Before we start you’ll need a high resolution image of a brick wall and you’ll need to download these graffiti brushes (Graffiti brushes by elliottfelix) . You’ll now need to move the .abr file to the following location in your Applications Folder: Applications >> Adobe Photoshop >>Presets >> Brushes
This is the finished graffiti text effect we will be aiming for during this tutorial:
- Create a document of size 210mm by 20mm – 300dpi, CMYK in Photoshop.
- Drag your brick wall image to your blank canvas and resize to fit.
- Create your graffiti text. I have used the font ‘Amsterdam Graffiti’ downloaded free from dafont.com however use any font you like as long as it looks handwritten and has a graffiti-like appearance.
- Right click (ctrl + click) on your text layers and rasterize the type once you are happy its layout.
- If you now have multiple layers of rasterized type you’ll need to merge them onto one layer to proceed. To do this, select the rasterized layers of type in the layer palette then go to Layer >> Marge Layers (⌘E) in the top menu bar.
- Once you have merged your text layers you’ll need to apply the following effects to your graffiti layer. To apply these effects double click on the layer icon in the layers pallete to open the layer style dialogue box.
Enter the values detailed in the screenshots below:
Drop Shadow
(Blend Mode – Multiply; Opacity – 100; Distance – 53; Spread – 22; Size – 29)
Bevel and Emboss
(Style – Stroke emboss ; Technique – smooth; Depth – 51%; Size – 16; Soften – 0)
(Shading – Angle – 157; Gloss contour; Highlight mode – Screen – white; Opacity – 82%; Shadow Mode – Multiply – black; Opacity 75%)
Satin
(Blend mode - Overlay; Opacity – 34%; Angle – 19; Distance – 18px; Size – 166px; Contour – check invert)
Colour Overlay
(Blend Mode – Multiply – pick main colour)
Gradient Overlay
(Opacity – 86%; Add harsh gradient colours; Scale – 107%
Stroke
(Structure - Size – 25px; Blend Mode – Normal; Opacity – 56%; Fill type – Colour :white)
After entering these values your text should look a little like this:
This looks ok but is lacking some of the more textured paint effects which will make it look more realistic.
This is where we need to use the graffiti brushes you downloaded and installed at the beginning of this tutorial.
- Create a new layer underneath your graffiti text layer.
- Open your brushes palette and load the brushes by clicking on the options icon is the top right hand corner of the palette to display the drop down.
- Select ‘Paint_Drip_Brushes_by_elliottfelix’
- Set the foreground colour of your brush to white and start experimenting with the brushes on your new layer, add the paint drips where letters meet and on some corners of letters for a drippy effect.
- Create another new layer above the white paint drips and add some black paint drips using the same set of brushes to create some depth to the graffiti – overlay some of the black drips over the white paint.
To create a more realistic graffiti paint effect you’ll need to make it appear as if the bricks are subtly showing through the paint.
- Duplicate your background wall image. (Layer >> Duplicate layer)
- Reduce the saturation of the duplicated layer (Image >> Adjustments >> Hue/Saturation >> Alter the saturation to -100.)
- Move your greyscale wall layer to the top of your layers palette and alter the layer blending mode to overlay – this will immediately give you a more realistic effect.
I hope you like this tutorial and it’s helped you to create the effect you were after!