How to Paint With an Image Texture

Painting With an Image Texture

I'll never forget when I first started to "play" with Photoshop in 1990. I was always fascinated with the clone tool. It was like magic to select someone's face and then "paint" with it on a white background. Video games weren't that good back then, and this was surely more fun then "Ms. Pacman." As I have grown a little more sophisticated, so have cloning tools. I began to think that I could use the tool to create distinctive movie titles for my music videos. Although I still haven't created any movie titles I like, I wanted to share the method for doing this. Art takes time, and maybe someday I will create some titles that I like. Until then, the clone tool will still mesmerize me. Here I will demonstrate the process using GIMP, but the method is the same regardless of which image-editing software you use.

Things You'll Need

• GIMP
• Digital images

Instructions

1. 

   Open your image-editing program and select an image for clone selection. I am fascinated by the patterns created in these Chicago skyscrapers and thought it would be fun to paint with that texture. I will start with the building on the left and select part of that image to paint with.

2. 

   Select the clone tool from the toolbar on the left. Once you have selected the tool you can set the tool attributes. You can set opacity, brush dynamics and brush size. For writing or painting movie titles I selected the largest brush (Galaxy) that was available. I wanted to be able to see the buildings in each stroke of the title.

3. 

   Once you have set the attributes you need to select the clone source, move the tool over the image to the spot you wish to select. To set the clone source click your mouse and the control key at the same time and the source is selected.

4. 

   Now it is time to actually paint my movie title using the source I selected. To do this, simply open a new blank file. Select the color background you want and use the fill function to color the background. In this case I stayed with white. Next position your mouse and begin to draw. The brush I selected determines the width of the stroke. Now I have a movie title painted with the texture of the building. It's OK, but not exactly what I wanted, so back to the drawing board.

Tips & Warnings

• Try selecting a person's face and paint with the face.

• Save your creation under a new file name to protect the integrity of your image archive.

Resources

• GIMP