CREATING ADV ITH IMPACT IS A SKILL THAT TAKES YEARS
TO PERFECT. PRO DIGITAL ARTISTS AND PRODUCTION STUDIOS EXPLAIN ALL
Designed by Noem9 Studio © 2015- USE GRADIENT MAP LAYERS FOR IMPACT
Art director Jose Garrido (www.noem9studio.
com) creates elaborate illustrations for his clients,
and Photoshop is where the important final
touches and finishing effects are put in place:
“When it comes to working on illustrations [and]
letterings, Photoshop is always the program where
I import my vector files or 3D renders to add cool
effects and last details. I couldn’t get any of my
results without going through Photoshop; it’s
where the illustrations finally come alive. You can
use Illustrator or Cinema 4D to create a complete
illustration, but even when you think it’s perfect,
importing it to Photoshop and playing around with
colours and adjustment layers will create a much
richer final artwork.”
He uses a wide variety of different tools in the
program, but he has his particular favourites: “My
most used elements in Photoshop are the
adjustment layers. I always use them for colour
correction and adding depth in any illustration. AGradient Map layer, mixed with a Levels layer and
a couple of subtle noise layers, on top of an image
can work wonders.
“Using Gradient Map layers to get some more
interesting colours is a must. You never know how
much an image can be improved by using these and
changing their blending modes. If you have problems
finding the best colours for an illustration, or just
want to make them pop, you have to try it – it always
works for me.”