Draw a Realistic Planet with Waterstream Texture In Photoshop

Posted on January 11th, 2009 under Abstracts, Drawing, it has 31 Comments and 14,431 Views so far.

In this tutorial, I will show you the processes I took to draw a realistic planet by applying waterstream texture in Photoshop. I’m sure you have seen heaps of planet drawing tutorials around, but you can still use this tutorial as a supplement to others :)

Along the way, we will be going through the use gradient tool, clipping mask, image adjustment tools, various filters and some selection techniques.

Here is a preview of the final images for this tutorial:

Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 800px * 800px, fill the background with Black Colour.

Create a new layer called “planet”, use the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M Key) to draw a circle. (Hold Down Shift Key while dragging the mouse to draw a perfect circle)

See image below for the position of the circle:

Step 2

Still on the “planet” layer, DO NOT deselect the selection, Use the Gradient Tool (G Key) andset the foreground colour to “#ffffff” and the background colour to “#282828″.

Fill the selection as shown below:

For more lighting contrast, use the Curve Image Adjustment Tool with the setting similar to this: (the setting maybe slightly different for each person, but the general idea is to increase the light from the top right corner)

Here is the effect you will want to achieve after the Curve Adjustment:

Step 3

Now we will apply some waterstream texture for our planet . Downloaded a copy of this image and load it into Photoshop, select the following portion of this image:

Copy and paste the selection to our document, resize it to the roughly size of the planet:

Name this layer as “water texture” and right-click the layer, select “create clipping mask”. Change the blending mode to “Overlay”.

Here is the effect so far:

Step 4

On the “water texture” layer, apply the following Black and White Adjustment Settings:

Then duplicate the “water texture” layer, go to Filter > Distort > Ocean Ripple and apply the following settings:

go to Filter > Distort > Glass and apply the following setting:

go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply the following settings:

Here is the effect after applying those filters:

Step 5

Create a New layer on top of the “water texture copy” layer and name it “cloud”. User the Elliptical Selection Tool with a 50px feather, draw a circle around the planet:

Go to Filter > Render > Cloud and render some cloud:

Step 6

Still on the “cloud” layer, apply the following Curve Adjustments:

Then apply the following Level Adjustment Settings:

Then Change the layer blending option to “overlay” with an opacity of 70%. Your image will now look like this:

Step 7

We will now add some motions to the cloud. Duplicate the “cloud” layer once, then go to Filter > Distort > Pinch and apply the following settings on the duplicated layer:

After pinching the cloud, apply the following level adjustments:

And your should have the following effect:

Step 8

Now we go back to the “Cloud”, grab a big soft brush and reduce to opacity and flow to 30%, choose a colour you like and simply brush over the layer:

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! The rest is left upon you own creativity. You can add some lighting effect and render some lens flare to create more dynamic light.

Below is my final image for this tutorial:

As usual, if you have any question, just drop me a comment.

Cheers and have a nice day!

Like this post? Share it around!

31 Comments

SBL Clipping path services Says:
Very interesting and informative tutorial…

Regards,
SBL Graphics
http://www.saibposervices.com/Clipping-path_services.aspx
psaddict Says:
Added to http://www.psaddict.com
Ann Says:
Hi James it’s me again Ann.

I’m stuck on step no. 8 since i don’t know how to put a color on a brush as you instructed so.And I’ve always been stuck on your instruction for Black and White Adjustment tool.It’s confirmly nonexistent in my program.Please tell me how to in order for me to proceed on my own piece of work.

I am now a regular visitor of your interesting website.

Thanks in advance and thanks a lot for the reply to my previous question.Keep up the good work.
James Says:
Hi! Black and white tool is perhaps the most useful tool in CS3 in my opinion. So my advice for this would be … get CS3~ :P
Or otherwise, I’ve sent you an email with a screenshot attached showing a way you may be able to use to get around it.

With the brush, you simply choose a foreground colour, then reduce the brush opacity and flow to around 20-30%, then just paint over the area you want.
David Says:
I was running through this tutorial, and the outcome is great, but where I keep messing up is after the curves and levels for the “clouds” layer, which layer do you set to overlay @ 70%?
stayfree design Says:
nice thanks, one can never have enough different techniques for making planets
Thomas Churchwell Says:
Very nice. Sure there are lots of planets being created out there. Just like in real life. I like this one very much and I will be using your technique in the future
Night5talker Says:
well i use CS4 and cant get the effect of cloud on step 5 any1 have ideas?
Alina Says:
oooh….i can’t see images in step 4…((( but this tutorial is very nice
James Says:
thanks stayfree and Thomas!
James Says:
@Night5talker: sorry buddy but I haven’t used cs4…maybe someone else here would know?
LaMbErT* Says:
I have no idea why but the cloud layer wouldn’t turn out like yours i have followed all the steps apart from the black and white adjustment as it isn’t there but the cloud layer doesn’t curve around the planet and doesn’t show as strongly as yours ?
Tiffany Says:
This was a good tutorial. It was easy to follow. A good base for some fun planet designs.
afrin Says:
im stuck on step 6 can’t seem to get the curves right……any help??
HOMES Says:
kindaa SHITTt is thiss doesnt even work wtf?
Photoshop masking Says:
This is absolutely stunning tutorial. Would love to see more tutorials. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful tutorial.
admin Says:
No problem mate! Thanks for your comment!
Spoc Says:
Where can I get the full tut? I need know the rest of the effects plz
Palemka Says:
Hey! It’s great tutorial, but i have small tip for you: use spherize for your planet to make it less flat;)
admin Says:
@Palemka: yeah thanks very much for the tip, I will have a try!
Slyda Says:
Clouds are almost impossible for me

idk y mb because im on cs2

school computers are garbage lol

i cant get the clouds to work at all
Business Card Printing Says:
This is really amazing! I love the first one you made, with the blue and purplish color tones. Looks very realistic! Your designs are always very imaginative. Thanks for sharing this tutorial!
admin Says:
Thanks buddy! really happy that you enjoy my tutorial!
huwaw69 Says:
ermmm im a total beginner in photoshop… its quite hard to make this image…. i wanna learn more about that mask effect? or clipping mask…
pzychozound Says:
way cool
EfiLRenOTs Says:
Your website is realy cool and your tuts are very usefull. Big UP!!
have a nice day
PSDaddict! Says:
I’ve been trying to figure out how you get the cloud effect in the sky around the planet (step 7) because it didn’t work at all for me. If anyone could give me some advice that would be great.