Photoshop Elements’ Filter Gallery does an OK job of making a photo look like a painting– but if you really want to turn a photo into a hand-painted piece of art, look no further than the Pattern Stamp Tool.

STEP 1

We’ll start by setting up the pattern. Open your photo (in this example, we’ll use a red pepper, courtesy of PhotoSpin.com). Go to Edit > Define Pattern…, and name the new pattern “red pepper”. (By creating a pattern this way, the new pattern will be the exact same size as the document– very important when we start to paint with the Pattern Stamp tool.)

STEP 2

Select the Pattern Stamp tool. If it’s hidden under the Clone Stamp tool, click and hold on the Clone Stamp, and slide down to select the Pattern Stamp. Choose a 21 pixel soft-edged brush, and turn on Aligned and Impressionist in the options bar. If you’re using a Wacom tablet, you’ll see that the stroke profile is telling you the brush will react to pressure with size. Firm pressure gives you a large stroke, light pressure a small one.

STEP 3

Now that the pattern’s set, we’ll get the layers ready to draw on. Start by adding a new layer by clicking on the More button on the Layers palette and clicking on New Layer. Name the new layer “Black”, and turn the opacity to 80%.

STEP 4

Go to Edit > Fill layer, and fill the layer with black. The 80% opacity you set the layer for in the last step makes the Black layer like a piece of tracing paper, letting you see the red pepper underneath the Black layer.

STEP 5

Add another layer on top of the Black layer, and name this layer “Art”. Keep the opacity for the Art layer at 100%.

STEP 6

Now we’re ready to paint. Paint in the red pepper with the Pattern Stamp tool, using long strokes to outline the pepper, and shorter strokes to fill in. Since the art is on its own layer, you can easily erase any mistakes with the Eraser tool.

STEP 7

Reduce the size of your brush to 9 pixels to paint in the delicate areas where the stem meets the pepper.

STEP 8

Finish the painting by pulling the opacity of the Black layer back up to 100%, and then sign your name with a 3 pixel paintbrush.

Weaving letters in and out of each other is a very cool Illustrator effect. Although this can be done with any version of Illustrator, we’ll salute Adobe’s Creative Suite 2 by intertwining C, S and II. Follow along with this example: the Illustrator file has been saved as an Illustrator 8 file: Download the companion file here.
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1First, duplicate the “2″ layer by dragging it onto the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Name the new layer “Top 2″ by double-clicking it and renaming it. Next, select the Pen Tool (make sure the Foreground and Background are set to None) and draw a clipping path that outlines the parts of the II that need to move above the C.
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2Select the clipping path and target the II in the Top 2 layer by clicking its circle on the Layers palette. Go to Object>Clipping Mask>Make. Click-and-drag the Top 2 layer and slide it over the C layer.
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3Next, we’ll do the same with the S layer. Duplicate the layer, name it Top S, and create a clipping mask over the parts that need to go above the C. Select the clipping mask and target the Top S layer, and go to Object>Clipping Mask>Make.
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4Slide the Top S layer over the C layer, and you’re finished.
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STEP 1: Create and Revolve Your Objects

Start by creating a circle, a left-facing triangle, and a backward C using any tools you’d like. Now open the Color palette (Window>Color) and give the circle and triangle a Fill color (make sure there’s no stroke applied). Click on the half-circle, open the Stroke palette (Window>Stroke), click the Round Cap icon, and then choose a Stroke color in the Color palette (you may need to increase the Stroke weight, as well). Select all the shapes and go to Effect>3D>Revolve. Click on the Preview checkbox and select Right Edge in the Offset From pop-up menu. You’ll get interesting shapes, but we want the objects to revolve around the vase.

STEP 2: Group and Revolve

Click Cancel in the Revolve Options dialog. This time, select all the objects and group them (Object>Group) before running the Revolve effect, and the circle and triangle will encircle the vase.

Intersecting Rings

STEP 1: What We’re Shooting For

These two rings intersect with each other as if constructed in a true 3D program instead of Illustrator. The trick is in knowing how to break apart Illustrator’s rings and bring them back together using different layers to give it a 3D look.

STEP 2: Create the First Ring

Using the Ellipse tool (while pressing-and-holding the Shift key), make a gold-colored circle (by choosing a gold Stroke color and no Fill color) with a 5-point stroke from the Stroke palette (Window>Stroke). Then choose Effect>3D>Extrude & Bevel. We used a 50-point Extrude Depth and a Tall-Round Bevel on this ring. Rotate the ring with the rotation cube to get a slightly forward lean and click OK. Double-click the layer’s name in the Layers palette and name the layer “Left ring.”

STEP 3: Create the Second Ring

Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, name it “Right ring,” and click OK. Make a new ring, except this time rotate the ring for a flatter view and use a different Bevel (we used Complex 2). Hide the Left ring layer by clicking on the Eye icon next to the layer’s name in the Layers palette.

STEP 4: Duplicate and Cut in Half

Duplicate the Right ring layer by dragging it onto the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Change to Outline view (Command-Y). Double-click the duplicate layer and name it “Front right ring,” and rename the Right ring layer “Back right ring.” Press A to switch to the Direct Selection tool, hide the Back right layer, select the top control point on the Front right layer, and press Delete to delete it. Reveal the Back right layer and hide the Front layer, and then do the same for the bottom control point on the Back right layer.

STEP 5: Wait-the Half-Rings Moved!

Press Command-Y to exit Outline view, and reveal the Front right layer again. You’ll notice that the half-rings seem to have moved—that’s because of the rotations we used for this extrusion. Press V to switch to the Selection tool and move the front half-ring until it looks as if it’s lining up with the back half-ring.

STEP 6: Up Close and Personal

Change the Zoom to 800% in the bottom-left corner of your document window and use the Arrow keys to nudge the front half-ring so that it lines up with the back half-ring. Press Command-K and set the Keyboard Increment to 0.1 pt to give you a nice, small nudge. Now in the Layers palette, click-and-drag the Back right ring layer beneath the Left ring layer. Change your Zoom back to 100%, make the Left ring layer visible in the Layers palette, and then use the Selection tool to position the Left ring layer so it interlocks with the right ring.

STEP 7: Mapping Art

Next, we’ll map artwork onto the left ring. Create a symbol first. For this artwork, we used the Type tool (T), typed the word “Apple,” selected the text with the Selection tool, and then clicked on the New Symbol icon at the bottom of the Symbols palette (Window>Symbols). Select the Left ring, double-click the 3D Extrude & Bevel effect in the Appearance palette (Window>Appearance), and click Map Art. Choose the correct surface in the Surface field, select your symbol from the Symbol pop-up menu, and then move the symbol into place using the Preview option to see it live.

STEP 8: The Final Image

Map a symbol onto the front right ring, and you’re set. The result: 3D rings that interlock, all created in Adobe Illustrator CS.