2

I would like to use this image as a vertical wallpaper, but it's impossible to crop it so all the detail fits on the screen, so I'm looking to recreate the image from scratch, using GIMP.

Source Image

I found the photo of the statue used as the base here, and it seems plenty tall, so if I can just apply the same effects, I can probably make it work.

It seems there a few different layers here. I'm not really sure how to do any of them with my current skills, but (2) and (4) seem to pose the most challenge to me.

  1. The base image is "blue-shifted", everything is more blue than the original.
  2. There is a "3D" effect where the right side of the statue is outlined in blue and the left side is outlined in red.
  3. There are some distorted text above the angel's head. I can handle finding a pixelized font and inserting it, but I don't know how to get the distortion.
  4. There is a "degraded" filter over the entire image that looks like scratched film or some form of static.

I understand that I'm not likely to get exactly the same result, but if I can achieve the same general feeling then I think I will be satisfied. Here's my best guesses on how to start.

  1. I can probably play around with some saturation or hue shifting to change the base color.
  2. I could cut out the angel's shape, make a blue copy and a red copy, and then shift them left and right a bit, decrease the transparency, and place them behind the original. I don't think that's a complete picture of the effect. If you look at the angel's nose, you can see the effect is applied there as well, not just at the outlines. If you look at the staff, the blue and red outlines don't bleed out as far as they do on the wings. Finally, blue is not always to the right of red, it kind of randomly moves around.
  3. I could probably get this one pretty close. I could rasterize the text into the image, select the middle portion of each line and shift it a few pixels left. That might be enough.
  4. I have no idea where to start here. I imagine this effect is probably in some application's library, but I wouldn't know how to find it.
1
  • 1
    Welcome to GD.SE!
    – Mensch
    Nov 9, 2021 at 12:09

1 Answer 1

3
  1. I think: duplicate, Colors > Colorize, and adjust opacity of top layer for effect.
  2. Typical "Shifted color channel"
    • Make three layer groups, each with a copy of the image
    • Put the top two groups in Addition mode
    • Add a layer at the top of each, set to Multiply mode, fill with one of the R/G/B color. So each group should be one of the color channels.
    • Shift the groups (Use the move tool in Move active layer mode and make a group active
  3. I don't think the font is pixellized. The distortion is just cutting a few horizontal strips and shifting them a few pixels left and right. Look for "Glitch effect".
  4. Scratches: add layer, paint scratches in white with a grainy brish such as Splats01 with a small spacing, then add a layer mask, fill the mask with plasma, and play with Brightness/Contrast on the mask to adjusts the amount of dirt.
1
  • I think I got something close enough! The color isn't quite right, but good enough. The shifted colors look great! I found out that it's the VHS font, and I got the effect looking nice. I moved it down to fit my phone better. The scratches are what I'm least happy with, but I grabbed some VHS static off YouTube and added it in, I think it has the same feel. Thank you! i.imgur.com/AcFJtZV.png
    – TechnoSam
    Nov 9, 2021 at 20:01

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.