A_P_TPC_Vol11_2015_

CREATE A DISPLACEMENT EFFECT

BREAK DOWN AND RECONFIGURE A PORTRAIT USING SHAPE

LAYERS, MASKS AND LAYER STYLES

CREATE A

DISPLACEMENT

EFFECT

T

he artwork for Adobe Creative Suite 6

features stunning portraits flavoured with

the technology and culture behind the

associated program. Illustrator shows a

woman festooned with beautiful vector doodles. The

artwork for Photoshop, by Alberto Seveso, portrays a

face broken down and re-imagined using organic

shapes, elements and texture. It’s a prime example

of how Photoshop can help you produce complex

visuals with a layered approach.

Let’s try creating something in the vein of this

image. We’ll start by using the Pen tool to lay out

READY THE BUILDING BLOCKS

CREATE SHAPE LAYERS AND PREPARE THE MODEL

shape layers and adorn them with layer styles.

After compiling a decent array of shapes, we’ll

extract our model and begin piecing together the

base forms using clipping masks. We’ll continue to

add the shapes to build up the detail. Shape layers

are extremely flexible and can be reshaped with the

Direct Selection tool. They incur no degradation or

blurriness when transformed, making them perfect

building blocks. For textural interest, we’ll mask

and blend in some shots of foamy water and

broccoli. We’ll then use a series of adjustment

layers and blend modes to perfect the look.

01

CREATE SHAPES

Open Shapes.psd from FileSilo. There are a

few example shapes. We’ll make some more. Create

a new layer. Select the Pen tool. In the options bar,

set to Shape and choose a Fill colour. Click and drag

on-canvas to create your shape. Create more

shapes. Don’t spend too much time refining the

shapes though, as we can do that later.

02

USE GRADIENT OVERLAY

Layer styles, accessible from the Layers

palette’s fx button, can add some quick dimension and

interest to our flat shapes. Apply a Gradient Overlay with

the Black and White preset for versatile dimension. You

can use a darken blend mode like Multiply, a lighten

mode like Screen, or a contrast mode like Soft Light.

Adjust opacity and angle as needed.

03

ADD MORE STYLES

Inner Shadow can help bestow a bit more

heft. Use sparingly with low opacity, choke and size.

Drop Shadow is key to building up the depth in the

piece. Be moderate with opacity and size, and

increase when needed. As you stack and overlap

shapes, the shadowy interplay will create some nice

complexity throughout.

BUILD IT UP AND REFINE

WORK IN

PROGRESS

Progress 1: Layer the

model forms

Progress 2: Add shapes and

more elements

Progress 3: Apply adjustments

ANDRE VILLANUEVA

000-000-0000.com

OUR EXPERT

Andre fell in love with Photoshop

while studying web design in college.

He taught for several years in the

media arts department. He’s now an

art director in Birmingham, USA.

SOURCE FILES

FileSilo contains the source files

needed to complete the tutorial:

blurs, shapes, foamy water shots

and broccoli! Feel free to supplement

with your own textures and/or swap

out the model shot, which can be

downloaded from http://www.dreamstime.

com (image number 51969906).