Photoshop Pop Art
IN THE WORLD OF ART, there are many different styles, ranging from abstract to modernism, and surrealism to cubism—and that’s not forgetting what was thought to be the first modern art movement, impressionism. There have been many art styles since and each has contributed toward the main framework of art as a whole. Styles and genres come and go, but some seem to stick around for good reasons.
Rising to fame in the late-1950s, the pop art movement is a bright and bold form of art, pioneered by artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. Now considered one of the most significant art movements of the 20th century, pop art inspired many different sub-art forms and the influence of its bright, bold, and fun vintage style can still be seen across a variety of different media. The great thing about pop art is that you can take multiple elements from the genre and apply them to your own work or imagery. In this tutorial, we will be converting a regular photograph into the style of pop art using Adobe Photoshop. –SAM LEWIS
1
SELECT YOUR IMAGE
Before we get going, you will first need to select an image. Decide on the type of image you want to convert into pop art— this can either be black and white or a color image, but for the best results it helps if you choose one that has a strong contrast between the foreground and the background as we will be cutting around the image later on.
>> If you don’t have an image at hand or you simply want to practice before trying it on one of your own photographs, a great website to download license-free photography is Unsplash ( www.unsplash.com). We select an image by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash to use for this example.
>> Once you’re happy with your image, open it up in Photoshop. The first thing we do is rename our image and create a duplicate layer and lock it in case we need to go back to the original. Then we convert our main layer into a smart object so we can modify and replace it if we need to, without having to reverse the effects that we are going to add later on. To do this, you can right-click on the layer and select ‘convert to smart object’.
>> Before we go any further, we can crop the image if necessary. In the toolbar on the left-hand side, select the rectangular marquee tool and draw around the part of the image that you would like to keep. Then go to image and crop. To deselect it, use the shortcut ‘CTRL + D’.
>> To finalize the image before adding some pop art magic, make sure the image resolution is at 72 pixels per inch, you can check this by heading over to the image, then check the image size in the top bar. Select this and change it to 72 pixels per inch, if it isn’t already.
2
LET THE TRANSFORMATION BEGIN
Now we can begin adding the transformations. The next thing we need to do is separate our subject from the background. There are many tools for this, including the pen, magic wand, or quick selection, so use whichever you feel most comfortable with.
>> We use the quick selection tool in the left-hand side tool panel and once we have drawn around the subject, we go to the select tab at the top and click ‘select and mask’ [ Image A]. On older versions of Photoshop, this will be called ‘refine edge’. In these settings, you can tidy up the edge of your selection. We increased the radius and made sure that the ‘smart radius’ was selected.
>> Keep drawing around until you are happy with your selection. Then scroll to the bottom to change the output selection to ‘layer mask’.
3
CUT IT OUT
Your image has now been cut out appropriately, so click on the new layer button while holding down the CTRL key to open a new layer underneath your active one. We will fill this color with white, but first, check that your active colors in the left-hand toolbar are black and white already. Make sure white is the background color then on this new layer press ‘CTRL + delete’ to replace the transparent background with white.
>> If your image is in color, then you will need to desaturate it. You can do this by selecting your subject’s thumbnail then going into the adjustment layer tab and selecting ‘black & white’.
4
LOTS OF DOTS
Once this is done, we will convert these layers into one smart object. Whilst holding the shift key, select the appropriate layers, right-click and select ‘convert to smart object’, as before. We are doing this so that we can add filters to it, head over to the filter tab in the top bar, and select ‘filter gallery’ from the drop-down menu [ Image B].
>> Use the ‘halftone pattern’ filter in the sketch menu of the filter gallery. Play around with the size slider until you are happy with the size of the dots. Then slide the contrast all the way to 0 and make sure the pattern type is ‘dots’.
>> Now, hit OK and then go back into the filter menu, sharpen, then smart sharpen. This will open up a pop-out window. In this, turn the amount up to between 200 and 500 percent, move the radius up to an amount you are comfortable with (we chose 2.3px), and turn the noise down to zero. There are more shadow and highlight settings you can tweak until the image is right for you. At this stage, it should look like a vintage dotted pop art image, but in black and white. Once you are happy with it, hit OK.
5
LEVELS UPON LEVELS
The next tweak we need to do to our artwork is altering the levels. With your main layer selected, click the adjustment layer icon (the half and half-circle icon at the bottom of the right tool panel) and click ‘levels’. This should open up the level’s adjustment panel.
>> Here, there should be a graph with three figures underneath, the figure on the far right alters the input white level and this is the one we will be adjusting to brighten the image. Change this from anywhere between 100 and 200 depending on your image to brighten it a little and create more contrast.
