A couple of months ago I joined KAIZEN, which is step up from the AWAKE Advanced Photoshop training course I have been doing for the past year. KAIZEN has a different structure and we are given monthly projects which challenge us to create in different ways and for different outcomes.
This first challenge was for a Skate and Bike shop in the US who are developing a program to help kids stay away from the temptations of drugs, by getting them into a community or like minded interest group – in this instance: Skateboarding and BMX.
We were given access to a selection of images of local bikers and skaters to work with, and our challenge was to create memorable, eyecatching images to be used on posters or a website for advertising.
I knew on seeing these images what I wanted to do – add real energy and power and movement, take them into an entirely new place. My theme for these images was Clarity and Breaking Through – finding a way out of the drug scene and into better choices.
My secret weapon for these images are the fabulous PS Actions from sevenstyles, an incredibly talented PS artist who makes these fantastic actions that do the work of hours in a few minutes.
However each of these images has had a good couple of hours of work put in AFTER the action is run, to tidy it up, polish it, personalise it and add my preferred finishing touches and colour schemes.
A confession here, I have been *dying* to try out some of his really cool actions but had absolutely no reason up til now 🙂 Very pleased how these turned out and have since done a couple of other images for friends in the same style with great response.
We had to keep these project images under wraps until it was all cleared with the client at the other end – some really fabulous creative work was generated out of this project, and pushed many artists totally outside their comfort zone, myself included.
All of these images can be viewed here
The two actions featured here are Storm and Fragment, with some smaller shattering added as well.
Explored different colour schemes and tried to add energy, power and movement to the subject as well as transport them into a new place.
This is a very different style for me, so love to hear feedback – does it work for you? Maybe not your thing?
Anyone else using sevenstyles actions?
Learning to See Light 
Power and energy are the exact words I would use to describe these photos. Wow! these just really pop to me. The 2nd photo (blue/purple colors) looks tie-dyed to me so that speaks to my inner hippie. I think these are fantastic.
Thankyou – purple is apparently my signature colour LOL
The third one *really* works for me; it captures concentration and bursting out, with that edginess that skater/BMX culture often has. The second one has a dark blob above the skater’s head that distracts, and the light colours are a bit overwhelmed by the bright burst in the middle of the image; otherwise I like the treatment and colouring a lot.
Overall, I love the energy of this set. My next impulse would be to use a flower image as the starting point…
Interestingly the third one is the first image I did and liked the effect, but really wanted to try the storm one too, so did those variations as well. I hadn’t thought of using a flower….
Wow, these have so much energy in them! A great choice for the subjects. The orange first one really is striking with the white around the bike creating even more of an energy field. The shattering works so well with these but the second purple one lacks the same energy as the others maybe because of the skaters stance? Love what you have come up with and those Actions sure are creative.
Hey thanks Lee, you identified what wasn’t working in the skateboarder image for me, I knew it wasn’t quite right but couldnt put my finger on it, he is too static!