content issue 04/2010

Gold Lion
Laura Ferreira 4
In this tutorial I will show you how I took a picture of my friend
Cecile, who was standing in front of some plants in a yard, and
turned it into a sparkling golden portrait. The main tools that I will
be using in Photoshop CS4 is Gradient Map, Curves, Selective
Colour and blending images onto the portrait with the Screen
mode. The catch lights in her eyes are from a single rectangular
softbox used for the light setup.

creative class workshop

Unique Digital Art Air Brush Portrait
Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen 10 Bandula Samarasekera 46

photomanipulation software review

Before the Ball AutoFX Mystical Suite
Marcia Gaudêncio 14 Robert Coppa 56
The Surreal
Luis Afonso 22
Dearest Readers!
Abstract I have been working on our .psd Photoshop
Dario van Zundert 28
magazine for the past few years trying to give you the best tutorials you can learn
editors choice from to become even better artists. I have invited all of you from all over the world to
share your passion for art and Photoshop and enjoy the fun it brings.
Self Exposure
Brand Nu 32
However, nothing lasts forever. This issue is the last one I have created for you. I am
beauty retouch leaving Photoshop magazine but do not worry you still will be receiving great tutorials
as psd is still on! Therefore, keep looking for the next issue!
Photo Makeover
Apple May 36
It was my pleasure to work with you and I appreciated each minute of it,
digital painting Thank you for your support and keep up the great work!
Neytiri Marta Kobus Editor in Chief
Lina Eriksson 40
Gold Lion

In this tutorial I will show you how I took a picture of my

friend Cecile, who was standing in front of some plants
in a yard, and turned it into a sparkling golden portrait.
The main tools that I will be using in Photoshop CS4 is
Gradient Map, Curves, Selective Colour and blending
images onto the portrait with the Screen mode. The
catch lights in her eyes are from a single rectangular
softbox used for the light setup.

medium | 120 min.

adobe photoshop CS4
 cover artist

01

Step 1
I open the image and take out any marks or spots
on the skin with the spot healing brush tool or the
patch tool, followed by selecting the general skin
areas with the selection tool, and then going into
Filters > Blur > and using the Surface Blur filter,
Threshold: 12 , Radius: 30. Skin retouched using
spot heal, patch tool, and surface blur.

02
Step 2
With the skin nice and clean I start adding texture
to the image. I used a stock image of glitter (from
the user bombstock on deviantArt) as well as as
a bokeh image (from the user stocks_for_you ,
also from deviantArt). glitter image bokeh image.
I drop the two texture layers onto the image and
darken them using Image> Adjustments> Curves
(Output:0 , Input: 140). I do this so that when the
images are put in Screen mode, there is a lot less
of the lighter tones coming up, so the image gets
a more scattered feel with these textures. Now
I select each texture layer at a time and switch
them in the layers panel to Screen mode. The
textures now cover the portrait layer and I use the
Eraser tool to take out the areas on these textures
that I don’t want. I erase most of the bokeh image
from her face but leave a little bit of the glitter at
the side of her right eye, as well as her neck.

03
Step 3
The next thing I do is add just a few more little dots
to the left of the image. I make a new layer called
Blurry Dots and simply take the brush tool on the
default setting (with hardness all the way down)
and choose any random orange tone, and make
little dots around her head. This layer remains on
Normal mode. I then make a new layer and name
it Light. I choose a large diameter for the brush
(still on the same setting from before) and make
a big simple white blob in the center of the image.
I then switch to the Selection tool, and move this
blob into the lower left corner. This also remains
on Normal mode. This has now given a little glow
in the corner. Now it’s time for some colour-edting.
I use Adjustment Layers found at the bottom of
the Layers tab, but I will still put where to find
these adjustments the long way.

6 .psd Photoshop
 gold lion

04

Step 4
I start off by taking down the reds and yellows
using Image> Adjustments> Hue/Saturation
, and only in the Red and Yellow channels do
I desaturate. Red: -36, Yellow: -42. the image is
now slightly desaturated.

05

Step 5
Then, I focus in on her eye. I would like them
to pop a bit more and show off that golden
colour, so I make a Levels layer, or go to Image>
Adjustments> Levels, and in the main RGB window
I move my medium slider to 1.40. With the Levels
layer selected, I decrease the fill to 71%. the eyes
are now lighter

06

Step 6
Next, I brighten the image using a Curves layer, or
Image> Adjustments> Curves. I make two points
on the Curve, one at Output:26, Input:20 , and
one at Output:188 Input:152. Image is now a lot
brighter!

.psd Photoshop 7
 cover artist

07

Step 7
I then add my base colour. I want a golden look
so I create a Gradient Map layer, or Image>
Adjustments> Gradient Map. My deeper colour in
my gradient is specifically a Purple (#06024a ,
Location: 15%), my medium tone is an an Orange
(#ffa800 , Lcation: 50%) and my lighter tone is
a Yellow (#ffea5c , Location 100%). I then set this
layer to Overlay mode, and set the fill to 16%. it’s
pretty golden now!

08

Step 8
This is a very small change, but I don’t want
the greens in the leaves looking quite so green.
I make a Selective Colour adjustments layer
(or Image> Adjustments> Selectice Colour), and
in the Green channel, I bring the Cyan all the way
down, and the Magenta and Yellow all the way
up. Blending mode remains on Normal. if you
look closely at the leaves just by her right ear,
the greens have changed to a more rustic colour,
but still with a hint of green. To add a bit more
contrast, I create another Gradient Map layer
(or Image>Adjustments>Gradient Map) and
use the defauly Black and White gradient. I then
switch the mode from Normal, to Luminosity in
the Layers tab. With Gradient Map contrast

09

Step 9
To add more of a rustic feeling to the entire image,
I make a Selective Colour layer (or Image>Adjustm
ents>Selective Colour) . In the Red colours I make
the following changes: Cyan: -1, Magenta: -2. In the
Neutral colours I make the following changes, Cyan:
+19 , Magenta: +12. Mode remains on Normal. After
Selective Colouring for rustic tones.

8 .psd Photoshop
 gold lion

10
Step 10
One of the last colour adjusting I do is adding
more purples and reds to the image. I create
a new Gradient Map layer (or Image>Ajustment
s>Gradient Map) and put my dark tone as Blue
(#0a00b2, Location 0%), medium tone as Red
(#ff0000, Location 50%) and light tone as White
(#ffffff Location 100%). I then set the mode to
Screen and bring the Opacity down to 47%, and
the Fill down to 20%. My shadows now have a nice
purple tone to them. I would like to dark the edges
a bit, so I create a new layer and call it “Orange
Edges”. I simple take the brush tool on default
setting (hardness all the way down) and choose
a random medium Orange tone. I start adding
some orange to the corners of this new layer to
give the image a slight vignette. I then change the
blending mode to Screen, and bring Fill down to
65%. My main colour editing is now done!

11

Step 11
I would still like to add a bit more depth here and
there. I go to Image>Duplicate and make a copy of
my file. I then flatten it with Layer> Flatten Image.
I then start adding little highlights and low lights
with the Burn and Dodge tools. I also clean up the
hairline with the Clone Stamp tool on 40% opacity.
When I am happy with how it looks, I simply select
this image in my copied file, and drag it back
onto my original for safe keeping. Colour hasn’t
changed, but hairline and lowlight/highlights have
been altered.

12

Step 12
My final colour edit is a touch of Cyan and Red.
I create a Colour Balance layer (or Image>
Adjustments> Colour Balance) and in the Shadow
I slide Red to +4, in the Midtones I slide Cyan to -8,
and in the Highlights I slide Cyan to -5.

by Laura Ferreira

.psd Photoshop 9
Unique
This tutorial will show you how to incorporate 3D render with the stock photos to create
an appealing watery scene. I will talk about using alpha channels, adjustment layers and
how to make image to pop-up by concentrating on coloring and lightning. Used stocks from
http://www.sxc.hu

medium | 25 h.
adobe photoshop CS3 | maxon cinema 4D | wacom tablet
 unique

Step 1
I started working on this piece by making the
render and composition in Cinema 4D. This tutorial
is about the process in Photoshop after that so
I won’t go to details on the 3D part. Here you
can see the render which I opened in Photoshop.
Always remember to use Alpha Channel when
rendering still images from 3D program. This way
you have automatically separate alpha mask on
your Channels palette for your render and you
don’t need to cut the background off manually.

02

Step 2
Use the Alpha mask to separate the render from
its background and make a new layer below the
render and fill it with dark grey. If you didn’t know
you can make the layer below the selected layer
by holding Ctrl + pressing the new layer icon
on Layers palette. I also duplicated the render
(Ctrl+J) and used Clone Stamp tool (press S) to
make the render go all the way to the sides. Play
with the brush settings depending what you want
to achieve.

