.PSD Photoshop Issue 02 - Feb 2010

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content issue 02/2010
How to Create Neytiri Portrait

Lina Eriksson 4
In this tutorial you will see a fast and efficient way of using the
airbrushes when you paint. You get a smooth effect straight away
instead of using several steps with liquid brushes to smooth your
paintings. Using a lot of layers gives us greater control and when
setting layers to multiply it helps with using the same colours but
in darker tints.
interview with Secret Place

Aleksandra Gładykowska 62
Autodesk’s Role in the Production of
Avatar – Interview with Marc Petit
Ed Werzyn & Psd Team 14
digital painting
Masquerade
Alena Lazareva 68
beauty retouch
Extreme Retouching Waters of Time
Ylenia Peronti 18 Travis Wright 72
Is it Magic?-No it is Photoshop Tools of the Trade-Paintbrush
Carla Cabras 24 Rasha Al-Najjar 76
How to Retouch Your Picture
Michael Ziemak 28
self exposure
A Siren is Born
Amanda K. Barnes 80
picture restoring
Restoring The Past Night Driver
Fabiano Uesler 34 Jomar Machado 87
I
have a great news for you. Since the first
issue of PSD Photoshop received very
typography product review possitive feedback from all of you we have
White Had Type Xara 90 decided to give it a shot and go with monthly
Andrew Hall 38 magazine. This way you will get a chance to
learn all Photoshop techniques each month!
creative class Now, few words on what we have prepared for
you in March. As always to satisfy all of you we have tutorials on photomanipulation, photo
For the Heart of Town restoring, photo retouch, digital painting and typography. There are a few new authors on the
Alex Eckman-Lawn 42
board showing off their great artwork and sharing their tips & tricks with you. Thank you all for
Repeating Pattern joining our Team! I appreciate your support! Since, the new door have been open and it feels
Zena Santos 46 like new Avatar era just begun I invited Marc Petit from Autodesk to talk about their role in the
production of Avatar movie. You will get a chance to get a sneak pick from behind the scene of
Tree House this amazing production. Enjoy your reading then and keep the emails coming in! I love to hear
Katrina Gonzales 52
from you!
photomanipulation
Thank you for your support!
Mystic Harbor Marta Kobus
Claudia McKinney 56
Editor in Chief
medium | 2-3 h.
corel painter IX | wacom tablet
How to Create
Neytiri portrait
using Corel Painter IX
In this tutorial you will see a fast and efficient way of

using the airbrushes when you paint. You get a smooth
effect straight away instead of using several steps with
liquid brushes to smooth your paintings. Using alot of
layers gives us greater control and when setting layers
to multiply it helps with using the same colours but in
darker tints.
cover artist
01
Step 1
I start with two layers. One with a background
colour and one with the sketch on it. I work with
alot of layers and if you're not exactly sure of what
you are doing, you should too. I used the digital
airbrush at all time when painting this but with
diffrent opacitys depending on what I was doing.
You can have a greater value on the opactiy when
it comes to hair and details but when shadowing
I like to have it around 12-25 %. So now that I have
my sketch it's time to start with the fun stuff
- Colouring!
02
Step 2
I start with a base colour. Some type of blue. I put
this layer underneath the sketch layer so I can see
it at all times.
03
Step 3
I go straight for the eyes and put some sort of
orangy base colour on them. Then I start to work
with the shadowing on them and go darker and
darker until I'm satisfied. I put they layers for
the mouth and eyes on top of the layer with the
sketch on it.
6 .psd Photoshop
neytiri portrait
04
Step 4
Added some more shadowing to the eyes and
also some highlights. They are the key to getting
a lifelike eye. She's also got some eyelashes.
05
Step 5
When I feel pleased with the eyes I move on to the
lips and apply the same technique. A base colour
and some basic shading. Think big first and then
move onto the details.
06
Step 6
More colour on the lips and some highlights. I use
white to accent the creases on the lips.
.psd Photoshop 7
cover artist
07
Step 7
Paint the face marking thingies with a deeper
blue. They don't look awesome right now but
they'll look better with some shading on them.
08
Step 8
Now start shading. Think big and get into the
smaller details later. It may look like crap for
a while but don't get discouraged! It will be better.
I put the shading layers on top of the layer with
the blue base colour. Since the layers for the
mouth and eyes are on top of these, we can do
whatever we want with the shading and it still
wont affect them.
09
Step 9
Add some basic highlights.
8 .psd Photoshop
neytiri portrait
10
Step 10
I add some turqoise colouring to the half of her
face to represent the lightwrap on her from the
forest and I also add more and darker shadows.
A good way to shadow is to have a skin colour
(in this case... blue) and then create another
layer and set it to multiply. Then you get a darker
version of the colour you are using and you don't
have to trouble with getting wrong tints of colour.
Lower the opacity on the new shadow layer if you
think the colour gets too strong.
11
Step 11
Now I just add more and more shadows and
highlights. Moving into the details.
12
Step 12
I work with lighter shades of the colours I already
have to create a shiny feeling
.psd Photoshop 9
cover artist
13
Step 13
When I feel finished with the shading; I add the
little sparklies. I just go loose with some light
green and light blue.
14
Step 14
I use black as a base colour for the hair. And no,
I could not motivate myself into doing all the itsy
bitsy braids so she got a hairstyle worn in some
other scenes in the movie. I also shade her neck.
15
Step 15
Add some highlights and create strands of hair.
The strands colour depends on the colour of the
lighting in the image.
10 .psd Photoshop
neytiri portrait
16
Step 16
Some more details on the hair.
17
Step 17
Now I turn off the layer with the sketch on it since
I don't need it anymore. Remember the first layer
that was the gray background? I replace it with
a colour that fits my Avatar forest better. I am now
working on layers beneath the layers of Neytiri.
18
Step 18
Use a big brush and go nuts with colours. The
background does not need to be perfect since it's
not in focus.
.psd Photoshop 11
cover artist
19
Step 19
Final result of the background.
by Lina Eriksson
12 .psd Photoshop
interview
Autodesk's role in the

production of
Avatar
Interview with Marc Petit, Senior Vice President,
Autodesk Media & Entertainment
Marc Petit leads Autodesk Media &

Entertainment as Senior Vice President.
In this role, he guides the development
and marketing of Autodesk’s digital
entertainment creation products, including
Autodesk® Flame®, Smoke®, FlareTM,
Lustre®, 3ds Max®, Maya®, MotionBuilder®,
Softimage®, Mudbox® and FBX® software
and technology. A native of France, Petit
was studying to be a telecom engineer at
Institut National des Télécommunications
in Paris when a trip to a tradeshow in 1986
introduced him to creative computing. For
the first time, Petit witnessed the creation
of pictures and graphics with computers
and found it far more interesting than
anything related to telecom. After earning
his graduate engineering degree, he joined
3D software pioneer Thomson Digital Image
(TDI) in 1987, entering the field of computer
graphics virtually at its inception. Petit
spent much of 1988 working on one of
the first computer-generated movies
ever made. “Paris 1789” is a 10-minute
visualization of Paris and the events of
the French Revolution. Returning to TDI as
a product manager, Petit soon developed
a worldwide reputation for innovation
within the media and entertainment
industry. At the 1991 SIGGRAPH computer
graphics conference, Petit’s reputation got
him noticed by Softimage, then a fledgling
company based in Montreal, Canada. After helping Softimage reach critical mass in Europe, Petit moved
to Montreal in 1996 to serve as Vice President of 3D Products at Softimage, which had become a division
of Microsoft. In 2000, Petit’s curiosity about new forms of internet media saw him migrate to another
industry, serving as Vice President of Operations for Aptilon Health, a company specialized in online
interactive marketing. However, the creative energy of media and entertainment prompted him to join
Autodesk’s Discreet division in 2002. Although Petit believes that Autodesk Media & Entertainment’s
greatest achievements are yet to be realized, and he is confident that the company’s commitment to
the industry and its customers will bring about greater innovation: Autodesk is committed and stable.
We are single-mindedly focused on bringing our users tools that allow them to fully express their
creativity, he says. That is something to be proud of.
14 .psd Photoshop
interview with marc petit
What was Autodesk's role in the production of Avatar? Which in the first Matrix movie. Since then, MotionBuilder remains the
Autodesk components were used in making the film? What de facto standard for mocap and device control and has evolved
software was used? into a real time character animation tool and a hub for virtual
cinematography.
Autodesk MotionBuilder and Autodesk Maya software were core When James Cameron conceived the idea for ‘Avatar’ 15
technology in the creation of Avatar. They enabled James Cameron years ago, the technology wasn’t available to make it, said Nolan
to direct computer-generated and live actors in real time, in digital Murtha, digital effects supervisor at Lightstorm Entertainment.
environments. This had never been done before. Cameron and his Over the past few years, with the help of
Lightstorm Entertainment team pioneered this new method of Autodesk software, we were able to
virtual moviemaking. bring his vision to life. On set, we
MotionBuilder is performance capture and character essentially created a live video
animation software. Using MotionBuilder, performances by game of each scene; we could
Avatar’s live actors were applied onto pre-built digital characters see what the movie was
and viewed in real time by both the director and the actors going to look like and make
– allowing true interactivity between the virtual and real world. adjustments right away,
The digital characters were viewable in-context in Avatar’s digital rather than waiting until
environments, which were pre-built with MotionBuilder and post-production. This
Maya. These pre-built assets were low-resolution versions of the was in large part
characters and sets/environments. due to the powerful
Maya is 3D visual effects, modeling, animation and rendering real-time interactive
software. In addition to being used on-set for Avatar, Maya was capabilities of
subsequently used for the high-resolution, beautifully lit final scene MotionBuilder.
creation and finishing.
As well, Autodesk Mudbox digital sculpting software was How does the virtual
used for asset creation, Autodesk 3ds Max to create animations camera integrate into
for the film’s Bio Lab and Ops Center - the bustling hub for military Autodesk's software to
operations and one of the key environments in the film; Autodesk produce real-time video?
Flame for visual effects and compositing; and Autodesk Softimage
for modeling. Data and video that has been
captured with MotionBuilder can easily
How many people were dedicated to the production? be integrated in other Autodesk Digital
Entertainment Creation tools, whether
A lot of people… Here’s a link to the film’s credits: they are 3D tools like 3ds Max, Maya or
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/fullcredits Softimage, or 2D tools like Flame, Smoke
or Lustre, through our FBX file format.
When was MotionBuilder developed and what technology was What type of computing power was
used to develop it? necessary to achieve this?
MotionBuilder was originally developed as a motion capture tool Our customers usually use the latest
more than 15 years ago. Beyond mocap, it’s also been used to high-end graphics card to get the
drive devices like motion control cameras. In 1999, Kim Libreri maximum performance out of our
and John Gaeta used MotionBuilder to create the bullet time effect software.
.psd Photoshop 15
interview
What types of computers and operating systems were used? What challenges did you have during the making of Avatar?
What was the most challenging part?
We support multiple platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux.
MotionBuilder is primarily used on Windows. Film companies tend I’d like to clarify that Autodesk software was used in the making
to favour Linux for their pipeline so a lot of Maya seats are Linux of Avatar – but it was the work of James Cameron, Jon Landau,
seats. their Lightstorm Entertainment team, and the many other
talented people credited on the film that actually made the
How many different companies were involved and what were movie.
their roles in the production of the final movie?
Were any software modifications, or special plug-ins necessary
What was captured live on-set for Avatar was given to numerous visual to achieve the final results?
effects houses for finalization. Weta Digital was the lead visual effects
house for Avatar and worked with 15 other studios, including ILM Our customers always customize our tools and tend to keep their
(battle), Framestore (Hell’s Gate shots), Prime Focus (bio lab, secrets secret! But we know that Weta has developed a new realistic
ops center), Buf Compagnie (tunnel, earth muscle system in Maya to reach a higher level of realism using the
shots), Hybride (link room) and many performance capture facial data!
others. These companies brought the
entire set of Autodesk's How was Pandora created? How was the realism achieved?
digital entertainment
creation tools to This is a question for the creative geniuses at Weta Digital, the lead
bear to help bring the visual effects house for Avatar. CGSociety did an in-depth interview
story to life. Since with Weta about their work on Avatar: http://features.cgsociety.org/
what was captured on- story_custom.php?story_id=5434&referer=rss
set was essentially 1,832 of the film’s shots were created by Weta. Weta made
low-resolution video 60,000 digital bugs (insects) for Pandora, as well as its breathtaking
game-like footage, jungles.
there was much work to
be done by the visual How does the technology used in the making of Avatar change
effects houses, and the future of making live action movies? How does this
many of Autodesk’s technology open other possibilities?
Digital Entertainment
Creation software Avatar represents a turning point for the film industry. The filmmakers
products were used for pioneered a groundbreaking method of virtual moviemaking, bridging
modeling, compositing, the real and virtual worlds. Soon, the technology will be widely
visual effects, lighting, accessible, enabling human actors’ performances to be applied to
rendering, etc. all kinds of digital characters – characters that can look human or
not. It also returns actors to the purest form of their craft. Gone is
16 .psd Photoshop
interview with marc petit
the need for hours of make-up, costumes and prosthetics to

