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1. Experiment experiment experiment. My best work is the result of just screwing around in PS. There’s really no better way to learn than just doing it, seeing how it ends up and finding out it works. I find unique things are always better than something that is stock and standard. Experimenting is the golden rule when it comes to art.
2. Arrange pictures first and then colour. There’s no hard and fast rule on this. There are occasions (for example, when using screencaps) where I colour and then arrange but generally it’s the other way around. This also gives you room to change the colours or textures before you apply a PSD or action or just colour it yourself.
3. Get some good resources. Please excuse the pimping… but fuckyeahresources has a whole range of stuff that I find useful. See what resources are being shared. I generally reblog textures when I find them and leave PSDs to the queue. There’s some really excellent stuff on there and great tutorials for everyone.
4. Sharpen your images once you’re finished arranging. I usually copy a merged version of my art layers and duplicate, sharpen and then make it slightly transparent so it doesn’t look too sharpened. Really sharpened art kills the overall effect.
5. Texture text is better than using the text tool. I just think it looks more natural when it’s not typed out. Of course it also limits your options. When you do use the text tool, make sure your text is ‘smooth’. Sometimes I like to rasterize and blur my text as well.
6. Pay attention to trends. Popular art is popular for a reason. I’m not saying to copy it exactly but try out different images in ways that are similar to trends. Right now, birds, photo negatives, the painted background applied in overlay and skeletons are very much in. Colour is ALWAYS in - remember that.
7. Colour is your best friend. Find some bright PSDs and learn how they work. You’ll be able to duplicate their results once you figure out how to work selective colours, curves and colour balance. Play around with it, see what you like. My personal style is an intense purple (see my theme background on wicked-fate) which is a blend of two different actions. You don’t have to go too overboard with colour but see what compliments your original image.
8. Textures aren’t everything. I know I use a lot in mine but sometimes you only need something minimal. Sometimes less is more. Other times… more is more. The best way to use them is to play with them. I generally set mine to ‘screen’, ‘soft light’, ‘overlay’, ‘multiply’ or ‘linear burn’ but it’s all about what’s best for the artwork. Also, make sure your texture isn’t covering any faces. It just looks nasty unless that’s the effect you want (for example, slayground’s skull box covering half a face or something). Also, play with PSD’s - use a feathered round brush to add in a solid colour over your original image - the PSD colouring above will change the colour you end up with.
9. Use good quality images. Sometimes you can’t get around this but generally the more HQ the image, the better it is to work with. Grainy images are a nightmare but go to Filter>Noise>Reduce Noise to fix that.
10. Learn how to blend your images. Use the eraser with a basic round brush with a little feather (not a solid) and fade your images into your art. Personally, I’m AWFUL with selecting a whole person so it’s a good way to get around it.
11. The Rule of Thirds. Read this. Aspect is very useful sometimes.
12. Don’t be afraid of the PS tools. The eraser is amazing. If you have a problem with an image… use your clone brush. Gradients are brilliant - set them to soft light and see how your art starts to look more shiny.
13. Make things look natural. Try to find that point where things go from looking unfinished to ‘wow, i’d reblog that’. Sometimes it’s difficult to do because we’re always tempted to add a little more here and there.
14. Save your work as you go. PS crashes. Right when you least expect it. Especially when working on gifs. Enough said.
15. Use lots of layers. If you make a mistake, you’ll be able to go back and fix it when you have layers. If it’s all merged down into 1 layer… that’s a LOT harder. Your undo button only goes so far.
16. Get some good fonts. Do NOT use anything that makes you cringe. Let me tell you, there are some fonts that make everyone cringe. Let them go die in the corner with comic sans.
17. Tag appropriately. People do track tags but they won’t track things like ‘actor: katie mcgrath’, they’ll be tracking ‘katie mcgrath’. This is more about reblogging than art but it can make a big difference to art popularity.
18. Ask questions. If you want to know how it’s done, just use the ask box. It always helps if you’re not anon either. I love answering graphics-related questions. It’s why I set up fuckyeahresources.
19. Be proud of your work. We’re all learning. I’ve been web designing for 10 years. I had to start somewhere and you’ll never get better if you don’t work towards it. You need to experience the pain of 500kb limits or textures that just don’t fit or colours which won’t cooperate. It’s all practice. My early stuff was shocking and that’s putting it nicely. Plus, if you get hate mail, like I have, you tell them… DON’T TELL ME WHAT I CAN’T DO. It’s your life, it’s your art. Everyone views art differently based on their own preconceptions and values. Some will like it and some will hate it. But don’t let anyone stop you from doing something you love.
20. Have fun. Graphics-making is meant to be fun. It’s why you do it in the first place. Enjoy your time in PS and learn new things while you’re at it.
