Pixel Playground
27h 39mIntermediate2016-12-23
Authors
Bert Monroy
Digital Painter, Early Photoshop Adopter, Professor
Course details
Take a 10-minute recess and join Bert Monroy in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, the playgrounds of digital artists. Bert walks through fun, self-contained projects that test your skills and challenge your imagination. Photoshop and Illustrator programs aren't just image or graphic editors; these programs are sandboxes for creativity and experimentation. Take a spin through a carousel of tools and get reinspired.
Skills covered
LightroomIllustrationSerial (Weekly)PhotoshopAdobeAnimation and Illustration
Concepts
December 2016
- Create a tranquil landscape - Add a path and shrubs
- Create a tranquil landscape - Add a lake and the sky
- Explore 3D objects in Photoshop
- Photoshop's Liquify filter
November 2016
- Type effect - Gold
- Type effect - Spooky
- Create a tranquil landscape - Build the structure
October 2016
- Create a push button
- Type effect - Marble and wood
- Create a leather strap
- Create a posted flyer
September 2016
- Create a window railing - Start in Illustrator
- Create a window railing - Finish in Photoshop
- Message in a bottle - Create the bottle
- Message in a bottle - Add the ocean
- Create a surreal lunar landscape
August 2016
- Sci-fi outpost - Build the tower
- Sci-fi outpost - Finish the scene
- Use Warp and paths in Photoshop to create an exploded page
- Type effects - Marquee letters
July 2016
- Create a surrealistic room
- Use texture to create clams
- Parisian scene - Create perspective
- Parisian scene - Do the research
- Type effects - Wood type
June 2016
- Type effects - Flag
- Type effects - Fruit
- Create a potted plant with Photoshop
- Use masks and layers to place an object into a new background
May 2016
- Type effects - Cookies
- Type effects - Bevel and Emboss
- Type effects - Pencil
- Type effects - Lead type
April 2016
- Create a sword - Construct the blade
- Create a sword - Construct the handle
- Create a sword - Add detail to the handle
- Create a Hawaii travel graphic
- Make footprints in dirt
March 2016
- Add a brand to a wood surface
- Use a custom brush to create a string of pearls
- Spread stars in a galaxy image in Photoshop
- Create an Easter card
February 2016
- Textured castle wall - Create the basic wall
- Textured castle wall - Adding 3D light
- 3D pencil - Create a pencil tip
- Create a nighttime dreamscape image
January 2016
- Ice cream bar - Create the bar
- Ice cream bar - Dipped in chocolate
- 3D dartboard - Create the dart
- 3D dartboard - Create the dartboard
December 2015
- Mocking up a billboard in a street scene
- Venetian night - Creating a balcony using 3D in Photoshop
- Create a 3D wine cork
November 2015
- Creating an oil painting effect from a photo
- Creating a wet countertop
- Type effects in Photoshop - Cosmic type
October 2015
- Rags to riches - Giving the fabric type dimension
- Rags to riches - Gold type
- Turning a photo into a fairy tale book cover
- Using a photo to create a travel poster
- Type effects in Photoshop - Candy type
September 2015
- Creating a sewn-on letter effect
- Type effects in Photoshop - Chrome
- Rags to riches - Fabric type
August 2015
- Blue Truck - Headlight
- Blue Truck - Creating a screw
- Blue Truck - Grill
- Blue Truck - Rust spot
July 2015
- Creating a panic button
- Making a cartoon car even more cartoony
- Creating a cartoon book
- Creating a stylized postcard
June 2015
- Creating letter reflections on a neon sign
- Type effects in Photoshop - Using gradient and stroke layer styles
- Creating a 3D chocolate candy in Photoshop
- Type effects in Photoshop - Mossy 3D type
May 2015
- Colorizing black-and-white sketches
- Making bubbles - Using the Brush tool
- Making bubbles - Adding highlights
- Creating a Photoshop 25th anniversary sign
- Type effects in Photoshop - Honey
April 2015
- Easter basket - Adding a bow and the eggs
- Placing lettering on plastic
- Using brushes to create a twisted pair of wires in Illustrator
- Creating an Art Deco bistro sign
