24 DIGITAL CAMERA^ DECEMBER 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
efore you try this yourself,
go and get some inspiration
from the Cubist, Surrealist
and abstract artists and
photographers of the 20th
Century: the likes of Picasso and Dali. They
will help you get the right look and feel for your
image. Study their works to see which parts
of their images they reveal or hide to create an
abstract feeling with still-identifiable features.
I only used one photo for this project, but
you could do it with several. I opted to use
a square/rectangle shape, but you could
use another shape. A triangle or circle
motif could also look effective.
If you find a part of your image looks
pixellated when you enlarge it, open your
starting image, then reduce the size by
half (Image > Image Size). Save this image
separately from the full-size version and
keep both open. Start working with the
reduced-size image, then instead of
duplicating the background layer in
step 1, import the full-size image across.B
Mix-up
montage
Claire Gillo makes a
disjointed portrait by
mixing up the angles4 | PHOTOSHOP1
Duplicate
the layer
Open your starting image and
duplicate the Background Layer. (Right-
click the layer in the Layers Panel and
select Duplicate Layer.) Next go to the
Rectangle Tool (or Custom Shape if you
want to use another shape) and draw
a small square or rectangle on your
image. This automatically goes
in as a new layer.2
Create a
Clipping Mask
Move the duplicated
Background layer above the newly
created Rectangle layer. Right-click on
the layer and select Create Clipping
Mask. Next, choose the Move Tool, press
Ctrl/Cmd+T to bring up the Transform
tools and enlarge the image to zoom in
on one part (like an eye or an ear). You
can play around with the scale and
position of the image in the square.3
Keep repeating
and build
To move the shape around
the image, make sure both layers are
selected and use the Move Tool. It’s then
a case of repeating the steps until you
have a final abstract image you’re happy
with. At the end stage, you can convert
your image to black and white by adding
a Black & White Adjustment layer or
tweaking the Curves settings.