>> After this, we will be clicking on the subject layer once again and changing the blend mode to linear burn. We will then be adding a blank layer below the subject layer by holding ‘CTRL’ and clicking on the new layer icon, near the adjustment layer icon we mentioned earlier. We can change this layer name to ‘color’.
>> For a close representation of the original image, try to choose similar colors from that shot. Our background was originally blue, so we picked a similar bold blueberry color for more of that ‘pop art’ effect. Go to the color palette, click on the foreground color, and once you have found the one you like, hit OK [ Image C]. Then press the ‘ALT + Delete’ keys together to add the color to the image.
6
GET OUT THE PAINTBRUSH
Now make sure the level’s adjustment layer is affecting the subject, not the background. To do this, select the levels layer, and click the clip layer icon above the layer panel (it’s a box with an arrow coming from the left side of it). Hitting this will clip it to the one layer below it. Or, use the ‘CTRL + ALT + G’ shortcut.
>> Finally, start painting your image. Choose colors that contrast well to use throughout the image. Using the brush tool with a hardness of around 25 percent, choose a color to represent the skin and paint over your image on the color layer, then paint the hair and clothes. Refer back to the original image to highlight the main details of the subject. Don’t worry about neatness, pop art is supposed to be a bit rough around the edges. It’s experimental, fun, and an integral part of modern art.
>> Hopefully, you should have a similar piece of art to our example shown above [ Image D]. It’s a great method to create some powerful and quirky images to add to all sorts of elements in your work. Keep going back through this tutorial and practice with different kinds of imagery to get the best results.
THIS MONTH we feature a cult computer that could have dominated the early 1980s but fell short of fame due to bad management decisions. Instead, machines such as Sinclair’s ZX80 and ZX81 and the Commodore VIC-20 became the standard-bearers for a new era of home computing. Nevertheless, the TI-99/4A had a sizeable following, offering retro computing fans a combination of features not found elsewhere and some interesting arcade action. –JOHN KNIGHT
1
DEVELOPMENT & RELEASE
Before the TI-99/4A came 1979’s TI-99/4. When 8-bit microcomputers were just becoming mainstream, Texas Instruments (TI) had the ambition of releasing a 16-bit home computer, based on its own TMS9900 CPU.
>> As the first 16-bit home computer, this machine had the potential to dominate the home computing scene, with a 3MHz CPU, 16KB of RAM, 15 colors, 32 single-color sprites, and 4-channel audio, powered by Texas Instruments’ own chipsets.
>> However, the TI-99/4 had a botched launch. The TI-99/4 only received a chiclet keyboard. Wanting to keep tight control over software licensing, TI only gave developer information to a few software houses. To get around strict requirements from the FCC, TI simply bundled a modified color television with their computer, greatly increasing its price.
>> The TI-99/4 launched for $1150 (around $4,100 today), but it flopped, selling somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 units. It was too expensive, the keyboard was nasty, and the company’s strict software policies resulted in few applications.
>> Nevertheless, Texas Instruments didn’t give up on its machine, returning in June 1981 with the TI-99/4A. The new “A” model still had the same CPU and RAM, but improved on its older sibling with a full-stroke keyboard, lower case characters, and a new TMS9918A video chip, later used in the Sega SG-3000 and MSX, which allowed bitmapped graphics.
>> Relaxed FCC regulations meant TI’s new machine could be used with regular television sets, allowing a drastic price reduction. At just $525, the TI-99/4A was now market competitive.
2
PERFORMANCE & GAMING
Don’t expect Amiga-like performance from those 16 bits. TI’s shoehorning of a 16-bit processor into a mostly 8-bit system didn’t work. Workarounds were used to interact between the 8 and 16-bit components, and the 16-bit portion could only access 256 bytes of ‘scratchpad’ RAM and 8KB of internal ROM.
>> Nevertheless, the TI-99/4A still has tricks up its sleeve. The TI-99/4A is more graphically sophisticated than most machines of the early ‘80s, with smooth motion and proper sprite handling.
>> For example, TIInvaders (1981) is an excellent Space Invaders clone, with animations and independent coloring. 2014’s TI-99/4A remake of SabreWulf is superior to the ZX Spectrum release, with smoother movement and no color clash.
>> However, the system’s most impressive asset is its Speech Synthesizer add-on, which uses the same chips as
Texas Instruments’ Speak & Spell toys. Although other microcomputers had similar add-ons, the TI-99/4A’s was employed much more extensively, featuring in arcade titles, educational packages, and even BASIC games.