03
Step 3
Find a good water stock which you think would
fit. Open it in Photoshop to a new document and
go to the channels palette. By putting different
color channels invisible try to find the one with
the most contrast between the water and the
background. Now copy/paste (Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V) this
channel to a new channel layer and open up the
Curves (Ctrl+M) while this new layer selected.
Now choose the white point eyedropper and use
it to the background (the color you want to get
rid of). After adjusting the curves to optimal make
a selection of the layer (Ctrl+Click on layer). While
having the selection on put the RGB channel back
visible and make the alpha channel invisible.
Choose the RGB channel, copy the selection and
paste the result into your work document into
its own layer. Usually when working with water
splashes, Screen blending mode can give some
extra effect so feel free to experiment with it.

.psd Photoshop 11
 creative class

04

Step 4
Now add water behind and top of the object.
Duplicate the layer (Ctrl+J) and use rotate,
distort and especially warp tool to make the look
more dynamic (you can find them under Edit/
Transform/…). Even though you use duplicated
layers try to make every splash look different.
Also remember to vary the size and opacity to
give some extra effect. Hint: convert the original
layer to smart object before duplicating it (Right
click on layer/Convert to Smart Object). This way
when you distort, warp etc. the duplicates the
quality won’t suffer from it that much.

05

Step 5
Once you’re satisfied with the splashes it’s time
to concentrate on the background. It’s always
good to make the basic elements and save the
detail work in the end so don’t worry too much
about having too less splashes at this point. Make
a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) to the bottom and add
the stock. Here I used starry night sky stock and
played with the opacity to decrease the stars’
brightness a bit because I want to have the focus
in the middle.

06

Step 6
Find more stocks you want to add to the scene
and cut them off from their background by
using the same channels technique as with the
splashes or by using the pen tool (press P) to
trace the outlines. I added some apples. I also
used adjustment layers(Layer/New Adjustment
Layer) to match the colors and dodge/burn tool
(press O) on soft brush to make the lightning the
way I wanted. Try to think of where you want to
have the main light sources and adjust the colors
according to that.

12 .psd Photoshop
 unique

07

Step 7
The starry background felt bit boring so I thought
add more water elements to the scene. I used
couple photos of lake and trees. This is quite easy
part when working on dark background because
you don’t have to worry about the precise cut
offs that much, you can just drop the opacity
to around 10% and use layer mask to erase the
unwanted parts. If you feel the color scheme is
too grey or needs another color you can first make
new adjustment layer on top of everything and
apply Levels to play with the contrast a bit. After
applying Levels I added another adjustment layer,
Photo Filter with the preset Cooling Filter with
the density around 15-20% to get the overall look
more blueish. I also used layer mask on starry sky
layer to remove unwanted stars below the render.

08

Step 8
At this point I wanted to make a reflection to the
bottom to make the water look more real. I made
a new layer on top and went Image /Apply Image
to make a new layer with all the content in it. Then
I flipped the layer vertically and distorted it so that
it fits with the perspective and dropped the layer
opacity around 15%. Once again I masked out the
parts I didn’t want there. After this I applied little
ripple effect via Filter/Distort/Ripple to make it
look more like real water surface. You should play
with the settings to get the best result for your
needs.

09

Step 9
In the end it’s more about adding details and
adjustment layers to fix the colors and make
the image to pop out. Here I painted some water
droplets and floating apple below the hands,
added the moon on the background and made
some highlighted areas by brushing on white soft
brush on top of everything and putting the layer
blending mode to Overlay or Soft Light. Adding
Brightness/Contrast layer, Gradient map layer
on Soft Light and another Levels layer made the
image much more appealing in the end.

by Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen

.psd Photoshop 13
advanced | 240 min.
photoshop CS4
 before the ball

Before
the Ball
In this tutorial, you will learn how to cut out images and use them in another background,
without having them looking fake, but more like an illustration. You will also learn how to
change a color of the background of an image even with unkempt hair, without actually
erasing the original background. You will be able to see the power of the clone tool and
liquify tool to retouch body flaws and enhance the beauty of the model. There will be
interactions between multiple mounted images and color retouching of the different images
to fit in a whole picture. I will guide you through the basic artificial make up, highlights,
shadows and sparkling light effects. I added some extra tips for the use of some blending
modes, as well.

01

Step 1
For the first step, I placed the photo of the girl
on the canvas and created a new background
layer with a very light gray. This will be my basic
background color. Since the image is too bright,
I adjusted the levels and shadow/highlights.
To join these two pictures, I have replaced
the main color of the background of the girl’s
picture to the same light gray I used for my
main background. I did this by going to image>
adjustments>replace color and simply click on
a predominant gray on the background of the girl.

02

Step 2
I created a mask of the girl layer and erased the
top edges with the gradient tool and slowly erased
the differences between the color of my picture
and the light gray background layer. I then used
the Liquify Tool to give more volume to the hair
and raised some hair tips. I also fixed a bit of the
nose and her jaw, raised her eyebrow a little and
gave it a different shape.
.psd Photoshop 15
 photomanipulation

03
Step 3
Next, I cloned loads of hair, each one individu-
ally, making it so that they connected to the hair
below. I selected a portion of hair that I wanted to
clone, placed it into a new layer and named it por-
tion, because I wanted to clone that hair, but using
different angles. Then, I just used the clone tool,
selected the hair I wanted to clone from my por-
tion layer, and pasted them into a new layer called
fakehair. Whenever I wanted to add some new
hair to the image, I rotated my portion layer, and
cloned it again over the fakehair layer. I created
two different portion layers in different layers of
the girl’s original layer, so I could have different
hair shapes to clone. I used the Liquify Tool also
so that I could shape the hair as I pleased. I did not
over used the liquify, because when you use it too
much, it messes up the resolution. I also painted
some very tiny hairs to make it look natural.

04

Step 4
In a new Layer, I painted a circle with a brush using
very low hardness, using a brighter shade of gray
in front of her face, covering her hair and erased it
on top of her face. I then set the blending mode to
Soft Light. I did not want to erase too much of the
hair tips, because that would make it look fake in
the end. Afterwards, I created another layer and
painted it with a light blue to a darker blue gradient
and set the mode to Color Burn. This layer was
softly erased on top of her eyes. I wanted them to
shine and I think their natural color is really cool.
I added a Lens Flare Filter, because I wanted to
add some light effects in the sky.

05
Step 5
I used a new photo with a plant called Dent-de-
Lion, with the seeds flying. I chose the best seeds
of the picture and created three Layers – each one
with a different part of the original picture. I ap-
plied a lot of Gaussian Blur to one and then scaled
it down. I then applied less Gaussian Blur to the
second one and resized it so it was a little smaller.
The last one, I left it bigger than the others and did
not apply any kind of Blur. This way, it looks like
the seeds are at different distances. I also placed
some separate seeds floating above and on top
of the model. Since the seeds are very thin, their
background is very hard to erase, so I simply set
the Blending Mode to Lighten. This way we only
see the light colors. This is a very good way to
avoid erasing the background in some cases.

16 .psd Photoshop
 before the ball

06 Step 6
I chose three ribbon dancing pictures that I thought
were nice to integrate with the girl on the piece. To re-
move the background, click two times on your back-
ground layer, which is your original image, to unlock
it. Create a new black layer below it. Select your im-
age again, and with the Polygonal Lasso Tool slowly
select the pixels between the image you want to use,
and its background, but do not select the ones that
are blurred on the edge. Click only on the non-blurred
edges of the picture you want to select. Always close
your selection. You do this by clicking on the first
point you first clicked using the Polygonal Lasso
Tool. You will know that it is closed because your Po-
lygonal Lasso Tool will have a little O when hovering
the right point. When your first selection is closed,
you need to use the Options Bar, which will allow you
to choose to add to or subtract from a previous selec-
tion. A good tip is adding new selections, one-by-one,
instead of making just one big selection. Otherwise,
you can lose your main selection while in the prog-
ress of selecting and you can use your space bar to
navigate through your document.

07

Step 7
Now, I have my selection, but the pixels on the
edges are too rough to use on the top of my main
work, so I want to make them smoother by giving
them a little transparency. This way the pixels on
the edge of the image will blend with the pixels of
my main image. I click on Refine Edge, checked
the preview box, and defined the following set-
tings: radius 0, contrast 30, Smooth 1, feather
1.0, contract/expand -2. When extracting the
background of an image, you need to play with
this settings a bit, and see what works best. Now,
I invert the selection [Ctrl]+[I] and delete the
background.

