PSD Vault - Extra Unique Adobe Photoshop Tutorials » Photo Effect

Create Surreal Environment Inspired by the “Inception” Movie in Photoshop

James Qu — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:27:53 +0000

Recently I went and saw the movie “Inception” and thought it was really awesome. That’s why I thought I can probably try and create a similar effect using Photoshop and make a tutorial of it for you guys :)

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Surreal/Sci-fi Environment Inspired by the “Inception” Movie in Photoshop. Some steps can be a little tricky, but why not have a try!

Here is a preview of the final effect we will be aiming to achieve: (click to enlarge)

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You will need the following stock to complete this tutorial:

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 900 * 1300px, fill the background layer with black colour. Load the “Ocean” stock image into Photoshop, use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to select a portion of it, paste it onto our document. Name this layer as “Ocean”:

Duplicate this ocean layer once and apply the following “Reduce Noise” filter once:

As you can see, the ocean looks a lot smoother and calmer then before:

Duplicate the original ocean once more and drag it to the top, chnage the blending mode of this second duplicated layer to “color doge”. You will have the following effect:

Add a Levels adjustment layer to it: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Add a Black and White adjustment layer on top of all layers, this time DO NOT tick the “”use previous layer as clipping mask” option:

You will have the following effect:

Use a big soft brush to the erase top edge of the ocean as shown below:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Load the “Sky” image into Photoshop, select a portion of it with the rectangular marquee tool, copy and paste the selection onto our document, resize and position it as shown below:

Erase the bottom edge with soft brush:

Add a black and white adjustment layer with the following settings on it: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Load the “Building” image into Phtooshop, use the quick selection tool to select any one of the highrises: (I use the one on the right)

Paste the selection onto our canvas, use a soft brush to erase the top and left edge of the layer:

Make sure you erase the bottom left edge of the building so it fades into the cloud:

Black and white

Levels

Mask on the levels adjustment layer:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 4

Now let’s add some splashing wave to the bottom of the building. Load the “Wave” stock image into Photoshop, cut a piece of the wave and paste it onto our document, resize and position it to the bottom of the building, as shown below:

Erase the edges with soft brush:

Black and white:

Levels

and here is the effect so far:

Step 5

Now make a layer group and put all the layers links to the building on the right under it, duplicate this layer group once, and hit Ctrl + T and right-click, choose “Flip Horizontal”:

Then move this duplicated group to the left side of the image, as shown below:

Load the “Girl” Stock image into Photoshop, cut out the girl and paste it onto our document, name the new layer as “girl”:

Erase the erase of the girl as shown below so she blending it with the surroundings:

Create a new layer called “glow” and use a soft white brush, paint around the girl to create some glow effect:

Create a new layer called “splash” under the girl layer, grab some waves from the “Wave” stock image and paste it onto it, reduce the layer opacity to low level around 20%, also perspective it a bit so it looks more realistic:

Add the following three adjustment layers on top of the girl layer (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Curves

Black and White

and here is the effect so far:

Step 6

Now let’s add some textures over the image. You can use any grunge or abstract brushset and paint on a new layer, set the layer opacity to around 50%. Here is my effect after the painting:

Add a new Curve image adjustment layer on top of all layers with the following settings:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 7

Now let’s fill the empty sky portion within some surreal effect. I thought of using the polar coordinates filter to add a few black holes on it.

So let’s flatten the iamge, and duplicate the background layer once and apply the following Polar Coordinates Filter to it: (Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates)

and you will have the following effect:

Resize this layer to the small size, then distort it and a bit and use a soft brush to erase the edges, as shwon below:

Duplicate this layer a few times, rotate, resize each of the duplicated layer, move them to the position shown below to create some variety:

Once you’re done, sharpen the background layer a bit and here is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this Photoshop tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Until next time, have a great day!

Create Awesome Abstract Photo Effect via Layer Masking and Custom Patterns

James Qu — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 10:15:41 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can Create this Awesome Abstract Photo Effect via Layer Masking and Custom Patterns. Some steps can be a little tricky, but why not have a try!

Along the way, I will show you some interesting method of making custom, abstract style patterns by mixing hard and soft round brush, plus some lighting techniques.

Here is a preview of the final effect we will be aiming to achieve: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You will need the following stock to complete this tutorial:

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 800px * 1044px, fill the background layer with black colour. Create a new layer called “background light” and use the Cloud Brush and big soft white brush, create some random light as shown below:

Load the Model image into Photoshop, cut out the model and paste it onto our document. Don’t worry if edges appear to be a bit rough – this is not important for this tutorial as we will be masking them out later on.

We will be doing a bit of retouching for this model. If you look closely, you will see some black spots on the girl’s cheek. We will remove them by using the healing brush, as shown below:

This is the effect after applying the healing brush:

Grab the Sharpen Tool from the toolbox, set strength to around 20%, apply some sharp effect onto the girl:

Hair

Lips

Step 2

We can create some abstract pattern by mixing Soft and Hard Circle round brush. As you can see, below is a big soft white brush with 0% hardness (a single-click):

Now grab the eraser tool, set the brush hardness to 100% for the round brush, do a single-click to the position shown below:

Then use the free tranform tool to warp it, distort it, whatever you like:

You can create abstract shape like this, which you can then apply to the image:

Meanwhile, you can add some shining stripes by doing the followings:

Firstly use a soft white brush to do a single-click on the top edge:

Then compress it down using the free-transform tool:

Rotate it to an angle you prefer:

By repeating the steps shown above, we can create some cool abstract patten quickly and use the to spice up the effect:

and this is the overall effect so far: (you effect may look different, as the pattern you create may be different from mine)

Step 3

Now let’s add a layer mask on the model layer, use a combination of hard, soft and smoke brush sets on it. Use your own creativity on the mask, and see what result it brings you:

and here is my effect after messing up with my layer mask:

Add a Curves adjustment layer to the top of the model layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option when adding them)

As you can see, by adjusting the channels on the curves adjustment layer, we can add colours to the image:

I added another levels adjsutment layer as clipping mask to increase the contrast a bit:

Mask on the levels adjustment layer:

here is the effect so far:

Step 4

Now let’s play with the lighting effect for a while. Create a new layer on top of all previous layer called “highlights” and set the blending mode to “overlay”, use a soft white brush to do a single-click to the spot shown below:

Create another light layer on top and use a big soft white brush to do a single-click on the spot shown below:

Optional: duplicate this light layer once for brighter effect:

We can add some light strips to the image. Grab a big soft brush to do a single-click on a new layer:

Then narrow it down by using the free transform tool:

and add those lights on the position shown below:

Step 5

Now let’s use the star brushes we downloaded to paint some star to the image, make sure you use a mixture of big and small stars:

(you can either create a new layer on top of all previous layer to paint star, or you can create layer below the original model layer if you want to add stars behind the model)

Also make sure you use both white and black colour to paint the star.

Once you’re done with the painting, add the following two adjustment layers on top:

Color Balance

Layer Mask on Colour Balance adjustment layer:

Vibrance

Layer Mask on Vibrance adjustment layer:

and here is the effect you will have so far:

For some final lighting touch-ups, you can use the dodge tool (set strength to around 30%) to add some highlights to the girls hair and face, as shown below: (after you flatten the image)

and here is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this Photoshop tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Until next time, have a great day!

Quickly Create Surreal Scenary via Combining Landscape Images in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 13:30:07 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can quickly and effectively Create Fantasy Scene via Combining Landscape Images in Photoshop. Some steps can be a little tricky for beginners, but why not have a try!

Along the way, we will be using techniques such as layer blending options, masking, image adjustments, cloud rendering, custom brushsets, as well as various tools from the toolbox.

Here is a preview of the final effect we will be aiming to achieve: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You will need the following stock to complete this tutorial:

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 900px * 1200px, leave the background colour as white, create a new layer on top of it called “sky gradient”, grab the gradient tool from the toolbox and fill this layer as shown below:

Create another layer and use a darker blue to do a gradient fill as shown below:

The reason I use two layers to create the gradient is to be able to adjust each layer seperately, should anything needs to be changed.

and you will have the following effect:

Create a new layer called “cloud”, and use the cloud brushes you download, paint some cloud on top of the gradient layers:

Create a new layer called “dirt”, use the dirt brushsets you downloaded, paint some dirt onto the canvas: (don’t paint too much, adjust the flow to around 20%)

Duplicate the dirt layer once and apply the following motion blur settings to the duplicated layer:

and you will have the following effect:

This is the overall effect so far:

Step 2

Now let’s add some grass field to the image. Load the “Grass field 1″ image into Photoshop, select a portion of the grass as shown below:

Paste it onto our document, postion it to the bottom and use a soft brush to erase the top edge:

and here is the effect so far:

Load the “Grass Field 2″ image into Photoshop, cut out the mountain portion as shown below: (in this tutorial, there is no need to make precise selection of the mountain)

Paste it onto our canvas, move it to the right side and use a soft erase tool to remove the edges, as shown below:

Duplicate this mountain once, flip it horizontally and move it to the left, resize if necessary:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Load the “Lookout Tower” image into Photoshop, cut out the tower portion of the image and paste it onto our canvas as shown below:

Add the following layer mask to this layer to remove this edges of the mountain:

Add the following adjustment layer to this lookout tower layer, make sure you tick the “user previous layer as clipping mask” option:

Black and white

Colour Balance

Curves

Levels

Layer mask on Levels adjustment layer:

and you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Now let’s create a ray of light to shoot from the mountain. Create a new layer and use the rectangular tool to draw a selection and fill it with white colour:

Then apply the following Gaussian Blur settings:

Perspective this layer as shown below:

Use a soft brush eraser to remove the top and bottom of the light, as shown below: (Also reduce the layer opacity to around 80%)

Duplicate this layer a few times, adjust the sizes of the duplicated layers, and put them into groups as shown below:

Step 5

Now let’s add a floating rock to the image. Load the “mountain” stock image into Photoshop, then use the quick selection tool to select a piece of rock as shown below:

Paste it on to our document, name this new layer as “big rock”:

Erase the bottom-left portion of the rock with a soft brush to it blends into the cloud:

Add the following 2 adjustment layers to this big rock layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Levels

Curves

and you will have the following effect for the rock:

Duplicate this big rock layer a few times, reduce the size of the rock and scatter the smaller rocks around the canvas, as shown below:

Also render some cloud on the grass to create some foggy effect. To do this, simply use the lasso tool with a 50px feather to draw a selection, set the foregound colour to be white, background colour to be light-grey, then render some cloud in it:

Duplicate this cloud layer a few times and scatter them round the canvas:

Step 6

Now let’s create a ring effect for this image. Create a new layer and use the elliptical tool with 10px feather to draw a seletion as shown below:

right-click and choose “stroke”:

Apply the following stroke settings:

and you will have the following ring effect:

Attach this ring to the big floating rock, make sure you erase the portion behind the rock, as shown below: (use the free transform tool to adjust its size to fit the rock)

Add a curves adjustment on top of all previous layers:

Layer mask on this curves adjustment layer:

As you can see, we add a bit of depth to the sky portion: (upper-left becomes darker than the rest)

and here is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this Photoshop tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Until next time, have a great day!

