A_P_TPC_Vol11_2015_

FORGE A SCIFI COMPOSITE FROM PHOTOS

FROM PHOTO BASE TO

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Progress 3: Make adjustments

WORK IN

PROGRESS

Progress 2: Start to add buildings

Progress 1: Prepare the backdrop

for the cityscape

EDIT AND COMBINE ORDINARY STOCK PHOTOS TO CREATE A

COMPOSITE ILLUSTRATION THAT’S OUT OF THIS WORLD

FORGE A SCIFI

COMPOSITE

FROM PHOTOS

S

ci-fi cityscapes are often towering

metropolises packed with futuristic

architecture, and you may wonder how

to even get started with illustrating one.

This tutorial demonstrates how photos of

everyday buildings, environments and structures

can be used to create a futuristic city 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

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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, use

masking, adjustment layers and 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.

03

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.

02

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.

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.