthe world is developing technologically: “The fact thatwehave a dedicated user interfaceteam means weprovidea service in a very exciting emergingmarketplace. As the world becomes ever moredigital, user interfaceswon’tjust be restricted totraditional screens. UI will be all around us in areaslike packaging, appliances andeven clothing, allofwhichwill requiregreat interface design.”

Growingteam: Atomhawkbegan withateamof four,buthasgrowntobe 20-strong

International clients: The Atomhawkstudios are based in Gateshead, UK, but itworks for a number of international client s

Hard at work: The Atomhawk team workstogether to produce high-end visuals forfilms, videogames and interactive media

Killer Instinct: Atomhawk createdconcept art and marketing art forthis 2013 Microsoft release for theXbox One system


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021021

04 ADDED DEPTHTo add depthto theforest, the artist has madethe trees denser inthe background. Theartistalso uses the trees to framethe characters andreinforce the focalpoint.

03 MORE REFINEMENTThesceneis getting morerefinednow,with foreground details on thefloor andtrees being added in.You cansee how thecharactersare progressingtoo– thegirl pointing offin to thedistancestarts to reveal thestory forthis image.

05 IMAGE SHIFTThe whole image is shifted to the right – by doing this, whatwas becoming a very symmetrical image is now much moreinteresting. Still, more refinement is made to all areas of the image.

02 COLOUR PASSNext, a rough colour pass is done to establish the palette and mood ofthe piece. You can see how the artist has started to solidify the characters too,using lighting to define their shape more.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

01 INITIAL SKETCHHere, the artist has laid down the initial sketch for the scene using justtonal value – the characters are little more than silhouettes at this stage. This iscrucial for getting the composition right.


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040022


A DAY IN THE LIFE OF TIM WILSON

Recently, Atomhawk also had the opportunity towork on the sequel to the huge 2012 success thatwas The Avengers . “Avengers: Age of Ultron forMarvel was a challenging project,” says Ashtiani.

“We’d rolled straight off Guardians of the Galaxy onto Avengers: Age of Ultron , and they were verydifferent beasts. Guardians of the Galaxy was ablank canvas due to there being no previousmovies and the comics were fairly low profile, sowe were creatively very free to reimagine auniverse. The Avengers was one of the biggest-grossing movies of all time, so there was a lot tolive up to and a lot of design work was alreadydone. There was inevitably some pressure inbuilding on that and taking it to the next level – Ithink we managed it though!”

These projects wouldn’t come together soseamlessly without the strength of a close-knitteam behind them, so how do they work together

to meet client expectations?“Communication iskey,” says TimWilson. “We find that clients gainhuge amountsof confidence in us when we createa clear dialogue and set of expectations arounddeliverables and timescales. The production and art

10:00 MEETING TIMEEach week the production teamand principal artists get together to discuss what’son, how the week is panning out and anychallenges on the horizon. By having an openforum early in the week, we make sure we’reprepared for whatever lies ahead!

11:00 ARTIS Every member of the team has aregular meeting with a principal artist andmember of the production team. This is a greattime for two-way feedback and to discuss areaslike training and career development.

13:00 LEARNING LUNCHOnce a month, one of our artiststakes the team through a tutorial of how they workon a specific technique. This week, we learned howCharlie Bowater creates realistic digital skin whenshe paints.

teams work closely with clients at the beginning of aproject to set it up on the correct footing. We shareprogress internally through Basecamp, then withclients on a regular basis at key artwork stages (eg,thumbnail sketches, refined black and white, colourpass, final renders, etc). Within the team we alsohave a lot of industry experience, which helps a lot,especially if a project changes scope and we need tothink fast to keep things on track!”

It is obviously a workflow system that works anddelivers the goods, and seems that the clients agree,as Dan Gilmore explains: “We’ve worked on some ofthe most amazing games and films of the last fewyears – that’s a testament to our devotion to quality.We’ve been working with some of our clients forover five years; what really sets us apart is that we’reviewed by those clients as an indispensable part of

their team. We’re not only providing great images,we’re providing design thinking and creativeleadership too.”

