Photoshop Tutorial: How to Create Andy Warhol Inspired Pop Art

Andy Warhol is known for his work in Pop Art. But what you may or may not know is that Andy Warhol's Pop Art work can be duplicated with some easy steps using Adobe Photoshop. The best part is that you can use your own photos to achieve Warhol's signature look. So in this tutorial, you will learn how to create Pop Art. This is a fun and easy tutorial

Step 1) Start by opening your portrait image as a canvas in Adobe Photoshop and hold down the Alt/Opt key on your keyboard. Drag the original image layer to the "Create a new layer" icon and call the new layer "Cut Away," and then click OK on the menu. Use selection tools such as the Magic Wand (located on the vertical, free-floating menu bar) and Color Range to select and delete the background pixels from the new layer you created.

Step 2) To make the high-contrast image, check to make sure the Cut Away layer is active and select Image > Adjustment > Threshold on the top menu bar. Move the slider on the scroll bar so that the image contains only enough shadow to show the picture's essential shapes, shadows, and tones.

Step 3) Next, select each image area that you want to paint with a single color, and use Alt+Opt + Ctrl+Cmd + J to copy the selection into its own layer. Name each new layer something different, set the blending mode to Multiply, and click OK.

Step 4) Start each item's layer in the Layers palette in turn. For each seperate photo, Ctrl+Cmd and then click the thumbnail so that only its non-transparent pixels are selected, and choose Edit > Fill. This will start the Color Selector. Select a strong color and click OK twice in a row.

Step 5) After that, in the Layer Style menu box, change the Color Overlay blending mode to just color. Choose a stronger color (such as a bold red) and click OK.

Step 6) Once you have repeated steps 4 and 5 for each colored one, you have a completed silkscreen-style image. Save the file now and make copies in which you use variations of the same colors. Each colored area is in its own layer essentially, so it is easy to select and recolor it with a Hue and Saturation adjustment layer.

Step 7) Then, finally combine all the images into one canvas using the select, copy, and paste tools in Photoshop.

What you can do is place multiple levels together to create a fun, creative, and original new image that is perfect for posting on the internet or printing out to frame and hang on a wall.