DNA mutation psychedelic trance party poster and tutorial

Hey guys! Today I’d like you to show you the new digital psychedelic artwork I did for Earthstar Gatherings and I’m also going to show you some (14 to be exact) screenshots of the psychedelic flyer design process.

Step 1

I always start with a sketch – digital or analog. The name of the party is “DNA Mutation”. This is why I decided to use a human face as a central object. I’ve made it of different objects to make it “mutated” from a regular human. There core objects are snakes and DNA molecules. Snakes and dragons symbolize wisdom in Asian cultures and this is I guess DNA mutation is about – not 5 legs or a crocodile jaw!

Step 2

First I’ve made a burning cobra using regular round brush. Then I’ve added a flame-like colorful background on a separate layer. I was using one of the brushes from “Good brush” set. These shapes formed a cheek

Step 3

Next was a small pyramid for the eyebrow.

Step 4

And a turtle for the eyelid. Turtle and pyramid both symbolize knowledge, wisdom and something solid. You know these stories about turtle holding the world…)

Step 5

Then it was the time to add some DNA molecules and “planets”.

Step 6

You know, I’m still in Thailand – there are dragons all around. I mean the the ones in the Buddhist temples designs and lots of lizards. So I wanted to add a dragon to my design. It was made with 3 brushes – one for the coloring (same as the one I used for the background) and two others for texturing – sorry I don’t remember which ones.

Step 7

This is an easy step. I just reflected the left part of the image and deleted the unwanted parts of the dragon’s tales, so the twist like DNA molecule.

Step 8

Then I’ve added the nose, lips and ears to the face and added more details to dragons.

Step 9

This was kind of speed painting to create a landscape-body for the head.

Step 10

Here you can see the further background with stupa-like buildings and DNA molecules tornados.

Step 11

Added some stars of different colors.

Step 12

Next thing is adding the text. I use Akashi font for all Earthstar Gatherings flyers. It’s sort of branding thing.

Step 13

Then I’ve added some DNA molecules to connect the artwork with the text.

Step 14

Finally I’ve made these abstract cloud-like background elements to make to whole composition look more solid.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about this tutorial or you’d like me to design a flyer or poster for your gig, or if you have any other design needs, feel free to leave a comment, email me or contact me on Facebook or Skype (grebenru)