08

Step 8
I placed the ribbons the way I wanted by resizing
and transforming them. I wanted them to stick out
of the image, but not to appear to be a collage, so
I also added a bit of blur. The spots between hair
were also softly erased.
.psd Photoshop 17
 photomanipulation

09

Step 9
Because I wanted the image to appear surreal and
magical, I also added two hummingbirds. I erased
their background, sharpened them, changed their
highlights to cyan and strong green and created
a motion blur in some of their wings to make them
look like they are beating them really fast. Then,
I blurred both, rotated them and erased their
beaks to fit them under the ribbons in a physically
possible manner. It is important to adjust your
images and think,if this was real, how would it
look? The smudge tool was used to drag some
pixels out of the birds to make them look more
fluffy and to resemble feathers.

10

Step 10
I cut some more elements, this time butterflies,
changed the color of each one, and blurred some
of them because they were too sharp to fit this
piece. I placed them above some hair, her body
and one on the ribbon. Some of them did not fit
because it is a photo-manipulation and I found
it hard to maintain their original color and make
them part of the hair. So, later I will retouch them
with some light effects and sparkling stars.

11
Step 11
Next I chose the fiftieth brush of the assorted
menu, changed the shape dynamics to Pen
pressure and turned everything else off (I use
a Wacom Bamboo, so this way the particles will be
generated accordingly to the pressure I put on the
pen). I used the maximum Scatter, Pen Pressure,
Count 2, Count jitter 2%, Control Off. Checked the
Smoothing and Protect Texture box. Then I painted
some stars behind the butterflies and the birds.
I used several layers, so I could play with the
brush behind the elements, as well as above.
I also changed the blending options, added Outer
glow, some with light yellow, others with cyan, for
the Gradient Overlay I used a gradient of yellow
to cyan, and variants of it for the different brush
layers.

18 .psd Photoshop
 before the ball

12

Step 12
I used the Gradient Tool, blue to transparent and
used it on the edges of the whole image in different
new layers, with different blending modes.
Screen, Dodge and Overlay, lowered opacity on
some of them, because they were overpowering
the image. In this part, on top of all of the layers,
I created a new layer, painted it with blue, set it
to Soft Light, with 30% of Fill. This layer will blend
everything together. It will fade colors of the layers
below and if it fades too much, l can softly erase
here and there, leaving the layer below showing,
instead of the destructive blue layer.

13

Step 13
The girl was too pale, so I decided to give her some
make up. I used the eyedropper tool and picked a
soft red color off her lips. I created a new layer and
roughly painted her lips with a brush with soft-
ened edges. Changed the blending mode to Soft
Light, lowered the Fill to 64%, and softly erased
the edges of the layer, until the new layer was
blended with the original face.

14

Step 14
Now it is time to paint some eye shadows on her.
I created two layers. With a soft edged brush,
with a diameter of 100, very low opacity, painted
a soft yellow on her eyelids. Then, I changed the
blending mode to Overlay. Created another layer,
and with the same brush and I painted above the
eyelid with a light blue. The blending mode for this
layer was set to Hue. Note that you need to be
very sensitive while doing this to work, because
she needs to look natural, but with makeup.
.psd Photoshop 19
 photomanipulation

15

Step 15
I wanted her to look like she had some lip-gloss,
so I added a shine by choosing white color, soft
brush with low opacity. I slowly painted the shine
and I was careful while doing it so it would not
seem fake. I also painted white above her eyes
and changed the blending mode to Soft Light.
Then I created a new layer, chose a color from her
hair, darker than her eyebrows, and softly painted
above it. I just wanted to make it look darker.

Step 16 16
Her hair looked too dark, so I used the Hue and
brightened the yellows. Next, I used the Dodge
and Burn tool to create highlights and shadows
on her hair and make it shine more. I also did this
to fake shadows for the ribbons, butterflies and
birds. For this to work I needed to think where the
source of light was for my whole picture. When the
light shone on any element, I painted highlights
and shadows on the opposite side. Some of them
are just casted shadows from an element on
another element. This is the basic light theory of
drawing. When I had my images finished, I like
to adjust some details and do an overview of the
final piece. A good way to achieve this is to simply
get away from the computer for a while, go for a
walk and get some rest and the next time you see
your work with a refreshed mind, some details
and errors will pop out and you can fix them and
complete your work.

by Marcia Gaudêncio

Stocks
• Ribbon Dancing pics – vampbabe-stock from Deviantart
• 2_1_Ribbon_Dancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-01-Ribbon-Dancing-17903136
• 2_6_Ribbon_Dancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-06-Ribbon-Dancing-17903618
• 2_7_Ribbon_Dancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-07-Ribbon-Dancing-17903630
• Girl: akai-hinoiri from Deviantart
• http://akai-hinoiri.deviantart.com/art/dancing-hair-stock-107371912
• Butterflyes: Shoofly-Stock from deviantart
• Butterfly Stock 06 – http://shoofly-stock.deviantart.com/art/Butterfly-Stock-06-91994266
• butterflystock 4 – http://shoofly-stock.deviantart.com/art/Butterfly-Stock-4-36155021
• Shoofly-Stock – http://shoofly-stock.deviantart.com/art/Butterfly-Stock-Sideview-54054409
• Birds and Flower from www.photoxpress.com

20 .psd Photoshop
 Now Available!!

FORwww.SMART PHONES
tony deslandes.mobi
The Surreal
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how I created a surreal photo manipulation called
The Surreal. During this tutorial, you will learn how to blend different images
to make a dark atmospheric background, blend different objects in the
background, adjust lights and colors of your image, and much more. We will
be using several tools such as the brush tool, levels/curves, different blending
modes, and more. Let's get started!

advanced | 3-4 h.
adobe photoshop CS4
 the surreal
Stock Images: (By order of use in the tutorial)
• Checker Floor: http://urbannature-stock.deviantart.com/art/Checker-Floor-58790299; Author:UrbanNature-Stock
• Frozen Antelope Island: http://i45.tinypic.com/16hkgfs.jpg; Author:Julia Starr
• Sky7_2259/Sky7_2249: http://resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Sky-Scape-7-57062396; Author:resurgere
• Storm 1: http://mysticmorning.deviantart.com/art/Storm-Brewing-stock-114644923; Author:mysticmorning
• Storm 2: http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/art/storm-5-101190537 ; Author:Julia Starr
• Storm 3: http://tash-stock.deviantart.com/art/Stormy-Sky-06-62311728; Author:tash-stock
• Rain: http://sheisprettystock.deviantart.com/art/Storm-73213991; Author:heisprettystock
• Bubble2_0009/ Bubble2_0010/ Bubble2_0011: http://resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Bubble-2-76102456; Author:resurgere
• Door: http://daviania.deviantart.com/art/Paradisio-sept-09-27-136807337; Author Daviania
• Clouds: http://two-ladies-stocks.deviantart.com/art/Beyond-the-clouds-II-102467866; Author:two-ladies-stocks
• Lamp:http://empty-paper-stock.deviantart.com/art/Hanging-Lamp-63341285; Author:empty-paper-stock
• Hand 1:http://lindowyn-stock.deviantart.com/art/Hand-Stock-1-71285466; Author: lindowyn-stock
• Splash 1: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-II-129176733; Author: Best Stock
• Splash 2: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-I-129176688; Author: Best Stock
• Splash 3: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-V-129177036; Author: Best Stock
• Hand 2 (DSC03352) : http://nykolai.deviantart.com/art/Hand-References-Pack-Seven-28768906; Author:Nykolai Aleksander
• Man Head: http://ahrum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Face-Neck-and-Nugget-23-27503344; Author: Ahrum-Stock
• Whirlpool: http://i49.tinypic.com/2mxk7d.jpg; Author:Tentenhead
• Zentai: http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Zentai-Y-1-104158697; Author:Marcus J. Ranum
• Cracked Mud: http://falln-stock.deviantart.com/art/NC-Cracked-Mud-11-50934627; Author:falln-stock
• Abstract Experimental: http://i48.tinypic.com/35aq0qd.jpg; Author: resurgere

01

Beginning/Creating the Canvas

It’s time to begin working. Create a new canvas.
I usually work with big documents, so for this
piece, my document will be 2755x3570px (but you
can work with different document sizes).However,
for this one, the canvas should have a vertical
aspect. In other words, the canvas should be taller
than it is wide. Also be sure the resolution is 300
DPI (or more). Note that you will have to resize
some of the stocks and, depending on the size
of the document you choose, the dimensions will
be different. All the steps have images showing
what has been done, so it won’t be very difficult to
measure how to resize the stock.

