Tutorial - Instant Background

[toonMom]

If you need an interesting background, quick,try this.

1. Open an image.
2. Apply a Motion Blur (filter>blur>motion blur) at the maximum setting.
That's it!

You can duplicate the layer and apply the blur in different directions and lower the opacity of the top layer for a varied effect.

Here is a quick banner I made using this method. (I used a photo of my son as my image.)

[Ozbo]

This is 8 steps intead of Toonmom's easy 2-step operation, but really helps conquer "blank page" artist block...
Open a new document.
Go to Filters>Render>Clouds. You now have a cloudy sky effect.
Go to Filters>Render>Difference Clouds. Now your cloudy sky is reversed.
Repeat the last step by hitting Ctrl+'F' to reapply the last filter used. Do this a few, or a lot of times, until you are pleased with the general pattern.
Now, go to Filters>Noise> Add Noise, select Gaussian, Monochromatic, and move the slider to about 10 to 12%.
Go to Filters>Artistic>Paint Daubs, Size 12, Sharpness 10, Brush type: Simple. Click OK. Repeat with Ctrl+'F' 4 to 5 times.
Use Filters>Artists>Dry Brush, at the default settings to add some neutral values, then, under Image>Adjustments>Brightness and Contrast, reduce the contrast by about 75%, so that your background is more even in tone, but not totally bland.
Change your background to your desired color with Image>Adjustments>Hue and Saturation. Check the "Colorize" box, move the Saturation slider to 50, and adjust the Hue to the desired color. You can lighten or darken it to taste, but the extremes of +75 or -75 will give you the best results (IMO).#nosmileys