sparth - depot - custom shapes

[Vladimir Gasai]

Well done Sir Sparth! This openes so many possibiltys there is simply to limit,i started to sort of use it in a different way when i meet Stephan Martinière
he used all this sorts of shapes from photos and custom brushes to create marvelous images also some guys from steambot studios did use this process,i sorta did this myself but i always considered it cheating haha fool me.Thanks for sharing this to public means a lot

[DefiledVisions]

Ohhh, I so want to understand all this! really awesome! thanks Sparth!

[Mister Janchichan]

thanks alot! well, ive to give it some more tries for success, i guess^^
i was wondering how you go on with the coloring-steps? to paint over the shapes on a extra layer is the only solution for me by now. to colorize each shape in detail feels more like constructing than painting. to paint over the shapes feels good, because the shapes allow quick awesome concepts. but with a color layer above them the nice sharp edges get lost...so i would appreciate it to get some explanation..

[agitpop]

it is the little checkerboard button at the top of your layers dialogue box!

[agitpop]

it is the little checkerboard button at the top of your layers dialogue box!

that was a response to mister janchchan, btw.

[Cameli]

Whoa sparth thnx for uploading ur stuff here!

[Arthur Haas]

To Dangermarc:
I just, and I really mean JUST 2 minutes ago started to read this thread and experiment with it and stumbled upon the same question.
Answer: it's not edit-image-flip horizontal, it's image- image rotation- flip horizontal (and vertical too). So you flip the entire canvas but your shape stays in the same direction. I'd already shortcutted that one to my wacom. I guess this takes some getting used to.

[Mister Janchichan]

it is the little checkerboard button at the top of your layers dialogue box!

thanks, but it doenst help to keep the edges in the process :/
i am wondering whats your workflow with this technique..

[AbstractRealm]

Awesome work Sparth! I love the futuristic museum at the top of the thread, I think it's one of your best. Such great lighting. I linked this thread on my blog because I want to see how it develops, thanks for sharing some of your process.

[agitpop]

thanks, but it doenst help to keep the edges in the process :/
i am wondering whats your workflow with this technique..

mr. j...
sorry, i am not sure what you mean exactly. maybe others do? can you post a visual of the issue?

[gl0gg]

Sparth, thank you for demonstrating all this, you are a huge inspiration!

i was wondering how you go on with the coloring-steps? to paint over the shapes on a extra layer is the only solution for me by now. to colorize each shape in detail feels more like constructing than painting. to paint over the shapes feels good, because the shapes allow quick awesome concepts. but with a color layer above them the nice sharp edges get lost...so i would appreciate it to get some explanation..

I assume that the quick mask mode is used a lot. If you enter into it (Q) you can lay down the shapes you want, and then by pressing Q again you will make the quick mask into a selection that you can paint into.

Remember you can double click the quick mask icon in the tool palette in Photoshop in order to choose if you want to lay down the masked areas or the areas you want to paint in. It always made more sense to me to have the quickmask work as a "selection maker" rather than a "mask maker".

I don't even know if I'm making sense here, but hope you can get something useful out of my rant.

[qlanuknow]

Thank you for posting these. really nice stuff!

[Verehin]

Sparth 8)

[soulburn3d]

Very cool technique, thanks for sharing. Wish there was a way to rotate the shapes interactively after I've chosen how stretched it is.

[Dr. Stein]

Mister Janchichan - I don't know if this helps, but locking the layer's transparency allows you to paint within the shapes you've laid down without losing the crisp edges - it's not a great example, but I quickly scrawled the black shape below, locked the layer transparency and then over painted with the magenta, without losing any of the shape definition...

[zeal]

Very cool technique, thanks for sharing. Wish there was a way to rotate the shapes interactively after I've chosen how stretched it is.

You can rotate by going to free transform, just make sure you have the shape you want to rotate on a seperate layer.

[surus]

awesome stuff! Keep on posting!

[.:WoLf:.]

Mister Janchichan - I don't know if this helps, but locking the layer's transparency allows you to paint within the shapes you've laid down without losing the crisp edges - it's not a great example, but I quickly scrawled the black shape below, locked the layer transparency and then over painted with the magenta, without losing any of the shape definition...

Thanks for that!

I use to do like this:

[hücumkedi]

inspiring!!!

[draw]

I am so hard right now

[Bleo]

It is inexpressible how much thanks I owe you right now! This thread is going to help me heaps for my boosting my school art project, and my understanding / controlling of the digital media!!!!

[Mister Janchichan]

ahh...thanks to all..sorry, had the wrong setup, now i got it =) nice! but anyways, would be awesome to see some step by steps

[Odayga]

Super inspirational! Hoping to see more :p

[GriNGo]

Great technique Mr. Sparth! Kinda makes me feel like I'm using Alchemy... but better cause I have more control. Need to practice!!

[sparth]

thanks all!
i'm glad you're finding this technique useful. i've seen several awesome artworks popping here and there with it, and it's extremely fun and exciting seeing what peeps do with it.

speaking of Alchemy, i had a sudden urge to give it a try with a new fun semi-serious style i've been experimenting with.
free sketchworks done in Alchemy without constraints, then brought into photoshop cw5 for color passes. i did quite a few that i'm going to post here.

it's a bit of a side thing from custom shapes, but it's healthy experimenting in other directions, even though custom shapes are now fully belonging to my workflow at a point or another.

[Dile_]

i loooove that last batch man.. superb colors!

I also love how this thread became a discussion-place for 'that technique'...haha

[h2rra]

Haha, I was wondering who the new guy on sijun was with such a cool style. Love these, they remind me a bit of traced vector art.

[sparth]

hehe thanks guys.
h2rra: hehehe it was just a small joke, but i wasn't going to make it last.

[NURO]

it's incredable the last batch. how did you do that !!!.
I love, it's stronger than Mondrian master, but in digital.
it's like Mondrisparth

[Mandryk]

hey sparth!

thanks for these great tips on custom shapes I've been having a lot of fun messing around and experimenting with these ideas. Keep doing your mad scientist thing!

cheers
D