Utilise Custom Shapes and Texture to add Extra Flavour to Your Design in Photoshop

James Qu — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:15:38 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Awesome Freestyle Artwork via Mixing Shapes and Dirt Texture in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial and some steps can be tricky, but why not have a go :) ?

Alogn the way, I will show some retouch techniques, the use custom brush and the make of some nice abstract lines and shapes, plus lighting effect skills.

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive! Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Model

Dirt Brush

Step 1

Create a new doucment sized 880px * 1200px, leave the background color as White. Create a new layer called “texture”, load the dirt brush into Photoshop and use it to paint some texture on it: (set the brush opacity to around 40%)

One thing you need to remember is when you paint this texture layer, try to use a combination of different brushes in the set, and experiement with different brush sizes as you go:

Once you finish the painting, duplicate this texture layer once and use the free transform tool to perspective it as shown below:

Reduce the layer opacity of this layer to around 50%, you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Load the model image into Photoshop, cut out the girl and paste it onto our canvas, name this new layer as “Model”:

Add the following two adjustment layer to the model layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option when adding them)

Levels:

Layer mask on levels adjustment layer:

Curves:

Layer mask on Curves adjustment layer:

Add a new clipping mask layer for the model layer, grab a soft white brush and paint to the areas as shown below:

Change the blending mode of this new clipping mask layer to “Soft Light”, and you will have the following effect:

I feel the hair of the model need to brighten up a bit, so I created aonther clipping mask layer and used a small white brush with 60% – 70% hardness to paint some white lines on the hair:

Change the blending mode to “Overlay” for this hair painting layer, reduce the layer opacity to around 80%, you will have the following effect:

and here is the overall effect so far:

Step 3

Create a new layer called “Curvy Line” and use the Pen Tool to draw a path as shown below:

Choose a 13px, 100% hardness brush:

Stroke the Path with this brush:

Make sure you tick the “Simulate Pressure” setting:

and you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the curvy line layer a few times, resize and rotate those layers, and position them as shown below:

Step 4

Now let’s get on with the curvy line creation. For tutorial purpose, I made a new document in Photoshop.

Create a new layer and use the Rectangular Marquee tool to draw a seletion as shown below:

Fill the selection with a colour of your choice:

hit Ctrl + T and right-click on the rectangle, choose “Distort”:

Then Hold the Alt key and Drag the bottm right corner of the rectangle to distort it as shown below:

Then duplicate this layer a few times, rotate and resize each layer as shown below: (use colour balance and hue adjustment tool for colour variation)

Then merge the duplicated layer together:

Hit Ctrl + T and right-click on the shapes, choose “Warp” option:

Warp the shapes as shown below:

That’s it, you can use those warped shapes in your image. You can choose you own colour and size, no need to following the exact colour in my image:

Apply the shapes in different location will add depths and variety for your image:

Step 5

This step is optional. I personally feel like adding a bit more depth and variety to the image by have a “shadow” copy of the girl on the canvas somewhere.

Create a new layer called “Girl Shadow” just below the model layer, then load the selection of the model layer and fill the selection with Gray colour:

Resize this layer to a very small scale, flip it horizontally and position it as shown below: (erase the top right part of the girl so it blends into the background)

I added a new layer called “shadow” with “Soft light” blending mode, and use a soft black brush to paint some shadow on the foot area:

Optional: add some more abstract lines around the canvas with Pen Tool Strokes for more variety:

Now we can add some overall shadows and highlights on the image by create a new layer on top of all previous layers, use a soft brush with black or white colour, painting on the new layer as shown below:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 6

Now we can apply some final touches to the image. Flatten the image (save a layered copy before you do so), then duplicate the background layer once, apply the following Smart Sharpen filter to the duplicated layer:

We can also add some lighting effect to the image by duplicate the background layer once more, and apply the Angled Strokes filter to it, with the settings below:

Reduce the layer opacity of this angled strokes layer to around 40%, you will see now we have some really nice lighting effect as shown below:

On left leg:

Around the chest area:

I also add a color balance adjustment layer to image with the following settings:

and you will have the following final effect:

OK that’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful and inspirational. If you have any question, drop a comment below and I will try my best to help you out.

Cheers and have a nice day!

Quick and Effective Planet, Star and Meteor Impact Creation in Photoshop

James Qu — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:51:55 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you how to make planet, star and meteor impact in Photoshop in a quick and effective manner. This is intermediate level tutorial so some steps can be a little tricky, but why not have a try :)

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive! Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

OK let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Soil Texture

Step 1

Create a new document sized 740px * 700px, fill the background with black colour. Create a new layer called “planet”, and use the Elliptical Marquee Tool with 1px feature, hold down Shift Key and draw a circle as shown below:

Press Shift + F5 and fill the circle with white colour:

Move this circle to the bottom right corner of the canvas:

On this planet layer, apply the following layer blending options:

Drop Shadow

Outer Glow

Bevel and Emboss

Gradient Overlay

and here is the effect so far:

Step 2

New I would like to add some irregularly lighting around the planet. To do this, add a layer mask on the planet layer as shown below:

and here is the effect after applying the layer mask:

Load the “Soil Texture” into Photoshop, load the selection of the planet layer and move the selection onto the soil texture, then copy and paste a piece of soil onto our canvas as shown below: (make sure you fit the selection to the planet circle we drew before)

Change the blending mode of this soil layer to “Overlay”, drop the layer opacity to 65%, you will have the following effect:

Add the following adjustment layer to the soil texture layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and White

Levels

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Now let’s add a bit of cloudy effect around the planet to make it look more mysterious. Create a new layer called “cloud” and use the Lasso tool with 50px feather to draw a selection as shown below:

Render some cloud inside the selection as shown below:

Press Ctrl + L to bring up the Level adjustment tool, apply the following settings to add some contrast in the cloud:

Warp the cloud as shown below:

Then resize and rotate the cloud if necessary, and make a few duplicates of the cloud layer, scatter them around the planet to areas shown below:

Keep adding more cloud effect around the planet by duplicate the cloud layer a few times, adjust the layer opacity along the way to fine-tune the effect:

Step 4

Now let’s add a simple meteor effect to the planet. Create a new layer and use a big soft brush with white colour, do a single click to the area shown below, adjust the brush size accordingly:

Duplicate this light layer twice, change the blending mode of the duplicated layer to “soft light”:

Then create a new layer, this time use a smaller soft white brush, do a single click to the spot shown below:

Duplicate this smaller light layer twice, and change the blending mode of the duplicated layer to “overlay”, you will have the following effect:

Create a new layer on top of all previous layers, use a soft white brush and do a single click to the position shown below:

Distort this dot as show below:

Hit Enter, then apply the distort option again as shown below:

Add a Curves adjustment layer on top to tweak the image contrast a bit:

and here is the effect I have so far:

Step 5

Now let’s add a new layer called “Star” on top of all previous layers, fill the layer with black colour, and go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and apply the following settings:

Change the blending mode of the star layer to “Screen”, you will have the following effect:

Of course we don’t want the entire canvas to be covered with noise, so use a soft eraser to remove the areas where you don’t want the noise to appear:

For add some depth to the star field, we can use the dodge tool to highlight centain part of the image where you want the star to become brighter than others:

For tutorial purpose, here is a before and after view of the dodge tool so you can the effect: (the setting for Dodge Tool is Midtone, and Exposure 70%)

Before:

After:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 6

Ok we’re nearly done. For the final tune-ups, I flattened the image, (good idea to save an extra copy before you do so), duplicate the background layer once and applied the Smart Sharpen filter on the duplicated layer:

I also added a colour layer on top and added some color to the areas indicated below with a soft brush:

The area where meteor effect is:

and the bottom left portion of the planet:

For adding some painting effect to the image, you can again duplicate the background layer, then use the “Accented Edges” filter under the Brush Strokes option on the duplicated layer with the following settings:

As you can see, certain part of the image will have some brush stroke effect:

and the image become a bit more painting-like:

You can also add a layer mask to hide certain parts which you don’t want the painting effect to show:

and here is the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

OK that’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful and inspirational. If you have any question, drop a comment below and I will try my best to help you out.

Cheers and have a nice day!

How to Create Great Abstract Artwork via Custom Brushsets and Particle Effect

James Qu — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:52:58 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this cool Abstract Artwork via Custom Brushsets and Particle Effect in Photoshop. I will demonstrate how you can create your own brushset and use them to add particle effect to the image to spice it up. Have a try!

Here is a preview of the final effect for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

Alternative Light Version:

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive! Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

OK let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Girl

Some Grunge Brushes

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1200px * 800px, fill the background with a light grey colour, and some random lighting and grungy texture on it as shown below:

Load the “girl” stock image into Photoshop, cut out the girl from the rest of the image, place her to the lower left side of the canvas:

To bring out some light on the girl image, add the folloing two adjustment layers onto it (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option when adding them)

Levels

Curves

and here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Now create new layer, and random paint some abstract textures around the girl:

Now apply a layer mask on this abstract painting layer. On the layer mask, use a mixture of grungy, halftone, and hard circle brush, as shown below:

Now let’s add some light strips. Create a new layer and grab a soft round brush, do a single click on the top edge of the canvas:

Compress it down as shown below:

Rotate this light strip as shown below:

Duplicate this light strip layer a few times, scatter them around the girl for more effect:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

I decided to turn this image into a darker version (just my personal taste), so I went ahead and add the following two adjustment layers on top of all previous layers:

Levels

Add the following layer mask on the Levels adjustment layer: (as you can see, I apply some light grungy texture, plus some hard circle brush on where the girl is)

Curves

Layer Mask on the Curves adjustment layer:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 4

Now we can practice some Pen Tool techniques. Create a new layer and draw a work path as shown below:

Right-click on the path and choose “Stroke Path” with a 9px hard circle brush:

Make sure you tick the “Simulate Pressure” setting:

Now you will have a curvy line, you can use free transform to distort, rotate it for more variety:

In the mean time, you can try a softer and bigger brush for stroking the path, also scatter the duplicated curvy lines around for more effect:

Step 5

Now let’s make a custom brush for adding some little particle effect. Create a new file called “brush” (size 200px * 200px) and use a the Pen Tool to draw a shape like this:

Right-click on the shape and choose “Fill Path …”:

Fill it with black colour:

Now make the background layer transparent: (after you fill the shape with black colour)

Now go to “Edit > Define Brush Preset…”:

Save this brushset, then bring up the brush presets (F5) and apply the following settings:

Shape Dynamics

Scattering

Other Dynamics

Tick the Airbrush, Smoothing, Protect Texture options. Then try and do some random painting on the canvas (create a new layer first) and test out the effect:

Combine the Free Transform tool, distort, rotate and warp the particles for extra effects:

Apply the particles random on the canvas as shown below: (you can also adjust the brush size, flow and opacity as you go)

Step 6

OK let’s do some final tune-ups. I flattened the image and duplicated the background layer, apply the following Smart Sharpen filter on the duplicated layer:

Color Balance

Layer Mask on the Color Balance Adjustment Layer:

Levels

and here is the effect you’ll have:

The main part of the tutorial concludes here, however you can still experiment different colour balance settings, filter effect and so on:

a light version:

OK that’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful and inspirational. If you have any question, drop a comment below and I will try my best to help you out.