02

Create the Floor

Let’s start by opening the checker floor and frozen
antelope island pictures and dragging them into
the new document.Next, use the Pen Tool (or other
selection tool you like) to remove the black part
of the first stock image, leaving only the checker
floor. Do the same thing with the second stock
image, removing the mountain and sky. Now,
position the second image on top of the checker
floor. Change the blending mode of the second
image to Multiply and the Opacity to 90%. Finally,
use a Black and White Gradient Map in Overlay
mode with the Opacity set at 30-45% in order to
darken the floor.
.psd Photoshop 23
 photomanipulation

03 Create the Sky

First, open the sky stocks from resurge: Sky7_
2259 and Sky7_2249. Drag them onto the canvas
beneath the floor layers. Duplicate the two images
once. Move the stocks around until they fill the
rest of the image. In order to create a uniform/
blended sky, we have to erase some of the stock
images, so here’s a little trick: Instead of using
the Eraser Tool, we’re going to use Vector Masks.
The good thing about Vector Masks is that all the
steps you do are reversible. If you use the Eraser
Tool instead, it's very hard to get the erased parts
back. If you use Vector Masks, you can always go
back and paint with a white color instead of the
black and the hidden parts will appear again. Add
Vector Masks to all the sky/cloud stock images,
press B to open the Brush Tool, choose a soft
round brush, and pick a black color, then start to
paint over the areas you want to disappear. Open
the Storm 1, Storm 2 and Rain pictures. Change
the blending Mode to Soft Light, adjust the Opacity
to 75-85%, and using Vector Masks, paint over the
areas you want to remove.

Note 04
For better organization, I normally
use groups. I selected all the layers
we have so far and pressed Ctrl+G
(Windows), then named the group
Background.

Finish the Background

To finish the background, we’re going to add a few
more details. Open the Storm 2 stock and place it
above all your other layers. Change the Blending
Mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 80%. Finally,
open the three bubble images (Bubble2_0009,
Bubble2_0010, Bubble2_0011). Change the
Blending Mode to Soft Light and adjust the Opacity
to 85-100%. Move the stock images around the top
of the document. Using Vector Masks, paint over
the areas you want to disappear. We are now
finished with the background.

05

The Door
Open the Door picture. Next, select only the
door. You can use either the Pen Tool or the
Magnetic Lasso Tool for this task. After that, go to
SelectInverse and press the Delete key to remove
the background. When you’re finished with that,
drag the door to the middle of the document (see
image). Place it above the Background Group.
Apply the Sharpen Filter (FilterSharpenSharpen).
Duplicate the door layer and add a Clipping Mask to
it by pressing Alt+Ctrl+G. Next, press Shift+Ctrl+U
to desaturate the duplicated layer, then change
the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Create a new
Black and White Gradient Map and add another
Clipping Mask to it, then change the Blending
Mode to Darken and the Opacity to 50%.

24 .psd Photoshop
 the surreal

06
Clouds
In order to create a surreal fantasy and mysterious
atmosphere, I decided to add some clouds around
the floor. Open the stock titled Clouds, drag it to
the document, and duplicate it. Hide the duplicate
layer by clicking the small eye near the layer.
Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Using
Vector Masks, paint over the areas you want to
remove.Turn on the visibility of the duplicate layer
of Clouds. Using Vector Masks, paint over the areas
you want to get rid of.In this case, don’t paint over
some areas around the floor. I suggest reducing
a bit the brush’s opacity for better results. Please
see the image of this step to achieve a better
understanding. Create a new Gradient Map (Black
and White) and change the Blending Mode to
Darken, then add a Clipping Mask. The Opacity
should be 90-100%.

07
The Lamps
It’ss time to add the lamps. Open the Lamp stock image. Next, select only
the lamp and remove the background. You can use either the Pen Tool or
the Magnetic Lasso Tool for this task. After that, go to SelectInverse and
press the Delete key to remove the background. Drag it to our document
and move it near the top side (right or left) of the door, then select the
layer and press Ctrl+G. Now the layer is inside a new group. Name that
group Lamps. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay, add a Vector Mask,
and paint over the top of the chain that’s holding the lamp so that the
lamp’s chain seems to disappear in the storm. Duplicate this layer,
change the Blending Mode to Normal, and add a Vector Mask. Reduce
the Brush Opacity to 30% and paint over the lamp a couple of times. Let’s
add some light now. Create a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N), press B to open
the Brush tool, choose a small round brush (200px), and change the
foreground color to a dark yellow (#c5a636). Click twice over the center
of the lamp. Change the Blending Mode to Linear Dodge and the Opacity
to 88%. Duplicate this layer; the blending mode should be the same and
the opacity should be reduced to 55%. To make the second lamp on the
other side, just repeat the process.

08 Adding Surreal Elements – Part 1

Looking pretty good so far, but the work still looks
a little empty, especially the floor. I decided to
use the black squares of the floor to create a cool
effect. Open the Hand 1 stock, select the hand, and
remove the background. Fix some imperfections
and drag the hand to the document. Place it onto
one of the black squares of the checker floor.
Now, using Brightness/Contrast, Black and White
Gradient Map, and Levels, I’ve darkened the hand.
You should create a clipping mask for each of these
adjustments so that they’re just applied to the
hand. You can find all these adjustments by going
to LayerNew Adjustment Layer. Open the Splash 1
stock image and place it beneath the hand layer.
Move the splash to the same square as the hand.
Desaturate (Shift+Ctrl+U) the splash layer, change
the Blend Mode to Overlay, adjust the Opacity to
70-80%, and use Vector Masks to paint over the
areas we want to remove. I tried to create an
effect where the hand comes out of the splash.
I’ve duplicated the splash layer one or two times in
order to complete the effect. Please see the effect
in more detail in this step’s accompanying images.
.psd Photoshop 25
 photomanipulation

09
Adding Surreal Elements – Part 2
Apart from the first hand, I added three more
elements: a man head, a zentai suit, and a second
hand. I won’t describe the process again since
it’s the same process outlined in Step 8. Instead,
I’ll just give you some tips. For the head element,
I’ve used the Man Head and Splash 2 stock
images. Next, I used the same techniques from
Step 8: Desaturation, Levels, Gradient Map, and
Brightness/Contrast. In addition, you can also
use Curves or Hue/Saturation. Just remember that
these adjustments are to darken the “element.”
Don’t forget to create a clipping mask to all your
adjustments so that they’ll only be applied to
a specific element. For the zentai suit, I’ve used
the Zentai stock image, as well as Splash 1 and
Splash 3. For the second hand, I’ve used Hand
2 and Whirlpool. I also added the stock image
Cracked Mud to every element. Drag the stock to
the document, place it above one of the elements
(for example, Man Head), create a Clipping Mask,
desaturate the stock, and change the Blending
Mode to Overlay, with the Opacity set at 85-95%.
Do the same thing to the other elements.

10
Final Adjustments – Part 1
Now that the composition is almost done, we’re going adjust the color,
light, and some other details that will make this work a lot better. Start
by opening the Rain stock again. Place it on top of allthe other layers and
change the Blending Mode to Overlay, with the Opacity set somewhere
around 50%. Next, create a new gradient map (black and white) and
change the blending mode to darken and the Opacity to 15-25%. Create
a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N) and go to ImageApply Image, keep the
default definitions, and press okay. It’s time to apply some filters! Go to
FilterBrush StrokesSumi-e. You’re free to use other values, but these
are the ones I used: Stroke With=10; Stroke Pressure=2; Contrast=16
Create another new layer and go to ImageApply Image. Next, go to
FilterDistortLens Correction. We are going to apply the “vignette effect”
(if you don’t know the effect, please do a quick search on Google), which
is pretty simple to do in Photoshop. In the Lens Correction Filter options
(FilterDistortLens Correction), there’s should be a Vignette option with
two sliders. Change the Amount setting to -60 and the Midpoint setting
to +33. Reduce the opacity of this layer to 60-70%.

11
Final Adjustments – Part 2
Open the stock image Abstract Experimental
and press Ctrl+U. A pop-up called Hue/Saturation
should appear in Photoshop. Increase the
Lightness to values between +30 to +45.
Drag the stock to the document. Change the
Blending Mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to
30-40%. Use a Vector Mask to paint over some
areas that don’t look good. Create a new “Black
& White” adjustment layer. All we have to do is
press the Auto button to get the result we want.
Change the Blend Mode to Darken and set the
Opacity to 20-30%. Finally, create a new Curves
adjustment layer and use the Auto button as we
did previously. That’s it. I hope you have enjoyed
the tutorial and learned some useful techniques
for your future work.

by Luis Afonso

26 .psd Photoshop
Abstract
In this tutorial I am going to show you how you can combine real life stock with some
abstract renders that are being made in any 3D program like Autocad 3Ds Max and Maxon's
Cinema4D. I will try to make each step as details as possible. Of course the way I work is
pretty old fashioned but with todays Photoshop you have layer mask options to blend and
fade things. In this tutorial I will work old school way with the eraser tool...why you may
ask...for the simple reason that I am used to this way and takes less time and I got more
control over the area's I want to blend in or erase.

medium | 120 min.

adobe photoshop CS4
 abstract

Finding base background layer.

