Digital Surrealism

Asanintroductiontodigitalsurrealism,thefollowingtaskhasbeendesignedtohelpyou
becomefamiliarwithdifferentPhotoshoptechniques.Stepbystepinstructionsanda
Photoshoptoolbarkey(Page2)havebeenprovidedforyoutofollow.

Index
Step1:CreateanewdocumentinPhotoshop ................................................................................ 3
Step2:Addawindowtothedocument .......................................................................................... 4
Step3:Changecolourofthewindowsillandaddashadow .......................................................... 6
Step4:Addawalltothebackground.............................................................................................. 7
Step5:Addaskytothewindow ..................................................................................................... 8
Step6:Addawindowreflection...................................................................................................... 9
Step7:Addacattothewindowsill ............................................................................................... 10
Step8:Addleavestoimage .......................................................................................................... 14
Step9:AddaDaliclockinplaceofthesun ................................................................................... 16
Task:DigitalSurrealism.................................................................................................................. 17
PeerReview................................................................................................................................... 18

Bytheendofthetask,youshouldhaveanimagethatlooksthesameastheonebelow.

Photoshop Toolbar

Step 1
CreateanewdocumentinPhotoshop
OpenPhotoshopFileNew.
Saveyourimageas:DigitalSurrealism_YourName.
Makethefollowingchanges(Fig.1)ClickOK.

Figure1

RotateImageImagerotatecanvas90CW.

Step 2
Addawindowtothedocument
Openwindow.jpg
Doubleclickonthebackgroundlayertounlockthelayer
(Fig.2a)ClickOK.
Selectthepolygonlassotoolfromthetoolbarontheleft
ofyourscreen.
Singleclickineachcornerofthewindowuntilyoujointhe
selectiontogetheratthestartingpoint.
Youshouldnowhavetheinsideofthewindowselected
withaflashingdottedline(Fig.2b).
Clickdeleteyourselectionshouldnowberemoved
(Fig.2c).

Figure2b

Figure2a

Figure2c

Repeatthisprocessfortheremainingthreewindowareas.
NOTE:AppleDwilldeselecttheselection.

Again,usingthepolygon
lassotool,selectaroundthe
outsideareaofthewindow.
SelectInverse(thiswill
selecttheoutsideselect,not
theinsideselection)
Delete.
Youshouldnowbeleftwith
somethingthatlookslike
Figure4.
Usingthemovetool,drag
anddroptheselectioninto
thedocumentyoucreatedat
thestartofthistask.
Resizethewindowinthe
newdocumentbydragging
thecornerhandleswhile
holdingdowntheshiftkeyto
maintainproportions.
Closewindow.jpgwithout
savingchanges.

Figure4

Step 3
Changecolourofthewindowsillandaddashadow
Tochangethecolourofthewindowsill
1 Usingthepolygonlassotool,selectthewindowsill(Fig.5a).
2 Selectthebrushtoolandmakethefollowingchangestothesettingonthetoptoolbar
(Fig.5b).
3 Selectadarkgrey/browncolourfromthecolourpalette.
4 Brushovertheselectionwiththepaintbrush.Itshouldnowreflectyourchosencolour.

Figure5a

Figure5b

Toaddashadowtothewindow
1 Doubleclickonthewindowlayeronthelayerspalette.
2 ClickonDropShadowandmakethefollowingadjustments(Fig.5c).

Figure5c

Step 4
Addawalltothebackground
Openwall.jpg
Usingthemovetool,draganddropwall.jpgintoyournewdocument.
Draganddroplayer2tounderlayer1(Fig.6aand6b).

Figure6a

Figure6b

NOTE:Foreasieridentification,youmightliketorenameyourlayers.Todothis,doubleclickon
thetextofthelayerandtypeinwhatthelayerrepresents,eg,wall.

Toresizeandskewthewallimage:
1 Changethezoomtoabout10%
2 Dragthecornerofthewallwhileholdingdowntheshiftkeyandmakeitabout1/3
largerthanthecanvassize(Fig.7a).
3 GotoEdittransformskew
4 Dragthehandlesofthewalltoskewitsothebricksarefunninginthesamedirectionas
thewindow(Fig.7b).Pressenteronceyouhavefinishedyourtransformation.

Figure7a

Figure7b
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Step 5

Figure8a

Addaskytothewindow
Opensky.jpg
Usingthemovetool,dragand
dropsky.jpgintoyournew
documentandnamethislayer
sky.
Draganddropthislayerto
underneaththewindowlayer.
Dragthecornerhandleofthe
skywhileholdingdowntheshift
keyandresizetheskytofillthe
backgroundbehindthewindow
(Fig.8a).

Selectthepolygonlassotool,
andwhilestillontheskylayer,
drawaselectiononthewindow
frame(Fig.8b).

Figure8b

Figure8c
Gotoselectinversepress
delete.Thiswillremovethe
unwantedskyfromyourimage.
(Fig.8c).
Closesky.jpgwithoutsaving.

Step 6

Figure9a

Addawindowreflection
Createacopyoftheskylayerby
dragginganddroppingontothe
createnewlayericononthelayers
palette(Seestep7forinstructions).
GotoEdittransformflip
horizontal.
Movethislayertothelefttofillinthe
emptywindowspace(Fig.9a).
WhilestillontheSkycopylayer,use
thepolygonlassotooltomakea
selectionaroundthewindowframe.
(Fig.9b).
Selectinversedelete(Fig.9c).
AppleDtodeselectlayer.
Changetheopacityto70%(Fig.9d).

