QUICK TIP
I know cutting out and manipulating photo
textures sounds like a Herculean task,
especially when you could bypass the whole
ordeal and model it in 3D, but trust me, it really
is a lot faster and less infuriating to do it this
way. And anyway, there’s something incredibly
reassuring about mindless repetitive labour.07
ADVERTISING
In Illustrator, create a swarm of neon signs
in every garish colour you can think of. You can base
them on real logos or come up with your own. Drag
the neon signs that you have created from Illustrator
into Photoshop one by one and place them onto the
façade of the buildings. Try to retain the legibility of
the text as you are layering the neon signs.06
LUMINARIES
One of the most important aspects of
creating a successful cityscape is realistic lighting.
Draw long, rectangular, white boxes with the
Rectangular Marquee tool and locate the positions
for the lighting to be placed. Double-click on the layer
you are working on and apply a light yellow Outer
Glow layer style.05
INTERIOR DESIGN
Using the Rectangular Marquee tool, draw rectangles approximately the same thickness as the
walls and fill them in with a dark colour to create the floor slabs. Now draw dark, rectangular shapes in
varying sizes and shades of grey to denote furniture and doors inside the buildings and apply a Gaussian Blur
(Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) to keep the objects ambiguous. Committing to too much detail will confuse the
image, especially when you start adding the advertisements.08
GLAZING
Glazing is notoriously difficult to emulate in Photoshop. The easiest way to deal with it, especially in a
night-time image, is to draw everything behind the window and create a light grey fill over the areas of glazing,
use the Bevel and Emboss layer style and set the blending mode to Multiply. Play with the opacity settings to
achieve the desired effect.CONSTRUCT 3D TYPE