get the talent camera-ready. Avatar is also one of the first
mainstream live-action stereoscopic 3D (S3D) movies.
Until now, most S3D movies have been stereo versions of
computer graphics animated movies. Creating a live-action
S3D movie is more difficult, and there was doubt as to
whether moviegoers would enjoy the immersive experience
of S3D for the 2.5hr-long Avatar. Now, Avatar has proven that
live-action S3D movies are viable and profitable. And on
average, attendance and ticket prices tend to be higher for
S3D movies, earning 2 to 3 times the box-office receipts of
their 2D equivalents.
Can you explain Virtual Production and Movie Making

using Autodesk's MotionBuilder?
Virtual production processes are starting to transform the way

filmmakers and their teams create high quality entertainment.
New digital technologies are providing filmmakers and their
production teams with real-time, interactive environments and
breakthrough workflows, transforming the way they plan and
create movies. Using the latest 3D software, gaming and motion
capture technology – including Autodesk MotionBuilder, they can explore, we were able to do a movie that we could not otherwise do.” There
define, plan and communicate their creative ideas in new, more intuitive, is still much work to be done by Autodesk and other technology
visual ways; helping them reduce risk, eliminate confusion and address developers who support the movie industry, in order to simplify
production unknowns much earlier in the filmmaking process. Innovators and democratize the moviemaking process. We’ve got to leverage
– from production companies like Lightstorm Entertainment, to pre- the progress in computing power and graphics to improve the
visualization specialists like The Third Floor – are already using Virtual visual quality of the real-time feedback shown to the actors and the
Production technologies to push creative boundaries and save costs. director on what are often bare, or green screen–backed stages.
To learn more, please refer to Autodesk’s whitepaper “The New Autodesk believes that the key to improved production
Art of Virtual Moviemaking”: efficiency and effectiveness lies in empowering creative visionaries
http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/the_new_art_of_virtual_ and entire production teams with better, faster tools that
moviemaking_-_autodesk_whitepaper.pdf communicate will together. It’s about carrying the vision from initial
concept to final delivery in a way that drives creativity, efficiency,
What's next? interaction and collaboration. This is what we strive to achieve with
our Digital Entertainment Creation software.
Avatar Producer Jon Landau said, “What we were able to do with the
Autodesk software is to make technology an enabling essence and Ed Werzyn & Psd Photoshop Team
.psd Photoshop 17
This retouching is a simple example of the power that
has photoshop on how you can bring out the best of the
beauty of a person. In this tutorial we will show simple
techniques of retouching using the tools most popular of
Photoshop.
medium | 2h.
adobe photoshop CS3
Extreme
Retouching
beauty retouch
01
Source Files
Step 1
First of all, duplicate background layer and call
it healing brush. Select from the tool's panel the
spot healing brush and use it to remove all the
imperfections of the skin included spots and
little wrinkles. Also you delete the hair in front of
the eyes.
02
Step 2
After we cleaned her face,duplicate the healing
brush layer and select lasso tool by the tool's
panel . With lazo, make a rough selection of the
eyebrow and apply free transform by the menù
modify/free transform or by the shortcut ctrl+t.
Resize the eyebrow intervening on the transform
controls; In this case, move down the higher and
lift up the lower transform control (indicated by
the arrow) and click on the selection to move the
eyebrow and reposition it. Press Enter to confirm
and press Ctrl+D to clear (deselect) the selection.
Duplicate the healing brush layer again and
merge it at the eyebrow layer. Now,using clone
stamp and healing brush tool, cleaning the old
eyebrow and make uniform the skin around (img
1-2). Repeat the same procedure with the other
eyebrow.(don't worry about the hair on, because
they cover it later)
03
Step 3
Duplicate the healing brush layer. Start from the
hairs, select the clone stamp tool and using the
these values, diameter 80px e hardness 50% ,
Consider as source a part of thick hair,and cover
these hair to get a similar result (img.3). Now
make his teeth more regular using clone stamp
tool with a small diameter (5px for example) and
opacity about 85%(img.4). When we have reached
a good results, remove circles with clone stamp
tool(img.6), being attention to get a natural and
homogeneous result.
20 .psd Photoshop
extreme retouching
04
Step 4
Duplicate the eyebrow copy layer and rename
it liquify. Open from the menu bar Filter/liquefy
(shortcut Maiusc+Ctrl+X); select plucker tool
(s), and with a enough size of brush ( 205px for
example) make the nose slightly small, giving
like short shots with brush over the entire length
of the nose. Using the bloat tool (b), reduce the
brush size (90px for example) and give more
volume to lips
05
Step 5
Duplicate the liquify layer and call it smooth skin.
Go in Filter/noise/dust and scratches and set
the radius about 10 pixel and press ok. Now go
in Filter/Blur/Gaussian Blur, and set the radius
about 10 pixel, and press ok.
06
Step 6
Now go in menù Layer/layer mask/ hide all, it
will be created a layer mask filled of black at our
layer that it will hide the filters applied.So select
the brush tool and set "foreground color" on
white than set the opacity of brush tool with ap-
proximate values (60% for example) and begin "to
paint" (with the mask selected) only on the skin
excluding also hair,eyebrows,eyes, ecc. We'll see
to back top the filters applied before. Using a lower
opacity paint also on the lips to smooth it.
.psd Photoshop 21
beauty retouch
07
Step 7
Now we need to emphasize the eyes using the
dodge and burn tools. Duplicate the liquify layer
and rename it eyes Select the dodge tool from
the tool's panel and set Range in Highlights, Opac-
ity until 30%-40% and we choose a diameter that
fits the eye (see the figure). So paint the inside
of the eyes to make them brighter. Now select
burn tool with a small diameter (6-7px) set an
opacity about 10% and paint the edge of the iris
to darken it.
08
Step 8
Now apply just a little bit of make up. Create a
new layer (Maiusc+Ctrl+N) and we have to make
sure that it is in top of the other layers. Select the
brush tool, choose a dark color and set the opacity
at 100%, painting on her eyelid like if you put on
the eyeshadow; now apply a few of Filters/Blur/
Box Blur on this layer choosing like values 4px or
6px (in this range). At the end change the blend-
ing mode of the layer on Soft Light (you can try
also Moltiply or Color) and reduce layer's opacity.
Repeat the same procedure for the other eye and,
if you want, also to add phard on the cheeks (but
in this case we need to choose a higher value for a
blur) and lipstick, creating a new layer for every-
thing and choosing the colors that you prefer. This
is my version:
09 Step 9
now retouch the brightness and contrast. Create
a new layer from the menù bar: Layer/New
adjustment layer/Curves, you can give a name
at the layer and click Ok. Choose from a Preset
Menu "Linear Contrast" and press Ok. So duplicate
the "eyes" layer and go in Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp
Mask.. and set this values: Amount=35%;
Radius=5px; Threshold="0"; and press Ok. Go
in menù Layer / Layer mask /hide all and now
retouch the brightness and contrast. Create a new
layer from the menù bar: Layer/New adjustment
layer/Curves, you can give a name at the layer
and click Ok. Choose from a Preset Menu "Linear
Contrast" and press Ok. So duplicate the "eyes"
layer and go in Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask..
and seti this values: Amount=50%; Radius=5px;
Threshold="0"; and presso Ok. Go in menù Layer /
Layer mask /hide all. Select the brush tool and set
as foreground color "white" and paint on the eyes
to sharpen. The end.
by Ylenia Peronti
22 .psd Photoshop
medium | 60 min.
adobe photoshop CS4
it is photoshop
Is it Magic?
No, it is Photoshop
Source Files
Have you ever wondered why the models that we see in the newspapers are
always so beautiful and perfect? Then we look in the mirror and think: Oh how
I would be so perfect! How are they doing? The answer is very simple:
The magic of photoshop! This tutorial was created with the intent to teach
a few simple steps a true professional retouching. Even the less experienced,
will thus be able to create fantastic dive for cover!
01
Step 1
First you need to open the photo you want to
retouch. Duplicate the layer (Layer – Duplicate
Layer) and call it "skin". Take, from the tool
palette, the healing brush tool and remove
possible defects, ie, pimples, hair flowing over his
face, etc. Always from the tool palette, take Patch
Tool (Healing brush tool - hold until the various
instruments appear) and remove the wrinkles go
to form below the neck.
02
Step 2
Duplicate the layer and name it “high pass”. Click
over: Filter – Other – High Pass. Set 20 pixels and
confirm. Now click Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur, set
10 pixels. Invert the image [ctrl + I] and set the
layer to Linear Light. Create a layer mask (layer
– layer mask – reveal all) and reverse. With a soft
brush and a diameter of about 170px, brush in
areas where the skin should be brought better.
Lower the opacity level to 60% and merge layers
[ctrl + E].
.psd Photoshop 25
beauty retouch
03
Step 3
Select the Dodge tool from the layers palette and
set it this way: Light and exposure to 7% with
a diameter of about 140px. Brush over the eye
sockets. Now clean up the background. Duplicate
the layer and name it "background". Remove,
using (always from the tool palette) the Clone
Stamp tool and the patch tool, any hair and stains.
04
Step 4
Create the make up. New Layer [Shift - Ctrl – N] and
call it "eyeshadow". Take the brush (soft) and set it
to 40px. Set the layer to soft light. Choose a color
and brush on the lower lid. If the color chosen is
not desired, go to: Image - adjustments - hue and
saturation, and regulated. Again, create a new
layer, set to soft light and brush (with another color
choice) on the upper eyelid. Fade the color with the
eraser using these settings: Opacity 30%, hardness
0 and diameter 150px. Now we need to create the
light and shade of make up. New layer and color
the areas where you want to create the nuance,
in black. Go to Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur and set
40px. Remove with the eraser, the areas of light. If
you want to accentuate further, create a new layer,
set to soft light and brush over the gradient created
earlier; Fade with the eraser, soft and low opacity.
You now need to accentuate the areas of light. New
layer set to soft light, color the light areas of white
with a soft brush. Fade with the eraser.
05
Step 5
Now, you should adjust the lights of the picture,
then, create a new adjustment layer (livello
– nuovo livello di regolazione – curve). For the
shadows, output: 98 input: 155, press Ctrl + I and
brush areas in shadow with a soft brush. Go to
Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur and set 50px confirm.
Fade with the eraser with 30% opacity. For lights,
output: 138 input: 115 and light brush areas.
26 .psd Photoshop
it is photoshop
06
Step 6
Adjust the colors of the photo. Create
a new adjustment layer - hue / saturation. Set
the saturation to -20. Create a new adjustment
layer - selective color correction; Red: Cyan: -20,
yellow: +30. Press Ctrl + I and just brush her
hair with the brush set to white. Yet another new
adjustment layer - selective color correction, set
Neutral: Cyan: +8, magenta: -3, Yellow: +8, black
-2. To brighten eyes, go to: New Adjustment Layer
- Curves; output: 143 input 109. Press Ctrl + I and
brush on the iris.
07
Step 7
Merge the layers with the initial one. Duplicate it.
Select the Burn tool, set shadows and 5% opacity.
Brush in shaded areas. Same thing for the lights.
Select the Dodge tool, set lights to 7% opacity
and brush areas light. Finally to give a contrast,
duplicate the layer, go to filter – sharpen
– sharpen.
by Carla Cabras
.psd Photoshop 27
beauty retouch
How to
retouch your picture
Source Files
In this tutorial I am going to explain few steps to achieve a nice and good
looking photo. I will be using Adobe Photoshop software and Wacom Intuos4
M tablet. The software isn’t a-must-have one – you may use any type of soft
that has a dodge and burn tool, clone stamp and brush. The tablet IS a-must-
have one. Whole postporcess will be very difficult for ones who operate only
with mouse. So… Let’s get started.
Chapter I. Step 2.
The main preparations. Now you need to get a photo for retouch. If you are going to practice only – you can search
Uncle Google for photos of celebrates for example. You can also download a free-image from
Step 1. such services as www.deviantart.org or www.sxc.hu (remember to always read the licence).
First thing you need to do – is to set up Finally you can grab your camera and shoot someone… For the purpose of this tutorial I’ve
some preferences of your software to make chosen the third option. I`m an amateur in photography and I don’t have a pro camera, so don’t
your work comfortable. Because I`m using mind the quality of the base image. As we can see the photo is quite dark, the skin isn’t perfect
Photoshop – I`ll show you my settings and the model has some strange colors reflected from the studio (which was my room).
– and you’ll have to find out how to set them
up in your software (if other than PS). First
thing to do is to set the hotkeys for Dodge
Tool and Burn Tool (Edit->Keyoard Shortcuts
| Alt+Shift+Ctrl+K). Because we will use
them a lot – we need to have a quick access
to them – that’s why I set [A] for Dodge
and [S] for Burn. Next you have to change
settings for Dodge and Burn tools. Just
take a look at the screenshot and set those
settings the same for Dodge tool and Burn
tool. After that go to Brushes [F5] and turn
on Other dynamics and Smoothing – again
the same for Dodge Tool and Burn Tool. Now
you’re ready to go to step 2.
28 .psd Photoshop
how to retouch your picture
Step 3. Step 1.
So now we are going to fix the main problems First of all – you have to duplicate your background into a layer you will work on. To do that
with color, contrast and levels. To do that go – click on the Background and go Ctrl+J – and there you go! You have a nice Background-
to Layer->New adjustment layer->Curves and copy layer – and you’re ready to start to remove skin artifacts and etc. To do that – you
change the curve untill you’re satisfied with the have at least 3 different tools to use.
result. For my photo I’ve set the curves like that.
I’ve noticed that the brightest areas of the picture • Spot Healing Brush Tool,
were now too bright – so I painted over those • Clone Stamp,
with Soft Brush [B] (Opacity set to 40%, Other • Dodge and Burn Tool.
Dynamics on and set to Pen Pressure – just
like here [plik other_dynamics.jpg]) using Black The first one is good for removing very small imperfections. Clone Stamp is good for
Color. I like this way of tweaking the Adjustment eresing single hairs that just ruin the image, refining the nails or removing highlighted
Layers – because you can always go back to areas. Dodge and Burn tools are usefull for all of those things and I`m using them most
them and change the settings – that keeps often. While retouching the skin I`m trying to achieve very nice, soft – but still skin,
the work fast and simple. Another step was to that’s why I`m not duplicating the skin and bluring it – because then you will loose all
brighten the background using Levels (Layer- of the skin texture and it will look unnatural. Dodge and Burn tools are amazing here,
>New Adjustment Layer->Levels) and painting because you can blend out the imperfections without loosing the skin texture. All you
out the areas I didn’t want to change. Last thing need to remember is to keep the brush size small, and work small and slow instead of big
in this step was warming a bit the colors. For and fast. The same way you will retouch the skin folds and etc. It’s a good way to turn off
this purpose I’ve used the Color Balance (Layer- and on the visibility of your copied layer to see the differences – that’s how you will keep
>New Adjustment Layer->Color Balance) and the output photo natural. I`ve marked few areas for example for you to understand where
I was playing around with the sliders to achieve to use what kind of tool.
desired effect.
Wen you finish your color corrections you
may want to put the Adjustment Layers into
a group – I did it, because that way I was able to
turn them on and off quickly to check the image
without them.
After those steps you are ready to go to the
Chapter II.
Chapter II. Retouching the skin.