In just six years the Atomhawk team has come sofar, agrees Wilson: “We’re currently recognised asone of the top studios in the world for producing artand design for the games industry. For example, wedesigned a number of the characters andenvironments for Mortal Kombat X , a game that hasbeen a huge critical and commercial success.” Givensuch success all ready, how high is the studio settingits sights going forward? “We’d like to continue towork in the games space, but also to develop furtherrelationships in the film, digital and advertisingsectors, building on those that we already have withthe likes of Marvel and Adam&Eve DDB ( www.adamandeveddb.com ).”

The Avengers was one ofthe biggest-grossing

movies of all time, so there wasa lot to live up to. There wasinevitably some pressure inbuilding on that and taking it tothe next level – I think wemanaged it though!

Dead Island: Riptide: Released in2013, Atomhawk produced the key

marketing artwork that adornedmagazine covers and shop floors

during the game’s release


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5 TIPS FOR ASEAMLESS WORKFLOW

14:00 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTNetworking in the videogamesindustry is often clustered around key trade shows. Thisweek we planned the talks we’ll be giving at upcomingindustry conferences Develop in Brighton and XDS inVancouver, where we’ll share how we created keyvisuals for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy .

16:00 CLIENT BRIEFINGVideo conference call between ourteam and the art directors at Warner Brothers to kickoff a new project. We often work with clients in theUSA, so Skype [has] become a [very] key part of ourday-to-day communications.

18:00 SUBMISSIONSWe send client’s regular artworksubmissions throughout the life of their project. Thisallows them to see things move from sketch to finalpolish, and helps head off any unexpected surprises.Feedback from the USA then lands overnight, readyfor us to get onto in the morning.

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■ CUSTOMISE PHOTOSHOP

Photoshop is a versatile tool; it can be configured to suit your needsand aid your workflow. This may be as simple a s the layout of thewindows that work best for you, through to editing shortcuts.

■ ORGANISE YOUR FILES

Save your files regularly, keep them organised and back them up.There’s nothing worse for professional relations than delivering thewrong work. Back your files up using the cloud or externalhard drives.

■ FLIP THE CANVAS

You may think you have the right composition, but this is just youreyes getting used to what you’re painting. If you flip the canvashorizontally or vertically, your eyes pick up any compositional issues .

■ KEEP IT SEPARATE

It’s easy to get in to the habit of flattening layers, but this makes ithard to adjust a composition later. Try to keep layers for foregroundand background elements separate, as well as characters orkey objects.

■ QUICK COLOUR

When moving from black and white to colour, use a Gradient Mapfilter set to the Color blending mode to quickly experiment withdifferent colour palettes.

The Order 1866: Atomhawk reimagined five iconiccities in the style of The Order : 1886. The game is set i nan alternate history where technology has developedrapidly and mystical beasts abound

What really sets us apart is that we’re viewed by clients as anindispensable part of their team. We’re not only providing great

images, we’re providing design thinking and creative leadership too

KingRoad: Atomhawk createdmarketing images for Rumble Games’epic online role-playing action game

featuring key characters from thetroubled lands of Alderstone


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Between takes: “A little extra Clarity from insideCamera Raw helps enhance a male’s chiselled

features, and brings a gritty edge to the image. It canbring intrigue to an otherwise uninteresting image”

Before


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JOHN ROSS’EXPERT GUIDE TONATURAL RETOUCHINGTHIS PROFESSIONAL RETOUCHER SHARES HIS KEY TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOURIMAGES AND EXPLAINS THE PROCESS BEHIND THIS ISSUE’S COVER IMAGE

John Ross’ career has always involved

cleaning up images in some way oranother. Having graduated from studyingillustration and commercial design, he

took a job at Marvel. “My job was to make smallchanges like fixing hands or hair, but the artneeded to match the original artist’s style,” heexplains. Eight years ago, after working in theprint industry for 15 years, Ross decided that itwas time for a change. “I found a job [as] aphotographer’s studio manager, and one of therequirements was to do retouching. The style ofshooting involved complicated lighting andsituations. I became very skilled in Photoshop byfixing basic issues in a way that you couldhopefully never tell what I’ve done. I’ve always

strived to be as realistic and natural as possible.My job as a retoucher is to support thephotographer, not overpower him with myown style.”

