Psychedelia in Photoshop

Client demand is always shifting, as it meanders through emerging trends. One of the styles in vogue right now is retro chic: a backlash against the faceless, flat-coloured, monotone vector style; against the shiny, cyber-fuelled age of polished illustration. Clients are looking for something different to your scratchy, layered Photoshop illo, something that's funky, fun and bright.

This issue we'll peek under the hood of an illustration that is exactly this: a Charlie's Angels-stylee Photoshop flashback. We'll dissect the working method behind it into techniques that you can apply to your own work. What you will discover is that some of the most effective illustration work is, in essence, a simple creature once broken down into its component parts. Style is how you wear, not what you wear.

Be prepared to let down your guard and work quite speedily, rolling with the inevitable mistakes. We'll even go old school in Part 3, encouraging you to doodle with marker pens. For this tutorial, our advice is to forget about the History palette.

Click here to download the tutorial for free