Memo
Starting from this step it’s good to work in 100%
zoom (or higher) and zooming out from time to
time. It’s important because that’s how you can
spot some mistakes you’ve made or left unfixed.
Keep that in mind while all the postprocess work
described further.
.psd Photoshop 29
beauty retouch
Step 2.
When you’re satisfied with retouched skin imperfections and skin
folds – you will need to darken the highlighted areas caused by
the flashlight. Again – to save the skin texture – you use the Clone
Stamp set to Darken, opacity set to 30-40%, size – not too big – still
keep to the small and slow rule.
Hint.
While using Dodge tool and Burn tool for a long time you will notice
some color changes to the skin (or other surface you’re working
on). To fix it take your Brush tool [B] set it to Color, Opacity 30-40%,
pick the natural skin color from the photo and paint out the strange
colors.
Step 2.
You will always need to look at the fingers and nails if they appear on
the picture. Nails will have to be perfect just as the skin etc. So grab your
Clone Stamp Tool, set it to Normal, Opacity to 100%, size small enough
and picking the nearest spot draw the proper nail shape. Then using
Dodge and Burn Tool blend it and give it a nice shiny effect. If you want
to change to color of the nail – just take your Brush Tool, set it to Color,
Opacity 30-40%, size small again and paint over the nails with color you
want. Sometimes you will need to remove color from the nails before – to
do that grab your Lasso Tool [L], select the nails and push Shift+Ctrl+U.
This will desaturate your nails. Then paint over the nails with your Brush
Tool and color you want. After that push Ctrl+D to deselect. If you look
close to earlier screenshots you will notice that shape of the finger in
After changed. To change the shape you need to select an area you
want to work on – for example the hand (again Lasso Tool) and push
Shift+Ctrl+X (Filter->Liquify…). Set up the preferences similar to pickture
below and using Forward Warp Tool [W] change the shape you want
(remember to stick to the small and slow rule). The same way you can
fix the shape of lips, eyes, eyebrows, arms and etc.
Chapter III. Removing hairs, refining nails,

fixing shapes, eyes and lips.
Step 1.
Removing hair needs combining Dodge and Burn tool with
Healing Brush Tool. HBT is similar to Spot Healing Brush Tool
but with Healing Brush Tool it’s you who picks the source area.
First thing to do is erasing those single hair using Healing Brush
Tool (set size just around 2x bigger than the single hair). You
need to instantly check the source space – and change it when
needed – to avoid mistakes. After that you take your Dodge Tool
and Burn Tool to blend the skin nicely and smoothly. If you want
to remove some hair strands you don’t need – my suggestion is
to use Clone Stamp Tool set to Lighten, with opacity around 70%
and then Dodge and Burn Tool to blend. Here are some screens
from my work.
30 .psd Photoshop
Step 3.
The last thing to do in this chapter is fixing the
eyes and lips. Let’s take the eyes first. You have to
remove the reflected colors from the eyeball. Take
your Brush Tool, set it to Color and pick up some nice
gray shade from the eye. Paint over the eyeball untill
you’re satisfied. Use Dodge and Burn Tools to blend
and remove those eye-veins cause nobody wants to
see them. You can also make a selection and push
Shift+Ctrl+U to remove color from the eyeball but
it depends on the photo – remember you want the
picture to look natural. To increase the contrast on
the pupil it’s good to use Brush Tool set to Multiply
(to darken some areas) – other settings the same
(play with Hardness – it depends on what you want
to achieve – for example, if you want to draw some
aditional lashes or eyebrows set Hardness to 90%,
if you want to work over some bigger areas such
as the pupil – set Hardness to 20-40%). You may
want to refine lashes and eyebrows to make the
model look more feminine. To do that – again Brush
Tool set to Normal this time, Hardness around 90%,
size really small (as I worked on the image sized
2600x3900 px in 240dpi, I was using size 4 for lashes
and eyebrows) but this time remember to turn on
the Shape dynamics in the Brushes Menu [F5] and
set Size Jitter to react on Pen Pressure. Don’t forget
to turn this off when you finish your eyelashes or
eyebrows or etc – it may cause some problems when
you work on something else. Here you can see how
I did the eyes in my photo.
Step 4.
Lips. What you are going to do with lips depends on many
aspects, for example – model wish, your imagination,
directors directive. My model wanted to have lips brighter
than you can see in the original picture. First of all I tried
to blend and balance the shadows on the lips – ofcourse
using Dodge and Burn tools again. Next I’ve selected
the lips area with Lasso Tool, and using Liquify filter
[Shift+Ctrl+X] I’ve refined shape of the lips too. Next step
was lighten them up – I’ve done that using Dodge Tool but
this time I was using bigger size of the brush (adjust your
size to fit the lips). Aditionally you can boost the color of
lips for example using a Brush Tool set to Soft Light (or
Overlay – it depends on what effect you want to achieve),
Opacity 30-40% using color picked up from the lips. To
change the color you will need to desaturate lips first,
then use Brush Tool set to Color (but in my opinion it’s not
the best idea). Take a look at the screenies to see what it
looks like in my photo.
Memo
You may say that I’ve forgot about the hair. Yes – it may look this way – but I must
say that I’ve found the hair look so good and natural and there was no need to fix
them. But If you need to fix the hair – then the steps to do that are mostly the
same as the rest. But The easiest way to boost the haircut a bit is to create two
Adjustment Layers -> Curves, one set to lighten the image and the other one to
darken the image. Than click on the layer mask (Layers Window), Ctrl+I to reverse
it and then, using the Brush Tool, small size, Other dynamics turned on and color
White – you highlight the bright strands (that would be Curves that lighten the
image) and darken the shadows (Curves that darken the image). You can also
add some hairs using the Brush Tool (on the new layer) with a very small size,
sharp edge, Shape dynamics turned on and Other dynamics turned off, opacity
around 90% - but this will be pretty tough and needs some practice.
.psd Photoshop 31
beauty retouch
Chapter 4. Final touch.