“Primarily I do lifestyle and portraits,” Rosscontinues. “It could be pretty models or CEOs ofcompanies. It could be under harsh sunlight at thepark, or in a darkened boardroom with crosslighting from multiple sources. I need to be veryflexible and able to handle complicated situations.Very rarely do I work with controlled lighting in astudio shoot.” This is a challenge that manyretouchers will face – enhancing not thealmost-perfection of a controlled studio image(which people may expect to look a little too

perfect), but a less formal shot, which needs tolook completely natural.

“My goal is to create the perfect photograph, notthe perfect piece of art. I want the photographer tobe proud of his image and not think about how Ifixed it. It’s like plastic surgery, if you can tell theywere altered, then the surgeon didn’t do a verygood job.”

So what are the key techniques would-be proretouchers need to learn? “The two mostimportant skills I would say you need to learn are A l l

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cloning and masking. The common point in both

of those cases is that it’s about the brushwork.You need to get very comfortable at painting,preferably with a Wacom tablet.”

Retouching can be a controversial career, butfor Ross the debates surrounding it boil down tohow industry demands affect the work itself, oftenpushing retouchers’ work beyond the boundariesof believable. “I think most of the problem istalking about all these different techniques tosmooth out skin and give that porcelain look. Thatleads people to think they need to use FrequencySeparation or Apply Image. I can honestly say thatI’ve never used those techniques on a singleimage of mine. Thereare other ways to achievethesame endresult.”

John Ross nowshares theskills that he hasbuiltup throughout his professionalcareer, havingfounded TheArt of Retouching ( www.theartofretouching.com ) in 2010. Determined to changetheway that peoplelearnedretouchingandPhotoshopskills, he setup hissite andpacked itwith thecontent that he believes Photoshopusers

JOHN ROSSwww.TheArtofRetouching.com@ArtofRetouching

OUR EXPERT

John educates photographers andretouchers by helping them expand theircreativity through Photoshop from hiswebsite, and the classes he teachesfrom New Haven, Connecticut.

Boxer: “I used high contrast andbold colours to convey the emotionbehind the shot. I love expressingmy creativity further through toneand colour manipulation”

I’ve always strived to be asrealistic and natural as possible.My job as a retoucher is to supportthe photographer, not overpowerhim with my own style

Before


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and would-be retouchers really need. “I have freevideos for every skill level from basic to professional.On the basic side I have many five-minute videos thathelp get people started in a very non-threatening way.Everything is very easy to follow. For professionals Ihave videos that go up to an hour that talk aboutbeing a professional in the industry and the differentchallenges that I face behind the scenes. I also offerthree paid courses that go from basics tointermediate level retouching. I have two otheradvanced courses that I am still developing. It justtakes so much time to put it all together. I tell youthough, when I see a student get from one side to theother, all that trouble is so worth it.”

He does see many students who struggle, and thisaffects the quality of their retouching work. “Anybodywith a computer and $10 can now use Photoshop.Many people taught themselves, and they lack theskill set or proper control over the tools. They don’t

know what they are looking for, or how to fixit…Cloning is a topic students struggle with. They need todevelopthehand-eyecoordination, and it just takestime to practice. Another bigone is nothaving acalibrated monitor. Theywill bring in homeworkassignments andthe colourand tone are allovertheplace.So I help them with what they shouldbepurchasing. Anothercommon issueis randomlayering.A core fundamental I teach is whichlayertypegoes where for bestresults, and easiest editing.”

Thelaboriousworkflowrequired of a retoucher canalso affectthe quality of a final image,tipping it over thefine line between believableand fake. “Whenyouspendover seven hours retouching, it’s very easy tooverworkit. I doit too,”Ross admits. “Ialwaystry toremindmyself thatmy goalis tolookas if[theimage] camestraight outof thecamera. If somethingno longermatches that, then itneeds tobe fixed if possible…[Also], when I sitthere staring forhourson end,it’s

028

reallyeasyto havemy eyesglaze overand mytonalrange flatten out. So,periodicallyI will have Lightroomautomaticallyhandle thecontrastand that helps snapmy brain back into what’s visually appealingasopposedto being stuckin theflat midtones.”

Ross typically works between Camera Raw,Lightroom and Photoshop, pointing out thateach hasspecific functionality thatthe others don’t and thatallof them are necessaryto his workflow. “My file layersare alwaysbuiltthe same [way].Not only is itpredictable, but amazinglyefficient. My adjustmentlayersare on topof pixel layers, whichareon topofSmart Objects.It’s very easy forme to makealterations on one layer without affectingpreviouschanges on other layers,” hesays. Ross also believes“All the best retouchers know five differentwaysto doanything.Because sometimes one way justdoesn’twork. That means youneed to know many differentways to approachthe sameproblem.”