Cheers and have a nice day!

Create Awesome Grungy Style Artwork with Vexel Hair in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 30 May 2010 15:22:15 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show the steps I took to create this awesome grungy style artwork with Vexel Hair in Photoshop. Have a try!

Along the way, I will show you some paint techniques I used to make the hair and the surrounding grungy textures. We also will be using Pen Tool a lot in this tutorial, so if you’re not family with it, check out this post.

Here is the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive! Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

Ok let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Grungy Brushsets (Pick some from the list)

Model

Step 1

Create a new document sized 700px * 950px, use the grungy brushsets from the list and paint some texture around the edges of the canvas, as shown below: (when you paint the texture, make sure you adjust the flow and opacity, and don’t just use one brush for the entire canvas)

Create a new layer and grab another grungy brush, this time with a bigger brush size but a lower opacity, fill the centre portion of the canvas:

Step 2

Load the “model” stock image into Photoshop, cut out the model using whatever method you prefer (I found the quick selection tool here is probably the quickest).

As you can see this model has short hair, which is nice but personally I think it would be better with long hair in this occasion. So i decide to extend her hair (which I will show you in step 3) and also add some textures around her to blend her body with the surroundings.

I erase the outer portion of her hair with a soft brush:

I also added some grungy texture on the bottom of the model for support:

and some white texture around the model:

plus some dark texture around the violin and her arms:

The important thing to remeber here is when you paint the textures, make use of the size, opacity and flow settings for the brush – this way you can create more depth to the image and add variety.

I added some hair on the shoulder with a 3px, 75% hardness brush with a dark grey color:

Also I paint some more hair on top to form a head shape:

Step 3

Now we can get to the fun part of the tutorial – the hair creation :)

Grab the Pen tool and create a path like this:

Stroke the Path with the brush settings as shown below: (make sure you tick “simulate pressure” setting when you stroke)

you will have the following hair-like effect:

duplicate it and make them into a bunch (around 10-12 of them), then group all those hair into one folder, name this folder as “hair group”:

Put the bunch onto the model’s shoulder part:

Keep adding more hair by duplicate the “hair group” a few more times:

and you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Now let’s add some abstract lines around the model. I created a brush with the following brush dynamics:

Shape Dynamics

Scattering

Other Dynamics

Also tick the “Airbrush”, “Smoothing” and “Protect Texture” options.

Create a new layer below the model layer called “abstract lines”, and use the brush to paint some dots as shown below:

Apply the following motion blur settingss to it:

then Warp it as shown below:

Once you finish the warping, duplicate it a few times and put them to the positions as shown below: (you can flip, resize them as you see fit)

Step 5

Now we can add another layer of hair to the model for some variation and depth. Use the same method as the previous described, but choose a lighter colour (grey) this time, make some hair as shown below: (don’t forget to group them once you make around 10 of them)

Duplicate the hair group a few more times to add more lighter colour layer:

To blend the two hair layers together I added a new layer on top of all layers and use a soft round white brush to paint a layer of light to the position as shown below: (set blending mode to “Screen” and drop the layer opacity to 60%)

I added the following two adjustment layers to fine-tune the image a bit:

Curves

Layer Mask on the Curves adjustment layer:

Color Balance (set blending mode to “soft light”)

I also Smart Sharpen the image a bit and add some lighting around model, and here is the final effect I have: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and learnt something new :) of course you can further enhance the final effect by adding more objects and textures, but that’s totally up to you.

Also if you have any question about this tut, drop me a comment below and I will try my best to help you out.

Until next time, have a nice day!

The Creation of “Lost in Memory” Epic Fantasy Artwork in Photoshop

James Qu — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:38:29 +0000

In this tutorial, i will show you the steps I took to create this epic Fantasy Style artwork “Lost in Memory” in Photoshop. I combined the meteor effect, some matte-painting tricks plus lighting effect in this tutorial. Have a try!

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

Version 1

Version 2 (this is an alternative version with a darker contrast)

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Ok let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1400px * 800px, fill the background with black colour. Load the “Rust” image into Photoshop, select a portion of the rust texture as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our canvas, resize it to fit the height and width of the canvas, then apply the following motion blur settings to it:

Add the following adjustment layers to this texture layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and white

Curves

Levels

Apply the following layer mask to the texture layer:

The reason I added the mask is when I start this artwork, I’ve already made a plan of how each object will be placed, and here is an indication of it:

Obviously by adding the layer mask, we can hide those areas that we don’t want the texture to be shown.

Step 2

Load the “cloud brush” into the Photoshop, create a new layer called “cloud” above all previous layer, and paint some cloud on it: (adjust the flow and opacity of the cloud brush to a low level, and don’t just use one brush, use the lot!)

Load the “Mountain 1″ image into Photoshop and cut out the mountain portion of the image, paste it onto our canvas, resize and position it to the left side of the canvas, and name this layer as “mountain left”:

Add the following layer mask to this “mountain left” layer: (this hide the edges and make a smooth transition, use a combination of a soft round brush and chalk brush to achieve this, make sure you adjust the flow and opacity along the way)

Add the following adjustment layers to this mountain left layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and White

Levels

Curves

Here is the effect so far:

Step 3

As you can we have a river flowing on the bottom of the moutnain – somehow I feel it’s a just too short and I decide to extend it a bit.

To do this, go back to the “mountain 1″ image, select the river portion of the image, copy and paste the selection on our canvas. Name this layer as”river”, resize it to smaller size as shown below:

Erase the edges with a soft brush:

Add the following adjustment layers to this river layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and White

Curves

For more variety, duplicate this river layer one more time and move it to the right side, apply the same black and white, curves adjustment settings as before:

Here is the effect so far:

Step 4

Load the “Mountain 2″ image into Photoshop, cut out the following portion of the mountain and paste it onto our canvas, as shown below:

Name this layer as “mountain right”, add the following layer mask to this layer:

Add the following adjustment layers to this texture layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and white

Now we move on to the palace bit of the image. Load the “palace” image into Photoshop, cut out the palace portion (i found the quick select tool is probably the best tool here) and paste it onto our canvas. Position it on top of the right mountain, resize it to fit the size of the mountain:

Erase the edges of the castle with a soft round brush (you can use chalk brush with a really low opacity and flow to erase some parts of the palace, to create a old and rusty effect)

Add the following adjustment layers to this palace layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and White

Curves

Here is the effect so far:

Step 5

Now we can spice up the fantasy effect a bit by doing some cloud warping. If you are not familiar with this technique, check out this post here on PSD Vault.

The point I would like to mention is once you finish the cloud warp, experiment the layer blending mode with it, don’t just leave it to “normal”. For instance, I used the “screen” blending mode for the following cloud:

Also duplicate the cloud layer, move them around to the positions shown below for more lighting and depth:

Once you’re happy with the cloud, load the “bridge” stock image into Photoshop, cut out and portion of the bridge and paste it onto our canvas. Name this layer as “bridge” and put it under the “mountain left” layer and “cloud” layer we created in the beginner of the tutorial, erase the edges of the bridge with a soft eraser:

Add the following adjustment layers to this bridge layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and white

Curves

We can fine-tuning the contrast of the image a bit. Add the following adjustment layers on top of all previous layer:

Curves

Here is the effect so far:

Step 6

Now let’s create a simple meteor effect for this artwork. To do this, create a new layer called “meteor head” and grab a round white brush with 60% hardness, do a single click on the new layer, then hit Ctrl + Shift + X to bring up the liquify fitler, apply the following settings:

Left-click and hold, then drag the liquify brush to the direction as shown below for this effect:

Create a new layer called “meteor tail” and grab a round white brush with 40% hardness, do a single-click on this layer, then distort and warp it as shown below:

Warp

To add some more effect around the tail, use the cloud brushset we downloaded and reduce their brush size to a very small level, then simply paint around the tail (use a soft eraser tool to erase the edges for better result):

Then group those layers, duplicate this group and scatter the meteor around the canvas:

Step 7

OK we’re petty much done. To fine-tune the final effect, I added the following adjustment layers above all previous layers:

Colour Balance

Layer Mask on Colour Balance layer:

Vibrance

Levels

Here is the effect so far:

For final touchups, I reduce the noise of the image a bit, and here is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

Version 1

Version 2 (this is an alternative version with a darker contrast)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hopefully you learnt something new :)

Until next time, have a great day!

Create Surreal Artwork via Simple Break Apart Effect and Smoke Texture in Photoshop

James Qu — Mon, 10 May 2010 07:11:35 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Surreal Artwork via Simple Break Apart Effect in Photoshop. I will also introduce the use of dynamic brushsets to generate a “magic dust” effect. Have a try!

Techniques included in this tut are layer mask, image adjustments, cloud rendering and various tools.

Here is a preview of my final image for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

Alternative version with colours added:

PSD File Download

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OK Let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Stone Background (the first image on the page)

Girl

Smoke Brush

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1000px * 1500px,

Levels

Curves

Black and White

You will have the following effect so far:

Step 2

Now let’s get on to the break apart effect creation. One quick way is to use a 0px feather Lasso Tool, select some random pieces on the outer part of the girl model:

Then choose the select tool, move your mouse over the selection, you mouse will change into a pair of scissors:

Click and drag to move the pieces away from the girl:

You can also distort the selection for some zooming effect:

Repeat the above method to different body portions for more effect:

That’s it! Isn’t that simple? :)

Step 3

Now load the “stone texture” into Photoshop. Copy and paste the entire image onto our canvas and put the new layer just above the background layer. Apply the following Smart Sharpen filter a few times to this texture:

You will have the following effect:

Drop the opacity of this stone texture layer to around 10%. This will create a noisy overlay for our background.

