Andy-Warhol-Up Your Photographs

By Melissa Evans

STEP 3: The Color Warhol Poster

The second half of this tutorial should be relatively fast…provided you can decide on the right colour combinations!

Someone once asked Andy Warhol…
“What are the right colours? How do you know which are right?”

Andy Warhol’s reply…
“Well I don’t know, after you finish it you know what’s right.”

Adding the Color

Change the “bg1” color for each set by double clicking on the Layer Thumbnail as shown below. Select a colour from the Color Picker window that pops up and then click OK.

Not sure what color to use? Use the Andy Warhol picture below as a guide.

Now to add color to the people. There are two methods here so you can experiment around a little to see what you like best.

Method 1

Create a new layer in the “frame 1” set and rename it “pc”. (That stands for people color, not very imaginative). Place this layer between the two existing layers. See below picture.

Click on your “photo” layer in your layer palette then
Select >> Load Selection

Look at the canvas and you will find the “photo” subject/s perfectly selected. Now still working on the “pc” layer, grab the paint bucket tool and fill the selection with you a vibrant color.

Now click on the “photo” layer and change the mode to Screen. See images below.

The result I achieved with method 1…

At this stage you can bump up the saturation
Image >> Adjustments >> Hue/Saturation…

Try experimenting with Hue also, you may get some interesting results!

Method 2

Working on the “frame 2” set now, complete method 1. However this time we are going to take it a little further.

Click on the “photo” layer and merge down.

Layer >> Merge Down

Create a new layer and rename it “pc 2”. Place this layer on top of “pc 1” layer

Click on the “p1” layer and LOAD SELECTION again. Fill the “pc 2” layer with a vibrant color.

Now set the mode of the “pc 2” layer to Multiply (depending on the colours other modes might produce good results). Your layers window should look like mine shown below.

The result I achieved with method 2…

NOW EXPERIMENT! Try different color combinations. Try different modes. Try linking all the layers in one set together and merging THEN adjusting the Hue/Saturation…(Ctrl + U) on the layers.

Once you have completed all 4 sets and are happy with the result Save

You are now ready for Step 4: The Finishing Touches >>