Soup Cans
Here I show how I made this image, wrapping with four variations of one of my portraits around shapes that look like soup cans. I moved back and forth between Sketchbook Pro and iColorama in making this image.
I started with this acrylic painting I made. I photographed it and processed it in iColorama using Adjust/EQ preset 2 at low opacity for tonal separation, and Effect/Glow preset 1 at low opacity to smooth out the surface texture from the brush strokes.
Still in iColorama, I used Form/Mirror to make the mirror image. Then I used Form/Warp to change the shape of the head. I saved it to my camera roll.
Then I imported the image into Sketchbook Pro. On a new layer I used a pen to draw this outline.
I turned off visibility of the layer containing the painted image. I filled the bottom layer with a solid blue color. Above that layer, I made a new layer and used the Streaky Pastel to paint a skin tone on the face and neck.
On a new layer above the skin tone layer, I used the Streaky Pastel to paint the hair color.
On new layers above the hair color layer, I used various tools to paint the eyebrows, the lips, the irises, the pupils and the catchlights.
On new layers above the previous layers, I used the Streaky Pastel to paint the blouse and the collar.
On a new layer above the previous layers, I used the Streaky Pastel to paint vertical blue stripes on the blouse.
On a new layer above the previous layer, I used the Streaky Pastel to paint horizontal gray stripes on the blouse. I changed the color of the blouse layer to a pale yellow. Then I used a small hard eraser on these three layers to create a texture in the blouse and its stripes.
On a new layer above the previous layers, I painted highlights and shadows on the face and neck, and on another new layer I used a pen to draw curls onto the hair.
On another new layer I painted deeper shadows around the eyes, on the neck and ears, and under the collar. I reduced the opacity of the outline layer to make it less prominent. I saved the image to my camera roll. I’ll call this Image A.
I opened the image in iColorama. I used the last preset in Style/Water at medium opacity to make a smoother image, using an inverted brush mask to protect the eyes and lips. Then with the mask still in place, I used Adjust/Levels to increase the contrast. I’ll call this Image B.
I went back to Image A and used Style/Tensor preset 6 with the Image B as the secondary image. I set Amount to its maximum value, and I used a medium opacity. I used a brush mask to protect the background. I’ll call this Image C. I saved this image to my camera roll.
I opened Sketchbook Pro and I made this shape. I used a black pen to make the two vertical lines and the oval using the shape tools. I used the move tool to position them. I drew the bottom curve freehand. This formed the outline of a cylinder. On a new layer below the outline layer, I used the Streaky Pastel to paint the white color, using an eraser to remove any white color that strayed outside the lines. I filled the bottom layer with green.
On a new layer above the other layers, I used an airbrush to create shadows. I changed the blending mode of this layer to Multiply, and I adjusted its opacity. I saved this image to my camera roll.
I opened the cylinder image in iColorama. I used Effect/Distort to distort Image C over the cylinder. I made these four variations using different slider settings in Distort. Be sure to also try the sliders under the Set button in Distort. Also I used my two fingers to reposition and resize the portrait over the can in Distort.
Then I opened Sketchbook Pro and I imported each Distort variation onto its own layer. On each of these four layers, I used a hard eraser to erase everything except the wrapped cylinders.
On each of the four layers, I used the move tool to resize and reposition the image so that they were reduced in size and arrayed with an even spacing across the canvas. Then I merged the four layers into a single layer. On a new layer below this layer, I used the selection tool to select a rectangle and filled it with green to form a kind of table under the cans. Then on a new layer above the green layer but below the layer with the wrapped cans, I used the shape tool to make an oval and fill it with gray. I used the move tool to reposition it under the first can. I did this on three more layers for the other three shadows. Then I merged the four shadow layers. I changed the blending mode of the resulting shadow layer to Multiply and adjusted its opacity. Then I used a smudge tool to blur the shadows as they stretched further from the cans.
On a new layer below the green layer, I imported one of my digital collage papers, made previously in SketchClub, as a wall covering.
On a new layer just above the green layer, I imported another of my digital collage papers made previously in SketchClub. I used the Move tool to position the paper over the “table” and to pull the lower right corner further to the right. This gives the perspective of a table covering under the cans.
I used the HSL Adjust button in the layer actions to independently alter the colors of the wall and table layers. On a new layer above all the other layers, I used a very large soft pale yellow brush to paint light beams coming from the upper left corner of the canvas diagonally across the image. I changed the blending mode of this layer to Screen and lowered its opacity to where you can barely see it. Although you can barely see it, it will make a difference when we start working in iColorama. I saved this image to my camera roll.
I opened the image in iColorama. I used Adjust/EQ preset 2 at low opacity. The light beams become more apparent in this step. Then I used Effect/Glow preset 1 at low opacity. These two steps increase contrast and tonal separation. Then I used a Tone/Enhance preset at low opacity to remove a bit of the yellow cast, and I used Effect/Sharpen preset 3 at low opacity to sharpen, to complete the image.
Just for fun, I wanted to try some variations. I used various presets under Form/Waves, Form/Ray, and Form/Deforms, with an inverted brush mask to confine the effect to cans, to make these.
