Learn Digital Painting Concepts From Photo References

10 Comments

1. 

   Melody Nieves | January 4, 2012

   

   Painting in Photoshop can seem like quite a challenge to take on. An idea may be vivid in your mind but hard to translate to canvas. To help out this process, many artists use photo references to understand the elements of their pieces such as lighting, composition, and perspective. In this article I’ll show you what you can learn from referencing photos as well as how to apply those concepts and techniques to your digital art.

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   Questions You Should Ask Before and During Your Painting

   When I attack a new painting, I plan it out as thoroughly as possible in order to understand how to approach it the best way. I draw mini sketches of different compositions, write lots of notes about its symbolism and key details to remember, and try out various color tests with the final sketch until I’m satisfied. Knowing which questions to answer as you’re painting will train you in noticing and implementing incredible detail to your work. These answers also prepare you for researching the best photo references to guide you to your desired result.

   Here are some basic questions for your next piece:

   1. What is the focus of this painting?
   2. Where is the light source?
   3. What is the mood? (includes symbolism)
   4. What is the composition? (Portrait, perspective, etc)
   5. What is the color scheme?
   6. Which brushes and/or PS tools will I need and for what?

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   Photo References

   Once you understand these basic questions you can gather up as many photo references as you need to help execute your work. I have chosen three very different sxc.hu stock photos to learn essential painting concepts in Photoshop, and in these next sections I’ll show you how to effectively apply these ideas to your art.

   

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   Photo Reference #1: The African Plains

   Let’s say you want to create a painting with a beautiful sunset like The African Plains. Feel free to continue to ask questions during this process in order understand the components of your reference. For instance, are these trees black? No, but they appear black because the light source of the sun has fallen behind them creating a silhouette, while negating nearly all the details of the trees.

   

   What other details can you notice that might help your composition? Looking real closely, you can see both the sky and the grass create lots of slightly angled lines while the trees bluntly separate the two. Training your eyes to see this will help you create visual continuity in your paintings.

   

   Executing This Style

   When trying to execute this sunset, it’s safe to say you can stay with the normal soft and hard round brushes. Use a very soft, low opacity round brush to paint the clouds with the colors melting into each other, a hard high opacity round brush to create the blunt, textural strokes of the trees, and a slightly hard, mid to high opacity brush for the grass. Consider the role that organizing your layers plays in Photoshop too. You can effectively compose a similar background, middle ground, and foreground by creating the layers as grass, trees, and sky (from top to bottom).

   

   Also realize that a significant story is being told in the photograph. Day is now turning into night, and you can utilize this concept for perhaps a powerfully symbolic painting about one chapter ending and another beginning.

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   Photo Reference #2: Jack The Cat

   “Jack the cat” is as adorable as can be posing for the camera, but which techniques can you see in our furry friend’s photo? The key to painting animals is to highlight the features we love the most, a technique done well in the photo referenced below.

   

   Cats are known for their prominent ears, gorgeously mysterious eyes, and lovely thin whiskers, and if you look closely at this reference, you’ll see that the body of the cat as well as the background of the photo is blurred, while the head still remains in focus. The camera’s viewpoint is above the eye level of the cat where we can see the top of its head, but not too high that we would see either the back of its neck or the top of its body–an important idea when understanding character position.

   Executing This Style

   Have you noticed that the composition of the reference favors the right side, making it almost appear heavier on the right as opposed to the mystery and openness of the background to its left? In fact we have many things favoring the right side of this photo, from the position of Jack’s head, to where he’s looking, as well as an additional light source far beyond the camera’s reach.

   

   A beginner to painting may think that tiny, incredibly thin, and wispy brush strokes are necessary to conveying the look of animal fur, but this isn’t always true. What’s crucial is to understand the directional path of Jack the cat’s lovely coat. Rather than the porcupine hair it’s most often mistaken for, the cat’s coat follows the contours of the face while moving outward and backward in several directions stemming from the nose and the eyes. I would use a blunt, round brush to convey the look of Jack’s fur on his face, while incorporating softer, round brushes for the rest of his body, as well as the background.