Want to learn how to manage an efficient,non-destructive workflow, get the most fromPhotoshop and master the key skills you need to

become a pro retoucher? John Ross is holding anall-day Beauty and Fashion Studio Workflow classin East Norwich, NY, on 4 October 2015. Coveringeverything from shooting to final edits, this is yourchance to see him at work, and to ask thosePhotoshop questions you have been dying toknow. Not only will you enhance your Photoshopand photography skills, but you will also learnabout what it takes to succeed in the industry– whether you’re a freelancer, a retouchingnewbie, or an aspiring photographer.

THE RETOUCHING PRO WILL BE LEADING A BEAUTY AND FASHION STUDIOWORKFLOW CLASS IN LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK ON 4 OCTOBER 2015

JOIN JOHN ROSS FOR A RETOUCHING MASTERCLASS

Prices were still to be confirmed at the time ofgoing to press. The event is being held at PineHollow Country Club, 6601 Route 25A, East

Norwich, NY 11732, USA on 4 October 2015. Formore information and to book, visit www.TheArtofRetouching.com/beauty-fashion-event .“For those who can’t make it,” says Ross, “Theevent will also be available live streaming over theinternet. We really are trying to reach as manypeople as we can, with quality professional adviceon getting started as a retoucher or photographerin the industry. Once you have a solid roadmap tofollow from beginning to end, it all makes perfectsense. That’s what I hope to share with everyone.”

American inspiration: “Because

the model was so expressive atthis shoot, I chose to go with ahyper-contrasted image with

bold bright colours”

Before


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029

1. START IN RAW Start your image processingwith a RAW processor likeCamera Raw or Lightroombefore bringing it intoPhotoshop. Remember thatthose tools are designedspecifically for photographs,and you will achieve thedesired results faster and withgreater accuracy.

2. DON’T GO TOOCLOSE UP Unless you expect the imagewill be printed at 400%, thendon’t work in Photoshop thatway. Stop pixel-peeping; noone will ever see that detail butyou. Be concerned more withthe overall impression than thetechnical precision.

3. VIEW IN TWOWINDOWS Go to Window>Arrange>NewWindow to create a seconddisplay of the image. You cankeep one window zoomed out,while you zoom in for moredetailed work. This will keepyou focused on how everythinglooks at once, without getting

pulled into every single detail.

7. KNOW YOURADJUSTMENT TOOLSThe primary adjustment layers inPhotoshop are Curves, SelectiveColor, and Hue/Saturation. Youcan do anything with these threeadjustments. For more variety,you can add Levels, Vibrance andBlack and White to control yourcolours and tones. If you followthis tip, all the other adjustmentscan be ignored.

8. MASTERMASKING TOOLSMasking with Color Range andQuick Mask are the keys tosuccess in Photoshop. Thecombination of these will allow

you [to] make quick and accuratemasks for all of your adjustmentlayers. Once you become familiarwith these, all the other tools likeMagic Wand, Quick Selection andLasso become less useful.

9. QUICKLY VIEWBEFORE AND AFTERYou will often want to view beforeand after changes. Try holdingdown the Alt/Opt button and clickon the eye of the single layer youwould like to view. This will savethe trouble of clicking off and oneach of the individual layers.

10. TAKE YOUR TIMEUPDATING SOFTWAREWhen CC 2014 came out, plug-ins,actions, filters and scripts weretemporarily broken. When CC 2015was released, the Healing brushbecame completely unusable for awhile. When new versions ofPhotoshop are available, do notupdate it on your primaryproduction computer. At the veryleast, keep the previous versionaround just in case.

6. TONE IS MOREIMPORTANTTHAN COLOURUse a temporary Black and Whiteadjustment layer to ensure yourtones flow through the imagewith highlights and shadows in away that enhances the viewingexperience. Remember, tonetrumps colour. This is becausecolour can be wrong and still lookgood. However, if the tone iswrong, it looks obvious.

