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Hot Wax and Polar Coordinates
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Hot Wax and Polar Coordinates
Created by: SpiritWings
 
This tutorial will demonstrate how to combine the hot wax and polar coordinate effects to produce interesting images.
 
Download file  Download File
The download file on the left contains the image that I use in this tutorial.
 


New Image


Open Image


Copy

Getting Ready

Create a new image: 350 x 350 pixels, Background = transparent, and put to one side.

Open the downloaded elephant image, or another image of your own choosing.

Copy the elephant image (Ctrl+C or Edit || Copy), then paste it as a new layer (Ctrl+L or Edit || Paste || Paste As New Layer) onto your blank canvas.

Close the original elephant image.
 

Apply the Aged Newspaper Effect

Go to Effects || Artistic Effects || Aged Newspaper:
– Amount to Age = 75 (or experiment with other settings)
 
Materials Palette - Active Colors     Duplicate Layer

Apply the Hot Wax Coating

Set your Foreground Color to white.

Go to Effects || Artistic Effects || Hot Wax Coating.

In the Layer palette, right-click on the elephant layer ('Raster 2') and duplicate. Click on the duplicate layer to make it the active layer.

Right-click on it and rename as 'Elephant 2'. Then go to Layers || Arrange || Send to Bottom.
 

Apply the Polar Coordinates Effect

With the bottom layer ('Elephant 2') still active, go to Effects || Distortion Effects || Polar Coordinates. Make sure "Rectangular to polar" is checked.

Check "Color" and set to your preference. I have used black but you might like to experiment with other colours.
 



Magic Wand Tool






Dropper Tool     Flood Fill Tool

Create the Frame

From the Tools toolbar, choose the Magic Wand tool. In the Tool Options palette, set:
– Mode = Add
– Match mode = RGB Value

Click on each corner piece, shown in black in the image above.

Use the Eyedropper to choose a deep beige colour from the image for your Foreground Color. Select the top layer ('Raster 2') in your Layer palette, activate the Flood-fill tool and flood-fill the selected corners.

Go to Effects || 3D Effects || Inner Bevel with the following settings:
– Bevel = No. 1 (1st row, 1st column)
– Width = 8
– Smoothness = 0
– Depth = 20
– Ambience = 0
– Shininess = 0
– Color = white
– Angle = 315
– Intensity = 50
– Elevation = 30

Deselect {Ctrl+D or Selections || Select None). Merge all layers (Layers || Merge || Merge All (Flatten), then go to Image || Add Borders:
– Color = Black
– Top/Left/Right/Bottom = 10
– Symmetric = checked
 

And here is your finished image!

You could always try experimenting with different textures and effects on the polar coordinates layer. Or even different settings on the polar coordinates. Why not experiment.

Above all – have fun!

Happy creating.