Guess THIS technique!

I have a feeling that when I do reveal the technique, everyone who happens upon this thread will be experimenting with it for days on end.

HINT: NO Filters!

The number of possible variations are mind-boggling.

(BTW...Pank, I think I like the new "Topic Review" system that I see at the bottom of this reply form. It allows easy access to all previous posts in the current thread, which makes it much easier to respond to more than 1 person without having to repeatedly hit the "Back" and "Forward" commands.)

That was so cool. lol I just discovered my Goodies folder.

This technique is a lot like one we used in grade school that involved crayons, some black tempra paint, and a tooth pick. That part of it came to me pretty quickly, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me what brush you were using. Until a tiny little lightbulb went on *bing!* and a voice inside my head says, "Maybe there are more somewhere..."

Ya' learn somethin' new about Photoshop every day. Thanks for presenting a reason to explore, Utopian.

OK, looks like you got the correct brush.

Now, how did you go about doing it? Considering how there is almost always more than one way of achieving a given effect in Photoshop, how about sharing the step-by-step as you did it, then I'll explain my method.

my guess is he ran a rainbow gradiant on one layer, put in a second layer, filled it black, then used the brush and erased what needed to be..

snore

That's how I did it.

Edit-- Except I added more colors to the gradient and used the radial gradient tool, only filling my image with "half" a circle.

You must have a really steady mouse hand, by the way.

Using the eraser to selectively clear away a black overlayer didn't work for the effect I was trying to achieve. If you'll notice, you'll see that my ribbons and tubes have a sort of 3-D lighting effect. I invented this technique while trying to simulate the effects of a plugin for Painter by DigArts called TubularNeon. They don't offer a demo, and I even went so far as to scour the undernet for a copy, but came up empty. You all need to go check out that link and have a look at some of the effects, including animation, that can be achieved using it. I just might have to break down and spend the US$40. It would basically be just a toy, but a very cool one.

My technique, in a nutshell:

•New document, fill Background layer with black.
•New layer. Fill this layer with the colors of your choice. I usually go for bright, saturated, colors, usually in a busy pattern of some sort. I generally create these by using a multi-colored gradient, set to "Difference" mode.
•New layer. Leave blank. Choose the Smudge Tool, select a brush. The brushes I've found that work best are the ones that are fully black, and fairly hard-edged. I set the mode to Normal, and Pressure to around 94, check the box for "Use all layers".

Now in the newly created empty layer I start drawing with the Smudge Tool, and it picks up the color from the layer beneath, oozing it along in the direction you move the brush, and constantly resampling and picking up new color as you move.

Then, when you've done your drawing, just click on the multicolor layer to make it invisible and to view your smudges against the background.

One thing that's neat to do is to create vector objects, then stroke them with the smudge tool. Remember that when you switch to your Path Selection tool that the stroke you'll be able to apply to those paths will have the brush you selected and the parameters you set when you last used the smudge tool, so you need to set those before you select all the paths.

The first image I posted and the one below were done without the aid of a digitising tablet. Once you add those capabilities to this technique the possibilities are endless.

Experiment with EVERYTHING. Opacities, Layer Blending and Opacities, Create some of your own brushes...whatever you can think of to expand on the technique. Some varaitions look even better against backgrounds other than black.

I'd like to see some examples (post 'em in the "Showcase" forum) of what you guys can do with variations on the technique.

EDIT: DO check out the ordering pages at the DigArts link above. There are some fantasic combo deals..some bundles with Painter 5.5 and other plugins with Bryce 3D for under US$100.

Someone post a new one....I'm gettin' anxious.

so I am using another computer to check email and stuff, but can't really access any of my images right now. I'll post a new one if I can.

For the time being I am leaving flowers on the keyboard and making sacraficial offerings of CD Roms and things of the like to try and appease the computer Gods. Keep my machine in your prayers please!!! Thank you.

Love the current sig, matt... it's my favorite, yet.

That process worked great for creating this!