You’re almost done. Assuming you have succesfully went through all those long, borring and time-eating steps I`ve described before - there’s
some quick corrections to do – and the picture is finished. First you have to zoom out and ask yourself Hmm… Do I like it? If you do click Save as
Noooo…. :D Not that fast! I`m almost sure you will not like it just like that (well I didn’t). I was still able to point some strange colors on the skin that
were hard to hide. I wasn’t also happy with overall color temperature of the picture. So here is what I did.
Step 1.
With my Color Picker I’ve picked up a nice, natural color of the skin. I`ve created a new layer over
my Background-copy layer (the one we were working on in Chapter 2 and 3) and under the Group
made for color corrections (we’ve created it in Chapter 1). Then I’ve just filled the whole layer with
my skin-natural-color, I’ve added a Layer Mask (it’s the gray square with white circle in the middle
icon placed in your Layers Window). After that I`ve set this layer blend mode to Color, played
around with Opacity and Flow of that layer to achieve desired skin tone and then, using Brush
Tool set to Normal, Opacity 100%, all dynamics turned off – I’ve painted on the Layer Mask over the
areas I didn’t want to have a skin-natural-color (such as hair, lips, eyes etc). It’s good to start with
biiig brush so you can quickly cut out unnecessarry areas, and then grab some smaller brush to
refine the edges of our Layer Mask – all of that to make the picture look most natural.
Step 2.
I still wasn’t happy with the result. Mostly because of the low
contrast. So I’ve created another Adjustment Layer (Layer->New
Adjustmend Layer->Gradient Map) with gradient from dark and
bright skin tone of the model. I’ve set the blending mode of that
layer to Overlay and again – playing around with Opacity and Flow
sliders to get the desired result.
After that my picture looked like this:
32 .psd Photoshop
Last step.
Now you’re going to sharpen the
image. It will be better if you don’t
use the Filter->Sharpen options.
You can try other way instead.
Simply push Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E (this
will make new layer with your
image) or create a new layer and
go to Image->Apply Image. Next
set the layer’s blending mode to
Overlay, go to Filter->Other->High
pass set the Radious to 2,0 and
click OK. Now you need to play
with Opacity of the layer to get
the desired result. You can create
a Layer Mask to this layer and
paint with Black color to erase
the sharpen effect from the areas
you don’t want to be sharpened.
Because my picture has kind-a
plain background – I’ve ignored
that step. Finish, finito, we’re
done…
by Michael Ziemak
.psd Photoshop 33
Restoring
the past
From this tutorial you will learn how to restore an old photo and take care of the faded areas
as well as color balance.
medium | 1 h.
corel paint shop pro photo X2
restoring the past
01
Source Files
Step 1
With the original photo in hand we can see that it
is faded and color aged, with minor problems with
risks and scratches. Here we have a photo from
1977, taken in south of Brazil.
02
Step 2
Now, for questions of fidelity we are going to
keep the original photo and start adjusting the
faded photo. You can use the Fade Correction
Adjust at will, but keep in mind that in some
cases it will dark the image. Therefore, we use
here a level of 45 to get the faded colors better.
Adjust>color>fade correction>amount 45.
03
Step 3
Than, we can use an effect that will sharp a lithe
and improve brightness of the image. Take care to
use it; a higher amount of this effect will get the
photo too sharp. I used an amount of five in this
case, it gets a good effect and do not affect the
original aspect of the photo. Adjust>Brightness
and Contrast>Clarify>amount 5
.psd Photoshop 35
picture restoring
04
Step 4
A little bit of Contrast and Brightness. A value of 10
of each will be good enough. Adjust>Brightness
and Contrast>Brightness/Contrast>amount of
brightness 10 / amount of contrast 10.
05
Step 5
Lets remove some minor specks of the image with
the Salt and Pepper filter. In many cases a low
value will be good enough. Adjust>Add/Remove
Noise>Salt and Pepper Filter…>Speck size (pixels)
10/Sensitivity to specks 2.
06
Step 6
We are almost finished here; we can adjust the
color to be a little bit warmer using the color balance
option. I used here a preset adjust. Adjust>Color
Balance…>Settings>Fluorescent – Cool (4300K) So
here, it is, you do not have to change many physical
aspects of the image using tools like the clone tool,
we used just some filters and that is the result.
Keep in mind that the restoration of old photos
needs to change just a few things to keep it as an
original photo, not a photoshoped one.
by Fabiano Uesler
36 .psd Photoshop
contributing writers
Lina Eriksson cover artist Katrina Gonzales

I’m a 22 year old from Sweden who loves to paint, especially I love photography and manipulate my photos in Photoshop
when I started doing it on the computer. Messing with sticky oil CS3 to edit the colors. I always want my photos to look
colours has never been my thing. I’ve been painting more or less happy and colorful. Every time I take photos, I always put
since I was 17 but it wasn’t until 3 years ago when I started to my emotions and feelings into it. To improve my skills, I
use the comp and corel painter to draw that I was hooked. So I always watch tutorials on the internet to learn more about
am still quite a noob and learn new things everyday! When I’m photography and manipulation.
not painting I study Digital Media Design at a university and I Please visit my Portfolio and Deviantart Account:
hope I can use my interest in a future occupation. <http://tomatokisses.deviantart.com/>
<http://tomatokisses.daportfolio.com/>
Travis Wright
Michael Ziemak
I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember, one of those
kids that just forgot to put the pencil down and do something I was born in 1981, I come from Poland. My adventure with
else. I’m originally from Brisbane, Australia, where I previously Photoshop started few years ago and it was all about Virtual
completed a couple of independent comic stories. I’ve never Tuning. Then I caught myself thinking Hey… It’s a lot of fun
been to any formal art school or college and am happy to – working with photos. Right now I`m studying computer
admit that I am mostly self-taught. I moved to Japan in 2005 graphics and I`m willing to work as a graphic or digital
to get a new outlook on life and fell into the world of digital painter. Photography and drawing was (and still is) my
painting, which I immediately fell in love with. I have worked on hobby and my goal is to improve my skills to be very good at
various game-mods, card and board games, and comic books. what I love to do. Tutorials found on the websites helped me a
lot – and I hope my one will help you as well. If you have any
questions – please note me on deviantart – you will find link
Alex Eckman-Lawn to my account at the end of my tutorial.
Alex Eckman-Lawn is a vicious young illustrator who completed mishaart.deviantart.com or mishaart.digart.pl or
the Illustration program at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. mishaart.artician.com or grafart.org
He graduated in 2007 with various awards in Illustration and
writing. Alex has worked with bands like Psyopus, Architect, Alena Azareva
Yakuza, Dark Tranquility and Circle of Dead Children, designing
tshirts and album art. He has also done design and/or artwork Hello ! My name is Alena. I am 29 years old. I live in Russia,
for Willowtip Records Debello Records, Tribunal Records, Black in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny. Naberezhnye Chelny is
Market Activities, and Century Media, and Scholastic Books. He the second largest city in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.
is currently hard at work illustrating Awakening, an existential I have been drawing since childhood. I studied at the School
horror comic book being published by Archaia Studios Press. of Art at the artist. There I drew painting, figure, was engaged
Alex uses a combination of photo and traditional media with in a sculpture and studied history of arts. Then I went to the
heavy digital work in photoshop and painter. graphic design courses, and began to paint in Photoshop. I
love to paint in the style of Fantasy: fairies, elves, mermaids
and angels. I use Photoshop and Wacom Intuos3.
Andrew Hall Website: http://alenalazareva.daportfolio.com
My name is Andrew Hall and I live in Jackson, Mississippi. Email: alenka.lazareva@mail.ru
When not designing, I can be found hanging out with BLOG : http://alenalazareva.blogspot.com/
friends, surfing the web, or playing a computer game. The
two programs I use the most are Adobe Photoshop and
Illustrator. I just received an Associates degree for Graphic Ylena Peronti
Design Technology at Hinds Community College and am Ylenia Peronti. I’m 19 years old italian artist. From 3 years
ready to build up a portfolio of clients. I have a passion for photo retouch and generally for
phtoshop so I started to practice retouch first on what I
Carla Cabras call „extreme makeover”, as described in this tutorial, and
then devot himelf to studying professional photo retouching
Carla Cabras, 18, born in Sassari (Sardinia - Italy-). She attends refining technical professional and actually retouch
the fourth year of the Institute of Art “F. Figari”, course graphics fashion shots. I’m supermoderator in the Forum Graphics
design and photography. The passion of the photoretouch www.graficicreativi.com and I manage especially the section
comes about a year ago. She has learned the photoretouch, of photoretouch. you can find me at the following links:
watching only some tutorials on the web. www.yleniaperonti.wordpress.com
http://yleniuccia.deviantart.com/
Fabiano Uesler
About me: Claudia McKinney
Name: Fabiano Uesler; Age: 32; Job: Portuguese teacher and
She says her work is like her own version of keeping a
photo restorer; City: Blumenau; State: Santa Catarina; Country:
journal. Each piece represents a time in Claudia’s life so
Brazil.
she can instantly recall what was happening. Her first book
– Light Beneath Ferns by Anne Spollen cover out in February .
Rasha Al-Najjar
Rasha Al-Najjar is a 22 year old Graphic Design student in
her final year of university. Although not a professional in Zena Santos
any respect, she enjoys working to expand upon her hobby
of drawing and character design and encourages others to At a young age I found a love for Photoshop, finding what was
get out there and create some new and exciting worlds and possible in the program to be wonderful, but then Illustrator
concepts. Illustration has always been her passion and she was introduced to me and I found it being more helpful to
doubts that she’ll ever become bored with it because there will my illustratve style. Currently I study at Billy Blue College of
always be something new to draw. Design in Sydney and will graduate at the end of 2010.
02/2008 37
white hand type
White Hand
Type
Source Files
In this tutorial I will teach you how to make a photo-realistic rendering of a picture using
Photoshop. You will learn how to lay down type in Photoshop, using various effects to
create a 3D look from your image. By eliminating the need for different colors to be
used as texture, this tutorial focuses on making an image “pop” out of what is really
just a bunch of text in different shapes in the same color. By the end of this tutorial, you
should be able to apply this knowledge to any image, and create unique text art that is
entirely your own.
01 Stock provider – Mallory Heinz/USA.

