As many of my Co-Workers don’t know: I am a photoshop Enthusiast (I am far from Pro much less a Designer) but I like to use and play with Photoshop. Mainly I like to create abstracts because I stink when it comes to living or realistic imagery. The Images I create can be used from anything to Wallpapers or bases for bigger projects. Because I promised it I would like to start with a tutorial which will explain the base of my Iphone Wallpaper I currently use. Once you have been through the tutorial you will perhaps think: there is an easier way to do that, but what did the wise man say ? Many roads lead to Rome. And mine is just one way to do it, and I like it because of it’s flexibility and more predictable outcome.

We want to create the basics for this Image

Let’s get started:

1. we open a new document in photoshop with a transparent background and a size of 500px x 500px

2. create a new layer and then select new fill layer with a black background (instead of just using the fill tool for backgrounds I like to use the option to use a fill layer instead, makes color changes to the background much easier)

3. The stage is set, now we can start working.

4. Reset the colors to black/white [Shift-D] and create a new layer on top of the background layer.

5. Select the Brush tool and select a brush that is appropriate in size and round. I used a brush with a size of 35px and fade (airbrush style). Now before we can start plastering the canvas let Photoshop do the work FOR us and to do so we use the following settings:

6. Now let your creativity take over and plaster randomly. create a mix of dense and less dense areas the more variety you have the better the outcome. Don’t forget it has to be on a separate layer.

7.  Since I did a quick one, it should come close to what I have here:

8. Now we need to smudge the hibby jibbies out of it. To do that we use a brush with a lot of edges and variations, for a quick one I used the maple leaf, but you can use any jaggy brush you have and like, I applied the following settings: make sure you make many random and varying strokes. After I smudged around I came up with something like that: I know it looks like pretty much nothing at this point but if you made it this far, your patience will be rewarded.

9. For this step we use photoshop’s own perspective editor. Make something up, it really does not have to be realistic or near realistic. I set the perspective like this: Pretty neat looking so far. but not done, yet.

10. Now we duplicate the layer, set the opacity lower and change the mode to color burn. We can also play with the perspective on the duplicated layer.

11. once we are happy with our outcome we can create another new layer merge it down to the previous layer and then merge the copied layer down to the original layer. Doing this will leave only one layer for coloring. If you feel artistic you can skip this step and color each of the layers individually.

12. Now I use the gradient tool and make a gradient from Orange to grey. (Again, you are free to use anything you want to). Create a new layer and apply the gradient from left to right to the new layer. All should now look similar to this one: (hmmm, all is gone and now what ?) I hope you applied the gradient to a new layer on top of everything else. Other wise employ your trusted command-z key and undo the step.

13. Now change the layer blending mode of the gradient layer to color. Et voila, looks pretty fiery already.

Final steps: UP TO YOU! To create the initial image I copied the current outcome positioned it the way I wanted, used the eraser tool and airbrushed some away. Then I used some tech brushes and placed them into the image.

I hope you enjoyed following along with this tutorial as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Keep in mind: Photoshop is FUN but only if you have the time and desire to play around and experiment.

Currently I lack the time so tutorials may come in sluggish.