Space Magazine

I started with one of my acrylic paintings, and I used iColorama and Sketchbook Pro to make a fake magazine cover. I chose the name Space as a sideways allusion to Time magazine.

I started with my acrylic painting.

I photographed the painting with my iPhone, and I used Elasticam to alter the features.

I opened the image in iColorama. I used Effect/Glow preset 1 at low opacity to smooth the face and make the surface texture of the brushstrokes less prominent.

I used the last preset in Style/Water at low opacity, with distortion set to zero and texture set to medium to low, and Edges set to low, to further simplify the image. I used an inverted brush mask to protect the eyes. Then I used Adjust/Levels to increase contrast. I saved the image to my camera roll.

I imported the image into Sketchbook Pro, and I used the Conceptual 1 brush to paint the background red. I saved the image to my camera roll.

I wanted to make a digital collage, and I selected this photo of an old news clipping to create a digital collage paper.

I opened the newspaper photo in iColorama. I used Form/Tiles to create this pattern. I tried many presets and slider settings. I saved this to my camera roll to use as a digital collage paper.

I opened the portrait image in iColorama. I used Form/Sort with a brush mask to protect the face and the background. I saved to my camera roll.

I opened the image in Sketchbook Pro, and on a new layer above the portrait layer, I imported the tiled newspaper image. I reduced the opacity of the newspaper pattern layer, so that I could see the portrait through it, and I used the hard eraser to erase portions of the pattern. Then I set the opacity of the pattern layer back to 100%. I saved the image to my camera roll. (The red margins on the right and left sides of the canvas are there because the dimensions of the newspaper pattern photo were different from those of the portrait.)

I opened the image in iColorama. I used Preset/Border to make a red border. I used the eye dropper in the color picker to match the color with the red margins that were already there. I adjusted the radius slider so that the border covered the margins that were already there. I used a brush mask to protect the body of the figure, so that the figure appears to be in front of the border.

Now I had what looked like a magazine cover. The red color reminded me of Time magazine. I decided to use a magazine title, and to call it Space as an allusion to Time, I used Effect/Text, matching the red color of the border. I used a black shadow to add prominence to the title.

I used Adjust/Exposure and Effect/Light to lighten the image.

To further distinguish the title, I used Brush/Paint and an Estrella brush to dab three stars onto the letters of the title. I also used a hard round brush to paint three highlights onto the letters.