Now we’re onto creating some light strips. Create a new layer called “light” and grab a soft round brush, do a single click anywhere on the canvas:

Resize it as shown below:

Then rotate it as shown below

Now simply duplicate the light layer, scatter those light around the girl and adjust the opacity as you see fit:

By moving those light around, you can easily add depth and grab people’s attention to the areas you hightlighted.

I also added a ray of light on the right arm, for extra effect:

Levels

Mask on the levels adjustment layer:

Curves

Here is the effect so far:

Step 4

Now that’s add some grass texture on the bottom of the canvas. To do this, use the Lasso Tool with 50px feather to cut out a piece of grass texture from the girl stock image, then use the free transform tool to resize and distort it until the shape is similar to the one shown below:

Add the following adjustment layers on top of the grass texture layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Levels:

Curves:

Create a new layer called “smoke overlay”, use the smoke brushset we downloaded and paint away, make sure you change the size, opacity and flow of the brush as you go for more effect:

For some extra effect, I added some smoke texture on the right arm:

Of course you can experiment different smoke shapes then the ones I used and see what result it brings you.

Step 5

Now let’s make a brushset for painting some dusts around the girl and over the grass texture. To do this, grab a 1px, 100% hardness brush, apply the following brush dynamics:

Shapes Dynamics

Scattering

Transfer (other dynamics)

Make sure you tick Noise, Airbrush and Smoothing options too.

Once you done this settings above (you can save this brushset if you want to use it again in the future). Starting Painting on the area above the grass and around the girl:

As you can see, this brush creates a thin layer of dust-like effect:

At last, we can add some image adjustment layers on top of all previous layers to fine-tune the image:

Curves

Color Balance

That’s it! Here is the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

Alternative version with colours added:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful! Cheers and have a great day!

Design an Awesome Freestyle Nature-Themed Artwork in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 11:50:18 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to Design this cool looking, Awesome Nature-Themed Artwork in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial and some steps can be tricky, but why not have a try!

Here a preview of the final effect: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

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To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stock:

Step 1

Create a new document sized 900px * 800px, leave the background colour as white.

The way I intended for this artwork is somehow the overall shape would resemble a number “1″ shape. So Firstly I create a 3D text model using Illustrator (I won’t demonstate the steps to create this 3D effect as it’s irrelevant to this Photoshop tutorial) to use as a model for this abstract effect.

You can download a copy of this image and paste it on your canvas, by clicking the image below:

Of course the final effect won’t include this 3D text, however it gives a good starting point for the abstract effect I’m going to make.

Load the “Rock” texture into Photoshop, grab the Quick Selection tool and select a random piece of rock according to the settings below:

Important: Tick the “Auto-Enhance” option on the top toolbar for the Quick Selection Tool, this will help improving the edges of the selection.

Select Random Rock Pieces from this rock stock image:

Copy and paste the selection onto our document, resize, rotate and fit it onto any position you like on the text:

Select another different piece from the rock texture using the quick selection tool:

Paste it onto the canvas, and after you paste it, make sure you use a soft eraser to get rid of any edge roughness, so as to blend it with the background and other rock texture.

Hint: Use the Chalk brush (comes with Photoshop by default), with a 40% flow and opacity to erase the edges. You will find it quite effective in situation like this.

Repeat the select, copy and paste routine, make sure you select a different piece of the rock texture each time, until you cover the whole 3D text as shown below: (Erase the edges with soft brushes along the way)

Also use the dodge and burn tool to darken and lighten some areas of the rocky texture so we have some lighting dynamics and increase the depth of the image:

Please note that the above screenshots only provide an indicative guide, you will need to experience the effect yourself as the textures may differ from mine to yours.

Step 2

Load the “Waterfall” stock image into Photoshop, use whatever selection method you prefer to cutout the waterfall portion, copy and paste it on our document, name this layer as “waterfall”, resize and fit it to the portion as shown below

use soft brush to erase the edges of the waterfall so it blends with the rock and the background:

Add the following Curves adjustment layer on top of the waterfall layer: (make sure to select “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Duplicate the waterfall layer once, flip it horizontally and put it to the lower position as shown below:

Add the following Curves adjustment layer on top of the waterfall layer: (make sure to select “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

We can also do some tiny adjustments for the overall effect. So add the following two adjustment layers on top of all previous layers:

Vibrance

Curves

Here is the effect so far:

We can now hide the original 3D text layer cos we won’t be needing it anymore.

Step 3

Load the “Tree 1″ texture into Photoshop. Cut the tree portion of the image with Channel Masking technique (if you’re not familar with this technique, please refer to Step 3 of this post for detailed explanation) and paste it onto our document. Name this new layer as “tree 1″, resize it to a small size and fit it on top of the rocks:

Make sure you erase the edges of the tree layer as depicted below:

Add the following Curves adjustment layer (make sure to select “use previous layer as clipping mask” option) on top of the tree layer to bring out some extra lights:

We can also add some grass texture on to the bottom of the tree for more details. So grab the lasso tool with a 40px feather to select a piece of the grass from the tree stock image:

Copy and paste it onto our document and put the new layer below the Tree layer, resize it to fit the size of the rock base, change the blending mode to “overlay”, you will have the following effect:

Step 4

I feel like adding more tree images on the rocks for more details. So load the “Tree 2″ texture into Photoshop. Use the same channel masking technique to cut out the tree from the stock image, paste it onto our document, into the the following positions:

Top Left

Add the following Curves adjustment layer on top: (make sure to select “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Bottom Right:

Add the following Curves adjustment layer on top: (make sure to select “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Step 5

Load the “Hawk” image into Photoshop, cut out the hawk and paste it onto our document, resize it to a very small size:

To add some motion for the hawk, duplicate this new hawk layer once, apply the following motion blur settings to the duplicated layer:

Change the blending mode the duplicated layer to “Hard Light”, drop the opacity to 30%:

Adding more details, we can also put aonther hawk on the left side of the rock:

and here is the overall effect so far:

Step 6

Ok we’re almost done! For some final adjustments, I added the following two things:

Lens flare – not a popular option in Photoshop, but in this occasion I think it brings extra effect and color into the image
Cloud texture – for the surrounding environment

To add the lens flare effect, we can create a new layer on top of all previous layers, fill the new layer with black color, then apply the following Lens Flare settings:

You will have the following effect:

Change the blending mode of this layer to “Screen”, you will have the following effect:

You can move, duplicate this Lens Flare layer for more effect:

For the cloud texture, you can either use cloud brushsets or stock image to achieve it. I painted some cloud on the top and bottom of the canvas:

and here is the final effect for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and learn something new!

Design a Surreal “Departing” Jump Scene with Cloud Warping in Photoshop

James Qu — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:45:17 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this surreal “Departing” Jump Scene with Cloud Warping in Photoshop. This is an intermediate tutorial so some steps can be tricky, but why not have a try!

Along the way, you will learn how to bring out extra details from your photo via a few simple tweaks, plus how to warp the cloud generated by Photoshop filter so to best suit your image.

Here is a preview of the final result I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

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To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Jumping Man

Mountain

Sky

Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1000px * 1400px, fill the background layer with black colour. Create a new layer on top of the background layer callled “background light”. On this layer, grab the Gradient Fill Tool and fill it with the following colour and direction:

Load the Jumping Man stock into Photoshop, cut out the man using whatever selection method you prefer, and paste it on to our doucment (Resize and position it to the centre of the canvas), name this layer as “Model”:

Use the Erase Tool with 80% hardness (adjust the brush size accordingly) to get rid of any rough edge around the body:

On this model layer, apply the following Reduce Noise filter settings:

As you can see by applying this reduce noise filter, we can bring out some extra details for this model layer:

Add the following adjustment layers on the model layer (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option:

Black and White

Curves

Levels

and you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Create a new layer named “highlights” under the model layer but above the backgroud light layer, use a soft round brush with white colour, do a few single clicks in the position as shown below:

Ideally you should seperate those three light dots in 3 seperate layers – the reason is that you can alter the size, opacity and the position of the light dots more freely. For instance, if you place the bottom light dot in a seperate light, you can resize it to fit the legs:

Create a new layer called “cloud overlay” on top of the model layer, grab a Lasso Tool with a 50px feather, draw a selection around the model and render some cloud in it:

Use the Warp Tool to warp the cloud as shown below:

Change the blending mode of this cloud overlay layer to “Screen” and reduce the opacity to 30%, you will have the following effect:

Erase the upper portion of the cloud with a big soft brushset eraser:

Step 3

Create a new layer called “cloud color dodge” on top of all previous layers and use the lasso tool with 50% feather to draw a big selection first (anywhere on the canvas) and render some cloud inside it, then resize it to a much smaller piece and position it above of the right shoe of the man.

Use the Warp Tool to warp and extend the cloud as shown below:

Change the blending mode of the this layer to “Color Dodge”, and you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the original “cloud overlay” layer twice and drag them to the left and right side of the canvas, change the blending mode of those two layer to “soft light”, with 70% opacity:

Duplicate the “cloud color dodge” layer a few times and scatter them around the model and adjust the opacity of each layer accordingly. You can also experiment different blending mode such as “overlay”, “hard light” and “screen” and what result that gives you:

I also duplicated the original “cloud overlay” layer once again. and drag it below the model, change the blending mode of the duplicated layer to “soft light” and a 80% opacity:

I created another layer on top of all previous layer, and use a white white brush to paint some extra lights under the model, then resize it as shown below:

This helps me set the overall mood for the image and making easier for me to apply textures later on.

