Wednesday 13 Feb 2008
Rob Carissimo reveals how to layer and blend images in Photoshop to create a hazy, dreamlike effect that’s straight from 60s California.
The psychedelic look is always in demand. However, creating an illustration that has the appearance of being formed under the influence of LSD in a hippie commune in San Francisco circa 1968 is tricky if you’re in a studio in the UK in 2008 with nothing stronger than coffee in your system.
But by layering and blending images in Photoshop, you can evoke the trippy look without messing with your mind.
By combining multiple versions of the same image with different effects applied to them, the final image has a surreal feel to it while retaining a clearly recognizable subject – which is at the core of psychedelic imagery.
The blend of layers allows you to subtly manipulate the colour scheme, introducing the pastel shades of the hippie movement, again without disrupting the clarity of the image’s subject matter.
01. Create a new document sized 840-x-720. Select a base image; here I’ve used a surfer image from iStockphoto (www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=1004242), but any similar image will be suitable. Import your base image to the document. Create a mask of the wave and surfer with parts of the spray as well. Label the layer Masked Wave. Adjust the contrast and brightness a little, then set the blend mode to Multiply.
02. In a new layer, create a silhouette of the surfer, and give it a yellow to red gradient fill. Set the blend mode to Screen, and place it above the masked wave layer.
03. Create gradient patterns of light blue to transparent from top to bottom, stopping halfway down the page. Then create a dark blue to transparent gradient from the bottom left diagonal towards the centre to look like this. Next, place the gradient layer behind the masked wave layer, with normal blend mode.
04. Mask out the surfer from the wave and paste him onto his own layer, naming it Masked Surfer. Duplicate the layer and hide the original. Now select the duplicate and apply Filter > Distort > Displace. Apply the settings shown and select the file displace_surf1.psd.
05. Rename the displaced layer Displaced Surfer. Set the opacity to 70 per cent and begin to mask out parts of the layer so it looks something like this.
06. Select the entire canvas using Select > All, then Edit > Copy Merged, then Edit > Paste. Drag that layer to the top, and hide the layer made up of four bars.
07. On another layer on top of previous layers, create four even, coloured bars at a 45 degree angle, and make a selection of the masked surfer layer to erase any part of the lines that pass through the surfer so that the lines stop at his head and arm. Set the blend mode for the layer to Hard Light, and the opacity of the layer to 10 per cent.
08. Select the entire canvas using Select > All, then Edit > Copy Merged, then Edit > Paste. Drag that layer to the top, and hide the layer made up of four bars.
09. Now, click Filter > Distort > Displace. Set the horizontal and vertical scale to 80 and select Stretch To Fit and Repeat Edge. Click OK and select the select file named displace_surf2.psd; your result should resemble this image. Create a layer mask next and begin to erase parts of the layer so that the previous work can show through until you begin to see a similar effect to the image below, with most of the board and head being cleaner.
10. Make three copies of the surfer using the original masked surfer layer for your selection, and then go Select > Copy Merged and Paste. Scale the images to three sizes, each larger than the last. Set the blend modes on all three to Multiply and give the smallest an opacity of 20 per cent, next largest 15 per cent, and the last 10 per cent. Now erase parts of them.
11. Open the file named destroyed. psd. In the Fill box, set white as your background colour, and hit Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Delete to change the colour to white. Drag the file into the canvas, position it in the top left corner and set its opacity to 35 per cent.
12. Open the file named text.psd. Set white as your background colour in the Fill box and hit Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Delete to change the colour to white. Then drag it onto your canvas, set the blend mode to Screen and opacity to 40 per cent. Place the image above the surfer, then make a copy, scale it down and place it to the left of the surfer. Make another copy and change the colour to green. Set this copy’s blend mode as Normal and change the opacity to 10 per cent.
13. Finally, open the file circles.psd. Set white as your background colour in the fill box and click Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Delete to change colour to white. Then drag it onto your canvas, set the blend mode to Screen and the opacity to 40 per cent. Place it above the surfer, then make a copy, and scale down and place a few more. Now you’re done!
Rob Carissimo
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