In this tutorial, I will show you the processes I used to design a really cool, abstract style flaming bird in Photoshop. This bird is created purely based on brush and filter effects in Photoshop, without the use of any third party images!

Along the way, we will learn how to load customized brushes, the use the various filters effect and image adjustments tools. Some techniques used in the tutorial could be a bit tricky. Have a try and see how your image turns out :)

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

An alternative version with shining effect:

Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document in Photoshop with a size of your choice. I chose 1200  x 800 px because that’s size fit my monitor the best.

Firstly we tackle the bird’s wing. We need a customized brush to draw the fundation of the wing. Donwload a copy of this brushset from qbrushes.com and load it into Photoshop. If you’re a beginner in Photoshop and not sure how to do so, here is a handy tutorial showing how to load brushes into Photoshop.

Fill the background layer with Black Colour and create a new layer called “wing”. Use the following brush and make a single click on the “wing” layer:

Step 2

Still on “wing” layer, go to Filter > Distort > Twirl and apply the following settings:

Then go to Filter > Distort > Shear and apply the following settings:

The image will now look like this:

Step 3

Still on “layer”, hit Ctrl + T and bring the free transform tool, right-click and choose “Warp”. Transform the image as shown below:

This step requires a bit of practice and patience if you’re new to Photoshop. If you’re not successful for the first time, don’t give up :)

After warping the image, go to Filter > Liquidify and use a small brush to apply a few liquidify effect around the edge of the wing to make it more realistic:

Step 4

Duplicate the “wing” layer once. On the duplicate layer, go to Filter > Distort > Ripple and apply the following settings:

Apply this filter a couple of times, then change the layer blending option to “Exclusion”. The effect so far will look like this:

Step 5

Create a new layer called “cloud” on top of all other layers. Go back to the original “wing” layer and load its selection by holding down your Ctrl key and left-click on the thumbnail of the text layer in the layer palette.

Expand the selection by 15px and set a 20px feather to it, your selection will now look like this:

Set the foreground colour to white and background colour to black,  load the selection of the orginal “wing” layer, render some cloud inside it by going to Filter > Render > Cloud.

Then go to Filter > Render > Difference Cloud and render difference cloud. You image will look similar to this:

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

Step 6

To add a bit of motion into the image, we can duplicate the original wing layer once more and put the duplicated layer just above it, go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and apply the following settings:

This is the effect after apply motion blur:

Step 7

To add a bit colour and ligthing contrast to the image, we can again duplicate the original “wing” layer, and apply the following Black and White adjustments to the duplicated layer:

After apply the Black and White adjustments, hit Ctrl + J and duplicate this layer about 5 times (This will add more contrast to the image).

The effect will now look like this:

Step 8

Now we can simply group all previous layers together, duplicate the group and flip the duplicated group honrizontally.

The effect is shown as below: (I also adjusted the angle a bit)

Then I again duplicate the group layer twice more, resize them in the middle and this formed the below image of the fire bird:

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! I further adjusted a colour and curve of the image a bit and here is the final image: (click to enlarge)

An alternative version with shining effect:

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

Cheers and have a nice day!

In this tutorial, I will show you the procedures I took to create an Realistic Dark Ocean text effect in Photoshop, which is inspired by one of the ocean photos my aunt showed me from Mykonos, Greece.

We will be exploring some layer blending options, various tools and filters. I will also show you the way I use to add extra lighting contrast to the image.

Below is a preview of the final image:

Step 1

Firstly we will need a nice font, I used this font from dafont.com, however you’re free to use any font you like.

Once you chose the font, create a new document in photoshop, size doesn’ really matter here. I chose 800×400px because that’s where my comfort zone is.

Fill the background with Black and save the document as “Ocean Text”.

Step 2

Use the type tool to type some texts onto it.This will automatically create a new layer on top of the background layer.

If you choose the 800×400px canvas size in step 1, it’s a good idea to choose larger size font here. However, you can always adjust the size of the font by holding down the CTRL + T together, then drag the corner of the text to alter the size. (You may also hold down SHIFT key while dragging, this will keep the dimension radio of the text).

See image below for the position I place my text:

After placing your text, name this layer as “Text”.

Step 3

We will now add some lighting and contrast for the text. Hold down your CTRL key and left-click on the “Text” layer, this will select the entire “Text” layer:

Create a new layer called “shade”, fill it with black and go to Filter > Render > Cloud to render some cloud (use white as foreground colour and black as background colour).

Step 4

Now we can futher edit the lightness of the text. Go to Image > Mode > Lab Colour to change the image mode to LAB Colour, then go to channels palette and choose the lightness channel. See below images for details:

Lab Mode:

Channel:

Then go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen and use the following settings:

Optional: you may use smart sharpen a few time to further adjust the effect.

Here is the text effect so far:

Step 5

Change to image mode back to “RGB Color” by going to image > mode > RGB color. If you’re prompted to flatten the image, choose “Don’t flatten”.