Step 4

Load the mountain texture into Photoshop, cut out the mountain portion and paste it onto our canvas. Name this layer as “Mountain” and put the layer below the “Model” layer:

Use the eraser tool with a soft brush setting to erase the edge of the mountain so it blends into the canvas naturally:

Add the following adjustment layers on the model layer (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option:

black and white

Curves

Levels

Colour Balance (change blending mode to “Soft light”, opacity 70%)

and you will have the following effect so far:

Step 5

Load the sky texture into Photoshop, select a portion of the cloud and copy and paste it onto our canvas. Name this layer as “cloud” and put it above all previous layers: (resize the layer if necessary)

Add the following adjustment layers on the model layer (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option:

Black and White

Curves

and you will have the following effect so far:

Step 6

I decided to give the image some natural elements. So I used one of my own flower photo (you don’t have the use the same one as this is for tutorial purpose only. However you really like this stock, you can get one from the VIP Members Area)

Regardless what stock photo you use, cut out of the flower portion and paste it onto our document. Name this layer as “flower” and make sure you put this layer below the “model” layer, resize if necessary:

Add the following adjustment layers on the model layer (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option:

Vibrance

Curves

Put the flower layer along with its adjustment layer into a folder, duplicate the folder twice and position them in the location as shown below:

Step 7

Now let’s get into a bit fine-tuning of the image. Firstly, we can take the overall image and see what we could do to improve it:

adding some abstract patterns would spice things up
the top of mountain needs some lights so it blends more seamlessly with the jumping man, plus adding depth to the image
lack of colour, probably good idea to add some adjustment layers

For the first point, we can add a new “mountain lighting” layer on top of all previous layer, grab a soft round white brush and do a single click on the mountain tip as shown below:

Warp this layer so the light follow the shape of the mountain:

Change the blending mode to “overlay”, and duplicate this layer a few times to increase its contrast:

For the second point, we can easily create a new layer just above the background light layer named “abstract pattern”, download some abstract brushsets from sites such as qbrushes.net or brushesszy, and paint away!

I won’t tell you which brushsets I used here because I’d like you to use your own creativity, and not limited by this tutorial.

For the third point, we can add the following adjustment layers on the model layer:

Curves

Colour Balance

and you will have the following effect so far:

Ok that’s pretty much it! I further adjust the colour balance a bit and added some motion blur effect to it. Here is the final result: (click to enlarge)

Of course you can add more texture to it and enhance its details further, totally up to you :)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and learn something new!

Till next time, have a great day!

Design a Black and White, Dreamy Style Surreal Artwork in Photoshop

James Qu — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 06:51:08 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this black and white, dreamy style sureal artwork in Photoshop. Have a try!

If you have been following my tutorials for a while, you will notice that I very rarely publish anything that is black and white – I love colours, but I think sometimes black and white style can produce effect that colour can’t – for example, a sense of dark and gloom.

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

OK let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Step 1

Create a new document size 1300px *700px. fill the background layer with black colour. Now let’s start laying the foundation.

Load the “Cliff” image into Photoshop and use the Rectangular Marquee tool to select a portion of the cliff:

copy and paste your selection onto our canvas, resize it and position it as shown below:

Name this layer as “Rock 1″, add a layer mask to it and on the mask, use a soft round brush (20% hardness) to erase the edges of the rock:

As you can see, I erased a large portion of the texture and left only a fraction of it – the reason I did it is because initially it was hard to judge what portion of the texture would be suitable, and I could only experiment with it until I get the right piece.

Add a black and white adjustment layer onto this rock 1 layer:

and you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Now duplicate this Rock 1 layer twice (along with the black and white adjustment layer), name the duplicated layers as “rock 2″ and “rock 3″ respectively. Drag the duplicated layer around and position them to the left and right of the Rock 1 layer, as shown below:

Adjust the mask on those duplicated layer by using a soft eraser to remove the edges, especially the parts where each rock joins together:

Step 3

Now we pretty much finished with the rock texture. Let’s add the tree image onto our canvas. Load the “Tree” stock image into Photoshop, cut out the tree and the grass texture using the following channel mask technique:

(you can use other method if you prefer, but I think channel mask here is the most effective one.)

On the background layer, click on the “Channel” tab on the layer palette, then click on the “Blur” channel (the reason is this channel provides the biggest contrast)

Duplicate this Blue channel once, apply the following Levels adjustment to the duplicated channel:

Use a black brush to fill the area:

Load the selection of this blue copy channel by going into Select > Load selection, then apply the following options then click on “OK”:

Copy and paste the selection onto our document, name the layer as “Tree Right”, resize it and position it as shown below:

Erase the bottom part of the grass with a soft brush:

And the following two adjustment layers to this tree right layer: (make sure you tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and white

Curves

Curves Mask

and you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the Tree right layer once along with its adjustment layers (leave all adjustment layers as they are, apart from canceling the layer mask on the Curves adjustment layer). Name the duplicated layer as “tree left”, drag and resize this layer smaller, and position it as shown below:

Step 4

Load the “Female Model” stock image into Photoshop, cut out the model and paste it into the centre of our canvas:

Don’t worry if your selection is not perfect, it doesn’t really matter in this tutorial.

Name this layer as “Model Original”, duplicate it once and go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen Edge and apply this filter a few times on the duplicated layer:

As you can see this sharpens all edges of the model – an effect may look horrible right now, but will add extra details as we go deeper into the tutorial.

Duplicate the original model layer once more and drag it above the previous sharpen edge layer, make this layer a clipping mask to the sharpen edge layer (right-click the layer, then choose “create clipping mask”), reduce the layer opacity to 80%, you will have the following effect:

Add the following image adjustment layers to it: (make sure you tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Curves

Mask:

Levels

Black and White

On the Black and white adjustment layer, use a soft brush eraser to do a single click on the spot where the flower is: (this reveals the flowers, adding a bit of colour to the image)

Duplicate the original model layer once more and drag it above all the adjustment layer, change the blending mode to “hard light” and opacity to 30%, you will have the following effect:

Step 5

Load the “Planet” image into Photoshop, cut out the planet and paste it onto our document. Name this layer as “planet”, resize and position it as shown below:

add the following image adjustment layer to the planet:

Black and White

Curves

We can also add some aura around the planet for more effect. To do this, load the selection of the planet layer (ctrl+left-click the thumbnail of the planet layer on the layer palette), apply the following refine edge option to it:

Create a new layer called “aura” under the plaent layer, render some cloud in it:

Duplicate this aura layer once, then use the Warp Tool (Ctrl + T then right-click choose warp) to manipulate it so it looks like dropping down from the planet:

Step 6

Load th “Sky” image into Photoshop, copy a portion of it and paste it onto our document, above all previous layers. Resize the layer and position it as shown below: (Erase the Edge with a soft eraser, if necessary)

Add the following two adjustment layers to it:

Black and White

Curves

Optional: it would be good to add variety onto the image by applying more cloud texture. Make sure you black and white them as you add them in:

Step 7

Now we’re getting into an interest part of the tutorial. As you can see the image so far looks ok, but it lacks that surreal, dreamy sort of effect. So to enhance those effect, we can use cloud warping, especially on the area just above the ground, below the model.

To do this, create a new layer above the last duplicated Model layer, use the Lasso Tool with 50% feather to draw a selection on this layer, render some cloud in it:

Then use the warp tool, manipulate the cloud as shown below:

You can them duplicate and re-size this cloud layer for more effect:

I also added some abstract brush effect on the background, mixing it with the Warp Tool for more effect: (There are tons of brushsets on qbrushes.net, or brusheezy that will do the job)

This is the overall effect so far:

Step 8

We’re almost done! In the last fine-tuning step, I add the following Reduce Noise Filter to make the image smoother:

with the following layer mask:

and this is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you find it useful and learn something new!

Till next time, have a nice day!

Design an Awesome Fantasy Floating Mountain Scene in Photoshop

James Qu — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:59:40 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the processes I used to create this really cool, fantasy style floating Mountain Scene in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial and some steps can be tricky, but why not have a try!

Here is a a preview of the final effect: (click to enlarge)

PSD File for this Tutorial

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OK let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

create a new document sized 1000px * 1500px, leave the background layer colour as white. Load the Grass Hilltopinto Photoshop, use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to select a portion of the image – when you make the selection, make sure you select a piece where it contain both sky and the grass, as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our docuemnt, name this layer as “Grass land” and resize it to fit the width of our document, with roughly about half of the height:

As you can see we leave a large portion the upper area for the sky, personally I think this will help later on when we add more objects on the sky and make the image look deeper.

Add the following two adjustment layer on top the grass land layer:

Curves

Mask

Black and White (Set blending mode to “Hard Light”)

and you will have the following effect so far:

Step 2

Load the “River” stock image into Photoshop, use the the Lasso tool with a 20px feather, cut out the river portion of the image, and paste it on to our document to the position as shown below:

Hint: use the Free Transform tool (Ctrl + T) to resize and distort the image if necessary. Use the eraser tool with a soft brush tip to erase the edges so it blends into the image with the grass background.

Name this layer as “river”, add the following Curves adjustment layer to it: (make sure to tick “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Here is the effect so far:

You can see by adding a simple adjustment layer, we make the river portion blend into the grass texture and as a result, it would be easier for us to edit the image later on when needed.

Step 3

Load the Sky 1 image into Photoshop, select the upper portion the image and copy it onto our document, name this new layer as “sky 1″:

Use the Warp Tool (Ctrl + T, then right-click to choose Warp) to drag the right bottom edge lower so it links with the grass texture:

Add the following mask to this Sky 1 layer:

and you will have the following effect:

As you can see, I dug a hole on the sky so that I can add the mountain texture under it.

Load the Sky 2 texture into Photoshop, copy and paste the entire image onto our document and put this layer above the previous Sky 1 layer. Resize and position it as shown below:

Rename this layer as “Sky 2″ and right-click the layer on the layer palette, choose “create clipping mask”, also erase the bottom edge on this sky 2 layer so it blends with the Sky 1 layer:

add the following 3 adjustment layers on top of the Sky 2 layer (make sure to tick “use previous layer as clipping mask” option):

Curves

Black and White (blend mode set to “Hard Light”, opacity to 40%)

Color Balance

and you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Load the “mountain” texture into Photoshop, select the lower portion of the image, copy and paste onto our document. Name the layer as “mountain” and put this layer under the “Sky 1″ layer: (Resize the layer to a smaller size)

As you can see, because we previously added the mask on the Sky 1 layer, this mountain layer will therefore be visible. You can of course reveal a different portion of the mountain by simply moving the mountain layer left or right, that’s totally up to you.

Add the following two adjustment layer to this mountain layer:

Curves

Colour Balance

and you will have the following effect:

Step 5

I feel the bottom part of the image looks a bit dark and boring, so I decided to add a thin layer of fog/air flow to it.

To do this, we simply use the “Sky 1″ image, select a portion of the image as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our document, name this new layer as “fog” and put it above all previous layers, desaturate it and apply the following motion blur to it:

Position this layer on top of the grass and river section of the image:

erase the top edge with a soft brush, change the blending mode to “Vivid Light”. Duplicate this layer once and change the blending mode of the duplicated layer to “Screen”, opcacity to 30%, you will have the following effect:

Step 6

Load the “Lady” image into Photoshop, cut out the girl image from the background with whatever method you prefer (I used the Quick Selection Tool here, with a 3px brush tip), paste it onto our document.

