Nature is something that inspires all artists, designers and photographers on a day-to-day basis. Wherever it is you work, rest or play, there will always be nature around you, and whether you intend to or not it’s always going to influence you in one way or another. This round-up of nature-themed Photoshop artwork is sure to get your creative heads buzzing!

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The use of textures can dramatically improve your print design work. You can (if used sensibly) add more depth to your work, whether your work be business cards, advertisements or posters. The results of using texture in your print design projects can be completely different every time, depending on various factors such as what textures you use, how many textures you use, and how you apply them to your work.

This post showcases a great selection of print design projects that make good use of textures; making the work more visually appealing. The showcase is followed by a small selection of useful links and resources.

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The eyes have long been considered the windows to the soul. Photographers often try to focus on a subject’s eyes as a way to add depth and emotion to a photo. But there are still only so many ways you can emphasize the eyes in a standard photo.

That’s where photo manipulations like those below enter the scene. Some are macabre and just a little bit (or extremely) frightening, while others make us think of fantasy worlds filled with fairies and nymphs. And then there are those that are done just to make the subject appear more striking. In any case, all are inspiring and a great place to start if you’re looking for some ideas.

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Textures, textures, textures. The design community, both print and web, seems to be going absolutely texture mad, but there are several valid and very good reasons to why that may be:

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Book covers can be incredibly creative design projects. They can also be wildly challenging when compared with many other types of designs. A cover has to not only tell something about what the story is about, but also be appealing to the book’s target readership.

Many book cover designers turn to photographs when creating book covers. Not all books have the budget for custom photo shoots, so often stock images have to be used. And what many readers don’t realize is that many book covers are actually composite images, made up of multiple stock images to create the look and feel the designer is after.

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This is another interesting interview with a talented artist. Jaime Jasso is a veteran matte painter who has worked on some popular projects that we’ve all either seen or played first hand. To name a few, he has worked on games such as “Halo Wars” and “Prototype.” This master matte painter gives the readers some advice, as well as some insight on why he chose this artistic route. Let’s get to know this master matte painter.

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Anthony Giacomino is an extremely talented designer who has already designed art for big names such as Allen Iverson, Randy Moss, and other big name athletes. He is only 20 and is attending school. Anthony currently freelances and in our interview we talk about the pro’s and con’s of exactly that. We also discuss his design style and how he creates some of his stunning artwork. So lets get into another great interview with this talented artist.

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Cyrill Clunev is a Russian designer with a very impressive abstract design style. This unique artist talks about why he likes creating abstract illustrations, and walks us through one of his best works. On top of all that we discuss how bad artwork inspires Cyrill to create amazing artwork. So lets get into another great interview.

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Floral and Ornate patterns are very popular in the design world, their vintage yet elegant and modern feel makes them perfect to use for so many different projects.

To make your life easier, we’ve collected over 60 brush sets, in total including over 1,000 single brushes! What are you favorites sets? We’d love to know!

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Winter is now in full swing for the Northern Hemisphere. Snow and cold have engulfed the northern latitudes. In the Southern Hemisphere, summer has taken hold, bringing with it blazing temperatures. For those of you in the north, the image manipulations below can help us appreciate the beauty of winter. And for those in the south, they can bring some much-needed relief from the heat.

Photo manipulations are probably one of the most entertaining and interesting things to do with Photoshop. Combining unrelated elements into a single image, often combined with other filters, textures, and effects, to create one-of-a-kind works of art can be as challenging or simple as you want it to be, depending on exactly what you’re trying to create.

There are a variety of ways these artists use to combine individual elements into a cohesive whole. Lighting effects, texture overlays, softening, and more are all put to the test with some of the examples below. And if you try all of those and aren’t happy with the results, sometimes emphasizing the fact that the image is a composite can work wonders.

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