STEP 1
Copy the Obama Photo...and open it inside Photoshop.
STEP 2
Crop (C) the photo (4"x6"@72 p/i)...
STEP 3
Quick Select (W) Obama's portrait and extract it from the background. (SHIFT+CTRL+J)
STEP 4
Duplicate the extracted portrait 4 times...(CTRL+J) and trash the unused portion of the original photo.
STEP 5
Fill Background using the Hex#: FBDE8E
STEP 6
Now it's time to apply an Image Threshold to the four copies of Obama's face. The 5th and bottom copy will be used later, so you can turn off the visibility ("Poke out" the eye.) Go up to the top layer, then choose Image>Adjustment>Threshold. You will use a value of 90. This will show the most details of the face.
6A.
6B. Turn off the visibility ("poke out" the eye) of the top layer.
Next layer down...use Image>Adjustment>Threshold value of 120.
6C. Again, turn off the previous layer's visibility.
Next layer down...use Image>Adjustment>Threshold value of 150.
6D. Turn off the previous layer's visibility.
Next layer down...use Image>Adjustment>Threshold value of 190.
STEP 7
Rename your layers...Starting at the top: "Dark Blue", "Red", "Light Blue", and "Pattern". This will help you to remember the order of your coloring. If it's in the wrong order, it can really impact the overall appearance of the face. Notice the color values get lighter as they descend in the stacking order.STEP 8
Make your Dark Blue layer active, go to Filter>Artistic>Palette Knife and choose the following values: Stroke Size=7, Stroke Detail=3, Softness=10.
STEP 9
For the next three color layers, you will apply the same Filter, but use a Stroke Size value between 20-30. Do this for the Red layer first. Then, for the next two colors, use the shortcut, Ctrl+F; this will automatically apply the same Filter.
STEP 10
Next, we will need to delete all of the white from the Faces. Go to the top layer, use the Magic Wand tool, uncheck Contiguous, and click on the white part of the face. Then, hit the delete key. Go to each layer, but turn off the visibility from the previous layer so you can see the results happen as you do it.
STEP 11
Next we will make a pattern for our layer with the same name.
As we did in a previous lesson, make the following pattern. Draw the skinny rectangle using the Rectangle Shape tool and use the Ctrl+Opt+T command to copy the rectangle. Remember to move the rectangle downward with the down-arrow key. Leave a slight gap between the two rectangles. Hit the Return key to apply. Then, use the Shift+Ctrl+Opt+T command to make the rectangle duplicate as well populate down the length of the canvas. Use the following color for your shape, Hex. #: FDE5A9
Go up to Edit>Define Pattern...no need to name the pattern.
STEP 12
Apply your newly created pattern to the layer with the same name. Double-click the layer to bring up Layer Styles. Choose Pattern Overlay, highlight it, and find your pattern to apply.
STEP 13
Next, we will color the rest of our layers using the shortcut command, Shift+Opt+Delete...this will fill only the pixels in that layer with a specific foreground color. (Note: without the shift key, you will end up filling up the entire layer.) Make the Light Blue layer active and click on your color picker in the foreground color and type in the following HEX #: 71969F.
STEP 14
Fill in the rest of the layers with the following HEX #s: Red = D71A21; Dark Blue = 06324D.
STEP 15
Touching Up: Using the paintbrush tool, go into your Red layer and paint in any gaps that exist--make sure you use the correct HEX # for the same red color. Also, use the Eraser tool to erase some of the pattern away if there's too much it. You might want to look at the original as a guide.
STEP 16
Add a layer at the top. This is where we fill in the bottom gap rectangular portion of the canvas with the dark blue. Use the Rectangular Marquee, draw out the "ants" to cover the gap; then, fill it using the Opt+Delete command.
Use the eyedropper tool (I) to sample the dark blue color. This will change your foreground color to equal the sample.
STEP 17
Add a type layer at the top. See my settings for the type in the Character palette. Go to Window>Character to bring it up.
STEP 18
Remove the yellow background without removing it from the face. Bring up the visibility of the unused face of Obama, Ctrl+Click the thumbnail. You will see ants in the shape of his face. Go to the yellow background and use the command, Shift+Ctrl+J. This will cut out the yellow shaped face. Delete the Obama face photo.
STEP 19
Create two rectangles for the background: left side will be light blue and the right side, red. To do this, first fill up the entire background with the red color. Remember to use the Eyedropper tool to sample the existing red from the face. This is faster than typing in the HEX #.
STEP 20
Add a light-blue vertical rectangle to the right side of the canvas. It should be approximately half the width. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) for this. Use the Eyedropper to the sample the existing color from the HOPE text. Opt+Delete to fill up the "marching ants".
FINAL STEP
Create the yellow border. First, duplicate the background (Ctrl + J). Then, go back into the background. Go up to the menu bar and choose Image>Canvas size. Type in .25 inches for the values, for both width and height. Be sure the Relative box is checked. Click OK. You should see a .25 inch border all the way around the canvas. Fill the bottom layer with the yellow color, FDE5A9.
That's it! You just recreated the popular iconic Obama Hope Poster. It's not perfect, but hopefully you will have gained an appreciation for the artistic process and learned a bunch of Photoshop tricks along the way. NOW TO USE YOUR OWN FACE FOR THE FINAL PROJECT!!
