Exhibit

We’ve been swamped with entries to the fi rst issue’s Readers’ Challenge – here’s a selection of the best but watch out for even more next issue

W

e’ll be honest and say we were a bit unsure as to how our Readers’ Challenge was going to work out. After all, just because we like fi ddling about with diff erent elements and trying to make new illustrations doesn’t mean that everyone else will. But boy, were our worries unfounded. We’ve had loads of entries covering the whole range of Photoshop styles. From the more illustrative to photo montage, it’s been a real joy seeing how some of you have taken our source images and turned them into your own style. Over these four pages you can see a small selection of the entries, which will hopefully inspire you to enter this issue’s challenge. As well as exercising your brain cells, you could win a copy of the Fluid Mask plug-in. So what are you waiting for? Download the images from this issue’s disc and get creating!

Fiona Watson

We were really impressed with Fiona’s two images and loved how she managed to convey two quite diff erent moods using similar elements. Texture plays a big part in both images, which comes from Fiona’s own fl at! “During renovations I have realised I am living in a texture library of old walls, mess, rubble, etc – every cloud has a silver lining,” she says. Fiona has blended these textures with her own photos and the images we supplied to create beautifully soft illustrations that have loads of detail. Well done Fiona; a copy of Fluid Mask is reserved for you.

Urban Angel (above)

“In this image, elements incorporated from your photographs include that fl ower (as a brush), the pagoda, those birds and the butterfl y. My imagery includes Glasgow building sites, graffi ti, trees, plants, a friend and a decorative initial from the 17th Century.”

ALL IMAGES (C) MATT HERRING

Rest Your Head

“In this I’ve used your fl ower (as layers and as brushes), the Japanesy building, the birds and the butterfl y. My ingredients include East Coast sea and plants, a friend, notepaper, Chinese writing, chop marks and more distressed walls from my distressed fl at!”

Exhibit WINNER! Gets a copy of the Fluid Mask plug-in

Exhibit

Michael Feather

Sunset

“I got the ideas for the treatment of this illustration from your magazine tutorials and tried to combine them into the design. I call it Sunset.”

Paul Burrows

Butterfl y

“I mirrored the background, added an orange sky, then blurred and darkened some areas. I mirrored the butterfl y, added the face and placed the fl ower in the centre. I lifted the rest of the crown from the trees. I added the body stone temple and manipulated colours. I added arms behind a wing layer and used curves to lighten. Then I cut out the fl owers.

Chris Denmead

The Butterfl y Effect

“I was infl uenced by the image of the ‘tower’ which reminded me of scenes from Indiana Jones fi lms. When I opened the butterfl y image I realised it wouldn’t be a quick select and paste job. I cloned the wing and created a layer of butterfl ies. I then changed colours to create a subtle vector look.”

Helene Piette

Untitled

“For this I used both Photoshop and Illustrator. I haven’t used all of the images that were supplied on the disc – I didn’t want the illustration to look too crowded. I hope you enjoy it!”

Ashley Brauer

The Butterfl y Effect

“My image is called The Butterfl y Effect and this is in direct relation to my image, which shows that small things in life matter while the bad things rarely get seen (small things can make the greatest difference). I have created the image to look dreamy as if your eyes caught a rare glimpse of what actually happens.”

Adele Gregory

Shrine

“In keeping with the oriental theme of the sample photos I’ve tried to re-create the look of a screen painting from Southeast Asia. The near bushes and large butterfl y were converted with Dry Brush and Rough Pastels. The biggest challenge was achieving the right tone and hue without losing any defi nition, saturation or lightness.”

Turn to page 98 and enter this issue’s Readers’ Challenge

Get your work featured

If you have some work that you’d like to share with other readers, send it in to us and you could be featured on these pages. Just pop your images onto a CD and send to: Exhibit, Photoshop Creative, Imagine Publishing, Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset BH2 6EQ, UK Alas, we can’t return any CDs