5. LEARN LIGHTSCULPTINGTECHNIQUES By understanding that the eye isdrawn to light areas instead ofdark areas, you can manipulatewhere someone is drawn towhen looking at the image. Thisis referred to as light sculpting,and it allows you to enhance theviewing experience by drawingthe attention to the mostimportant areas like faces.

4. USE SMARTOBJECTSAND FILTERS Smart Objects and SmartFilters will greatly enhanceyour workflow. This is becauseall of your settings and slidersfor each of your filters arealways available for you totweak and adjust wheneveryou want. The strength is thatyou can always jump aroundto different sections withoutbeing locked into anything.

JOHN ROSS’ TOP TENRETOUCHING TIPSESSENTIAL ADVICE TO HELP YOU IMPROVEYOUR RETOUCHING TECHNIQUES

Mermaid beauty: “I wanted to use a softerand warmer palette with only a hint of blue.

The image wasn’t the sharpest, so I usedFilters>Sharpen>Shake Reduction to avoid

sharpening the noise too”

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031

NATURAL BEAUTY RETOUCHING TECHNIQUES

LEARN HOW TO RETOUCH A NATURALAND FRESH LOOKING BEAUTY PIECE

NATURAL BEAUTYRETOUCHINGB

eauty retouching getsa badreputationbecause all too often, the changes getpushed to an extreme, andthe image losesall senseof what is realistic. When you

know howto work the subtlemagic of Photoshop,you can bring out thebeauty in any given piece —flaws andall.

When youthink about the purpose of beauty

retouching,you would most likely want to createthe perfect image — one that’s flawless andwithout blemish. However, the truth of retouchinglies in the flaws that you leave behind. The realtrick of it is to knowwhich details to correct, and

GENERAL CORRECTIONSDOSOMEHOUSEKEEPING, THEN DIRECT YOURVIEWER’SEYE TOWHEREIT SHOULDBE

which imperfections to leave behind. Retouchingevery single detail can be overkill, and subtle isalways best. Whenever you leave behind a stray hair,a birthmark, or a simple patch of a model’s naturallygifted freckles, you keep a photo looking fresh andreal at the same time.

Remember, once you are done retouching yourphoto, your viewer should not be able to notice that

anything changed at all, except that the photo looksamazing. Leave a few imperfections tode-emphasize the overall perfection you are strivingfor. After all, true beauty doesn’t need to call forattention, so why should your retouching?

01 HAVE CLEAR OBJECTIVESCompile a list of items that will need to beaddressed. Is the overall image too bright, too flat, oreven too green? Take note of the following: clumpyeyelashes, flyaway hairs, skin discolourations, tiltedframe, etc. Armed with the most obvious changesthat are needed, you can envision what needs to beworked on first, and what can wait until last.

02 START WITH GEOMETRIC ISSUESGeometry should often come first. Askyourself if your photo is tilted, or if the perspective isoff. Drag a guide out from the rulers to the centre ofthe subject’s face. Double-click on the Backgroundlayer, then click OK so that it becomes editable. Thenrotate it with Edit>Free Transform so that the face issquare in the frame.

03 USE LIQUIFY TO RESHAPEIn order to refine the misaligned areas in animage, use Filter>Liquify to reduce the nose anddrop down the hairline. Be sure to click AdvancedMode, and lower the Pressure to 15. You can alsocentre the lips and reshape them. Remember to gosubtly and you should do just fine.

THE SUBTLETRANSFORMATIONOF BEAUTY

WORK INPROGRESS

Progress 1: General changes

Progress 2: Detailed work

Progress 3: Refinements

JOHN ROSSwww.TheArtofRetouching.com@ArtofRetouching

OUR EXPERT

John educates photographersand retouchers by helping themexpand their creativity throughPhotoshop from his website,and the classes he teaches fromNew Haven, Connecticut.

SOURCE FILESYou may purchase the main imagefrom http://bit.ly/1Ti4NHU and youcan find supporting images for thehair and skin on www.filesilo.co.uk/advancedphotoshop .


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TECHNIQUES NATURAL BEAUTY RETOUCHING

QUICK TIP: MANAGE LIGHTS AND DARKS

The play of lights and darks creates much-neededdepth on flat paper. Make sure that the face is thebrightest area of the photo, i.e. the eyes, nose, andmouth. Be careful not to make the whites of theeyes and teeth too bright, though. They are curves,so there should be some lights and shadows asthe objects contour around.