Name this layer as “Girl” and put it above all previous layer, resize and position it as shown below:

Create a new layer under the girl layer, use a very small soft brush (3px), paint some shadow under the girl and slighly to the left:

Add the following two adjustment layer on top of the girl layer:

Color Balance

Curves

By doing so we adjust the lighting of the girl to be similar to her surrounding:

Also we can create a new layer on top of all other layers, grab an abstract/fractal brushset from qbrushes.net or brusheezy.com, paint around the mountain to create some misty effect: (adjust the layer opacity to around 30%)

and you will have this overall effect so far:

Step 7

OK we’re almost there! There is one more trick I would like to show you here. You might remeber on the preview I have a abstract line bursting from the top of the mountain. Here I will show you how I did this effect.

We flatten the image, duplicate the background layer once, find the Twirl Filter under the Filter menu and apply the following settings:

Hit Ctrl + F 2 or 3 more times, you will have the following effect:

Use a big soft brush to erase the bottom portion of the duplicated twirl layer and leave only the top bits, as shown below: (Drop the layer opacity to 70%)

That’s pretty much it for this tutorial! I further adjusted the color balance a bit and sharpen the image, and here is my final effect:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful! Thanks and have a great day!

Design an Epic Sci-Fi Style Urban City Scene in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:51:56 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Epic, Sci-Fi Sytle Urban City Scene (Montage) in Photoshop, by utilising a few simple photo manipulation tricks. Have a try!

Here is a preview of the final image for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

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Ok let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1200px * 1200px, fill the background layer with Black colour. Load the Ground stock image into Photoshop, select the lower half of the image with the Rectangular Marquee Tool, as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our canvas, as shown below:

Erase the top edges of the texture, as shown below:

Name this layer as “Ground”, apply the following Black and White adjustment layer to it:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Load the City texture into Photoshop, select the building portion of the image as shown below:

Don’t worry if the selection is not precise, this is not important in this tutorial.

Copy and paste the selection onto our canvas, resize and position the new layer as shown below:

Now we want to hide certain portion of the city building. So we can add the following mask to this city building layer:

As you can see, here we not only used a soft round brush, but also the Watercolor Brushes we downloaded before for the edges of the building, plus a feathered rectangular marquee tool:

and here is the effect after the masking:

Name this layer as “City”, apply the following Black and White adjustment layer to it: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Load the Cloud Right stock image into Photoshop, copy the entire image, and paste it onto our canvas.

Put the new layer below the “City” layer, resize and position the new layer as shown below:

Add the following layer mask to this cloud layer:

Name this layer as “Cloud Right”, apply the following Black and White adjustment layer to it: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Duplicate this cloud right layer once, apply the following motion blur to the duplicated layer:

This will smoothen the cloud and add a bit more motion into the image.

Apply the same black and white adjustment layer as depicted in the original cloud right layer to the duplicated layer, reduce the opacity of the duplicate to around 40%, you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Load the Cloud Left texture image into Photoshop. Select a portion of texture with Lasso Tool (50px feather) as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our canvas, put the layer above the “Cloud Right” layer, but below the “City” layer, resize it as shown below:

Erase the excessive portion with a soft brush as shown below:

Name this layer as “Cloud Left”, apply the following Black and White adjustment layer to it: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

here is the effect so far:

Step 5

Load the Girl texture image into Photoshop. Use the Lasso Tool to make a selection around the girl and the snake, as shown below: (set feather to 40px)

Copy and paste the selection onto our canvas, put the new layer above all other layers, resize and position it as shown below:

Name this layer as “Girl”, apply the following Black and White adjustment layer to it: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

and here is the effect so far:

Step 6

Load the Cloud Overlay texture image into Photoshop, copy and paste the entire image onto our canvas, as shown below:

Name this layer as “Cloud overlay”, apply the following Black and White adjustment layer to it: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Change the blending mode of this layer to “Screen” and opacity to 30%, you will have the following effect:

Cloud overlay is a perfect way to add lighting dynamics and increase the depth for your image. Experiment with it and you will find it very useful when it comes to add extra flavor to your design.

Step 7

Now we pretty much set the overall layout for this city scene. Now we add some more contrast and colour onto it to make it look sci-fi.

Add the following adjustment layers (and their relevant masks) on top of all layers:

Curves

Mask

Attention: for the following 2 colour balance adjustment layer, use the watercolour brushset on the mask for more painting and realistic effect.

Colour Balance Right (set blending mode to “soft light”)

Mask

Colour Balance Rest of the image

Mask

Levels

Mask

and here is the effect so far:

Step 8

We’re nearly finished! I decided to add more contrast to the left side of the image, especially on the left edge of the high-rise in the centre. So I further added the following two adjustment layers:

Hue and Saturation

Mask

Brightness and Contrast

Mask

and here is the effect so far:

You can see now the building is highlighted and as a result, the image has more lighting depth.

Step 9

I feel the right side of the image is a bit boring compare with the left. So I create a new layer on top the background layer, and use the water colour brush to paint some textures on the centre right portion, beneath the buildings:

And you will have the following effect as a result:

That’s it for this tutorial! I sharpen the image with the “Reduce Noise” filter and add some abstract lines on the girl, and here is my final result: (click to enlarge)

Lastly, I would like to stress that you will find the “Black and White” filter and the “Water Colour” style brushsets will be extremely useful when it comes to photo manipulation. Experiment with them :)

Till next time, have a great day!

Design a Fantasy Style Mountain River Scene in Photoshop

James Qu — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:23:57 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the processes I took to create this Fantasy Style Mountain River Scene in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial so some step can be tricky, but why not have a try!

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

OK let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1400px * 800px, leave the background layer as white, load the “Beach” image into Photoshop. Copy and paste the entire image onto our document, resize it as shown below:

The reason we do is that we only want the sand portion of the image to show at this stage, and we will manipluate the cloud portion later on in the tutorial.

Name this layer as “beach”, add the following mask to hide the sky/cloud portion on this layer:

and here is the effect after applying this layer mask:

Add the following three adjustment layers on top of this “beach” layer:

Black and white

Set blending mode to “Soft Light” for this black and white adjustment layer.

Curves

Colour Balance

Here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Now we can tackle the sky/cloud portion of the image. We use the same texture as in the previous step, but this time we select a portion of the sky and paste it onto our canvas.

To add variartion to the image, I copy and paste two different portion of the sky onto our canvas: (One to the left, the other one to the right)

Use a soft brush to erase the edge of the sky to blending them together:

Add the following adjustmnet layer to the sky to the left:

I know when I add the mountain texture later on, the right side of the skpe will probably be covered be the mountain, the left side will therefore become a light source, so the adjustment layer is to emphasise this portion.

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Load the “Girl” texture into Photoshop, cut out the girl using whatever selection method you prefer (don’t worry about the edge) and paste it onto the canvas as shown below:

Create a new layer on top of the girl layer called “shadow”, set the blending mode to “Soft Light” and opacity to around 60%, use a soft brush with black colour to paint some shadow under the girl and to the right, as shown below:

Add another layer on top of the shadow layer called “light”,set the blending mode to “soft light” and opacity to 60%, this time use a soft round brush with White Colour and do a single click in the position as shown below:

and here is the overall effect so far:

Step 4

Load the “Mountain” texture into Photoshop, select the mountain portion of the image as shown below: (I used the Quick Selction Tool)

Copy the selection and paste it onto our canvas, name this new layer as “mountain right”, erase the edges with a soft eraser, as shown below:

Add the following two adjustment layers to this mountain right layer, make sure to tick “use previous layer as clipping mask” option:

Curves

Colour Balance

add the following layer mask to the colour balance adjustment layer: (this will hide the rest the layer, and leave only the river portion)

Duplicate the “mountain right” layer once and drag it to the top, flip it horizontally and drag it to the left hand side of the canvas, erase the right and top edges as shown below:

Add the following two adjustment layers to this mountain right layer, make sure to tick “use previous layer as clipping mask” option:

Curves

here is the effect so far:

Step 5

Now we can do some tweaks so each of the objects blend together with each other. Add the following adjustment layers (and their relevant layers masks) on top of all layers:

Vibrance

Colour Balance

Mask:

Curves

Mask

Of course with the colour balance layer, you can try out your own colour combination and see what result that brings you.

Optionally, you can add one more colour balance layer on top and add some warm colours on the bottom. Here are my settings for the second colour adjustment layer:

Mask:

and here is the overall effect so far:

Step 6

Load the planet stock image into Photoshop, cut out the plaent and paste it onto our canvas in the position as shown below:

Apply the following mask to this planet layer:

Change the blending mode to “Soft Light” and reduce the opacity to 50%, you will have the following effect:

Step 7

We can add some misty/fog effect on the image – instead of using textures, we use this fractal brushset to paint some texture around the image, as shown below: (paint on a new layer, with soft light blending mode and a 30-50% opacity)

Hint: try to mix the Warp Tool (Ctrl + T and right-click to choose warp) and the fractal brushset for better effect:

Of course you’re free to experiement and paint those fogs in a different position :)

Step 8

Now we’re pretty much done! However we can add some final adjustments to the image.

We simply flatten the image, duplicate the background layer, and apply the following High Pass filter to the duplicated layer:

Change the blending mode to “Hard light”, you will find your effect become sharpened and clearer:

That’s it! I also tried to add some colour to the image by having one more Colour Balance adjustment layer, with the following settings:

Mask

You can also try out adding more adjustment layers such as Curves or Levels to add more lighting contrast.

and here is the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hopefully you learn something out of it and find it inspirational!

Cheers and have a great day!

(Another) 5 Interesting Little Photoshop Tricks to Add Extra Elegance to Your Design

James Qu — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:20:49 +0000

Previously I published a post named “5 Useful Little Photoshop Tricks to Add Extra Elegance For Your Design” and it turns out to be quite a popular tutorial here. (Had about 35,000 hits so far). So I guess you guys (especially Photoshop beginners) would probably like another similar post. So here we go :)

In this post, I will show you yet another 5 Interesting Little Photoshop Tricks to Add Extra Elegance to Your Design. These techniques are just little things that I found useful in Photoshop, and I think they’re quite beneficial to learn if you’re a PS beginner. So go ahead and have a try!

