Gradient Twirl

Step 1

Create a new document of any size, I'm suing a 500 x 375 for this tutorial.

Step 2

Press 'D' on your keyboard to reset your foreground and background colors to black/white respectively. Get out the Gradient tool ( ) and fill the canvas with an angular gradient as shown here:

Step 3

Go to "Filter->distort->Ripple", and apply the following settings:

Result:

Step 4

Go to "Filter->Artistic->Colored Pencil", and apply the following settings:

Result:

Step 5

Go to "Filter->Distort->Twirl", and apply the following settings:

Result:

Step 6

Go to "Filter->Brush Strokes->Dark Strokes" and apply the following settings:

Result:

Step 7

Next we'll add color to our image. Press Ctrl + B on your keyboard to bring up the Color Balance tool and apply the following settings:

Press Okay, result:

Here is how this type of graphic might look when used as a print advertisement splash:

Click to enlarge

I hope you've learned how to utilize the filter options within photoshop to create very nice looking background effects that can be used on all types of projects, no matter how big or small. Just remember to continue to experiment with photoshop.