Deke’s Techniques

Your weekly quick-fix of Deke, with ideas you may inspire or inform your own projects.

Under the Sea in Strict Monochrome

Deke takes a boring scuba photo and turns it into a surreal seascape by converting it to black and white.

Naming an Adjustment Layer as You Create It

Deke explains an ordinary shortcut in his extraordinary dekeStyle.

Creating an Old Monster-Movie Poster in Photoshop

Deke enhances his candy keeper with horrifying half-tone dots, cryptic creases and tears, and some ghoulishly glowing text.

Creating a Creepy Candy Keeper in Photoshop

Deke begins this year's Halloween project by adding color, shadow and stroke effects to a candy-protecting poster project.

Combining a Tile Pattern (from Illustrator) with a Photograph (in Photoshop)

Deke applies the pattern he created in Illustrator to a photographic portrait in Photoshop.

Expressing Pentagons as Proper Tile Patterns

Deke sets up one of his pentagon patterns to repeat automatically, then he uses it on a cow.

Creating a Type 15 Pentagon in Adobe Illustrator

Deke actually demonstrates how to accurately draw one of these pentagons he's been obsessing over for the past few weeks.

Tessellating Pentagons Types 10: Richard E. James III

Deke explores yet another tessellating pentagon in Adobe Illustrator.

Tessellating Pentagons Types 1–5: Karl Reinhardt, 1918

Deke studies Karl Reinhardt's pentagons in Adobe Illustrator, and turns them into tessellating patterns to show prove it all true.

Introducing the Pentagon Patterns

Deke begins his foray into understanding the mysterious tessellating pentagons.

Illustrator Puppet Warp Tips and Tricks

Deke continues to explore the wonders of his new favorite Illustrator feature, the Puppet Warp tool.

Using the Puppet Warp Tool in Illustrator CC 2018

Deke shows his favorite new feature in Illustrator CC 2018, the Puppet Warp tool.