inexorablyhere (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} inexorablyhere) wrote,@ 2004-06-06 01:52:00 |
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MINI TUTORIAL: GRADIENT
While toying with the gradient tool today I discovered an amazing effect that I've seen in icons before but could never duplicate. So I thought I'd give a few quick tutorials showing what I came up with! All of these effects are achieved by using the reflection gradient in Adobe Photoshop, and for unity's sake I've used the same base for each.
Breseis and Achilles
BEAM OF LIGHT
Use a light brown against black, but make sure that it's not too light or else your image will be washed out. For this example I used #CAA88A. Create a gradient in the direction you want your beam of light to run. It might take you a few tries to get a decent gradient - you want one that fades nicely into black, not one with a visible bright line. Set this layer to hard light. Voila - instant sunlight!
REDIRECTING FOCUS
This effect can also be used to redirect the focus of an image by highlighting and shadowing. This works with any light color of your choice against black. Simply create your gradient running along the area you want highlighted. Set the layer to hard light, linear light, or multiply. I made two examples using this effect.
First, to bring more focus to the faces and to take some away from the brighter area near the bottom of the image, I chose a color from the image, a dark mauve #C19287. I created a gradient running across their faces and to the right, away from Achilles' hands. I set it to hard light. This isolated the important part of the image while not altering the original color too drastically.
Secondly, since the faces are such a common point of focus, I decided to hide them completely. I highlighted Achilles' hands using an olive green #7E854A on linear light. This gave a beautiful focus to an unorthodox part of the image.
COLORED GLOW
To create a lovely colored glow, create a gradient using a darker color against black. For this example I used a dark blue #234680. Set the layer to screen (as I did here), or for a more muted effect set it to lighten.
While toying with the gradient tool today I discovered an amazing effect that I've seen in icons before but could never duplicate. So I thought I'd give a few quick tutorials showing what I came up with! All of these effects are achieved by using the reflection gradient in Adobe Photoshop, and for unity's sake I've used the same base for each.
Breseis and Achilles
BEAM OF LIGHT
Use a light brown against black, but make sure that it's not too light or else your image will be washed out. For this example I used #CAA88A. Create a gradient in the direction you want your beam of light to run. It might take you a few tries to get a decent gradient - you want one that fades nicely into black, not one with a visible bright line. Set this layer to hard light. Voila - instant sunlight!
REDIRECTING FOCUS
This effect can also be used to redirect the focus of an image by highlighting and shadowing. This works with any light color of your choice against black. Simply create your gradient running along the area you want highlighted. Set the layer to hard light, linear light, or multiply. I made two examples using this effect.
First, to bring more focus to the faces and to take some away from the brighter area near the bottom of the image, I chose a color from the image, a dark mauve #C19287. I created a gradient running across their faces and to the right, away from Achilles' hands. I set it to hard light. This isolated the important part of the image while not altering the original color too drastically.
Secondly, since the faces are such a common point of focus, I decided to hide them completely. I highlighted Achilles' hands using an olive green #7E854A on linear light. This gave a beautiful focus to an unorthodox part of the image.
COLORED GLOW
To create a lovely colored glow, create a gradient using a darker color against black. For this example I used a dark blue #234680. Set the layer to screen (as I did here), or for a more muted effect set it to lighten.
