Advanced_Photoshop_Issue_136_-_2015_UK_

CREATE A SCIFI COMPOSITE FROM PHOTOS TECHNIQUES

EDITANDCOMBINEORDINARYSTOCKPHOTOSTOCREATE

ACOMPOSITEILLUSTRATIONTHAT’SOUTOFTHISWORLD

CREATE A SCIFI

COMPOSITE

FROM PHOTOS

S

ci-fi cityscapes are often towering

metropolises packed with futuristic

architecture, and you may sometimes

wonder how to even get started with

illustrating one. Take a tip from the likes ofBlade

Runnerand use today’s architecture as a basis.

This tutorial demonstrates how photos of

everyday buildings, environments and structures

can be edited and combined to create the city of

the future in Photoshop.

Start by assembling a portfolio of images.

We’ve linked to images from iStock throughout

this tutorial, but there are lots of free stock sites

SET THE BASIS FOR THE SCENE

CREATE THE BACKDROP AND SKY THEN START BUILDING THE CITY

like Pixabay, Free Images and Unsplash that are

perfect for sourcing cityscape photos. Try to

make sure that all of the photos you choose are

lit from the same direction, or choose photos that

you can flip, rotate or warp to make sure that the

light’s in the right place. Lighting is what makes

or breaks a composite.

Once you’ve assembled the requisite pieces –

look for towers, skyscrapers, and neon signs, as

well as a suitable backdrop and sky – it’s time to

take your photos into Photoshop and use masking,

adjustment layers and several other tricks to unify

them into one futuristic cityscape image.

01

SET UP THE SCENE

Create a new document, with a background

colour of #7bc7ee. At full size this illustration is

235mm x 302mm and 300dpi – on some machines

you may prefer to work smaller. This will help with

processing, and also enable you to use medium

resolution comp images. You can download from

sites like iStock and use these non-commercially.

02

ADD THE DESERT BACKGROUND

Find a picture of a desert for the

background (iStock 11662814). Scale (Edit>

Transform>Scale) and place the horizon just below

the centre of the page, so that the viewer will have a

slightly elevated position – above the streets but

below the towers. This will also help the viewer

read across the action. Go to Layer>Layer Mask>

Reveal All. Press D on your keyboard to select the

colour black, and use the Gradient tool to fade the

top of the photo to the blue of the canvas.

03

INSERT THE SKY

Find a picture of a blue but brooding sky

(iStock 10830462) for the top of the image. With the

Gradient tool, mask up this time, then give the mask

a more curved look by airbrushing out with black,

and back in with white. This is best achieved with a

Soft Round brush, with Shape Dynamics switched

off, and Hardness at 0%. Keep Flow low, at around

1%, and certainly no more than 10.

FROM PHOTO BASE TO

3#)˶&) #)49

WORK IN

PROGRESS

Progress 1: Prepare for

the cityscape

Progress 2: Start to

add buildings

Progress 3: Make adjustments

JOE ROBERTS

JoeRoberts.co.uk

@Joe_R_Roberts

OUR EXPERT

Joe Roberts is a digital artist based

in London, with 20 years experience,

specialising in book covers and

game art.

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