How To Create Abstract Twirl Art In Photoshop

Lets begin…

1. Select Your Photograph

   Open Lightroom Classic and select a colourful image the you want to convert into an amazing abstract piece of art. I have chosen to use the below image as it will offer both colour and contrast when creating the twirl effect.
   

2. Load The Selected Image Into Photoshop

   Firstly we need to open our selected image in photoshop. To do this right click on your chosen image in the film strip within Lightroom and select edit in Photoshop as a smart object.
   Info:
   Opening the image as a smart object is non destructive and allows us to edit each individual step should we not be happy with the desired effect at any point in the future.

3. Duplicate The Layer

   With our selected image now loaded in Photoshop the first thing we need to do is duplicate our smart object. There are many ways to do this but my preferred method is to highlight the smart object layer within the layers panel and press command +J on a Mac or ctrl +J on a PC. As confirmation of the duplicated layer you should now see 2 layers in the layers panel as shown below.

4. Filter 1 – Mezzotint

   The first filter we are going to apply to our image is Mezzotint. We can load the Mezzotint filter by going to the top filter menu and selecting Pixelate and then Mezzotint. We will apply the Mezzotint settings in the next step.
   

5. Adjust The Mezzotint Filter Settings

   The Mezzotint settings panel should now be open. The different options available for this filter can be found in the drop down menu. In this tutorial I am going to select “Long Strokes” and hit the Ok button.
   Tip:
   It is worth noting that you don’t have to use long strokes. Selecting other methods from the dropdown menu will give a slightly different creative output. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different settings.

6. Filter 2 – Radial Blur

   The 2nd filter we are going to apply is a Radial Blur. We can load the Radial Blur filter by going to the filter menu and selecting Blur and then Radial Blur. We will apply the Radial Blur settings in the next step.

7. Adjust The Radial Blur Filter Settings

   The Radial Blur settings panel should now be open. We are going to apply the maximum amount of blur which is 100. Our blur method is going to be Zoom with the quality set to Good.

8. Apply The Radial Blur Filter A 2nd Time

   We need to make the blur stronger so we will apply the Radial Blur again with the same settings. We can do this by repeating the previous step, however as the Radial Blur filter was the last filter we used we can repeat this action quickly by selecting filter from the menu bar and selecting the top option Radial Blur.

9. Apply The Radial Blur Filter A 2nd Time

   Some people like to only apply the Radial Blur filter twice. I prefer the results when the filter is applied for a third time but this will be down to personal taste and the image you use. To apply the Radial Blur for a 3rd time we can repeat step 8 above.

10. Filter 3 – Twirl

    The final filter we are going to apply to our image is Twirl filter. We can load the Twirl filter by going to the filter menu and selecting Distort and then Twirl. We will review and set the Twirl settings in the next step.

11. Adjust The Twirl Filter Settings

    The amount of twirl we are going to add is adjusted using the angle slider. I find a value of between 80 and 150 usually works best. To add an anticlockwise twirl to the image I have chosen a value of -135. If you are happy with the preview press the Ok button.
    

12. Duplicate The Layer

    To add symmetry to our twirl effect we need to re-apply the twirl filter. Before we can apply the clockwise twirl filter we need to duplicate the previous set of filters. To do this we can highlight the filter layer we want to duplicate by clicking on it in the layers pane and pressing command +J on a Mac or ctrl +J on a PC as we did previously in step 3.

13. Adjust The Twirl Filter Settings

    You should now see a set of duplicated filters in the layers pane. Double click the top twirl filter to open the twirl settings. To add a clockwise twirl we need to adjust the angle to a positive value equal to the value we selected in step 11. Press the Ok button to apply and update the filter.

14. Blend The 2 Filter Layers Together

    All our filters have now been applied. The anticlockwise filter is currently hidden underneath the clockwise filter so we cannot see it. To blend the 2 filters together and complete the symmetry we need to set a blend method.
    In the layers pane we have a dropdown menu where we can select our blend mode. Ensure the top layer is selected and set a blend mode. I find the best results are achieved with Lighten, Darken or Pin Light. For this image I have selected Lighten.

15. Transfer The Image back to Lightroom

    Our work in Photoshop is now complete and we can transfer the image back to Lightroom to complete our post processing, To do this we click the close button in Photoshop which will automatically open the save settings window. Click Save to complete the transfer back to Lightroom.

16. Finish The Edit

    Our image will automatically be added to Lightroom as a TIFF file. Process the image to your taste by adjusting the sliders to produce your desired image.

17. Sit Back And Admire Your Amazing Abstract Twirl Art

    Congratulations your abstract image is now complete and can be exported as you usually would with a regular photograph.