http://box-o-fox-stock.deviantart.com/.
Step 1
First you need a stock image you can lay your text
on. A common technique for Illustrator users is to
draw their designs on paper, scan it in, and trace/
draw directly on top of the image in the program.
We are going to take the same approach with a
stock image. After finding your stock photo, open
it up in Photoshop. You are going to want your im-
age size to be high enough that you can see the
details of the photo, but low enough that you don’t
get lost in the image while laying your text down.
For me, about 800 pixels wide or tall is best. To
change the size of your image go to Image>Image
Size and select 800 pixels in either the wide or
tall text box. Make sure Constrain Proportions is
checked in the bulleted buttons, or your image
will stretch. I also turned my image sideways
to the way I wanted it by going to Image>Image
Rotation.
02
Step 2
Create a solid background of your choice. Mine is a
lime green color. I made a new layer and used the
Paint Bucket Tool located under the Gradient Tool.
.psd Photoshop 39
typography
03
Step 3
Turn off visibility on your new background. Create
a new layer and type out your text with the Hori-
zontal Type Tool. Click your Move Tool. Hold down
[ctrl]+[T] (or [command]+[T] on a Mac) to Free
Transform. Roughly size it down to about the size
of the space you want the text to fit in. Now select
your text with the Horizontal Type Tool and click
Create Warped Text. Choose a style and modify
how it looks to your liking. I chose Arc, and set it
to +19% on Bend. Hit OK and use Free Transform to
resize and rotate the image to where you want it.
04
Step 4
Repeat this process by following the contours of
the image underneath. Keep consistent with the
inner shapes of the background only deviating
from size/shape every so often to make a word
pop from the shapes at a distance. Don’t be afraid
to get the type real tiny either, even if you can’t
read it at actual size. Every so often, click on the
visibility of your solid background layer and look
at it from a distance. The more the type blends
together to show an image, the better.
05
Step 5
A good design element is to let text go off the
canvas. In this piece I’ve created depth by simply
making the type larger on the arm, than the palm
or anywhere else.
40 .psd Photoshop
white hand type
06
Step 6
Pay attention to negative and positive space! How
tightly you pack the type or how much space you
put between elements is important. This space
counts as a shape in its own right.
07
Step 7
Some tips: The Bulge style in Warp Text is perfect
for cylindrical shapes while the Arc, Flag, and Rise
styles are great for outlining and curvy shapes.
Hold down your spacebar while using a tool be-
sides the Type Tool to turn your cursor into the
Hand Tool whenever you need to quickly click and
drag your canvas around. Now fill up all that space
with the same curves and shapes on the image.
08
Step 8
08 Once you’ve filled up the original image with
type, turn on the solid background you made ear-
lier. I added a white inner stroke to blend into the
type bleeding off the page in Layer Style>Stroke.
And you’re done! Save as a .jpg, or whatever im-
age file type you prefer.
by Andrew Hall
.psd Photoshop 41
medium | 18 h.
adobe photoshop CS3
the heart of town
for The Heart
of Town
Source Files
In my tutorial I will focus on the collage and building part of my process. I often
start with a black and white image, and work until I like the balance and values,
then add the color. Hopefully this tutorial will give you some ideas for your own
work as well as showing you how to combine photo collage and digital painting
in a less sterile way than the typical matte paintings. First things first, I did a
quick and rough sketch just to give myself a VERY basic idea of where I want
the piece to start. You’ll notice that the finishes is quite different from my
sketch, which I think is fine in personal work! In fact, it’s part of what keeps
things exciting, in my opinion.
01
Step 1
So I’ve started to do some light painting, using
a slightly textured custom brush with about 30
opacity and 40 flow, just covering up most of the
pencil to start with. I’ve done a tiny bit of render-
ing in the face, nothing too intense. I’ve also added
some ink and splatter to keep things looking more
alive. Sometimes doing inks in the computer can
look way too clean or soft. Getting a sense of grit
early on is important, and even if you cover it up
as you build overtop it will enrich the final prod-
uct, I promise. So far things are looking kind of
boring. It’s too still, too peaceful, not very dynamic
or interesting.
02
Step 2
That’s better! I’ve decided not to stick so closely to
the sketch, and let the city spill out over the bor-
der. I want some chaos and movement around my
figure so I’ve decided to build the city up around
and on top of him. The person can stay serene
and still as long as the city has life and motion
to it. (insert building1.jpg and building3.jpg) I
grab a few photos I took around town that I think
could work, play with the levels until I find what
feels like the right balance, and then pile them on!
Painting out sections with the layer mask helps
things to blend together a bit more easily, but at
this point it’s really all about shapes.
.psd Photoshop 43
creative class
03
Step 3
Now I’m actually getting excited about the piece.
I like the shapes and adding the powerlines (a fa-
vorite crutch of mine) keeps the eye moving and
feels appropriate to the piece. (insert wires.jpg,
buildings2.jpg and buildings4.jpg) for the wires
I upped the contrast all the way on some photos
of phone lines and then copy sections I want,
and paste them as a multiply layer. Then it’s just
a matter of banding them to look natural using
transform-warp. I use some new building facades
as well to filll some of the space around our cen-
tral figure, and set the layer property to screen. I
also add some grey tone at this stage, and paint
parts out with the layer mask to get a nice value
structure and make sure the right places get
focus. I want to make sure my figure doesn’t get
TOO buried since he is our focal point.
04
Step 4
This step is mostly just little adjustments, piling
on more little pieces and texture to fill out the
piece. I want there to be tons of wires, telephone
poles, lamp posts, etc. I’ve added a section of
fence, some street lights, all the things that catch
my eye when I’m in the city, and also that crazy
splattery eclipsed sun. (insert buildings5.jpg and
texture.jpg) I’ve also overlayed this pretty awe-
some running paint texture over sections that felt
too flat and dull. It’s really handy to keep a folder
of pictures like this one (preferably that you take
yourself). I think it goes a long way towards keep-
ing things from looking too clean and sterile, and
a sort of human touch is something that’s really
important to me in my work. To this end I’ve also
added some more ink and splatter, as well as a
little oil paint texture, since I did bury most of the
ink from the early stages. At this point I’m pretty
happy with how things are looking in black and
white, and we can flatten and add some color.
05 Step 5
I’ll let you all in on a trick that I use fairly often. Image-adjustment-variations. It’s not
terribly refined, but it can be a great way to add some color to a flat b/w image. I usually
make a copy of the flat image, then try out some variations, lower the opacity and layer
them until I’ve got some rich an interesting color as a base to work on top of. Then it’s just
the usual color overlays, a bit of texture work, and some multiply layers. I paint into the
face some more at this point to give it a bit of a glow and a richer skintone. I mostly do this
with a few overlay and soft light layers with varying opacity, and a low opacity brush, then
some highlights to finish him off. I’ve added some dot tone to the architectural sections at
this stage also to give them some more texture and also help differentiate between build-
ing and man. I wasn’t the man to seem nestled in, surrounded, even a part of the build-
ing, but still markedly distinct from them, at least texturally. Basically this stage is a lot
of little refining touches and push and pull. I added the blue windows and shapes at the
bottom at the very end of the process and I don’t think I was satisfied with the piece until I
did. I’m always a big fan of tan and blue as a color scheme, and I think they do a lot to draw
the eye through the piece. It’s always worth exploring weird color experiments, especially
in digital work like this, since you never have to really commit to anything. Well there you
have it! Hopefully this was at all helpful, and if you didn’t learn anything, maybe my crazy
process gave you some ideas to try out in your own stuff. Good luck and keep it brutal.
by Alex Eckman
44 .psd Photoshop
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medium | 30 min.
adobe photoshop CS3 | adobe illustrator CS3
repeating pattern
Repeating
Pattern
In the following tutorial I will show you that it is not a matter of Photoshop vs
Illustrator, But rather they complement one another. I wouldn’t be surprised
if Adobe mesh these two programs as one, one day.I bet every designer has
wondered how repeating patterns were made Traditionally they can be tedious
and time consuming. But digitally its a sinch.
01
New Ai Document
Open a new documwent in illustrator make it any
size as this will just be place where we make the
elements we will use for the repeating pattern.
TIP: L 02
Keyboad shortcut for
the elipse tool will be
very handy the more
you work in illustrator.
Make a Circle
The follwing steps will show how you can make
easy pattern motifs from a simple circle in
illustrator. So firstly make a circle.
.psd Photoshop 47
creative class
03
Drag Anchor Point

Drag right anchor point with the direct selection
tool ( not the black, but the white arrow tool) .
Knowing how anchor points work are very useful
across both Photoshop and Illustrator.
04
Rotate Duplicate
Now get the rotate tool and reposition the little
registration circle that appears when you select
this tool, to the edge of the smallest curve, hold
alt/ option and rotate, you’ll have a duplicate. Now
for the magic, press cmd/ctrl d to see a simple
graphic become a beautiful flower.
05
Reflect n Unite
Alternatively, from step three you could make
a leaf. Select the Convert Anchor Point tool and
click once on the right most anchor point. It will
make it pointy. Now select the releflect tool and
reposition the registration point that appears on
the left edge. Now, while pressing option/ alt click
and drag towards the left, adjust with the move
tool if needed, then use the pathfinder to unite
these shapes. Play around with the pathfinder
until you have a desireable leaf shape.
48 .psd Photoshop
repeating pattern
06 TIP: Color
If you keep the swatches panel close to
whatever artwork you want to color and ensure
the fill is active, you can drag and drop color
onto the closed paths’s fills.
Art Brush
Now to make a cool leaf/ flower brush,select either
graphic and drag and drop it into the brushes
panel, an option box will pop up. Select art brush
and specify the above deails.
07
Draw On
Select the Brush tool and select either the Flower
or Leaf and paint, notice how they follow the
shape of the drawn path.
08
New PS Doc
Now its off to Photoshop. Document size can be
any size just ensure that it is a square shape.
.psd Photoshop 49
creative class
09
Compose
When composing the pattern within Photoshop
try to design with a heirarchy in mind it will make
the end pattern look better, also ensure to not
touch the edges or corners of the document or
else it will not repeat. A way to compose is via the
Free Transform tool [cmd/ctrl T].
10
Offset=Repeat
Group all the graphics [Cmd/ Ctrl G] and Merge
[Cmd/Ctrl E] and apply the Offset filter under
Other.
11
Toggle to Corners
Toggle the settings of the offset filter until you get
the graphics to cover the corners of the document.
The offset filter is key to a seamless repeating
pattern, as it cuts out one edge and re-appears on
the opposite edge.
50 .psd Photoshop
repeating pattern
12
Fill and Repeat

Fill in the rest of the white and space and repeat
Steps 11-12 until desired design is achieved.
13
Define Pattern
Merge the the pattern design in one layer
exculding the background. Select the merged layer
and define the pattern via the Edit Menu, name
the pattern.
14
Apply the Pattern

Make a new layer and fill it with any solid colour.
Double click on this layer apply a pattern overlay
and select the pattern you have just made.
Play around with the scale slider and see how it
seamlessly repeats.
by Zena Santos
.psd Photoshop 51
Tree
House
We always dream about seeing the beauty of nature, so I always visit various galleries from
great artists and photographers on the internet. I’m always inspired by their artwork, so I
decided to make a manipulation of a beautiful landscape. In this tutorial, you will learn to
make your photo manipulation look like one natural photograph. The important thing is to
keep on practicing to enhance your skills as an artist.
beginer | 15-30 min.

