I liked the image above for its symmetry and fractal qualities, but I wanted to morph the image into something more realistic, something that I could convert to an actual graphic.

This Stage 2 was arrived at by further duplicating the image & superimposing it over itself with Blending Modes, found on the Layers Palette.  For the effect you see here, I likely used "Multiply", but I always take a few seconds to press the up & down arrow keys on the keyboard to quickly scroll through all the Blending Modes and see the real time effect on my screen & then I choose the one that I like best.

.... onward to the image below .....

By continuing the process of duplicating layers, then sometimes flipping the copied layer vertically or horizontally & super-imposing it over the layer beneath it using Blending Modes, I arrived at the shape you see to the left, which looked somewhat like the back of a woman.  

At this juncture, I knew I had found my theme for the graphic I wanted to create. The trick was then to bring out some 'human features', but maintain a surrealistic atmosphere.

Scroll down to my next decision ....

I now played with the color and saturation, using Hue & Saturation in Photoshop's Image/Adjustment menu, and also by duplicating the image and using Blending Modes to enhance the color.

Now I was satisfied with this vivid color palette and wanted to convert the image into a "blue woman".

Scroll below for my next brain bending idea .... where I take a sharp left turn directly off the beaten trail ......

I turned the red upper portion of the image into somewhat of a 'head' and added a 'tattoo' effect to the upper 'arms', added 'breasts' (yes I'm aware that breasts don't jut out at those angles, but I was still stuck on this surreal effect). I also added the bottom 'clothing'. After many long hours of work, thought that this might be the finished image. I knew it was miles off the beaten trail of my other graphics, but I wanted to tread some new ground, venture out of my habitual territory. I was aware that the 'woman' still looked like a space creature.....

So at this point, I did what I so often do when I arrive at a static juncture, when my creative juices temporarily congeal. I emailed a copy of this image to a friend of mine, Shawn, whom I adore for his brutal honesty, who I knew would give me his frank opinion. He promptly emailed me back, saying that it reminded him of an LSD acid trip and that he could picture it pasted on the cover of some psychedelic record album out of the '70s. As usual, he was entirely right. I laughed at his interpretation and went back to the drawing board.

I examined the image & realized that fractals, although great when used in architectural design (stained glass windows in old churches, motifs of ceramic tiles in old muslim mosques, for example) However in nature, symmetry always is punctuated by asymmetry, ie:branches of trees twist and gnarl as they grow, so that eventually one branch no longer resembles the next, etc. And so I came to the conclusion that the human eye has a natural affinity for asymmetry. I then set out to add asymmetry to the 'blue woman' ....

First I removed the hideous 'bathing suit bottoms' and muted the 'tattoos' on her arms. I also used the Liquify Filter to push various parts of the body into a more natural posture.

I then began the long and tedious process of Dodging and Burning the highlights, midtones and shadows of the image, always keeping my left hand firmly on the "Ctrl Alt/Z" (Cmd/Opt/Z) keys of my keyboard, alert & ready to delete any swipe of the brush which did not look correct.

I also continually varyied the Opacity of the Brush, changing it frequently while shifting between the Burn or Dodge tool's highlights, midtones or shadows. (The Burn & Dodge tool can be found in the main Tool Palette).  It makes enormous difference whether a midtone, shadow or highlight is burned or dodged. The resulting color can be entirely different depending on the choice, so I alternately switched between each of them until I was satisfied with the results.

Finally I arrived at a stage where I was content with the look of the graphic, and I considered it completed.

                                                        - Gale Franey