Photoshop and I

I learned how to Photoshop by myself. That is, I didn't have formal classes or go to design school. One day I just decided that I'd had enough of Microsoft Paint and Word (yes!), got the software and decided to teach myself through tutorials and playing around with it. 

Now it was hard to make stuff without the tutorials initially. I used to try copy tutorials for the purposes I needed them for.

First Photoshop Attempt

This was a picture I did for one of my friends (early 2009). Notice the lack of her foot in the picture, I could have done her black&white transformation and picked a different set of colours.The way I did this image is almost identical to this tutorial, Michael Jackson Wallpaper Tutorial, I read on abduzeedo.com. You'll see, MJ looks way better.

A lot of my knowledge of how to use different tools and different effects come from  abduzeedo.com. If you're ever in need of inspiration or bored then I suggest you go visit the site. This poster below and the logo just after it are the first things I created without tutorials (late 2009). I remember going into a sports shop just to take a picture of a soccer ball so that I trace it for this poster. I even made that little box image there. 

First thing that didn't require a tutorial

First thing that I ever visualised before making

I used that Acid Test Logo for one of my group projects. Not strictly a logo, more of a graphic print but this Acid Test logo was the first time I visualised something in my head before putting it on Photoshop. I knew exactly how I was going to do it as well. Before this happened I used to sit in front of the computer for hours before I got something I could work with. Today, I make use of sketches if I can't picture anything.

Sketched then Photoshopped

I made this beer bottle cover for a friend who needed it for a chemical engineering project. I had to sketch this one but it came out how I wanted it to. I wouldn't change anything about this one. Now I do Photoshop for fun (to make jokes), because it's my job (I am the marketing girl in a society) or people need stuff done. I should start charging! 

Poster I did for a friend, Super Villain Party

Example of a poster for marketing I'm involved in

Example of a joke that I can make using Photoshop 

In my ideal world I would take photos myself and edit them. Kind of like the image with the ape people. I took that photo of the ape people at a zoo exhibit and just photoshopped the black monolith into the photo. It's a spoof of 2001: A Space Odyssey (for those of you who don't get it). I'll share my camera obsession at a later stage. Should have shared that one first... But whatever! It's fine.

Tools I use to make my stuff:

- Tutorials (we've gone through this one)

- dafont.com (for interesting fonts, I've been using this site since I was in grade 10)

- Photoshop brushes (I love brushes! Grass brushes, smoke brushes, arrow brushes, splatter brushes....)

- http://www.sxc.hu/ (It's a free stock photo website, stops you from using copyrighted images)

- Intuition (You have one too, use it. It stops you from putting out shoddy work. I can actually see when I was uncomfortable with the final product from these pictures)