adobe photoshop CS3
tree house
01
Source Files
Step 1 Step 2
Open the Tree/Field stock image in Photoshop Align the images between the field and the trees.
(This will be your base). After that, open the Sky Change the layer of the Sky stock image from Nor-
stock image and drag it to the base using the mal to Darken. I used 100% for the Opacity and Fill
Move Tool or press [V]. Adjust the size of your levels. If you want to make it a little bit lighter, you
base image to 1600x1200 or whatever size you can adjust it to a setting between 95-98% opacity.
want for your image. To adjust it, click Image, then Erase the excess sky on the trees using the Eraser
change the width to 1600 and the height to 1200. Tool (Press [E]).
02
.psd Photoshop 53
creative class
03
Step 3 Step 4
Open the stock image of the dandelion field and For the final step, use Actions to make the colors
press [E] to erase the tree, mountain, and sky. of the tree, field, and sky more even. You can
Drag it to the base using the Move Tool. Align it download Photoshop Actions from the internet.
between the trees and the field. If there is still I always use Photoshop Actions on my images
excess, erase the top of the field to make it more because it really helps my photographs become
natural like a single photograph. more colorful. You can also adjust the color of
your images by changing them in Color Balance
[Ctrl]+[B].
04
by Katrina Gonzales
54 .psd Photoshop
Mystic
Harbor
I chose this tutorial because often times some tutorials in magazines are a bit
difficult for newbies. I wanted to offer something that Anyone could do – even my
eight year old son. It's important to feel successful at something when learning
and I hope this tutorial will give you that. Expect to try a few times until you're
happy with it. Don't stress – just create and remember to have fun. The most
important thing I tell people is learn to train your eye. Read art magazines – look
at a lot of paintings – why? Because this will help train your eyes in color and
placement – depth of field, and so much more. I hope you enjoy this one.
beginer | 2 h.
adobe photoshop CS4 | cintiq wacom tablet
photomanipulation
01
Source Files
Step 1
Background picture from fotolia – as your main
layer. Pick something that has good resolution
and depth. I love ocean settings so this one suited
me nicely.
02
Step 2
Duplicate Layer and make color balance adjust-
ment to your liking. Play with the settings until
you have the warmth and tones you like. I wanted
something here that was warm – yet at the same
time, had a cooler mysterious feeling to it. The
color balance is just the tool to help me with that
effect. Be careful not to overdo it – slight adjust-
ments for this kind of thing is usually all you need.
03
Step 3
Add Curves Adjustment Layer to add more drama
to the picture (darken tones and bring out sky).
Bring down the S curve to add darkness – you can
see how immediately this will add a lot of great
contrast and give you some very dramatic effects
with the sky. One of my favorite tools!
58 .psd Photoshop
mystic harbor
04
Step 4
Add Boat Layer (mask out or erase – which-
ever you prefer) bottom half of pic so that the
boats mesh with the underlying layer. I would
recommend masking if you're a newbie – add
layer mask, reveal all. And with a low opacity black
brush start masking out those areas of the boat
picture that don't work for the scene. Like the
brush in front....remember though, you can leave
a slight trace, if you do it correctly – then it can
add an almost kind of texture to your image as
you see here in mine. Just a little though because
this is not really considered a textured art piece.
05
Step 5
Add Cloud Pic – Gaussian Blur until well blended
and then set to soft light. I usually Guassian blur
something like this to the max it wil go and then
move it around to give it the right tone, contrast
and light effects. See what works for you – you
might not want to Guassian Blur as much. Start
with a low number and move up to see the differ-
ent effects it can give.
06
Step 6
Add Color Balance Adjustment Layer – we want to
play with some more tones here. I wanted even
more color so I added this adjustment. If I'm happy
with it but still not perfect, I leave it alone here and
move on to another color adjustment – to make
sure I don't lose the progress I've made. When
you find you are at a good spot with color – STOP
– and go to another adjustment to continue on.
This way you insure you won't lose permanently
the color choices you've made and are happy with.
.psd Photoshop 59
photomanipulation
07
Step 7
Add yet another Color Balance Adjustment Layer –
final one. A tweak here and a tweak there and I'm
satisfied. If there are parts of the adjusment you
don't like, remember – you can use a low opacity
black brush and take those areas out with mask-
ing. This is always reversible by painting over it in
white....remember?
08
Step 8
Add Curves Adjustment Layer (Hide All) and bring
out with white brush, low opacity, those areas
where you want there to be more light cast. Go
easy here but if you feel still not enough light
= then up the opacity of the brush and go with
a larger soft edged brush. See if that brings out
more of the sky for you. The hide all feature is
such a great way to add things with adjustment
masks – color, light, everything.... This is a very
simple manip – and i hope it helps you to learn a
few new techniques.
by Claudia McKinney
60 .psd Photoshop
medium | 2 h.
adobe photoshop CS2
secret place
Secret
Place
Source Files
Usually I get inspired from my own feelings, for example, my dreams, memories, or when
I’m missing somebody. My favourite work, Secret Place, was one piece that came from
my own experiences. I have spent a lot of time on swings with my best friend Rose and
have been swinging on my own, lonely, since losing her. I decided to make a piece of art
featuring swings with solitude as the theme, since that’s also my favourite subject. An
important thing for me while I’m creating art is to show deep emotion and make the image
realistic-looking. I must say, it’s hard to create a melancholic atmosphere. I find that
atmosphere, well-shown feelings, and great colours are the most important things in art.
1.Choice of Stock 2.Making a New Document

We have to look for stock that is easy to cut and manipulate with good con- I prefer to work on a 1300px x 2000 px canvas because when
trast and lighting. I know it’s hard to find the perfect one but it’s also a funny you finish your work and resize it to something smaller, your
process because some stocks can inspire you even further. Secret Place is small mistakes will disappear because the image will lose
about a lonely girl who is doing what she likes: swinging. some quality as it shrinks. After making new document and
To portray sadness, I was looking not for the swing, but for a model who opening all the stock images you’ll need, move them to your
had a sad face. It’s not hard to find perfect stock images when you know the canvas. To begin your first composition, lower the opacity lev-
exact type of stock you need. The girl for this piece had to be lonely, sad, and el of your stock images and move them around and play with
abandoned. To portray loneliness, I decided to look for a deep forest because resizing options, rotation, and anything else you want to do.
forests have something magical about them and there’s a great sense of si- This process is something like sketching down our first ideas
lence to them, so you can relax and think about several things while you’re as we put together our concept. At first, change the opacity of
alone. I thought that pairing the swing and the sad girl together with a forest the stock image featuring grass and flowers to about 30-40%
would look wonderful. and move it to the bottom of your layers panel. Now we have
I’ve picked these images to use: an idea of where we’re going, a bit of composition:
.psd Photoshop 63
photomanipulation
3.Blending 4.Blending the Forest

Manipulating and blending images together is the Now it’s time to manipulate and blend our beautiful forest. At first, we have to move, trans-
thing I like the most. Whenever I need to cut out form, or resize the forest to see what will look best with the other stock images.
and blend stock images, it’s a challenge for me. I Open your forest image and move it onto the canvas. I resized and moved mine
get more experience whenever I blend. I always around until it was the way I wanted it. At this time, we must repeat Step 3. We must blend
have to think about ways to cut the images the forest and girl together. Create a layer mask and set the opacity to 40% on the forest
or come up with ideas for how to blend or hide layer. Start blending with the black brush (hardness: 75%). Do not blend the chain; we’ll do
something.To blend images together, I usually that later. Blending images together isn’t a very nice experience unless you know how to
use masks. I find masks to be very comfortable blend them well.When we are done, duplicate the layer to be safe and hide it (click on the
tools. It’s easy to edit our blending: we can change eye next to your layer’s name).
anything whenever we want. It’s not like the
Eraser Tool when you want to change something
after two hours of work; it’s almost impossible to
do quickly.
Make a new mask with your grass stock.
There’s a button at the bottom of the layer panel
(You can also go to Layer>Enable Layer Mask. A
small white rectangle will appear on your stock
layer; press it.To blend large images, I usually
pick a large soft brush (Hardness set to 0% and
300px) and set it to black. Next, paint over your
grass stock. As you do, you should notice that the
black brush is working as an eraser. If you would
like to change something (For example, blending),
change the colour to white. Take a large soft brush (Hardness: 0%, 350px) and start blending the forest with the
Now, hide the unnecessary area of grass, grass. The result must be soft. Here we can see that the image doesn’t look that good. We
like this: need do something with these areas: [Img9.jpg]. I think the best way to make it better is
to use the Stamp Tool. I copied fragments of grass stock. Take the Stamp Tool and click on
the grass layer, copy some grass, and fill in your holes until it looks something like this:
Set the opacity of this layer to 40% and hide 5.Setting the Colour of the Forest
the grass from the girl’s body and the swing. It’s hard to chose the correct colour for your artwork because there are so many sets of
Change your brush to about 15px and the hard- colours. I wanted to make this scene magical and was wondering whether to use blue,
ness to about 75%. Zoom in at least 300% and orange, or green. Finally, I decided to pick a sharp, warm shade of green, which, I think,
start blending carefully. It can take some time, turned out to be a good idea. The green colour is nice on the eyes and can help the viewer
but the model need to be perfectly cut out. When relax. As you know, we can change our image colour in different ways depending on what
you’re done, set the opacity back to 100% and look result we want to achieve. Doing this piece,
for mistakes, then fix them with the white colour. I used several Variations because this tool is
easy to use and you can see the final effect
immediately. Before each step, I usually
duplicate the layer and hide it so I can go
back to it later. By doing this, whenever you
want to go back to your original image/layer,
you’ll always be able to. To use Variations, go
to Image>Adjustments>Variations. In these
small thumbnails, you can see your layer in
various different colours. Now, click on the
yellow colour three times.
Go back to your Blend Modes and choose
Gradient. I pick out a warm yellow (#e6cb6c).
Set your gradient to Line, scale it to about
108% with a 90° angle. Set this layer to Blend
Mode>Colour and change the opacity to 50%.
As you can see, the forest and the grass have
the same tones now. Setting the same colours
and tones to your images is another form of
blending.
64 .psd Photoshop
secret place
6.Blending the Chain 8.Making the Model Better

I think this is the hardest step of all. You need a lot of time and patience to blend this chain I was thinking about what I should change with my
well. Of course, you can also download chain brushes from somewhere or stamp in parts of model. I thought that longer hair would look better;
the chain. I like experimenting and getting more experience, so I did it manually, without us- personally, I like long, dark hair. Next, I wondered
ing brushes or the Stamp Tool. It took a long time, but now it looks great. Turn on your forest how to add some hair: Should I should paint the
layer, set the opacity to 40%, and click on mask. Choose a black brush with a hardness of strands or use brushes? I decided to look for a good
about 80%, sized at 4-5px. Now you have to be careful. pack of hair brushes. It wasn’t hard to find; there are
Start blending the chain; if you have a tablet, the process will be faster. I so many types of brushes to choose from. Now that
know it’s hard, boring, precise work, but by doing it this way, the final effect will we have our brushes, make a new layer titled Hair
look more natural than, for example, using a chain brush. When finished, zoom in and load the hair brushes from our stock pack. Set
about 200% and look for mistakes, then zoom out to 100% and see if it looks good. theforeground colour of your brush to light brown
If so, move on to the next step. and the background to dark brown, then brush some
hair onto your layer and switch colours, making
something like layers. By doing it this way, our hair
will look more natural because it’s normal to have
highlights. When you’re done, take a soft eraser
and delete some parts of hair to create a soft blend
between her original hair and the brushes. Set the
opacity to 50% and delete the hair from her face,
then go back to 100% opacity.
Now you can see that her face and the top of
her head are a little grey/white. Make a new layer,
then choose a soft brush and warm brown colour.
Personally I used #866b3b. Brush her face, then go
to Blend Mode and set the layer to Soft Light. Next,
make another new layer and pick #583e10, then
paint the top of her head, set the layer’s Blend Mode
to Multiply, and give it an opacity of about 40-50%,
whatever you like.
7.Lights and Shadows

