Photoshop Creative Issue

C

hristian Orrillo is an artist who knows a lot about intensity,

whether he’s creating something incredibly detailed or colourful.

His brightly hued portraits have racked up over 25,000 views on

Behance, but his digital art journey had humble beginnings. “Photoshop

is and has been for a long time my first digital creative tool,” he says. “I

remember the first time I used it in 2002, when I drew and painted my

own characters using the Brush tool and a mouse.”

Over the years, he’s developed more than just his trademark

iridescent style with the program. “I intuitively learned to use my

favourite tools such as the Brush, Liquify, Smudge. Without these tools

I cannot imagine creating what I currently make.” It’s clear that such a

unique style takes time to evolve, and Christian’s mastery of the more

digital art-focused tools in Photoshop is thanks to time and practice.

With a great eye for colour and detail, his work looks steeped in

traditional art influences, but Christian says he loves working in

Photoshop. “I really enjoy drawing and painting a lot in Photoshop,

experimenting with different brushes and textures. I also like to use

photo-editing tools to give a realistic touch to my art.”

How Christian Orrillo created a beautifully iridescent

Amniotic self-portrait from a Photoshop brush sketch

Essentials

Time taken

48 hours

http://www.thepixelprositess.com

@thepixelprosites

The artist

“I’m Christian

Orrillo, better

known as

Krizpi, and I’m

a self-taught,

contemporary Peruvian

artist. My work expresses

many personal concepts

related with the fantasy

world, full of beautiful

characters and dreamlike

scenes. Surrealism and

classical beauty are constant

elements in my work,

embellished by an iridescent

colour palette and influenced

by the aesthetic of anime,

manga art and pop culture.

You can find more of my work

at http://www.behance.net/krizpi.”

Christian Orrillo

Making a sketch

01

I made a rough sketch of what I had

on my mind; in this case, a close-up

of my face to which I wanted to incorporate a

kind of circular shape as a space helmet. I

usually use a brush with a graphite pencil

texture to sketch and draw on white canvas.

Defining shape

02

Once I have defined the basic

composition, I add strokes of colour

and experiment with textures. Here, I played

with the contrast between pink and blue and

added volume to the character, painting soft

shadows and some delicate highlights.

Finishing the piece

03

I then started to focus on details,

such as thin strands of hair, little

sparks around the face, highlights on the

eyes, texture on the lips and the bubble over

the head. This required extra work to paint all

the iridescent colours and reflections.

How I made Amniotic