The 5 topics I will cover in this post:

Create 3D Stripes
Make Your Text Look Clearer with Stroke
Use Smart Sharpen Filter to add final touches
A Quick Way of Enhancing Lighting Contrast to Your Image
The Use of Highpass Filter – Another Way of Sharpen Your Image

Create 3D Stripes

Create a new document sized 800 x 600px, fill the background layer with a light colour as shown below:

Create a new layer on top of the background layer and set its blending mode to “soft light”, grab a big soft white brush and do a single click here:

Create a new layer called “stripe upper” and fill it with dark brown colour:

Apply the following gradient overlay settings to this layer:

Duplicate this layer once and rename the duplicated layer “stripe lower”, resize it and fill it with a light green colour:

Apply the following layer blending options to this layer:

and you will have the following effect:

Create a new group called “stripes” and put those two layer into it, duplicate the group and use the free transform tool to distort the whole group as shown below:

Hint: first resize it to a narrower size, then distort.

Duplicate the original stripe group once more, and put the duplicated group on the top, drag it to the left as shown below:

Now there is the intersting bit – because the light source is from the right, so we need to reduce the brightness of the middle distorted part. To do this, simply merge the two stripes layers of the centre bit, apply the following brightness and contrast adjustment to it:

and you will see the following effect:

and here is the overall effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it! Hopefully this will be use to you when it comes to adding depth to your web design.

Make Your Text Look Clearer with Stroke

Making your text look more attractive is always a great way to focus user’s attention (especially on websites). But apart from adding all sorts of drop shadow, inner shadow, bevel and emboss effect, have you considered just to use the “Stroke” blending option?

Now create a new document size 250 x 120px, fill the background layer with a light blue to dark blue gradient, as shown below:

Download a copy of this font and type some text onto it: (or you can try out differernt font if you like)

Now go to the blending options of this text layer, apply the following “Stroke” settings to it:

Hint: with the colour, choose a darker blue.

You will have the following effect:

You can the text looks better and clearer. The trick is that when you choose the colour of the stroke, always choose one that is slightly darker than the background colour.

I guess this is epecially great way to increase the clarity of the text when it comes to making web graphics.

Use Smart Sharpen Filter to add final touches

Download a copy of this model image and load it into Photoshop. As you can see this stock looks great originally, however you can probably sense that there is still thing you can do to improve it a bit.

Now let’s pretend this is a photo you have already done the majority of the retouch, and you feel there is something short. So go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen and apply this following settings:

Please make sure you choose “Advanced” instead of the default “Basic”.

Sharpen

Shadow

Highlight

And once you apply the smart sharpen shettings, you will see we brought that extra bit of detail out of the image. Belows are screenshots pointing out the areas which we can see improvements:

And here is a before and after comparison of the image:

Before

After (click to enlarge)

Of course the above smart sharpen settings are not applicable to every image, you will have to adjust them to suit your need in different cases. Experiment with them :)

A Quick Way of Enhancing Lighting Contrast to Your Image

Now we continue from the previous step – sometimes you will find although the light in the image looks quite good, you feel there is still area that you want to add more contrast to it. Here is a simple way to do it:

Create a new layer on top of every other layer, grab a soft brush (0% hardness) with black colour, do a few clicks in the areas you would like to enhance the lighting contrast:

Change the blending mode of the new layer to “overlay” or “soft light”, you will have the following effect: (click to enlarge)

You can use this method to add lighting contrast to lots of occasions, but make sure not to overdo it :)

The Use of Highpass Filter – Another Way of Sharpen Your Image

Here is a clever use of the highpass filter (which I guess most of you haven’t really use if much before) – use it to sharpen your image!

Downlaod a copy of this image and load it into Photoshop. Duplicate the background layer once and go to Filter > Other > High Pass and apply the following settings:

Change the blending mode of this layer to “Hard Light” and reduce its opacity to around 20%. Here is a before and after comparison:

Before

After (click to enlarge)

One thing I like about using this method is that the sharpen can be undone, due to the fact that the seperate layer was created. And the effect can be controlled by adjusting the layer opacity.

OK that’s it for this post! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

Until next time, have a great day!

Create Grungy Style Artwork, Mixing with Great Lighting and Shattered Effect in Photoshop

James Qu — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:58:43 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Grungy Style Artwork, Mixing with Great Lighting and Shattered Effect in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial and some steps can be tricky, but why not just have a try :)

Along the way, we will cover creating shattered/disintegration effect, lighting effect, how to generate more depth to your image, as well as using Pen Tool to create awesome abstract lines. This tutorial is also a great opportunity to practice your brush painting skills.

Here is the preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

Alternatvie version with different colour scheme: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

Ok let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need to the following stocks:

Female Model

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1000px * 1000px, fill the background with black colour. Create a new layer on top of the background called “grunge texture”, download a choice of your grungy brushset from sites such as qbrushes.net or brusheezy.com, load it into Photoshop, and use them to paint a light-grey background on this texture layer, as shown below: (make sure you set the flow and opacity of the brush to a low level, around 20-30%)

Once you’re happy with the texture, duplicate this layer once, and resize the duplicated layer as shown below:

Now here is a trick you can use to quickly add some depth to the image – after resizing the image, don’t cancel the selection, straight-away right-click and choose “perspective”, as shown below:

Perspective your selection as shown below:

Erase the upper edge this layer as shown below, so the two layers can sort of blend together:

And you can by doing so, we add depth to the background texture so making it easier to add the model onto the canvas later on:

Step 2

Load the Female Model stock image into Photoshop, use whatever method you like to extract the gril out, copy and paste her onto our canvas, resize and position it as shown below:

Name this layer as “model”.

Apply the following Smart Sharpen filter on this model layer:

Add the following three adjustment layers on to this layer, make sure to tick the “use preivew layer as clipping mask” option:

Black and white

Make sure to change the blending mode of this Black and White layer to “Vivid Light”

Curves

Vibrance

and you will have the following effect:

duplicate the orginal model and drag the duplicated layer to the top, apply the following Spatter filter to it: (Filter > Brush Stroke > Spatter)

You will now see the whole girl image is covered by the shattered piece – of course we don’t want that. So add the following layer mask to hide those parts we don’t wish to see:

By doing so, we only leave the shoulder and the upper legs part to have shattered effect.

Change the layer blending mode of this layer to “Hard Light”, and you will have the following effect:

Step 3

Duplicate the original model layer once more and drag it on top of all previous layers. Apply the following motion blur settings to it:

Add the following mask to the motion blur layer:

Change the layer blending mode this layer to “Screen”, you will have the following effect:

Optionally, you can duplicate this motion blur layer a few more times, and drag them around the model’s body for more effect.

Step 4

Now let’s create some abstract lines. Firstly turn off all previous layers (except the background grungy texture layer) we made so that we have more space to use our creativity. Create a new layer above the grungy texture layer, grab the Pen Tool and draw a path as shown below:

Stroke the path as shown below with a 3-5px soft brush: (You can choose any colour you like)

You will have the following effect or similar:

After stroking the path, duplicate it once and apply the following Gaussian Blur settings to it:

You will have the following effect:

You can see by doing so we add a glowing effect to the abstract line we created.

To futher enhance this layer, we merge this two layers, duplicate the merge layer once, and change the blending mode to “Vivid Light”, you will have the following effect: (I resized this line a bit):

That’s all for create the abstract line. Then we can simply duplicate, position those lines around the model, as shown below:

Step 5

Now we can add a bit of shadow for the model because I intend to have light coming from the top. So we simply create a new layer called “shadow” just below the original model layer, grab a soft black brush, paint some shadow on the bottom:

Create a new layer, use the grungy brushset you donwloaded or choose a different brushset, paint some grungy texture around the model’s body, as shown below:

This step can be a bit tricky to complete – try mixing different brushes in the set, set the opacity and flow to a low level around 30-40%, and use the tip mentioned in the screenshot. It’s all about getting used to the brushset and find the feeling :)

Once you finish the painting, duplicate this layer once, apply the following Motion Blur setting to it:

and you will have the following effect:

Add the following three adjustment layer on top of it, with respective layer masks:

Curves

Curves Mask (Use Eraser with Grungy Brushset, along with soft round brush to create this effect)

Levels

Levels Mask

Color Balance

You will have the following effect so far:

Step 6

Now let’s add some final touch-up for the image. To do this, I decided to use Len Flare + Cloud Filter to add some highlight to the model’s body.

The trick is really simple: Create a new layer on top of all previous layers, use the Lasso Tool (with 25px feather) to create a selection, render some cloud inside it then apply the following Lens Flare settings:

and you will have the following effect:

We then change the layer blending mode to “overlay”, “color dodge” or “vivid light”, totally up to you. Make sure you duplicate this layer a few times, and move them around the model’s body for more highlights.

Below image shows the areas I chose to highlight: (I turn off color so you can see the arrows a bit better)

Important: experiment with layer blending mode with this cloud filter + lens flare layer, you will be amazed how interesting this combination would bring you :)

Here is the effect so far:

Final Step

For this final step, I flatten the image, smart sharpen it a bit, changed the color scheme and adjusted the brightness and contrast as well. I will leave those settings up to you so you can experiment with them :)

Here is the final effect for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

Alternative version: (click to enlarge)

That’s it! Hope you enjoy this tutorial! Drop me a comment if you have any question, I will try my best to help you out!

Design an Awesome Space-themed “Unleash Your Creativity” Artwork in Photoshop

James Qu — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:46:19 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this really great looking, space-themed “Unleash Your Creativity” Artwork in Photoshop. Have a try!

The key points I would like to address in this tutorial are:

How we can achieve great lighting effect by simply mixing custom brushset and various Photoshop filters
Explore different layer blending effects and the use of Pen Tool to create abstract lines
How to quickly and effectively render realistic star field effect in Photoshop.

Here is the preview of the final effect: (click to enlarge)

Alternative Version with different color scheme (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

Ok let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need to the following stocks:

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1400px * 800px (actually size doesn’t really matter here, you can try out other resolution if you like), fill the background layer with black color.

Load the “Model” stock image into Photoshop, use whatever method you perfer to cut the man out, and paste it onto our document:

Hint: I used a combination of Lasso Tool (set tolerence to 7-10px) and Quick Selection Tool to cut him out.

Name this layer as “model”, add the following two adjustment layer onto it: (tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Curves

Vibrance

and you will have the following effect:

You can see now we increase the contrast a bit and reduce the colour saturation of the model. This way it’s easier to refine the color and add more effect onto it later on.

Step 2

Download a copy of this Abstract Brushset, load it into photoshop, create a new layer on top the of all previous layers, use this brushset to paint over the model’s body.