For this piece I used a nature stock with rocks
and an opening in the middle. What I am trying
to work to is that my abstract render that you
will see in the follow step pops out of the hole
trying to escape or find his way out his prison.
The stock was a bit to small for the size I wanted
to work with. So I duplicated my stock two times
and filled the empty spaces. After I set things
up I took the eraser tool and started to erase the
outline of the top image. I do this till everything
blends in. In the picture you see that I didn't
blend in a part but thats not a problem since
my render will cover this area. Background:
http://eris-stock.deviantart.com/

02

Adding Abstract Render

I put in the abstract render and take the eraser
tool again to get rid of the unwanted parts and
to make it look like the render fades into hole.
As you can see the flaws of blending the base
layers is now covered. But at this moment it
doesn't give you the feeling the render pops
out of the hole. To add some depth to the render
I take the blur tool and apply it to the end of the
render. And slowly work on my focal point. For this
piece the focal point is the hole and the part of
the render that is exiting the whole. The more the
render gets closer to the border the more I blur the
render. Render: http://jdluxe.deviantart.com/art/
C4D-RenderPack-2-106235396

03
Adding Shadow to the render
Like I already said in the step 2 this picture
doesn't give you the feeling of reality. The render
looks pretty artificial at this moment. So we
are going to add some shadow to it. The option
Drop Shadow doesn't give me the desired effect
that I want. One reason is drop shadow can't
give me perspective. As you know when you
hold something like a pencil against the surface
slightly tilted the shadow will go from the tip and
fades out to the end. This is also the shadow we
want to create in this piece. Hold CRTL and click
with the cursor on the layer of the abstract render.
Doing so will select the render outline. Add a new
layer while you keep the selection active. Once the
new layer is added fill it with with black using the
Paint Bucket Tool. Put the layer that you just filled
underneath the render and rotate it a bit till you
have something like you see in the image. I took
a soft brush size 150 to soften the outline of the
shadow.

.psd Photoshop 29
 photomanipulation

04
Adding Nature's Elements
Now for this step I want to add something extra to the
scene since its pretty empty at this point. I thought
adding some leafs underneath the render on the edge of
the hole inside the rocks would be nice. Since I gathered
some usefull stocks over the years I found a stock that
fits my piece and which gives me the freedom to work
with different angles. Since in stock pictures you always
have unwanted parts we are going to cut out the part
I need. There are several ways to extract certain sections
of a picture. This can be done with the polygonal lasso
tool, Magic Wand Tool downside of these tools are not
enough control over the lines you set and or you select
pieces you don't want to be selected. Best way to cut out
details in a picture is to use the pentool. Since you can
control the anchor points to the precise contours of the
object we are going to use this tool to extract the leafs
from the overal picture. Once done you can place them
to your likings. In the picture matching this step you will
see how I placed them. I added a drop shadow to the leafs
by double clicking on the layer containing the leafs and
select drop shadow. Settings I have used are: Opacity
56%, Angle: 120, Distance: 5%, Spread: 0%, Size: 4%. Leafs:
http://evza11.deviantart.com/

05

Adding more elements

Since the image still doesn't have much going
on in it I am going to add some extra's. Often in
nature we see butterflies and beetles. So it would
be nice to add those aswell. Just like the leafs
I searched for a butterfly and a beetle to cut out
and add to the scene. Again for cutting out these
insects I use the pentool to trace the outline of
these insects. To avoid that things get to chaotic
I just add a butterfly next to the render and
a small beetle on top of the render. Since I blurred
the render at the place I put the beetle I add some
Gaussian Blur to the beetle. (Filter --> Blur -->
Gaussian Blur) I used gaussian blur to a minimum
and applied it each time with 0.1 to 0.2%. Moth:
http://hatestock.deviantart.com/
Beetle: http://alekdust-stock.deviantart.com/

06

Environment & Burn Tool

On top of all the layers I add a new layer and fill
it with black using the paint bucket tool. Take the
eraser and select a soft brush on 300 px. Set the
opacity of the brush on 75%. Now erase the center
of the black layer so you see clearly the layers
underneath it. Put this layer on Soft Light Take
the Burn Tool and darken the area around the hole
a bit and on the inside.

30 .psd Photoshop
 abstract

07 Pentool & Reflection

Now we are going to add some pentool swirls.
Nothing fancy just some simple effects to make
it a bit more appealing. What I did is I added
some pentooling like you see in the image and
erased certain parts to make it look like its going
underneath certain parts of the render. This can
be done with a soft brush and just erase a tiny
bit more so it looks more faded on the ends. This
detail make it look like shadow is dropping down
on the pentool swirl from the render. Since the
render looks pretty shiny due to the material
used we can add some reflection to it from the
pentool swirls. To make this happen its pretty
easy. Duplicate the layer with the pentool effect
and move it away a bit from the original pentool
layer. Take your eraser tool and erase the parts
that go outside the outline of the render. Lower
the opacity of the copied layer with the pentooling.
As you can see I added a few more star brushes to
make it look like the sun is reflecting on the most
brightest parts of the render.

08

Adding Contract & Brightness

Adjustment Layer
Go to Layer --> New Adjustment Layer -->
Brightness/Contrast. Put Brightness on -123
and Contrast on 97. Place the base layer with the
stones and the butterfly underneath it. The rest of
the layers needs to be on top to keep avoid other
effects getting too dark or too contrasted. This
contrast/brightness layer also helps to brighten
up the pentool effects.

09 Finishing Touches
As finishing touches I like to add some old school style
tech brushes. Thanks to certain people I always been into
abstract 3d designs. Looking at other designers work.
Since the abstract render looks futuristic and the rest
doesn't it would be cool to make some tech interface to
make it look like were are monitoring some biomechanical
creature. In my credits at the end you will see the links
of the resources I used and credit to the people providing
them. But lets get back to the design. As you can see the
left side is pretty empty. It gives us the room to place some
sort of interface. Also adding some simple text between the
interface with the name and when you post your work on
sites like Deviantart or Artician you can add your link inside
the design aswell with the link of your personal site if you
have one. Its possible you need to lower the opacity of the
tech interface brushes. As you can see in the final image the
techy brushes on the side are lower opacity then the brush
underneath the render. I have done this since the middle of
the design is brighter then the rest. Tech Interface Brushes:
http://z-design.deviantart.com/

by Dario van Zundert

.psd Photoshop 31
 Editor’s Choice Brand Nu

.psd Photoshop
.psd Photoshop 33
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34 .psd Photoshop
.psd Photoshop 35
 beauty retouch

Photo
Make Over
1.Fixing the blemishes 2.Editing discoloration
To start on the project, make a copy of the background. Using a soft round brush, sample a general surface area (pressing [Alt] + [Left click]).
The copy will provide an extra layer to begin correcting For portraits, be sure to sample a clean area of the skin. Using this color with a 10%
blemishes using the patch tool. Using the blemish tool, opacity brush and on a new layer, lightly adjust any skin discoloration by painting
select around a small area with a blemish then drag over few areas needing it. This step is meant to be subtle, do not heavily paint over
the selected area to a near by 'clean' sample. To soften any surface area. The detail below the layer should still show through.
up the areas around the patch tool as well as hide When complete, the image with editing areas may appear flat. To add some real-
some extra hairs, create a new layer, then begin using istic skin noise, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Settings may vary depending on your
the stamp tool at opacity of 10-25% with a soft round image size. For the example shown, the settings used were 2.5% for the amount, with
brush. Be sure to check the box that says “Sample:” Uniform checked. Leave Monochromatic unchecked for the most realistic look. Add
and adjust it to Current & Below. This way, you will be just enough noise to add some rough pixels to your freshly painted layer.
sampling from the layers below without drawing on the
layers themselves. Layers are your friends!
Use the stamp tool, sampling from outside of
the image, to correct any fly away hairs. Again, do
this on its own layer for any future adjusting needed.
For the purpose of organization, you can group all of
your blemish editing layers into a group by pressing
Ctrl+Left clicking on each layer then, holding Shift,
click on the folder at the bottom of your layers tab
and Create a new group.