04 CORRECT THE TONE AND COLOURThe next issues that you should concern yourself with are your basic colourand tonal corrections. This kind of adjustment cannot always be efficiently done insidePhotoshop itself. What you need instead is to make your corrections with Filter>Camera Raw. Camera Raw helps you balance your image with just a few slideradjustments. General changes can be within the Basic panel, but more targetedchanges can be done with the Adjustment brush. You canmask different areas andexperiment with colour and tone to see which adjustments can enhancethe image.

05 GUIDE YOUR VIEWER’S EYEThe most important areas of this portrait are the eyes, nose, and lips.Eyes and teeth are not necessarily the brightest parts, because they will lookout of place. However, the centre area of the face would generally be thebrightest and possibly the most colourful. To do this, you should darken thelower areas of your photo with a Gradient inside Camera Raw. This not onlyadds depth to your image, but it also subtly forces your eye back up to thelighter areas of your model’s face.

06 CHECK YOUR TONEWhen you’re nose-deep in a project, it’seasy to get lost in the details and forget the overalltone of your image. Sometimes, you need to stepback and check how you’re doing. Simply removethe colour in your photo and view the image inblack and white. This will help you to understandhow the tones affect the image. At this early stage,the tonal balance doesn’t need to be perfect.What’s crucial is that you’re able to establish howthe viewer’s eye should navigate the image.

07 CLEAN UP YOUR IMAGENow that you’ve got the core issues fixed,it’s time to start cleaning up your image. Use theHealing brush to remove the stray hairs, thediscoloured skin, and the other blemishes. To start,create a new blank layer and name it Cloning (alwaysmake a habit of naming your layers properly to avoidconfusion in the future). Move fairly quickly throughthe entire image. Get rid of the worst and mostobvious imperfections. Don’t worry about the finerdetails; just do a general clean-up.

08 BE DELIBERATEWhen cloning and healing, especially in abeauty piece, be sure to follow along the contoursof the textures. Don’t just randomly cover over thehairs and blemishes if you don’t want your imageto end up looking like you went crazy with theCloning brush. Try to be as deliberate as you canwith each click. Remember that every stroke needsto have a purpose, especially since you want youradjustments to look as subtle as possible.

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12BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR COLOURS

Parts of the hair are reflecting a warmbrown colour, and other areas are a cooler bluecolour. Use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer set to0-15-0, with Colorize checked. Select the layer maskand use Edit>Fill Color>Black. Then paint with awhite brush, to bring back the warmer brown colourover the top of the cooler areas. This is to make itmore consistent. To make the hair on the shouldermore full, add some hair extensions from anothermodel. Find similar hair, and then use Filter>Liquifyto better match the natural contours.

11IMPROVE THE EYE AREA

At first glance, the eyebrows of the modelare just too clean and perfect. Bear in mind thatsometimes, the most perfect details are the onesthat look the most unnatural. To remedy this, replacethe eyebrows from another model. Correct thecolour to match the hairs as well. Then, use Filter>Liquify to touch up and adjust the eyebrow shape alittle more. Also paint in eyelashes with a very smallbrush. Use two layers, one for dark lashes and onefor light lashes. Then you can adjust the layer’sopacity as desired.

13 CLONE ON THE HAIRSometimes, areas are too complex andrequire the Spot Healing Brush set to Content Aware.This tool has come a long way since its introduction,and no longer needs to be avoided. This will allowyou to remove the thin hair, and let Photoshopautomatically match the surrounding areas. Continueto remove stray strands by cloning in the areaswhere hair generally goes in one direction andrandom ones go the other way. Many, but not all ofthem, need to be removed.

10 ACCENTUATE THE LIPSTo makethe lips ofthe model lookirresistible, soften the lips with the Healing brush.Remove the worst looking cracks, and thenreplace the lips with a similarlyshaped, but nicelylit shine. Resizewith Edit>Free Transform, andmixlayers with the Blend Mode>Lighter Color.This will emphasise the lustrous shine on the lips.Afterwards, colourise the lips with Layer>Adjustment Layers>Black and White, and enablea Tint. Doing it this way willallow you to bettermixand blend using the various sliders.

