Picsart
PicsArtist paolomore (@paolomore) is the ultimate peer teacher, a PicsArt user with a bottomless bag of editing tricks, and an unending motivation to share them with the greater community. Today, Paolo shows us all how to use PicsArt’s Distort Effects to pull a portrait apart into a series of surreal arcs, weaving in and out of each other.
This photo editing technique produces impressive and beautiful results; just follow the steps below or watch the video to find out how it’s done. Don’t forget to tag the final result with #paoloshowedme to tip your cap to Paolo for his creativity and collaborative spirit.
Step 1: Portrait
Upload a portrait with a blacked out background. If need be, black it out yourself with a black brush in the drawing tool. Open the Effects menu and select the Distort category.
Step 2: Water
Choose the Water Effect from the menu, and reduce the wave slider to zero. Move the center of the ripples off below the chin to create a fringe, and adjust the radius as needed. Confirm.
Step 3: Swirl
Select the Swirl Effect, and max out the Angle slider. Position it off to the side to create a huge swooping loop, then check off the invert box.
Step 4: Swirl 2
Select the circular brush icon and max out the hardness. Make sure that Effect is selected, and paint near the area where you put your swirl. The trick is to try and catch the stretched piece of the Swirl, while preserving enough critical features like eyes, nose and mouth.
Step 5: Repeat
Continue to add swirls to create new stretches of swirling portrait, and get creative with your positioning and brushing to create interesting patterns.