Well-done lights and shadows are the most important things in art. If you want to make
artwork look realistic, you have to set these correctly. Light should be in the middle of the
work so our eye will keep looking at the piece longer because it will be more interesting.
Look at the forest stock. There’s really strong light already. Let’s use that light and make it
more powerful. Everything I do goes onto a new, titled layer. I like having everything in order.
Set your brush colour to white and load some light/rays brushes from the stock pack. Look
for one good brush. I used this one, but light from the top of forest should have a different
angle.
Go to Edit>Transform>Horizontal and resize its height. Some of this ray should
be on the head of the girl as well. After that, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set
the radius to about 3px (Before, it was too strong and sharp). Now, go back to your
swing and model layerand duplicate it [Ctrl]+[J], then choose the Dodge Tool. Set
the Dodge Tool to fight shadows and exposure at about 20-30% and start making
model lighter, such as I did on image below.
Set the burn tool exposure to 20% and make little shadows on her stomach, near
her knees, and onher face. With lights and shadows, this image looks much better.
.psd Photoshop 65
photomanipulation
Information and Credits for stock used:

• Swing & Model by dazzle-stock http://dazzle-
stock.deviantart.com/art/Depressed-95857052
• Forest by umbradenoapte-stock http://umbradenoapte-
stock.deviantart.com/art/Stock-10-80055109
• Nature Pack by resurgere http://
resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Nature-2-8563778
• Hair Brushes by falln-stock http://falln-
stock.deviantart.com/art/Hair-Brushes-Set-6-92731728
• Light Brushes by redheadstock http://redheadstock.devia
ntart.com/art/Light-Beams-Rays-Brushes-72493128
9.Final Colours and Editing

Finally we have a perfect scene. Everything is blended correctly, so
we are almost done. Let’s make our image more colorful. Colour
is the second-most important thing when we are creating art
because we have to decide which one and what tone, then choose
blending options, etc. As I said before, I decided to make this
piece a lively green. It should make our work seem magical and
mysterious. Go to Blending Options and click Color Overlay. Look
for a warm yellow color again (#d8c43a), then press ok. Set the
Blend Mode to Soft Light and the opacity to 50%. Now our picture
is warm and easy on the eyes. We can see that the forest is more
yellow and the grass is greener. To fix this, go to Blending Mode
again and choose Gradient. Using the same colour, set the Blend
Mode to colour and the opacity to about 50%. Go again to Blending
Mode and choose Selective Colour.
At the top, you can see the names of various colours such as
green, yellow, white, etc. We want our picture to be more yellow and
less green. Click Green and make it more Yellow (65%), then set the
Cyan to 55%. I won’t detail all the settings I used; you have to try
them out on your own. Choose the colours you like the best, be a
little self-dependent. Do several experiments with this tool because
Selective Colour is a really interesting and helpful tool whenever you
need to change your colours.
Finally, one thing I don’t like is this strong light, so let’s
change it. Make a new layer and take a hard brush and. Copy the
color from the top of your forest and paint something like this:
Next, go to Blur Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to about 95px.
Set your opacity to 45-50%. I think it looks better now. If you want,
you can crop this image and make it smaller. Personally, I usually
crop and resize to reduce the size of my artwork once I’m finished
everything else.
by Aleksandra Gładykowska
66 .psd Photoshop
Masquerade
Masquerade... the wonderful and merry stranger in a mask... I used rich

colours for this picture. Spared the special attention to the shallow details
on clothes.
medium | 4 days
adobe photoshop | wacom intuos 3
masquerade
01
Source Files
Step 1
First ,I made a photo of the girl , specially for this
idea. Also has cleaned a background.
02
Step 2
On new layers has added a mask and a red curtain.
On a curtain I have made light and a shadow. For
this purpose I used Toolbox Photoshop : Burn Tool
and Dodge Tool.
03
Step 3
We clean on a photo some fragments of a black
dress ( erase shoulder straps of a dress). For this
purpose it is necessary to use the Toolbox : Clone
Stamp. Then using the Dodge tool, we do patches
of light on a body. Then, on a tablet I have drawn
the sketch of a dress and a contour of hair.
.psd Photoshop 69
digital painting
04
Step 4
I have drawn hair on a tablet. I drew on
several layers, used a soft brush of a different
transparency. First drew dark sites of hair. Hair
should be different shades that the volume has
turned out. The ends of a hair to wash away the
tool: Blur Tool.
05
Step 5
When hair will be ready, it is necessary to make
a shadow on a mask(Burn Tool), on each side. And
to wash away edges of a mask (Blur Tool). Dress
completely to paint over red color. And I have
improved color of a body, have drawn an easy
make-up.
06
Step 6
On a dress we draw light and shadows. For this
purpose I used Toolbox Photoshop : Burn Tool and
Dodge Tool.
70 .psd Photoshop
masquerade
07
Step 7
On new layers we draw an ornament on a dress
and curtains. The layer with the Ornament of
a dress should be slightly transparent (50-70 %).
In a shadow the Ornament should be more dark,
and on light surfaces - should be more light.
08
Step 8
Background completely we paint in green color. To
make effect of light, the left edge of a wall is done
light, and right (behind a curtain) is done more
darkly. For this purpose I used Toolbox Photoshop
: Burn Tool and Dodge Tool. Then, by means of the
Blur Tool (50%), it is necessary to wash away
edges of a dress, a body, a curtain.
09
Step 9
From above a background, on a new layer to
add an ornament of a wall. This layer should be
transparent (30-50 %). On a tablet I draw fine
details on a mask and shine of stones. The picture
is ready!
by Alena Lazareva
.psd Photoshop 71
Waters
of Time
A speed-painting is a rough concept that allows you to get several ideas out in front
of a client in a short amount of time. They can be as simple as a five minute sketch to
something more difficult such as a four-plus hour detailed painting that conveys an idea
and/or mood within seconds of looking at it. When you’re on a tight schedule, it makes sense
to not waste a lot of time working on one painting that may never actually be approved.
A concept artist will usually create several variations of an idea in that same amount of time
through speed-painting. This particular step-by-step process is just one of the many ways in
which I work on a painting. How I work usually depends on what I’m trying to accomplish, so
if the painting is supposed to be a final concept for a client, I’ll usually work on several layers
at once and pull out all the little tricks I know to get it done. For this painting, I just wanted to
do something that was quick and relatively simple to a beginner’s eyes so for the most part,
I’ve kept things on just one layer and haven’t utilized too many of the various functions of
Photoshop.
medium | 3 h.
photoshop CS3
waters of time
01 Step 1
I open up a blank canvas in Photoshop set at
3000 x 1280 at 300dpi and, as quickly as pos-
sible, I cover the white by making broad marks of
color across it with a standard round brush and a
chalk brush (both of which come with Photoshop).
I’m not actually painting anything yet. I just want
to get rid of the blank canvas and create some
mood – a mood that should continue throughout
the painting. I do have an idea of what I want to
paint at this point, but it’s still a good (and fun)
process to follow as the random brushstrokes
can lead to ideas and take your work in a direc-
tion you previously may not have considered. In
my head, I want to do a classic ‘epic’ landscape
image, something you might see in a video game
or film where the camera pans back and you see
the main character in a huge world full of potential
and wonder. I want people to be able to hear the
music of the scene when they see this painting
and inspire them, which is an important part of
what Concept Design is.
02
Step 2
I keep the canvas zoomed out so I can see ev-
erything. At this point, I don’t want to get slowed
down with details. I make some broad marks to
represent a waterfall flowing out of a canyon. I try
to keep the colors and general mood of the paint-
ing cool at this point, especially in the shadows,
as I know I want the sunlight I’ll be adding later on
to be warm. Warm light always creates cool shad-
ows and vice versa.
03
Step 3
Keeping the canvas zoomed out, I start to clean
up and define the areas of interest in the painting.
I add a horizon line high on the canvas to empha-
size the vastness of this environment. Most of my
attention is focused on the waterfall as I plan to
make it the ‘star’ of the painting. I make my brush
slightly smaller but still refrain from zooming in
and over-detailing too early.
.psd Photoshop 73
speed painting
04
Step 4
I switch over to a smaller detail brush and start
to work on my edges, again focusing most of my
attention around the waterfall to lead the viewer’s
eye there. I quickly rough-sketch some small
trees, etc. onto the island at the base of the water-
fall as it was looking a little desolate.
05
Step 5
This step isn’t too different from the last one.
I continue adding more details like trees, etc. to
give the environment more life. I change to the
Dodge and Burn tools found in the Photoshop
Toolbox and use them with a very low opacity to
darken the shadows of the canyon and brighten
the waterfall to really make it pop off the page
(screen).
06
Step 6
I add a Color Balance Adjustment layer and play
around with the overall mood of the painting. I like
the bright fantasy look for this particular image,
so I really play that up. It’s at this point that I also
start getting a little closer into my painting and
begin focusing on the small details. Again, most of
my work is being done around the waterfall. I add
some bouncing light from the water to the inside
of the canyon wall. At this point, I leave the paint-
ing alone for a couple of hours. It’s always good to
give yourself a break near the end of a painting so
that you can come back and look at it with fresh
eyes. Usually with speed-painting you don’t have
this luxury, but I wanted to give this piece a more
finalized look for the magazine.
74 .psd Photoshop
waters of time
07
Step 7
I come back to the painting and flip it over a few
times (another trick for looking at a painting
with fresh eyes and also useful for ironing out
any perspective/anatomy issues). The painting
seemed a little boring with nothing in the fore-
ground of the image and there wasn’t much that
really sold the sense of scale that I wanted to
create. I quickly paint in a simple foreground ele-
ment of a man standing on an adjacent mountain,
paying attention to my value scale (darker for
elements closer to the viewer and lighter as you
get to the horizon). Adding a figure immediately
scales an image as we all understand what size
a person should be. It also pulls the viewer into
the piece as a humanoid figure is something we
can relate to in an otherwise extraordinary world.
I also paint in a couple of weird flying creatures
with human riders; this helps us understand the
vast distance between the human figure and the
waterfall more easily.
08
Finishing touches
To finish the painting, I mess around with the
contrast and brightness to really bring the image
to life. I add some photographs of rock textures
onto a Soft Light layer over the canyon walls to
give them some more detail and make them more
interesting. Lastly, I flip the image one last time
and decide that it works better with the waterfall
as the focal point on the right-hand side. In total,
this piece took me about three hours.
by Travis Wright
.psd Photoshop 75
medium | 5 h.
adobe photoshop CS3
tools of the trade: paintbrush
Tools of the Trade:

