Retro Inspired Illustration Designing

In this photoshop tutorial we will show you how to create retro style illustration effect in Photoshop. Mainly we will work with lights and colors.
As you can see from preview image, we will get really cool result. So if you want learn some color and light techniques, go ahead and read more this tutorial. In this tutorial we will use large amount of Photoshop tools and resources, so I think you will learn some new photoshop tips.

Final Image Preview

Step 1

First of all create a new document. Image size: 2480 by 3508 pix and 300 dpi. Name it Retro Stile poster.
Open the Texture, drag it to Retro Stile poster:

Make a new layer over and fill it with #a8b9b8:

Change Blending Mode to Color; merge layers (ctrl + E).

Step 2

Open file with Girl. I used Pen Tool (P), then make selection as shown below:


Extract the girl into your document. Transform her and place as shown:

Copy layer with the girl two times:

Step 3

Now make layer Girl invisible, select layer Girl copy2, go to Filter>Other>High Pass:

Change Blending Mode to Color. Merge with layer Girl copy (Ctrl + E). Apply High Pass one more:

Than go to Filter> Blur > Gaussian Blur, radius about 2, 3 pixels. Using Lasso Tool select her eyes as shown below and press Delete.

Go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask:

Change Blending Mode to Overlay, Opacity 74%. Merge with layer Girl:

Step 4

Copy layer Girl two times and place as shown below:

Now we need to draw some elements. I used Pen Tool (P) and draw all elements on separate layer, fill with black, than merge all layers with elements and name the layer Pieces. Make selection as shown:

Select the layer with girl and press Delete. Make layer Pieces invisible. And now we need to apply Hue/Saturation (Ctrl + U) as shown below:

It must be look like here:

Step 5

Select layer Girl Copy. I used Smudge Tool (R) and make her hires more dynamic:


The next used Blur Tool, as shown on the screenshot below:


Now the girl looks more dynamic and really ready to start:

Create a new layer over, and add some splatters:

Select the splatters (Ctrl + Click over icon in the pallet of layers) make a new layer via cut (Shift +Ctrl +J). Transform the layer as shown on the screenshot:

Now create a new layer over and add some white splatters as shown:

Make layer Girl Copy and Splatters invisible.

Step 6

Make layer Girl visible. Using Lasso Tool select the girl as shown below:

Delete selected part. Create a new layer over and add splatters as shown on the screenshot below.
You may experiment with brush size; angle, opacity. I changed a bright Green color, because it’s more visible on the girl and background. Now she looks rather strange:

Select Splatters (Ctrl + Click over icon in the pallet of layers), than select layer Girl, and press Delete. The next Delete the layer with green splatters.

Step 7

Now make all layers visible. You need transform and place layer Pieces as shown on the screenshot:

The pallet of layers must look like this:

Select layer Pieces and apply Hue/saturation (Ctrl + U):

The next you need to apply some layer styles:

Set color of Shadow for Bevel and Emboss #025053

Set color of effect for Satin #d9e8e9

Go to Filter> Blur>Gaussian Blur:

Now the Poster must look like here:

Step 8

Crate a new layer over, using Pen Tool (P) draw a stripe as shown:

Make selection, and take rather big soft brush paint the stripe as shown below:


Make all stripes on separate layers and place them as shown on the screenshot:

Add some colorful stripes over:

Step 9

Create a new layer over layer Pieces, name it Stars, and apply white Diamond Gradients:


Create a new layer over layer Girl and apply black Radial Gradient as shown:

Step 10

First of all create a new layer over layer Splatters, name it Texture Overlay and add some elements from Midnight City pack, I used color #e0faf5 for the texture. Change Blending Mode to Overlay. Create a new layer over Radial Gradient and add Strips from the same pack of brushes:

Step 11

At last I add some elements and more splatters over:

Download Psd file