3.Softening the skin

To add a soften effect to the skin, select the entire canvas ([Ctrl] + [A]) and copy merged
via [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [C] or under the edit tab > copy merged. Paste your new copy on top
of all of your layers. Add a soft blur by Filter > Gaussian Blur and adjust the settings to a
nice soft blur with out losing too much detail in the edges. For the example images, the set-
tings used were a radius of 3.2 pixels. Adjust the layer from the normal setting to Screen
and turn down the layer opacity to 50%. Make a copy of this layer then change the new
layer from Screen to Darken. Bring the opacity to 100%. Group your two layers then add a
group layer mask by selection the group folder then clicking on the option at the bottom of
your layers tab that says Add layer mask. Fill your mask with black to hide the layers in the
group. Using the erase tool with a soft round brush and 10% opacity, gently erase the areas
that need to be smooth. To reveal areas make sure your foreground color is white. To hide
your foreground they need to be black.

36 .psd Photoshop

4.Creating the Make up
Eyeshadow
Make another selection of your canvas and copy merged. Paste your new layers above
the others and under filters go to Other > High Pass. This will sharpen the edges of
your image, for the example image, the settings used were a radius of 2.8 pixels. Use a
color balance adjustment layer to adjust the color of your eyeshadow or desired make
up. Edit the brightness/darkness of the color by using the adjustment layer Levels.
Again, group your new adjustment layers and high pass layer. Add a group mask and
fill with black. Using the eraser with a soft round brush and the opacity of 10%, with the
foreground color white, begin coloring in the eyeshadow.
Lipstick
Add a simple intensity to the lips by creating a new layer and filling it with a sample of
the color from the skin. Adjust the layer from normal to “Multiply” and adjust the opac-
ity to 75%. Use the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to adjust the color to your liking.
Again, group your new adjustments and create a layer mask then fill with black. Erase
in the area to colorize the lips.
Eyeliner/shadowing
Add a bit of eyeliner by simply using a brightness adjustment layer. Fill with black and
erase the areas that need more eyeliner or a bit more shadowing.
.psd Photoshop
photo make over
5.Eye Intensity
Add a touch of a dramatic effect to the eye color
by adding a few adjustment layers. First, using the
levels adjustments, drag the white arrow to the left.
The effect will brighten the image. Add just enough
brightness to make the eye stand out. Fill with
black then erase to reveal the brightness to color of
the eye only. Use the brightness adjustment layer
to create a shadow around the eye color. Adjust the
eye color using the color balance adjustment layer.
6.The Butterfly Effect
The butterfly was a bit desaturated and dull. Spice
up dull spots of your image using the Hue/Satura-
tion adjustment layer. Darken the the butterfly
and add contrast by using the Brightness/Contrast
adjustment layer. Group the two adjustment layers,
add a layer mask, fill with black and erase the areas
that need to be adjusted. In this case, erase the
area of the butterfly.
37
 beauty retouch

7.Liquify
Select your entire document again and copy merged
and paste on top of your editing groups. Go to Filter
> Liquify. This will open up a new window with dif-
ferent tools that will allow you to edit and fix any
imperfections. Use the forward warp tool (works like
a push tool), pucker, and bloat for your edits. In the
example photo, the tip of her nose was shortened
and her lips were plumped. Slight adjustments to
the eyes to give a more sultry look.
9.Colorize
Create a new layer and fill it with a slightly dark maroon color. Set the layer from normal to
exclusion, then change the Fill opacity to 51%. Create a new Curves adjustment layer. The de-
fault setting is the RGB line. Click and drag the middle of the graph line slight upward. Switch
from RGB to Red and again drag the line slightly upward the same way you did with the RGB
line. Change from Red to Blue then click and drag the center of the line slightly downward.
Go back to your adjustment layers and create a Selective Color adjustment layer.
Change the color settings as follows:
• Cyan: -100; Yellow: -57
• Magenta: +7; Black: -23

And check the option Relative.

8.Lighting
To enhance the image add various lighting tech-
niques. Using the levels adjustment layers to either
darken or brighten the image and adding masks
to hide/reveal specific areas. Create a new Levels
adjustment layer for shadows and a separate Levels
adjustment layer for highlights. For shadows, con-
centrate on where shadows naturally appear, under
the chin, in creases etc. Use the highlights layer to
show more detail in the hair and enhance natural
lighting in the face.

38 .psd Photoshop
 photo make over

10.The Rainbow
Create a solid color fill with a soft blue color.
Set the layer from normal to Soft Light with
an opacity of 75%. Create another solid color
fill with a orange color and set the layer from
normal to Soft Light with an opacity of 75%
and a fill opacity of 35%
Finally, create a Gradient fill layer. The
style should be Linear and be sure to adjust
the angle to 30.29, which will tilt the angle
of the gradient. Click on the Gradient fill to
open the Gradient Editor. Here is where you
can choose your preset rainbow effect or if
your are feeling creative adjust the colors
to your liking. For the example photo, the
Yellow, Violet, Orange, Blue gradient was
used. Adjust your gradient fill later from
normal to Screen with an opacity of 75%.

11.Optional Finishing Touch

As a finishing touch to give the image some depth, use the gradi- gradient. Repeat this step until you have covered all four sides and
ent tool with a black color, 50% opacity, and drag from the outside your photo is complete!
of your photo slightly inward on a new layer above all the others.
Drag inward just enough to create a slightly darken edge around by Apple May
the image. Hold shift as you drag to assist you in creating a straight

.psd Photoshop 39
Neytiri
In this tutorial we will paint Neytiri using a simple technique of airbrushes and a lot of layers
for ultimate control. I use the digital airbrush in Corel painter and differ my opacity according
to what I'm doing. Increase the brush opacity when working on hair and details and soften it
when shading and highlighting. This is a fast way to paint in stead of using liquid brushes in
two steps!

medium| 2-3 h.
corel painter | wacoom tablet
 neytiri

Step 1
Start with two layers, one with a background
colour of your choice and then another layer with
your sketch on it. I add a base using a blue colour.
It's better to use a light tint of blue than a darker
one since we're going to shade with darker blues
later on.

02

Step 2
I start with the eyes since they're so much fun
and I've never gotten the thing with saving the
best for last... I add a base colour and then start
adding different shades while watching my
reference photo.

03

Step 3
I add darker and darker tints and some highlights,
they make the eye look more alive. Don't be afraid
to use colour in the highlights. I used a light
orange and a light blue.

.psd Photoshop 41
 digital painting

04

Step 4
Add the eyelashes. I used black and I increase
my opacity value on my brush. I know add some
colour to the lips. There is a lot of lighting in this
picture so there are many different colours.

05

Step 5
Go into the finer details I've used a darker colour to
add some creases on her lips. If you want darker
tints you can use the multiply tool on your layer
and start shading.

06

Step 6
Add a yellow/orange colour for the lighting on her
face. It does not need to be perfect or even, just so
we an see where the different colours go.

42 .psd Photoshop
 neytiri

07

Step 7
If you are pleased with your features you can start
shading! Create another layer beneath the layers
you used for the eyes and lips and use a darker
blue for some basic shades. I've also painted
the facial markings. I add turquoise to create
a beautiful tint of blue on her face.

08

Step 8
Keep working with darker and darker tints. I use
A LOT of layers for this so I can have full control
if I want to change something. Paint your shades
using the multiply tool on each layer and soften
the opacity if you think it gets too dark.

09

Step 9
Use a light blue or turquoise to create shiny
highlights. remember to start big and ten move in
to the details.

.psd Photoshop 43
 digital painting

10

Step 10
Apply the same technique and paint her neck
when you start feeling finished with her face.
I often create new layers underneath the ones
I already have for this. (but always above the light
blue base colour of her face of course)

11

Step 11
The same goes for the ears. Ten apply the little
sparklers on her face. Use a light blue or maybe
white. Soften the opacity of the layer if they feel
too protruding. Here I've worked more on the ears
and consider them done.

12

Step 12
Add a black as the base for the hair. Increase your
brush opacity and you'll have cleaner strokes
when doing the little strands of hair.

44 .psd Photoshop
 neytiri

13

Step 13
Work with different colours that match your
reference photo to create the strands of hair
where the lighting is.

14

Step 14
On your grey layer (or whichever colour you chose
to have as your base) you start creating the
background. Work with a soft brush opacity and
a big circumference on your brush.

15

Step 15
Turn off your layer with the sketch on it when you
feel you don't need it anymore. You can work more
on your background but I like to have it a bit softer
and out of focus. And now we're done!

by Lina Eriksson

.psd Photoshop 45
medium | 3 h.
adobe photoshop 7.0 | adobe CS4
 digital art

Digital Art Air Brush

Portrait
Blurb: This is a tutorial on how to create a digitally airbrushed portrait
in Photoshop. The step-by-step description will help you create lifelike
photorealistic portraits no matter who the subject is. I have used an L’Oreal
model as reference because I enjoy the challenge of creating real looking hair
and skin tones, but what sold me on this were the models
mesmerizing eyes.