Create a new layer called “Ocean Colour” on top of every other layer, set its layer blending option to “Color dodge”.

use a big brush and a ocean-blue colour, gently brush over the text, you may use the dodge, burn and sponge tool to adjust the lighting constrast. Detail setting see below:

Brush colour

Dodge tool settings:

Burn tool settings:

Here is the effect so far:

Step 6

Now can add some more ocean effect to the text. Create a new layer called “Cloud”, and on the newly-created layer, use the Lasso Tool to select the outer of the text , fill it with black colour, then go to Filter > Render > Difference Cloud (Use the previous dark blue colour as foreground colour, black as background colour).

Your image should be similar to below:

Create a layer on top of the “cloud” layer and call it “fiber”, right-click the layer and choose “Create clipping mask” and make it a clipping mask of “Cloud” layer. Fill this layer with black colour.

Go to Filter > render > fiber and use the following setting:

Then use motion blur on the “Fiber” layer, details see below:

After that, go to Filter > Distort > Ocean Ripple to create some ocean ripples, details see below:

You should now have the following image:

Step 7

Now we can move the “fiber” and “cloud” layer below the “Ocean Text” layer.  Change the blending options of “Ocean Text” according to the following screenshots:

Step 8

Right-click on the “Ocean Colour”, select “Create Clipping Mask” and make it a clipping mask to the “shade” layer.

Duplicate the “Cloud” layer once and put it on top of every other layer, change its blending style option to “overlay”.

Now you will have the following image:

Step 9

Now save your document as a JPEG file, then load it back into Photoshop, duplicate the background, and change the blending option as following:

Then go to Filters > Distort > Ocean Ripple and apply the following settings:

Apply this filter a couple of times, then you will have the following result:

That’s it for this tutorial! You can use your own creativity and innovation to add whatever effect you want to have.

Here is my final result for this tutorial:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and have a great day!

In this tutorial, we create a Star-skined Playstation 3 with Nebula Background in Photoshop. The techique I used in this tutorial is similar to the previous “rocky laptop” tutorial.

Together we can explore tools such as the selection tool, various image adjustment tool and various filters and layer style effects. I would also like to raise to attentions to features such as the curve, levels and black and white adjustment tool.

Let’s get started!

Step 1

download a copy of playstation 3 image

load it into photoshop and use any selection tool of your choice to outline the playstation console.

Step 2

Create a new document, size doesn’t really matter (I chose 800*600px), filled it with black background and drag the selected ps3 onto the new document. You may have to resize it a bit so it fits into the centre of the document. Name the layer “ps3″ and save the document.

Step 3

Hide the “PS3″ layer we just created for now and create a new layer called “nebula cloud”, fill it with black and put it under the “PS3″ layer.

Step 4

Use the lasso tool with 20px feather, draw a few circles. Tip: hold down the SHIFT key to draw circles simultaneously and link them together. Then go to filter > render > cloud to create some clouds.

Step 5

Use a big brush to add some colour on the cloud, remember to set the brush mode to color dodge (details see below images)

Go to Edit > adjustments > levels and Edit > adjustments > Curves to adjust the black and white contrast of the cloud layer, so it looks more like a nebula. (Optional: you can also adjust the hue setting)

Detailed settings see below:

Step 6

Hide the “Nebula cloud” layer,  download a star image below (source: NASA)

select any portion of the star image you like and drag it on top of the “ps3″ layer of your document. Name the layer “Star skin”, resize and rotate the star image a bit so it fits the angle of the playstation console.

Step 7

Set the blending option of “Star skin” layer to overlay and go to edit > adjustments > black and white to get rid of its colour. Detailed settings see below

Step 8

Right click on the “star skin” layer and choose “create clipping mask”, this will turn this layer into a clipping mask.

10. Now we can add some stars onto the image. Create a new layer called “Star” put it on top of the “nebula cloud” layer. Set the layer blending option to “Screen”. Now hold down the ctrl key and click on the “nebula cloud” layer, this will outline the edge of the nebula:

add some noise onto it. Detailed settings see below

Step 9

Use the dodge tool to add some contrast onto the “star” layer, setting see below:

optional: you can go to edit > adjustment > curve tool for some minor adjustments, I used the following setting:

Step 10

Now we go and add some lighting effect and flares. Create a new layer called “lighting” on top of the “Star skin” layer and set it to clipping mask.

Add a lens flare filter effect onto it. Here you can try different layer blending options and lens flares, see which one you like the best.

Step 11

Duplicate the “nebula cloud” layer a couple of times and we will have the follow image:

That’s it! The rest is left upon your own creativity. You may want to add some glowing text, stroke path or more cloud/nebula onto it, but that’s totally up to you!

Here is one of my finished designs:

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Any questions, just drop me a comment!

Have a great day!