I can’t go into much detail about this painting step, however one important thing is to try out different brush blending mode – I used overlay, soft light, hard light, and Multiply). Also make sure you try out different opacity and flow settings as you go.

You can also try out Scale, Distort and Warp this paint layer to maximise its effect.

You can find those settings on the top option bar:

and here is the effect I have after the painting: (You can see I emphaise on the legs and arms)

Step 3

Create a new layer above the background layer, however below the “model” layer, use the same brushset and paint some abstract effect on the bottom.

If the effect doesn’t feel right, try using the free tranform tool to scale, warp this layer:

also make sure you paint some shadow under the model to add more depth – to do this, simply create a new layer named “shadow” and paint over the area as show below, with a black brushset:

here is the effect I have so far:

Step 4

Load the “planet 1″ image into Photoshop, drag it onto our document and put it just below the “Model” layer, but above the “shadow” layer. Resize and position it as shown below:

Name this layer as “model”, add the following two adjustment layer onto it: (tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and White

Curves

You will have the following effect:

Optionally, you can make a duplication of the this planet layer and resize the duplicated layer to a smaller size, and position it as shown below:

Step 5

This is an optinal step. I personally like to add some abstract lines extending from the model’s arm :)

To do this, simply create a new layer below the model layer, then use the Pen Tool to draw a path as shown below on the newly created layer:

Stroke the path with a 5px soft round brush with White color:

and here is the effect after the stroke:

Once you’re happy with shape, you can duplicate this line layer a few times and adjust their position and size, as shown below:

Step 6

Load the “planet 2″ image into Photoshop and drag it on our document. Resize and position the layer as shown below:

Name this layer as “planet 2″ and duplicate it once, resize it as shown below:

Desaturate and apply the following Gaussian Blur settings to the duplicated layer:

Reduce the layer opacity to around 90%, you will have the following effect:

Then add the following two adjustment layers to it:

Curves

Levels

and you will have the following effect so far:

Step 7

Let’s render the star field now :) To do this, go and add a new layer on top of all other layers and name it “star field”, then go to Filter > Noise > Add noise and apply the following settings:

Apply the following Levels settings to this layer:

To reduce the density of the star a bit, we can apply the following Curves adjustments:

You should have the following effect so far:

Change the blending mode of the layer to “Screen”, you should have the following effect:

Step 8

To wrap up this design, we can add some color onto the image by adding some more layers (with “soft light” blending mode) on top of all layers, make sure to try out different color combinations.

Here are two versions I have for this tutorial:

Version 1

Version 2

I decided to go with version 2 and the final step I took is to apply a smart sharpen filter to the flattened image:

and here is the final effect for this tutorial (click to enlarge):

Alternative Version with different color scheme (click to enlarge)

Hope you enjoy this tutorial! Drop me a comment if you have any question, I will try my best to help you out!

Design a Dante’s Inferno Game Inspired Dark Flaming Hell Scene in Photoshop

James Qu — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:28:29 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this really awesome looking, dark flaming hell scene in Photoshop, inspired by the Dante’s Inferno game artworks. This tutorial is designed for intermediate to advance Photoshop users so some steps can be a bit tricky, but why not have a try!

Along the way, we will be using tons of layer blending techniques, filter effects, image adjustments, and various tools from the toolbox. You will learn how to combine those techniques into one and make awesome looking artwork in Photoshop.

Here is a preview of the final effect: (click to enlarge)

Alternative version which I adjusted the color saturation: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

Before we begin, I’d like to introduce a bit of concept behind this artwork:

our hero arrives in hell, in front of him is a flaming river filled wit lava
he must somehow get across the river and reach the island in the far distance, guarded by fearsome monsters,
he then has to get inside the castle on top of the island to rescue his lover.

Ok once you understand the concept, let’’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Step 1

Create a new document size 1400px * 800px, fill the background layer with black. Load the “Foggy Plain” image into Photoshop, then copy and paste the entire image onto our document, resize it to fix the canvas size.

Name this layer as “plain”, apply the following “Reduce Noise” settings to it to get rid of the noisy bits and add some gloomy effect to it:

And you will have the following effect:

Use the Spot Healing tool to remove the dots on the image:

And you will have the following effect:

Duplicate this plain layer once, change the blending mode of the duplicated layer to “Multiply”, this way will darken the image. Add a layer mask to the duplicate layer to hide the top sky portion so it remains bright:

And here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Now let’s load the “cliff” iamge into Photoshop, then drag the entire image onto our canvas, resize and position it as shown below:

Here comes the interesting bit: grab a really soft (0% hardness), big round brush, erase the ocean part and the edges of the cliff off – the ulimate goal is to try and blend the cliff into our image as seamless as possible:

Now we have the cliff texture here, however it looks quite boring to me with just a single bit sort of sticking out. So I decided to extend it a bit to cover the entire lower portion of the canvas.

This is probably the most tricky part of the tutorial – The goal we got to achieve is to take this cliff texture and somehow make it longer to cover the lower portion.

To do this, following the following steps:

make serveral duplicates of the original cliff layer
use the same method as described in the previous step to erase the edge portion
on each duplicated layer, use Ctrl + T to free transform them so they look different.
Then drag them to across the canvas to form a joint cliff

You can make as many duplicated layers as you want.

Also try to experiment layer blending mode with each layer, you will discover how powerful those layer blending modes are.

Here is my effect after the blending and duplicating: (This effect is made by around 10 duplicated cliff layer texture)

Add the following three image adjustment layer and their respective layer mask to it:

Color Balance (Drop opacity to 70%)

Levels

Brightness and Contrast

and here is the effect so far:

You can see I delibrately produce those color and lighting dynamics through layer masking and blending options – they will be used in future steps.

Step 3

Now let’s load the “cloud” image into Photoshop and drag it onto our document, name the new layer as “cloud”. Desaturate this cloud layer and use a big soft brush to erase the outer portion of the cloud, leave the bits as show below:

Change the blending mode to “color burn” and you will have the following effect:

Duplicate this cloud layer a few more times, position the duplicated layer around the edge of the cliff, adjust their blending mode as shown below:

add a curves adjustment layer to it with mask as shown below:

You will have the following effect:

Step 4

Now let’s produce some Lave and Flaming effect to the image. Create a new layer called “lava” and fill it with Black, render some cloud using the cloud filter, as shown below:

Then render some difference cloud afterwards: (try press Ctrl + F a few more times for different result)

Apply the following colour balance settings to it:

Then resize this layer “lava” to a very small size and position it into the centre of the canvas, erase the edges with a small soft brush, you will have the following effect:

change its blending mode to “color dodge”, you will have the following effect:

Again we duplicate this lava layer, rotate and resize the duplicated layer, until it covers the center area:

Step 5

Now load the “castle” image into Photoshop and select the upper portion of the image without the lake, copy and paste it onto our document. Desaturate it and change its layer blending mode to “hard light”, you will have the following effect:

erase the edges off with a soft brush:

add following three image adjustment layer with relevant mask attached to them, to the castle layer as clipping mask:

Curves

Levels

Brightness and Contrast

Go back to the orignal “lava” layer and make a few more duplcations, drag those duplicated lava layer on top of the castle layer, change their layer blending mode to “soft light”, apart from the one on the bottom – set it to “screen”:

Now we can add some smoke effect to the image. To do this, create a new layer called “smoke” and render some cloud on it, add a lens flare in the centre top:

Add the following mask to this cloud layer:

Change the blending mode of this cloud layer to “color burn”, you will have the following effect:

Step 6

Now let’s add some skulls to the scene. Load the “Skull” image into Photoshop, drag it onto our document, resize and position it as shown below: (I have already erased the edge off and desaturate it)

Add the following two adjustment layer to it as clipping mask:

Curves

Color Balance

Create a new layer called “skull shadow” below the skull layer, use a black brush with 30% flow and opacity, gently paint some shadow for the skull:

Put those skulls stuff into a folder, then duplicate the folder and scatter the skull around the canvas (make sure to adjust the shadow position accordingly)

You can duplicate as many as you want, I only did it once for demonstrate purpose here:

Step 7

Now let’s add some flying monster to the image. Load the “Dragon” image into photoshop, drag it onto our document on name the layer “dragon”. Desaturate the layer and change its blending mode to “Hard Light”, you will have the following effect:

Add the following two adjustment layers as clipping mask to the dragon layer:

Colour Balance

Curves

You will have the following effect:

To add some motion to the monster, we can dupliate the dragon layer once and put it on top of the adjustment layers, apply the following motion blur settings to the duplicated layer:

change the blending mode to “color dodge” and duplicate it a few more times:

Make a folder and put all dragon layers into it, duplicate the folder and resize and rotate it, postion it to the left, as show below: (don’t forget reduce the opacity of the dragon a bit, because it’s a bit further away)

Step 8

Now let’s add our hero onto the image. Load the “Warrior” image into Photoshop, drag it onto our canvas and name the layer “hero”, resize it and put it to the position as shown below: (erase and desaturate as usual, set blending mode to “Vivid Light”)

Duplicate this layer twice, keep the blending mode as “vivid light”. You wll have the following effect:

Use the same method as used for the skull, paint some shadow under the hero by make a new layer called “hero shadow”:

Step 9

That’s pretty much it! To spice up the image a bit, I added a few more lighting layers by simply creating a new layer with the overlay blending mode, grab a white big soft brush, and paint over the following areas:

Finally I flatten the image, reduce the noise of the image a bit with the following settings:

and here is my final effect for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

Alternative version which I adjusted the color saturation: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful! Drop me a comment if you have any question, I will try my best to help you out!

Cheers and have a great day!

My Guest Post on My Ink Blog – Design A Surreal, Ancient Fantasy Scene in Photoshop

James Qu — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:04:48 +0000

Recently I was invited by Andrew from My Ink Blog to write a guest post and here is what I came up with – A surreal, ancient Fantasy Scene made in Photoshop. (I personally always love fantasy style!) My Ink Blog is a site that always enjoy hopping onto and I’m really happy that I was given an opportunity to be a small part of it :)

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this work. We will take several real world objects and seamlessly blend them together to form this artwork. We will also use a number of Photoshop brushes to spice up the effect. The techniquses involved in this tutorial include layer blending, image adjustments, filter effects, custom brush tools, adding layer mask, etc.

This is a 10 steps tutorial, very simple, yet the effect is good. Have a try!

Here is a preview of the final effect: (click to enlarge)

Please click here to view this tutorial on My Ink Blog.

If you have any problem, drop me a comment and I will try my best to help you out. Cheers and have a great day!