March 2015
- St. Patrick's Day card - Creating a shamrock and a pot of gold
- St. Patrick's Day card - Adding the details
- Creating a 3D Easter egg
- Easter basket - Creating the basket
February 2015
- Making a piece of candy - Adding the jelly filling
- Creating a Valentine's Day card
- Turning a daytime scene into night
- Using Photoshop's Displace filter to create a waving flag
January 2015
- Using the Photoshop Flame Generator
- Creating a mountain scene
- Creating reflections in water
- Making a diamond-encrusted type
- Making a piece of candy - Creating the chocolate base
December 2014
- Mapping video onto a 3D object in Photoshop
- Creating a wintery scene
- Making a New Year's 2015 card
November 2014
- Three Dimensional type with extruded neon - Making the letter forms
- 3D type with extruded neon - Adding the neon
- Creating a Thanksgiving card
October 2014
- Creating a galaxy with Photoshop - Building the star field
- Creating a galaxy with Photoshop - Adding color and effects
- Creating a campfire scene - Adding the campfire
- Creating a campfire scene - Adding trees and lighting
- Creating a superhero type treatment
September 2014
- Making a desk nameplate
- Illustrating a campfire from scratch
- Creating realistic stains on bathroom tile
- Creating a distressed windowsill from scratch
August 2014
- Increasing precipitation - How to make a rainy-day photo look rainier
- Retouching techniques - Improving a picnic scene
- Retouching techniques - Moving an object in a scene
- Retouching techniques - Improving a real estate photo
- Adding a billboard to a photo
July 2014
- Making a book - Perspective
- Making a book - Adding pages
- Using paths and layer styles to create logo text
June 2014
- Theater curtain - Animating a rising curtain
- Creating a chalkboard
- Creating a manila envelope
- Turning a regular donut into a jelly donut
May 2014
- Creating net fabric for a veil
- Animating a spotlight against a brick wall
- Damen Station - Using Blend in Illustrator to create intricate details
- Theater curtain - Making a braid and tassels
- Theater curtain - Creating the curtain
April 2014
- Oyster Bar - Creating a canvas texture
- Creating realistic reflections and shadows
- Creating water droplets on a surface
- Wrapping a pattern around a 3D wine goblet
March 2014
- Damen Station - Creating realistic rust
- Oyster Bar - Creating puddles
- Oyster Bar - Creating asphalt and concrete textures
- Oyster Bar - Creating a manhole cover
February 2014
- Magazine cover - Creating a lamp
- Magazine cover - Creating a wood floor
- Damen Station - Adding multiple train cars
- Damen Station - Creating bolts
January 2014
- Red truck - Creating a headlight
- Red truck - Creating chrome headlight trim
- Red truck - Creating realistic metal perforations
- Red truck - Creating wear on metal
- Magazine cover - Using perspective to draw a room
December 2013
- Oakland Theater - Creating lightbulbs
- Changing photo contents with Auto-Align Layers
- Creating a metal grill
November 2013
- Charms and medallions in Photoshop - Adding details
- Charms and medallions in Photoshop - Adding a third dimension
- Oakland Theater - Creating stone walls
- Oakland Theater - Creating neon
October 2013
- Animating a 3D starfield
- Creating an antique pub sign using Photoshop
- Creating a custom brush to draw hair
- Charms and medallions in Photoshop - First steps
September 2013
- Using a Fibonacci spiral to create a tattoo
- Body shaping with Puppet Warp
- Type effects in Photoshop - Pillow
- Type effects in Photoshop - Clouds
August 2013
- Recreating magazine clippings
- Creating realistic scales for a dragon tattoo
- Creating spikes for a dragon tattoo
- Creating the belly for a dragon tattoo
- Creating a flower tattoo
July 2013
- Creating a custom brush
- Using displacement maps to create shadows
- Enhancing a landscape by adding a lake
- Creating a dog tag
June 2013
- Creating animated snowfall with Photoshop
- Filling an empty glass with liquid
- Using an alpha channel to create a 3D object
- Creating a 3D coin