>> Examples are Alpiner (1982), a mountaineering game, and Parsec (1982), a side-scrolling space shooter. For more general gaming recommendations, try Hunt theWumpus (1980), TombstoneCit y (1981), Space Bandits (1983), and TunnelsofDoom (1982).
3
LEGACY
The TI-99/4A wasn’t a financial success. TI was lured into a price war with Commodore, whose VIC-20 was cheaper to manufacture. Once TI pricematched Commodore, it was forced to sell the TI-99/4A at a loss, hoping to regain them through software licensing. This was the beginning of the end for the TI99/4A.
>> While Commodore was accommodating to developers, TI refused to release technical specifications to third parties, implementing a lockout system against third-party cartridges.
>> By mid-1983, Texas Instruments announced a $100 million loss and retailers grew wary of the system. By Christmas 1983, the TI-99/4A was being sold from bargain bins for as little as $ 49. After selling 2.8 million units, the TI-99/4A was discontinued in March 1984, as the company moved towards IBM-compatible PCs.
4
EMULATION
There are several emulators for the TI-99/4A, but our choice is Classic99. It’s open-source, has a simple interface, comes with cartridges, and doesn’t require BIOS files.
>> Unfortunately, Classic99 is only available for Windows but works well through Wine. Emulators for Linux do exist, but Classic99 via Wine will still provide the most painless experience.
>> The Classic99 website provides a ZIP file via a link on the front page. Download and extract the ZIP file, then open the classic99 folder, which has the classic99.exe executable file. Once launched, Classic99 will open at the master title screen.
5
LOADING CARTRIDGES
Cartridges (called “command modules”) are the easiest format to load. You can choose either from a selection in the Cartridge menu, or you can load cartridge files manually.
>> To load a cartridge manually, open the Cartridge menu and select User > Open. This will open a file browser, from which you can select your cartridge file.
>> Once selected, your emulator will reset to the master title screen, with the message “READY-PRESS ANY KEY TO BEGIN”. Some cartridges will load straight away, while others give you the choice of 1, loading BASIC, or 2, loading the cartridge program.
6
LOADING CASSETTES
Cassettes are harder to load than cartridges but easier than disks. Classic99 supports WAV files for cassette audio. >> For the best chance of loading, first load the Extended BASIC cartridge by choosing Cartridge > Apps > Extended BASIC.
>> When the emulator resets, press 2 at the boot prompt for Extended BASIC. At the BASIC prompt, enter the command:
> OLD CS1
>> From the main menu, choose Disk > Tape > Load/Rewind Tape. Select your WAV file from the file browser and click Open.
>> Press Enter for both the prompt that will say, ‘REWIND CASSETTE TAPE THEN PRESS ENTER’, and, ‘PRESS CASSETTE PLAY THEN PRESS ENTER’.
>> You will now hear loading noise, followed by a beep once it has finished. It then says ‘PRESS CASSETTE STOP THEN PRESS ENTER’. You don’t have to press ‘Stop Tape’ in the Tape menu, but press Enter nonetheless.
>> Now at the BASIC prompt enter:
> RUN
>> If the gods are smiling, your cassette file has loaded.
7
LOADING DISKS
Loading disks on a TI-99/4A can be a nightmare. We didn’t get file managers to launch executables but found a way of loading software from disk.
1. LOAD YOUR DISK IMAGE we’ll use drive 2, as that gave us the best results. Click Disk > DSK2, then click the first menu entry. Then, choose your Disk Type from the drop-down menu, and click the button at the top-right corner to open a file browser. Click OK when you’re done.
2. LOAD THE TI WORKSHOP CARTRIDGE, under Cartridge > Apps > TI Workshop (379). After the reset, press 2 at the boot prompt to load TI Workshop.
3. AT THE TI WORKSHOP MENU, press 3 for Disk Manager, followed by 1 for File Utilities.
4. AT THE DISK NUMBER PROMPT, enter your disk number: we’re using 2.
5. IF IT HAS READ THE DISK IMAGE SUCCESSFULLY, write down the names of any programs, which will be marked by the column on the right.
6. INSERT THE EXTENDED BASIC CARTRIDGE, under Cartridge > Apps > Extended BASIC. Click Yes when prompted to change cartridge and reset the emulator.
7. PRESS 2 at the boot prompt for TI Extended BASIC.
>> At the BASIC prompt, enter the command:
> OLD DSK2.GOLF
>> We’re just using GOLF as an example, but replace GOLF with whatever filename you wish to load.
>> After a brief pause, enter:
> RUN