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[taikara]

This is an intermediate tutorial that will allow you to create an abstract, somewhat colorblocked effect, like so:



Software used: Photshop 7.0

Requirements:

• Basic knowledge of Photoshop
• Photograph, at least 600px x 600px
• Magic's Creating Your Own Brushes Tutorial

Step 1:

Open your picture.

I started with this one (from my gallery):



Go to Image > Mode > Grayscale, and discard the color information.

My Result

Step 2:

Follow Magic's Creating Your Own Brushes Tutorial, and make the photo into a brush.

Step 3:

Open a new file. Set the dimensions like so:



Fill the new image with white.

Step 4:

Select the Brush tool, and choose your newly created Photobrush. In the Brush Tools menu (at the top of the window), make your settings like so:



Set the foreground color to black, and randomly click the brush around the canvas. Do not drag the brush!

After a bunch of clicks, you should end up with something that looks like this:



Step 5:

Create a new layer.

Fill the new layer with black.

Set the blending mode to Screen, like so:



Set your foreground color to white, and once again, randomly click with your Photobrush... do not drag!

If you feel like it, you can set the foreground color to black again, and touch up the second layer if you feel there's too much white, it's unnecessary to create another layer.

Step 6:

Select the bottom layer and colorize it. (To colorize, press Ctrl+U, or go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, and click on the Colorize checkbox, then fiddle with the settings until you achieve the desired color.)

Repeat this process for the second layer, selecting a complementary color.

Yay! You should now have something like this:



Step 7:

Select an interesting area to use for your sig or banner, and the end result:



Note: The photo you use will greatly affect the results you achieve, dependent on how much black/white/gray it has after it's been grayscaled. I used two different photos for the example above and for the result of this tutorial, so you can see what I mean. Have fun, and don't be afraid to play around.

You can actually drag the Photobrush, but it won't have that clean, slightly lined colorblockish look to the final result - you'll just end up with something more like a Basic Brushed Background.