   This photo is creating an interesting story that can be easily implemented for a painting. Discovering the mystery behind what exactly has Jack’s attention also adds to the image by inviting the viewer’s intrigue.

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   Photo Reference #3: Black And White Portrait

   This last reference is a striking black and white portrait we can learn a lot from. How would you approach a painting with such a powerful singular light source? In order to understand this lighting setup, study the bright spots and directional path of its source located to the bottom-right of this scene.

   

   Notice that the shadows are organic in form, so instead of painting with sharp angular lines, paint with soft, curvy shapes to effectively illustrate them. What about her body position? Initially, she looks like she could be sitting back in a chair, with the photographer taking the shot from high above especially because the photo is upright. But the dead giveaway that she’s lying down on a surface is that her hair folds beneath her head.

   Executing This Style

   Large portions of the woman’s body reside in the negative space where the strong shadows fall, so roughly sketch out her entire body before painting the light and shadows. Looking closely, the photo has a slight blur to it, so softer, mid opacity round brushes would be used for her face and body. However, working out the other details such as her hair and lace top, may require a harder round brush.

   

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   Conclusion

   We are able to pick up all these details with our eyes because they are in obvious in a photo, but developing a strong, original composition from your mind is much harder than it seems. Luckily, we have this wondrous world of photo referencing to bail us out of “painter’s block.” Remember to keep asking yourself questions during the process, and soon you’ll know exactly how to execute your next painting. Which other concepts or techniques do you think you can learn from these photos?

   
   

   

   
2. 

   Skellie | January 4, 2012

   

   We’re excited to announce that Tuts+ Premium members now have access to a new Rockable eBook and in-depth video course on DSLR Photography as part of their membership. The eBook is Rockstar Icon Designer (usually $24 USD), and the course is Introduction to DSLR Photography with professional photographer Kim Bultsma. If you own a DSLR but don’t fully understand how to get the most out of it, you’ll love this course. Keep reading to learn more, or become a Tuts+ Premium member.

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   Say what? The Rundown

   Tuts+ Premium is the sister site to the Tuts+ Network. It’s an online educational platform for web designers, developers and creatives designed to be the best value education membership around. Members immediately get access to 740 exlusive in-depth tutorials, $440 worth of eBooks, an ever-growing library of video courses, and more than 1,000 project file downloads. Rockstar Icon Designer and Introduction to DSLR Photography are only the most recent additions to the library.

   Try it for one month and if you’re not in love with your membership, we’ll give you your money back.

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   Rockstar Icon Designer – Usually $24, free for Tuts+ Premium members

   Veteran icon designer Kate McInnes introduces you to the wonderful world of icon design, so you too can become a Rockstar Icon Designer! In this book Kate shares with you her experience and expertise by covering everything from the history and theory of icon design, to best practices and methods. She’ll also take you through the whole process of creating your own icon set, and walk you through actual tutorial exercises where you’ll design icons from scratch.

   The book download includes versions for all major eReading devices.

   View Book Page

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   Introduction to DSLR Photography

   Got a new DSLR camera and not sure what to do with it? Get yourself off auto mode and stop being a “green square”!

   In Introduction to DSLR Photography, seasoned photographer Kim Bultsma walks you through getting to know your DSLR camera and making the most of it. Learn the basics about modes, aperture, shutter, exposure, and composition. Then, when you’re ready to improve your game, get the low down on lenses, accessories and flash. Introduction to DSLR Photography is designed to take you from a happy snapper to a DSLR pro!

   This course includes three public lessons: Welcome, Scene Modes, All Things Light, Part One.

   
   

   

   
3. 

   Stephen Petrany | January 4, 2012

   

   Photoshop is great at seamlessly combing photos to create an entirely new scene. In this tutorial we will create an elephant sundae using several stock photos. Let’s get started!

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   Resources

   This tutorial uses the following images but you are welcome to find alternatives for the ice cream and wine glass images.

   • Elephant Image 01
   • Elephant Image 02
   • Ice Cream
   • Wine Glass

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   Step 1

   Open the wine glass image. Our first step is to try to manipulate the wine glass into a more dessert-like container. Start by selecting the top half of the wine glass and Copy (Command/Ctrl + C) and Paste (Command/Ctrl + V) it on to a new layer.