Figure9b

Figure9c

Figure9d

Step 7
Addacattothewindowsill
Opencat.jpg
DoubleclickonthelayertounlockpressOK.
Toclonethecatstailwheretheleavesoverlapthetail:
1 Zoomintotheareaofthecatstail,approx.100%(Fig.10a).
2 SelecttheClonetoolandchangethepixelbrushto60pixels.
3 WhileholdingdowntheOptionkey,clickontheselectionoffuryouwishtoclonefrom,
thenclickontheareayouwishtoclonetoandyoushouldseeyourselectionchange.
Continuedoingthisuntilyouhaveclonedthetailovertheleaves(Fig.10band10c).

Zoomarea

Figure10a

Figure10b

Figure10c

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Removethebackgroundbehindthecat:
1 Usingthelassotoolorselectiontoolofyourchoice,drawaselectionaroundthecat(Fig.
11a).
2 ClickonRefineedgeatthetopmenubarclickOKSelectinversepressdelete.
3 Selecttheareabetweenthecatslegsandtailrefineedgeclickokpressdelete
(Fig.11b).
Figure11a

Figure11b

Createacopyofthelayerofthecatbydraggingthelayerontothecreatenewlayericonon
thelayerspalette(Fig.11c).

Figure11c

CreateNewLayer

11

DoubleclickonLayer0copyselectColouroverlayandchooseadarkgreycolourclick
ok(Fig12a).

Figure12a

GotoEdittransformflipvertical
(Fig.12b).
DraganddropLayer0copyunderLayer
0.

Figure12b

12

Skewtheshadowsoitlooksasthough
thelightsourceiscomingfrombehind
thecat.
1 GotoEdittransformskew
(Fig.12c).
2 Pressenterwhenyouhavefinished
transformingtheshadow.
3 Setthetransparencyoftheshadow
layerto90%.

Figure12c

Usingthemovetool,draganddrop
bothlayersintoyournewdocument.
Renamelayers.
Resizeimagesothecatisperchednicely
onthewindowsill(Fig.12d).
Closecat.jpgwithoutsaving.

Figure12d

13

Step 8
Addleavestoimage
Opencat2.jpg
Usingacombinationofthepolygonlassotoolandthemagicwandtool,selectthegreen
leavesatthetopoftheimage(Fig.13a).
HolddowntheShiftkeytoaddtoyourselection.
HolddowntheOptionkeytosubtractfromyourselection.
Usingthemovetool,draganddroptheselectionintoyournewdocument.
Movethislayertothetopofthelayerspaletteandrenameasleaves.
Placeinthecornerofthedocumentanddragthelayerlargerwhileholdingdowntheshift
key(Fig.13b).
Closecat2.jpgwithoutsaving.

Figure13a

Figure13b

14

Toaddashadowtotheleaveslayer:
1 Doubleclickonthelayerspalette.
2 ClickonDropshadowandmakethefollowingchanges.
3 EnsureUsegloballightisunchecked.

15

Step 9
AddaDaliclockinplaceofthesun
OpenDaliclock.jpg.
UnlockthebackgroundlayerbydoubleclickingonthelayerspaletteclickOK.
Usingthemagicwandtool,clickonthewhitebackgroundtoselectpressdelete.
AppleDtodeselect.
Usingthemovetool,draganddropclockintonewdocument.
Renameclocklayerinlayerspaletteanddragtobecometoplayer.
Usingthecornerhandleswhileholdingdowntheshiftkey,resizetheclocktofitinplaceof
thesunPressentertocompletetransformation
TooaddanOuterGlowtotheclock:
1 Doubleclickontheclocklayeronthelayerspalette
2 ClickonOuterGlowandmakethefollowingchanges(Fig.14)clickOK
3 CloseDaliclock.jpgwithoutsaving.

Figure14

16

Task
1. UsingPhotoshop,createadigitalsurrealistimageincorporatingelementsfromphotos
youvetakenyourself,alongwithfoundimagesofftheInternet.

Youaretotakepicturesofthefollowingitems.Becreativeandexperimentwithdifferent
angles,lighting,etc
1 Yourself
2 Fruit
3 ClothesLine
4 House
5 Sky
6 Tree
7 Petanimal
8 Window
9 Clock
10 Book

Youmustchooseatleast5ofthelistedobjectstoincludeinyoursurrealistimage,aswellasany
otherphotosyouwishtoinclude.Howeveryoumayuseasmanyfromthelistasyoulike.

CreateanewblankdocumentasinstructioninStep1asyourstartingpoint.Therestisupto
you!

SaveyourdocumentasaPhotoshopfileformarking,notasaPDF.

2. Writedownalistofthetoolsandeffectsyouusedtocreateyourimageandsubmitthis
withyourassessment.

3. Whenyouhavecompletedyourimage,pairupwithanotherstudentandconductapeer
reviewoftheirworkusingthemarkingrubricgiventoyoubyyourteacher.Makeanynecessary
changestoyourimagebeforehandinginthefinalproduct.Submitthepeerreviewwithyour
work.

17

Peer Review

YourName:................................................. StudentName: ........................................................

1.Whatisyouroverallimpressionoftheimage?
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................
2.Howdidthetoolsusedachieveasurrealisticstyle?
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................
3.Whatsurrealisticeffectsareused?
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................
4.Whataresomesuggestionsformakingtheimagemoresurrealistic?
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................

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