Paintbrush
It’s easy to create dramatic lighting and shading in a picture, all
it takes is a little time and some basic knowledge of light. In this
tutorial you’ll learn a few tips about shading to get that effect you
want and see that it’s not so hard after all.
01
Lineart and Base Colour
You can start with either a scanned sketch, or
with a freehand sketch done on photoshop.
I used a scanned in image and gave it a slightly
feathered outline. The first thing we do is fill in
the main bulk of the colour with a flat background
tone. For this you can use a big fat brush.
Shading Tips
When shading material or anything I want to give
a high amount of shadow to, I like to remember that:
1) Directly beside an area of high light will always

be an area of deep shadow, this way you
make both light and dark stand out and show
the extreme difference. It also gives a nice,
almost “shiny” effect.
Tip 2) If the light is a little behind the subject,

remember that some light will pass around it,
Don’t be afraid to use layers, actually it’s encouraged, that way you won’t run the risk of going over so remember to leave a small “Channel” of light
colours. Just remember which layer you put everything on and name it! right near the outline.
02
Shading in the detail
To add the shading I usually like to use a softer
brush, just so I don’t get the jagged straight line.
I made a preset which also varies the thickness
of the brush and opacity too. I find it helps when
I want to blend colours. When it comes down to
the actual shading technique it is important to
remember where you want your shadow and
where you want your light. Work slowly and layer
up different values of the same colour. On top of
your light base tone, choose a darker value of
the same colour and add it in the area of shadow.
I would advise using a relatively dark background
when shading light areas. Once you’re happy,
choose an even darker value and shade that in
a smaller area of the shadow, in this case, the
closest section near the material crease will be
a wee bit darker. Finally, choose a value very close
to black, and use it sparingly on a very low opacity
and just keep layering it.
.psd Photoshop 77
digital painting
Tip
03 Remember that objects closer to the light source

will cast darker shadows, while those further will
have lighter shadows.
Lighting
bChoose the colour you want in the background
and Foreground boxes and use the Gradient
tool. Set this to a Radial gradient so you get
a circle of light. Place this in the upper corner,
or anywhere you want. For the purpose of this
picture I wanted dramatic lighting at the top of
the paintbrush. Next I used the Layer mask option
over the gradient layer. I did this because it meant
if I made a mistake I could easily fix it without
having to re-do the gradient again. The purpose
of this is to erase parts of the gradient, to make
it look as if the paintbrush is actually Within the
light itself, remember that light is not a flat thing,
it’s actually very 3 dimensional. Using the colour
black and your paintbrush, just erase away long
thin Shadow beams behind the object closest to
the light source.
Tip
When an object casts a shadow and the light source
04
is slightly above and to the back, then the shadow
will always be narrower closest to the base of the
object and expand outwards.
Don’t leave it floating

Finally we have to bring everything to earth,
as you can see, the character is floating in an
endless black void, we don’t want that, it’s time
to create a ground. For filling in large areas I used
a big fat fuzzy brush with a very low opacity so
I can fade it out and add more colour where I want.
Here I used a reddish orange for the light shining
on the ground. Remember, once you’re happy
filling in the small patch where the light shines,
there is going to be a shadow.For this just used
the eraser tool, set it to a relatively hard brush and
just methodically erase where the shadows would
be, remember, that the ground is flat, if the light is
slightly above and behind, then the shadow will
come out at an angle.
05
Finishing Touches
To make the light a lot more vibrant, Duplicate
the layer, put it on top and set it to Overlay The
finishing touches were to create a layer right
on top of all the others and create another
radial gradient, this time with the yellow and
a transparent other colour. Again erase some
Shadow beams making these lighter and thicker
in comparison to the first ones we made in step
b) of Lighting.
by Rasha Al-Najjar
78 .psd Photoshop
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self exposure
A Siren
is Born – Rachel Stephens
It started simply enough – a woman with a photography hobby and a sincere
love for women and self-empowerment. But it quickly became much more.
Rachel Stephens is not only a hobbyist-turned-professional photographer. She
has been called therapist, miracle worker, philanthropist. Rachel doesn’t just
take photographs, she changes lives.
W ho remembers Glamour Shots? Remember? The mall chain

that would throw you in a feather boa, put on the heaviest of
stage make-up and snap photos of you in front of a school
picture background? And despite its cheesiness factor, women ate
it up! They LOVED it! It gave the everyday soccer mom (who only
after children and marriage, we sometimes lose those beautiful
and special feelings. By giving women a chance to see themselves
professionally processed, I give them a chance to embrace
themselves in their own skin.
Rachel is primarily known for her Sirens work. Sirens (branded
donned makeup and dresses for special occasions and holidays) an after the strong, beautiful and playful screen sirens of the ‘40’s and
opportunity to feel beautiful and special and sexy. To feel glamorous. ‘50’s) is the trademark for her breathtaking series of photography
Rachel is not Glamour Shots - not even close, she has taken it to for women. Rachel travels the country with her trusted and equally
a whole new level. What she offers her clients is a modern, elegant talented makeup artist Catherine Crump seeing up to 50 clients per
and high-end experience that is nurturing, non-judgmental and fun. month.
I have a natural sisterhood with women and I found a way to Rachel Stephens started shooting Sirens when she lived in Los
use that to help women feel beautiful and special, Rachel says, Angeles, CA in early 2004. She had an idea – a vision – of transforming
eyes sparkling and full of inspiration. As we get older and busier, everyday women into sirens. She started simply by shooting her
80 .psd Photoshop
a siren is born
.psd Photoshop 81
self exposure
friends in the living room of her 2-bedroom condo. She even did all
the hair and makeup herself, working for trade, building her portfolio
and honing her craft. Her friends would get a cd of digital images that
she had taken and Photoshopped with the request that if they used
the images for anything (i.e. friendster profile pictures, etc) that
she would receive a photo credit. It was then, faced with long lists of
retouching requests from her subjects, that she realized how integral
knowing Photoshop was going to be. Being a single mother, finding
the time or funds to go to school was not an option available to her so
she scoured the internet for all of the information she could find. Soon
enough she was being contacted by strangers, by friends of friends
and they then talked to other friends and before she knew it – she was
booking sessions and finally get paid for her hard work.
I was teaching myself everything I could about photography,
lighting, digital imaging, makeup, styling, posing, posing direction
and, most importantly, retouching in Photoshop, reminisces Rachel.
The old Hollywood glamour look just came naturally to me and is still
a staple of my work.
It was then that she decided that her art needed to be seen. In
Hollywood there is a large movie theater called the Arclight. Home to
many movie premieres, the Arclight also boasts two art galleries in
their high-traffic areas. Rachel felt that this would be a great venue
for her very first gallery show. She contacted the manager of the
theater and made an appointment to show him her work. At this time,
Rachel didn’t even have a look-book nor a portfolio. She scrambled to
assemble some of her favorite and strongest images, put together
a portfolio and (very nervously) made her way to the theater not
knowing what to expect. After showing her book and meeting with
the manager for all of 15 minutes, her show was booked. She had
booked her very first gallery show! Rachel was ecstatic!
It didn’t hit me until I was in the parking lot after I left the meeting.
I was going to have my own show. My art. It was incredibly uplifting to
go from taking pictures of girls in my garage, not really knowing if
82 .psd Photoshop
a siren is born
I was doing it right, to the curator of an art gallery booking my work

in his venue. I was going to be hanging my art on the walls of a space
that boasted 40,000 people per week through their halls, Rachel
laughs, My show was up for eight weeks and I was told it was the
longest-running show ever at the Arclight. I used to pay for a movie
ticket just so I could go sit in the hall and watch people look at my
‘before and after makeover portraiture’ exhibit. They would look at the
‘before’ pictures, then at the ‘after’ pictures, back to the ‘before’ picture
and I would relish in their comments made to one another or the long
sighs as if what they saw was romantic. It was pretty amazing.
Sirens was a hit – and Rachel was beginning to be recognized
for the artist that she is.
I had my pics done last night and I fell in love. With me… says
client, Taryn. I felt so beautiful when I left the hotel. I felt special…
something I haven’t felt in a long time. I felt that I was the absolute
most gorgeous woman Rachel has ever photographed. Rachel made
me feel this way. I never felt so included, safe and beautiful before.
Rachel and Catherine felt like old friends to me.
Sirens Tours hit a number of cities throughout the country each
year – two cities per month (which means a total of 15 – 24 new Sirens
each city). Rachel chooses her cities based on concentration of clients
in the area, client requests, and personal preference - researching
each city to find the ideal hotel that boasts the most unique, luxurious
suites that will suit her needs (from both a visual and hospitality
standpoint). Sirens clients are to show up alone – no husbands,
boyfriends, friends allowed. This is a special time for just the client. It is
an all-inclusive session - a Sirens client should expect to be enveloped
in warmth and love from the moment she arrives to the time that she
departs. She will leave renewed with an almost-overwhelming sense
of appreciation for being a woman, for being sexy and glamorous, for
being herself. She will love herself for who she is – and she will love
Rachel for helping to show her how beautiful she truly is.
Rachel is reaching out with Sirens in a philanthropic way
– offering a complimentary package, one per event, to a breast
cancer survivor. Rachel knows the power of helping women who are
struggling to see their own beauty – and how powerful a tool like
a Sirens session and photograph can be. Images are an incredibly
powerful thing. I have met women who have never felt sexy, have
never felt glamorous, have never felt beautiful and I have changed
that for them, Rachel says. I am always overwhelmed by the
emotion that these women experience – they cry tears of disbelief,
tears of joy. They laugh. They can’t breathe. It’s such a gift to see
what I am able to help them see in themselves. I treasure it.
Women contact Rachel every day to book sessions with the
therapist, miracle worker, and philanthropist, and Rachel handles
this privilege with honesty, love and respect. Remember, Rachel
doesn’t just take photographs, she changes lives. And she wants to
change the world. One Siren at a time.
by Amanda K. Barnes
.psd Photoshop 83
Editor’s Choice Lina Eriksson
84
.psd Photoshop
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.
.psd Photoshop 85
86
Night Driver
self exposure
I love sci-fi literature and movies like Batman, XMen and film
noir. Suddenly the opportunity arrived.The car in the scene I'd
modelled for an advertising piece that was cancelled so I had the
principal piece for it.The bridge-road, light poles and some buildings
I had to model, some buildings I've downloaded from the internet.The
Shaders of the car are from Jeff Patton's site and all the others are
88 .psd Photoshop
night driver
from the Arch&Models library.I did the ilumination

with target lights uniform diffuse and Spotlights
(light poles).
I used mr Photographic Exposure Control and
Final Gather in Mental Ray.
The hue saturation, building's lights, clouds and
fog were made in Photoshop CS3.
I hope you enjoy the end result.
by Jomar Machado
http://www.jomarmachado.com
http://machadoj.cgsociety.org/gallery/
.psd Photoshop 89
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How to Create Neytiri Portrait

interview with Secret Place

In this tutorial you will see a fast and efficient way of

Autodesk's role in the

Marc Petit leads Autodesk Media &

the need for hours of make-up, costumes and prosthetics to

Can you explain Virtual Production and Movie Making

Virtual production processes are starting to transform the way

Chapter II. Retouching the skin.

Chapter III. Removing hairs, refining nails,

Chapter 4. Final touch.

Lina Eriksson cover artist Katrina Gonzales

01 Stock provider – Mallory Heinz/USA.

for The Heart

All trade marks presented in the magazine

Editorial contributions should be sent to:

Customer Service +1 917 338 3631

The Software Press Sp.z.o.o SK works

Drag Anchor Point

Fill and Repeat

Apply the Pattern

beginer | 15-30 min.

1.Choice of Stock 2.Making a New Document

3.Blending 4.Blending the Forest

6.Blending the Chain 8.Making the Model Better

7.Lights and Shadows

Information and Credits for stock used:

9.Final Colours and Editing

Masquerade... the wonderful and merry stranger in a mask... I used rich

Tools of the Trade:

1) Directly beside an area of high light will always

Tip 2) If the light is a little behind the subject,

03 Remember that objects closer to the light source

Don’t leave it floating

W ho remembers Glamour Shots? Remember? The mall chain

I was doing it right, to the curator of an art gallery booking my work

from the Arch&Models library.I did the ilumination

��0 .psd Photoshop

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