make your own colorfield painting

Open a blank document and fill with color:

1. Open Photoshop

2. Open a new blank document by going to the File menu and selecting New.

3. Set the Width at 8.5 and the Height at 11 inches, Set the Resolution to 300 dpi,

Color Mode should be RGB 8 bit, Choose White for the Color

4. Fill the blank document by going to the Edit menu and selecting Fill,

Choose Color under the drop down menu options. Pick your color from the options (Blue).

5. Make sure the Layers Palette is visible, if not go to Window - > Layers

6. Copy your background using the keyboard shortcut CNTRL + J (Command J)

7. Fill the top layer with a different color (Pink), by following step 4 again

8. Choose the Marquee from the Tools Palette and set the Feather to 25 pixels.

9. On the top Layer draw out the Marquee Tool into a skinny rectangle.

10. In the Select menu pick Inverse. Then press delete. You should now see a pink square on a blue background.

11. Click on your Background layer. Click CNTRL + J (Command + J) to copy the background again.

12. With the Background copy layer selected go to the Edit menu and choose Fill. Choose your color (bright green).

13. Also with the Background copy layer selected, choose the Marquee tool and draw out another thin rectangle.

14. In the Select menu pick Inverse. Then press delete. You should now see both a pink square and a green square on a blue background.

15. Click on your Background layer. Click CNTRL + J (Command + J) to copy the background again.

16. With the Background copy layer selected go to the Edit menu and choose Fill. Choose your color (orange).

17. Also with the Background copy layer selected, choose the Marquee tool and draw out another thin rectangle.

18. In the Select menu pick Inverse. Then press delete. You should now see, an orange square, a pink square, and a green square on a blue background.

19. Click on each of the top three layers and adjust the opacity to your liking.

Advanced:

You may continue to add more layers of varying colors or play with erasing parts of the layers until you are happy.

Try flipping the canvas as you create the work to see how it varies. (Image menu - Rotate Canvas - 180 degrees)

You can also add additional Hue/Saturation layers to see how they change the image.

Save the image:

Save your image by going to the File menu and Save As (Choose JPEG for finished images and PSD for unfinished images). For JPEG save the image at the highest size (Size 12).

***REMEMBER YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACKWARDS ONE STEP WITH THE KEYBOARD SHORCUT CONTROL + Z or COMMAND + Z***

*If you finish with extra time you can try it with one of your own images.

images for advanced students