Rohit Mordani’s Blog

I have been using Adobe Photoshop since ver 3.0 (1995) and I can proudly (and mostly non arguably) claim that I am very proficient at it ! I am not saying that I am the best or that I have mastered it all, but I am good. I have loved this software since ver. 3.0 and have hardly had any complaints with it - Some suggestions surely, but no complaints whatsoever !

Photoshop is the premier image manipulation software for graphic designers, photographers and many more professionals in the business. Some people do complain about the lack of vector support and text support, but those features are present in the current version of Photoshop - not too advanced though !

How I got into Photoshop, I myself do not remember. The earliest memory of me using Photoshop was when I was designing a poster for the IEEE society at my Engineering college - Thadomal (undergrad) called 360 Degrees. I think I had used ver. 3.0 for this. This is when I realised the power of Layers in Photoshop ! I became pretty good soon and started teaching the basics of Photoshop by example - This is the way I learned it and this is the way I was going to teach it !

I must say, I was pretty famous in my college and no one came near when it came to designing - I may sound arrogant right now, but I am not. Everyone has their talents and I had just found mine ! I learned Photoshop by following tutorials on the web. There are tons of tutorials out there - probably the most number of tutorials that I have seen on the web are the ones for Photoshop. I also did a website where I put up some of my own tutorials. This is quite an old site, but the tutorials are still good if you are a beginner ! Check it out if you are starting off as a beginner. Here is some of my Photoshop works…

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If you have ever been to Pier 39 in San Francisco then you must have definitely seen the entertainers on the street ! One of the “entertainment sections” of Pier 39 are guys who put on some loud obnoxious music and sit in front of a crowd and display their talent - the amazing spray paintings that they create from a scratch !

These guys are amazing - to see them paint in front of a large crowd without a reference picture is quite something ! Everything is right out of their heads - at times you don’t even recognise what they are doing until the piece is all done. Its pure TALENT ! Their only tools are the Spray Paints, a circular cover (for the planets), a small blade, and magazine pages (to give the texture on the planets). Amazingly, the theme is always a “Space Scape” and some famous landmark of the city - The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz or even the Transamerica Pyramid. I have also seen this kind of spray painting in other cities - New York, Las Vegas etc.

Check out these videos if you haven’t seen these people doing their thing . The next time you are in one of these cities do not miss out on this - You can even purchase one of their paintings for a mere $20.

I just figured out that there is a website dedicated to this kind of art. Check it out : spacepaintings.com . It also has some tips and instructions for beginners - in case you get inspired and try to do this on your own - I am planning to do this sometime
UPDATE: I actually went out and got the paraphernalia to spray paint and tried it out. The result - Well, I am not (yet) as good as the ones in these videos but am just starting off - I will learn more and more and become good at it ! I encourage you to go out there and try it out as well - Its fun - try to mimic these guys in the video and you will learn !

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