01

STEP 1
I recreated the individual features of the face
using the path tool. Each feature was put on
a separate layer. I do this because it’s easy to
select the individual part that I want to work on.
For example if I’m working on the mouth, I don’t
have to worry about an eyebrow being selected.
Basically working on individual layers give me
better control.

02

STEP 2
In a new layer, I lay down the skin tones, using
a soft airbrush. Starting with a light colour, built
up colour intensity, adding a rosy colour to the
overall skin tone. I was always conscious of where
the highlights would be as they are a dominant
part of the finished image.
.psd Photoshop 47
 workshop

03

STEP 3 – A FULL HEAD OF HAIR

Using a blue-black patch as a bottom layer, I created individual paths for individual strands of hair. Some strands were copied, displaced and pasted while
others were slightly more random. Too much uniformity would have given a robotic look, while too little uniformity would have detracted from the eyes of the
image. I used a lot of layers, many times having just a strand or two of hair on a single layer.

04

STEP 4 – HAIR – LIGHTS

Being on individual layers gives me absolute control on the filling of each strand of hair. I closely followed the highlights visible in individual strands of hair. The
highlights were simply a lighter version of the blue-black background. I also used the smudge tool to get softer details for the hair around the ears, always using
the smudge tool in a circular movement away from the face. The blur tool was also used to soften the edges of the hairline.

48 .psd Photoshop
 digital art

05

STEP 5 – EYE MAGIC

Working down from the bone ridge above the eyes, I created eyelashes using the patch tool. Again using the path tool I created the eyebrow and
slightly above the ridge. I used differe

06

STEP 6 – EYE CONTACT

The iris and pupil were simple circular fills with highlights of white dropped in. Moving around the individual layers put the eye in perspective, as did the
shading of the eyelids. The smudge and blur tools were very useful here as they allowed me to create a realistic depth and softened the otherwise harsh
lines that would have ruined the eye.
.psd Photoshop 49
 workshop

07

STEP 7 – NOSE FOR EXCELLENCE

The nose was a pretty simple airbrush job. A couple of tips would be to keep in mind your light source and blend in the darker shades with the light. I made
extensive use of the burn and smudge tools here to tweak the nose so that the shadow and light areas were as close to the original as I could make them.

08

STEP 8 – EAR EAR

After selecting the ear layer, I airbrushed in the skin tones. Using the burn and blur tools I got the depth of the ear spending time on the ridges of the ear.
I also used the blur tool to seamlessly marry the ear onto the face, at the highlighted areas creating a smooth, edge free transition point.

50 .psd Photoshop
 digital art

09

STEP 9 – LOTUS LIPS

To create realistic lips with an airbrush is impossible. Real lips have the soft texture of a lotus petal. After laying down the Air brushed background for
the lips, I created multiple paths coloring each path individually to achieve the realism that I was after.

10

STEP 10 – UP TO HER NECK

The neck was a pretty straightforward airbrush job with special attention given to the highlights. Here I worked on one half of the neck and after
completion, reflecting it on the other side, since humans are asymmetrical creatures, I distorted the reflected layer very slightly.

.psd Photoshop 51
 workshop

11

STEP 11 – THE COMPLETED PORTRAIT

I am never satisfied with my work in the sense that I could go on touching it up forever. Using the blur and dodge, burn and smudge tools, I went over every
part of the image darkening some areas, lightening others and generally smoothing everything out. While the changes I make were subtle, I think that they
contribute to the overall quality of the image.

by Bandula Samarasekera

52 .psd Photoshop

Laura Ferreira cover artist
I am 25 years old and live in Trinidad and Tobago. I have been
working as a freelance photographer and digital artist for
the past three years. My style tends to be a bit of surrealism
and fantasy. I love building concepts and ideas and seeing
them come to life. I have worked with various musicians, film
companies and fashion brands.
Luis Afonso
Luis Afonso is self-taught digital artist. He’s 17 and he’s based
on Ovar, Portugal. He doesn’t have a preferred style yet. He
likes to do a bit of everything. This whole world of digital art
is still recent to him, so he’s still evolving, learning techniques
and experiment a lot. You can check more of his work at:
http://shadowtuga.deviantart.com
http://cargocollective.com/shadowtuga
Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen
I’m 27 year old self-taught graphic designer and illustrator
from Finland. I’ve always loved drawing and creating images
for myself and others to view. About 5 years ago I found out
how amazing tool Photoshop is and started playing with it.
After couple years I suddenly realized my digital hobby had
turned into my profession. I worked almost 2 years as a full-
time freelancer doing client jobs internationally but nowadays
I’m working from my home office in Helsinki, Finland in a
Germany based multimedia agency Powerflasher GmbH
(www.powerflasher.com) as a graphic designer.
www.ouwenz.com
Bandula Samarasekera
I was born in Sri Lanka, having spent almost two decades
working as an illustrator, digital airbrush artist, re-toucher
and character designer with well known International
advertising Agencies, design agencies in Asia and Middle
East. Currently I’m working for Intermarkets Bahrain.
www.bcomart.com
Special thanks to Apple May
Editor in Chief:
Marta Kobus marta.kobus@psdmag.org
Executive Editor:
Ewa Samulska ewa.samulska@psdmag.org
Copy Editor: Ed Werzyn, Robert Coppa
Art Director: Agnieszka Marchocka
DTP: Ireneusz Pogroszewski, Przemysław Banasiewicz
Art Executive Manager: Ireneusz Pwogroszewski
Senior Consultant/Publisher/President:
Paweł Marciniak
Managing Director:
Ewa Łozowicka
Marketing Director:
Marta Kobus marta.kobus@psdmag.org
Executive Ad Consultant:
Ewa Samulska ewa.samulska@psdmag.org
Production Director:
02/2008
Andrzej Kuca andrzej.kuca@psdmag.org
contributing writers
Lina Eriksson
I’m a 22 year old from Sweden who loves to paint, especially
when I started doing it on the computer. Messing with sticky oil
colours has never been my thing. I’ve been painting more or less
since I was 17 but it wasn’t until 3 years ago when I started to
use the comp and corel painter to draw that I was hooked. So I
am still quite a noob and learn new things everyday!
When I’m not painting I study Digital Media Design at a university
and I hope I can use my interest in a future occupation.
Dario van Zundert
Started working with photoshop and cinema4d about little
over 10 years ago. Started out as a hobbie after seeying
somebody making the coolest things. After searching the
internet for communities who could help me figuring out
photoshop i came across some people on 2 communities who
helped me out. Tutorials were always bad quality so started
to teach myself everything. After some time friends around
me asked me to make flyers forum tags businesscards and
that slowly evolved to making websites for small businesses
and doing fun things on the side like making such pieces
as you see in this tutorial. Always exploring to find new
techniques and effects because it doesn’t matter how long
you work with the programs you will always find something
new. http://www.shiver09.com
Márcia Gaudêncio
Márcia Gaudêncio, born in 1987 in Lisbon, Portugal, is a
Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Toy Maker and overall, an
enthusiast towards almost every kind of arts. After studying
Graphic Arts in Coimbra, the city where she lived most of her
life, she moved back to Lisbon where she worked for 3 years
as a Freelance Graphic Designer. Recently, she moved back
to Coimbra where she is taking now a Degree in Multimedia
Design and is developing her personal project, Kriture. More
info available at www.kriture.com
Postal address:
Publisher: Software Press Sp.z.o.o SK
02-682 Warszawa, ul. Bokserska 1
worldwide publishing
www.psdmag.org/en
All trade marks presented in the magazine were used only for
informative purposes. All rights to trade marks presented in the
magazine are reserved by the companies which own them.
Mathematical formulas created by Design Science MathType™.
The editors use automatic DTP system
Editorial contributions should be sent to:
editors@psdmag.org
Customer Service +1 917 338 3631
The Software Press Sp.z.o.o SK works individually from Adobe. The
psd Photoshop team reserves the right not to be responsible for the
topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the information
53
provided by contributors.
 book review

Creativity, Colours
and Cut through
book #THREE by Brand Nu
The latest publication of work by Radim Malinic, London based creative
renowned worldwide under the label Brand Nu.