09DO SOME SKIN GRAFTING

Sometimes the image might not have all the detail you need. Missing pores and other texturesare common problems. When that happens, turn to skin grafting. This is when you take parts fromanother similar image, and composite them together. By matching the colour and tone, you can blendthe similar areas from the two images together.

ALL ABOUT GRAFTINGCOMPOSITING FROM ALTERNATIVE IMAGES HELPS YOU PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS

001 NECK GRAFTINGThere are too many loose hairs, soreplace the neck with a similar image.Match the colour and blend in the sides

002 FACE GRAFTINGOther problem areas include theforehead, cheeks and chin. You will needto take a similar image and graft as well

003 PAINTING DETAILS BACK Sections of skin have detail while othershave little. Place the alternate image anduse a layer mask to paint details back in

001

003

002

The truth of retouchinglies in the flaws that you

leave behind

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OVERALL LOOK AND FEELDETERMINE THE TONE OF YOUR BEAUTY PIECE BY PLAYING WITH LIGHT AND SHADOWS

TECHNIQUES NATURAL BEAUTY RETOUCHING

QUICK TIP: KEEP IT SUBTLE

Remember: always apply your adjustments andeffects with control. The only time your audienceshould be able to see what you’ve truly done iswhen you show them the before and the afterphotos – that is when they will see the small, butsignificant changes you’ve made.

WORKSMART IN PHOTOSHOP

Retouching a beauty piece cannot be done in onego. Therewill likelybe misplacedlayers, incorrectcloning, andfrustrating do-overs. As youwork ona varietyof images, knowing how to use all thesliders andbuttons in Photoshop is important. Butevenmore so, you needto createa workflow thatwillgive fast, consistent, and repeatableresults.For example, create a list ofchanges to use asaguide so youdon’tmiss anything. Use SmartObjects and adjustment layers for non-destructiveediting. Finally, learn andrely on techniques thatprove themselves invaluable time and again.

14 DODGE AND BURNThe eyes are the windows to the soul, sopay as much attention to them as you can,especially in a beauty piece. To truly make thoseeyes pop, add highlights and shadows to them witha dodge and burn technique. If you’ll notice, the

eyes from the original image were flat and lackedany real punch. By adding lights and shadows, youcan add more contour and curvature to otherwisedull features in your beauty model.

15 USE CURVES TO DODGE AND BURNOne way to Dodge and Burn is to useCurves. Create two Curves adjustment layers and fillthe masks with Edit>Fill>Black to create a blackmask instead of a white mask. One Curve should bepulled up for lightening, while the other Curve pulleddown should be for darkening. Now, you can use a

white paint brush set to 10% or 20% on the layermask to start brushing in areas that you want tomake lighter or darker, depending on which layermask you paint on.

16 ADD SHADOWS TO THE FACEWhile you are doing all of these generaladjustments in tone, don’t forget to do the same forthe face of your model as well. Go ahead and addsome lights and shadows to the face. You may beable to use the same Curves layer that was usedfor the eyes if you want. For more control, create anew set of light and dark Curves just like before. Abonus tip is that you can create a Window>Actions>New Action to automatically create and name these

Curves layers for you.

17 USE IRIS BLURWhen you have finished all the retouching,and want to call this image complete, do one last thingto really help it sing. Select the top layer and hit Cmd/Ctrl+Alt/Option+Shift+E. Photoshop will merge a copyof all visible layers onto a new layer right on top. UseFilter>Blur Gallery>Iris Blur and adjust the default ovalto better match the face shape. Leave the blur at 15px,

and click OK to add Depth of Field.

18 MIND THE OVERALL COLOUR PALETTENotice how the colour palette of thisimage mixes yellows, reds, and browns. Did youfind it odd that the overall palette is a verymonotonous colour scheme? That, too, isdeliberate. The only deviation is the eye colour.

While it still has some brown in it, it is the only area inthe entire image that uses green. With the face beingthe brightest part of the image, it naturally draws theviewer’s eye in. It’s this shift in colour that furtherrefines the important area of the portrait.


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PARADISE COVEPEDROFERNANDES

Pedro Fernandes is well aware of hiscompany’s reputation, and says, “Asmany may know… Arqui9 Visualisation(www.arqui9.com ) specialises in

architectural visualisation, and [our] peculiarpost-produced images… end up having a particularlook to them. The most important idea I alwaystransmit, is to think of a visual as if it were a movie.”

