Xhin Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Hi all. I discovered this technique recently, and I figured I'd share it. It makes abstract shapes that resemble fossil skeletons, though more cartoonish. We start with a black-and-white gradient. Having a gradient isn't strictly necessary, but we'll see why it becomes useful later on. Add a new layer, and make a scribble in any color. Monochrome colors are not recommended. If you're positive you want a monochrome object, however, make a colored gradient (say, blue to pink) and make a scribble in black. Fragment, setting fragment count to "2" and distance to "2". Crystalize. you're looking for a setting where a crystal is about 1/6th the size of the canvas, and there are a small amount of actual crystals (4 has worked the best for me). It's also better if they're far apart. Reseed as necessary. Because you fragmented, these crystals will be slightly transparent. The gradient helps you get rid of ones that are TOO transparent. Select one of the crystals and overlap it with another crystal, so there's a smooth line in between them. Hit ctrl+i twice, and then move the object, leaving about a five-pixel gap between the objects. Do that with all the objects, creating a "seed". Seeds that aren't strictly vertical (ie, L-shaped or V-shaped) seem to perform better. Use "dents" with maximum scale (200.00) and somewhere between 1/4 (25.00) and 1/2 (50.00) refraction. Adjust settings (slightly lower scales work equally well with good seeds) and reseed as necessary. Use hue/saturation/invert colors to get the color you want. Also, I seem to have found the perfect seed by accident. My latest batch of art has used shapes that were made from it: The actual seed is the white part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadJik Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Don't see why we need to press ctrl+i twice as the inverted selection of the inverted selection is already the actual selection... Except that, I like this tip/tut, good catch, thanks for sharing! Based on this I did that: My DeviantArt | My Pictorium | My Plugins | Donate via Paypal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xhin Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 Because trying to move the object after placing it just moves it again without clipping the under-layered object. Ctrl+D works, but then you have to select the whole thing again, or press ctrl+Z. Ctrl+i+i is the simplest route, unless I've missed some shortcut. Also, that is awesome. Way to take the "skeleton" thing literally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xhin Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 So, I actually made my signature out of this technique + concatenating the more interesting parts of Sundream together to make the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadJik Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Because trying to move the object after placing it just moves it again without clipping the under-layered object. Ctrl+D works, but then you have to select the whole thing again, or press ctrl+Z. Ctrl+i+i is the simplest route, unless I've missed some shortcut. Also, that is awesome. Way to take the "skeleton" thing literally Sorry, I've missed this step. Now it's clear that it is a good way! My DeviantArt | My Pictorium | My Plugins | Donate via Paypal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dug Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Cool tutorial!Double invert, brilliant tip,very useful. MY GALLERYD.A.TheRawAtom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seniorpapa Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 (edited) Fragment_Crystalize_Countur_Hue_Dream_EdgeMaster Edited April 6, 2013 by seniorpapa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seniorpapa Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Fragment_Crystalize_Countur_Hue_Dream_EdgeMaster http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a552/seniorpapa/412043504410435043D043D043504350_zpsd0031f05.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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