A n eclectic collection of commercial and experimental work,

Book #THREE is a visual tour of the use of creative re-touching,
vector illustration and art direction inspires and transforms
everything from leading world brands to inanimate objects.
Highlights include the distinctive re-brand of the London Film
Museum, Blossom Hill at Wimbledon, trend setting ad illustrations
for ACER’s 3D laptop range as well as a striking summer campaign
for the prestigious QV, Melbourne Australia.
Every page of the book tells a different story in vibrant colours
and cleverly laid out compositions. It’s obvious this artist is on
a mission to keep step ahead from his contemporaries by thinking
out new concepts, new ways how to use Adobe Photoshop and
overall bringing to your attention new ways how to use the world

54 .psd Photoshop
 creativity, colours and cut through

renowned software.It is also refreshing to read how each piece
was made and even to learn the idea behind each project. Brand Nu
serves oversized portion of creative finesse which has earned him
forefront position within the creative field today.
The main intention for Book #THREE to give inspiration to
all, from household names to niche businesses and upcoming
designers alike, work is demonstrated across a range of media
including outdoor posters, to magazine covers and online.
A collection of work created over the last 18 months, Book
#THREE is an exciting portrait of the mature artist Brand Nu has
become - able to transform any image, product or campaign, with
fluid beauty, raw edge and vibrant colour.
The book also contains several self-initiated experiments,
unpublished elsewhere, which show the passion and excitement
that Brand Nu applies to seeking new techniques to add to his ever
expanding creative arsenal.
A limited edition of 1,000 copies, #Book THREE is now available
frombrandnu.co.uk for £11.99
by .psd Photoshop Team

.psd Photoshop 55
 software review

AutoFX
AutoFX’s Mystical Suite is a collection of three applications/plugins that
share a common interface and allow interoperability between Mystical
Focus, Mystical Lighting and Ambiance 2.0 and Mystical Tint Tone and Color
2.0. The applications can run standalone or within Photoshop as a plugin.
As a photographer well versed with Photoshop I opted to explore the plugin
instance first. The plugin is invoked from the filter’s menu in Photoshop and
can be applied to any non-empty layer.

Common Interface
As stated previously, the plugin instantiation of the application
displays a consistent interface that can also be used in the
standalone version. It is, thankfully, compact, clean and concise.
There is a left sidebar where users can define parameters for the
selected effect. The effects are selected from the dropdown box
using flyout menus. One feature I would have appreciated is the
ability to set my own color for the sidebar, palettes and picture
viewing area, and the ability to change the font style to a non bold
value would definitely get two thumbs up from me. The Layers
and Brush palettes are easy to use and understand, they are non-
dockable but can easily be moved out of the way; the application
remembers the last position so there is no need to move them from
session to session.
A helpful feature is the memory dots dial. It Lets users take
snapshots of work in progress. These serve as save points that
they can return to without losing the work previously done. If a user
is uncertain of what a particular control will do, the application
offers two level of help on all controls ( brush on/off, lasso etc ) and
effects. When the mouse hovers over the control for 2 secs a short
description is displayed, holding it still for another 2 sec will display
an extended explanation of the tool. 1. It offers 14 Lighting effects, 5 Shading effects and 8 Ambience
modifiers for a total of 27 effects that may be combined and blended
Mystical Focus to provide some spectacular results. Add to these over 120 presets
The Mystical Focus application/plugin provides a total of 9 Focal and you have a recipe for hours of play time.
Effects, 6 Atmospheric Effects and a masking layer capability. Two of my favourite effects are Light Beams and Light in the
That is a lot of blurring options that users can select from. In Dark. They provide a high degree of control over light projections
addition to these start-from-scratch effects, users can select and if offers over 40 different Beam styles within Light Beams alone.
from 45 Focal Effects Presets and 22 Atmospheric Effects Most of the Lighting effects provide a control to define the colour of
Presets. The Preset dialog provide a large size sample of each the light either in solid form or as a gradient. Users can define and
preset and when the user hovers the mouse over a specific save their own colour palettes and load them for use on similar
preset it shows the original picture, providing an effective images. Each light beam parameter includes spread, fade out and
Before-After facility. softness. These sliders provide accurate tuning of the beam and the
It is worth mentioning that the Preset dialog is shared by the T-Path control allows the user to define not only beam directionality
other applications, again providing a consistent look and feel to the but also position, width and intensity. Each T-Path has its own set of
product. parameters and atmospheric controls.
The Focal effects provide good overall blurring and realist A useful control employed by the directional light effects is
simulations of bokeh and DOF ( Depth of Field ). The application the Light Blocker control. It is defined by dragging a line across the
provides for an easy means to quickly create blurring effects and screen. It is 1 dimensional but can provide a very effective means
by using the default brush, planer and lasso tools novice users can of light obscuration. Combined with its opacity slider users can
quickly produce dramatic results. simulate light blocking on a flat image.
The addition of Atmospheric effects within this application/ To round off the parameter controls there are 22 atmospheric
plugin can further improve the final look of the image. It adds effects to choose from. Users can select a preset and then modify to
stylized flair quickly and easily. My personal favourites are the suit the particular application for the image.
Highlight Smear and Specular Highlights effects. Another favourite of mine is the Ethereal Effects in the Ambience
group. The effect can be applied either as a Soft Cast or a Light Cast.
Mystical Lighting and Ambience 2 I prefer the Light Cast. Using this option I am able to define direction
This new version of Mystical Lighting and Ambience looks and feel and therefore have more control over the look and feel of the image.
very solid and is, in my opinion, a marked improvement from version Using the Brush on/off controls I can simulate rudimentary masks.

56 .psd Photoshop

Although the two Flares Effects provide over 50 presets combined
I was expecting the ability to create effective obscuration masks, this
would enable me to simulate a Flare behind a building scene, where
only part of the flare is visible. I was unable to do this effectively
with the Brush on/off controls. This point aside Mystical Lighting and
Ambience provide a wealth of effects and presets that will allow users,
both novice and savvy, to quickly create fabulous images.
Mystical Tint Tone and Color
If users were impressed with the abundance of effects and presets
offered by the previous two applications/plugins, they will be to be
totally blown away by what Mystical Tint Tone and Color offers - 60
effects with 300 presets – incredible value !
Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 includes a variety of valuable
Portrait Filters that can improve skin color, minimize skin blemishes
and wrinkles, enhance eyes, lips and hair and the ability to reshape
facial features. As with the Liquify control in Photoshop, a user
needs to exercise control and only make believable changes, as
there are no real constraining parameters. On the flip side however,
it can generate interesting caricatures. Try it yourself ...
The application features easy to use Color, Tinting and Tonal
effects which require minimal tweaking to provide dramatic and
beautiful results very quickly. The new lens effects can effectively
simulate graduated filters and polarizers. I found these to be
particularly useful in some of the photographs that I used in my
evaluation. They are quick to apply and provide the desired effect
.psd Photoshop
autofx
with minimal tweaking. The Sharpening filters provide good image
detail and clarity; on par with more traditional filters available in
Photoshop.
Documentation
Documentation is available from AutoFX website either online via
html or as a downloadable PDF file. This documentation is sparse at
only 26 pages for all three applications. The documentation relates
more to workflow and high level concepts. Effects and presets are
not discussed in detail. However, AutoFX has done an excellent job
of proving embedded help within the application. Every effect and
every parameter tweakable under that effect has associated help.
This help can be reached by hovering the mouse over the control, as
explained earlier.
Shortcomings
As with all software there are limitations. The new Mystical Suite
of application currently only operates in the RGB color space. This
may be an issue for those photographers/graphic artists that prefer
working solely in other professional color spaces ( eg. CMYK, Lab
Color,etc ).
Conclusion
AutoFX has delivered a comprehensive and feature rich suite of
applications/plugin in Mystical Suite. It boast over 100 effects with in
excess of 400 presets. If its effects are used judiciously and users
take advantage of its blending and masking facilities, Mystical Suite
can yield magnificent images. Mystical Suite will provide the novice
and more savvy users hours of exploration time and a complete
arsenal of tools that can dramatically enhance images.
A final word of caution however, to achieve great results one
must start with the best possible image. Don’t except to feed
Mystical Suite a terribly focused photograph and expect it to
sharpen it perfectly. And remember, as always is the case in photo-
retouching, less is more and a light hand will go a long way.
by Robert Coppa
www.je-photo.com
www.facebook.com/robert.coppa
www.twitter.com/robertxc
57
 review
PDair has recently released a series of quality
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Leather Case for Nokia N900 - Book Type (Black)
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The aluminum range is carefully catered for those who are looking
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Aluminum Metal Case for Motorola Droid - Open Screen Design
(Black)
58 .psd Photoshop
Aluminum Metal Case for HTC HD2 Leo T8585 - Open Screen Design
(Silver)
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The most recent addition to their signature cases, the luxury silicone
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About PDair
PDair has been a well established mobile phone accessories provider
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PDair aims to provide the highest quality mobile protections not
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Every step is carefully monitored from material sourcing, design
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shipped from the warehouse.