ARQUI9 IS KNOWN FOR ITS EYE CATCHING ARCH VIS IMAGES.PEDRO FERNANDES EXPLAINS THE PROCESS BEHIND THEM

What he means is that Arqui9’s still images areapproached in the same way a director approachesthe workflow of a film – the initial footage (or in thiscase, image) is shot or rendered in a basic state, 2Dand 3D VFX are added, lights, dust, particles andother atmospheric enhancements are sprinkledliberally, and then the final grading of colour andtone happens. “This is generally the workflow we

try and follow and it has worked for the majority ofthe images we produce,” Fernandes observes.“Before any process begins we often do somequick research and brainstorm various ideas for avisual. In this case we were inspired by thesaturated bluish and green tones with white sandsand how they correlate directly to our usualpreconceptions of a beach paradise.“

The most important idea Ialways transmit, is to think

of a visual as if it were a movie

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03 BREAKING DOWN THE IMAGEFrom the very first initial sketches andmockups, the distinction between foreground,midground and background was always an importantelement, not only because of the one-pointperspective, but also to give as much of a storylineand the maximum visual interest as possible.

01 RAW RENDER FROM 3D RENDER ENGINEIt all starts with a low quality raw render,simple and without overdone textures or 3Delements. It’s important to develop a sense of lightand shadow; this is the starting point for the rest ofthe drawing. I say drawing as it’s still an initial artconcept with allits flexibility.

02 3D PASSESThese are our base elements that areused for facilitating selections, for enhancinglight and atmospheric lighting conditions. Onceagain these aren’t set in stone and depend onthe creative use we give to them, for instance inthis case we used a Raw Shadow pass tocontrol the bluish tones of the shadows, havingset this to Screen mode with a Hue/Saturationadjustment layer attached to it.

HOW I MADE TECHNIQUES

© Pedro Fern


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“Our motto is ‘Architectural stories throughimages’, which represents our way ofinterpreting a visual. Visuals are about thesubstance that is involved, the architecture andhow it relates to the lives of those who livearound it. Only time will tell if our interpretationslive up to reality. These stories help the viewerinterpret, apprehend and feel the spaces that

are being created. For example, the backgroundhere mixes leisure and activities and of coursesomeone taking a photo with a selfie stick. Inorder to make a great visual you mustunderstand how the brain interprets informationand what it expects to encounter, you must leadthe eye through a series of loops, controlled byboth technical and emotional qualities in anypiece. A great technical piece will notnecessarily make it a great artistic piece.”

ACCORDING TO ARQUI9, THIS IS PROBABLY THEMOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF ANY IMAGE

STORYTELLING SECRETS

TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE

06 INDIVIDUAL CORRECTIONSThe foreground has quite heavily contrasted trees, whichproject dark shadows with a mix of light. This helps to frame the mainbuilding’s form and gradually provide steps to lead our eye to it. Behindthe main building, in regards to the vegetation, we elevated the blackvalue with a Curves adjustment and then added more colour in the bluechannel to match the tint that the sky would project onto the vegetation.

05 COLOUR CORRECTGenerally once we have the value set wethen adjust saturation values (generally creating lesssaturation with a Desaturate adjustment layer) andthen colour-correct. As a very final touch we add adodge layer, which we paint black and then brush inwith little bits of light to emphasise.

07 ADD EXTRA LIGHTINGWe can also use this phase to add extra lighting effects, be itdust or particles in the air, painted with a brush that has scatteringactivated or simply painting the lens flare effect on bright spots with aSoft brush. This can also be applied to water effect glare.

08 FINAL GRADINGAs with any film footage we usually add our final grading at the end. Grading isone of our preferred phases, as it very quickly enables us to give [a] totally different feelingto an image within a matter of seconds. We usually use a Hue/Saturation layer set toColorize and with the blend mode set to Soft Light. This will enable a very quick grade,which we can then fine-tune through Color Balance and Curves adjustments.

04VALUE CHECK

We adjust the white and black points tomatch the plate or depth values. For instance, thefurther back in space an element is, the less contrastand saturation it has, due to the haze and

atmosphere in the scene. This of course canvary in accordance with climate, time of dayand geography – that’s why having a solidphoto reference base is essential.


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