   

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   Step 2

   Transform > Warp this layer to drop the base of the glass more. This will result in a more defined perspective.

   

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   Step 3

   As an additional step, I’ve used the Liquify Tool on the base of the bulb of the glass. This will help with the perspective.

   

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   Step 4

   Go back to the original "Background" Layer and select the base of the wine glass. Copy (Command/Ctrl + C) and Paste (Command/Ctrl + V) this on to a new layer.

   

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   Step 5

   Transform (Command/Ctrl + T) this layer by scaling it vertically until the base of the wine glass has a stronger perspective.

   

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   Step 6

   Move this layer up so that it appears to be a shorter dessert glass.

   

   Use a layer mask to help blend this layer with the rest of the glass. Don’t worry about the “Background” layer—we will crop this down later.

   

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   Step 7

   Using a soft brush set to a low Opacity, sample the background colors and start blending so that the background appears uniform. Quickly sample colors by holding down Alt with the Brush Tool selected to switch to the Eyedropper Tool.

   

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   Step 8

   To finish the dessert glass, we need to correct the perspective on the top of the glass. Currently, we are looking ‘up’ at the opening and we need to be looking ‘down’.

   

   Using a small brush, sample the colors on the glass and repaint the sides that overlap. The goal is to reverse the direction of the overlap to make it appear that the opening of the wine glass is now in front.

   

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   Step 9

   Save this as a separate file in case you need to go back and change anything. Flatten this image and select just the wine glass and drag it down to the bottom of the canvas.

   

   

   Next, select the space just above the wine glass and stretch it to fill in the top of the image.

   

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   Step 10

   The next step is to go through your images of the elephant and extract the parts you can use. Use the Pen Tool to make your selections and Paste them to a new layer.

   

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   Step 11

   When you’re done extracting all the pieces, place them into the new scene with the dessert glass.

   

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   Step 12

   Now that we have all the pieces on our canvas, go through each one and clean it up a bit.
   For this piece, I’ve used the Clone Stamp Tool to remove the tusk. A trick is to use the Clone Stamp Tool on a new clipping layer with the Sample set to All Layers. This will allow you to work freely without having to worry about cloning past the boundaries of the image.

   

   I also copied portions of the trunk and manipulated it to rebuild the damaged sections.

   

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   Step 13

   For the body, I’ve used the same techniques from the last step to remove the small portion of ear that was cropped with the piece.

   

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   Step 14

   For the legs, I’ve continued the same process to remove the chains and rebuild the legs.

   

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   Step 15

   The next step is to get all the colors to match. First, we’ll decide which piece we want to match the color to. In this case, the “Body” layer is the largest piece with the most uniform color, so we will match the other pieces to that. Select one of the leg pieces and go to Image > Adjustments > Match Color. In the Source box, select the PSD file that you’re working in. In the Layer box, select the "Body" layer. You can use the sliders to fine-tune the color correction.

   

   Do this for the other leg piece. The resulting pieces should now appear similar in color

   

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   Step 16

   The texture on the legs appears too flat. To add texture, we will sample some of the texture from the “Body” layer. Start by selecting a portion of the body piece that has good texture.

   

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   Step 17

   Copy and Paste this piece above the leg layer and make it a clipping layer.

   

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   Step 18

   Edit > Transform > Warp this layer to match the contours of the leg.

   

   Use a Layer Mask to blend the texture into the leg. Next, set the Blending Mode to Darker Color

   

   Continue this technique to add texture where needed.

   

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   Step 19

   Use this same technique to build texture on the other leg

   

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   Step 20

   Lastly, I’ve adjusted the color of the toenails to make them appear more natural. To do this, I’ve painted a cool gray color on a new clipping layer with the Blending Mode set to Color and the Opacity set to 37%

   

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   Step 21

   We can now start building our scene. Before we start, I will mention that it is good practice to make a copy of your pieces before using them since we will be going back to the original unedited pieces at times

   Now, flatten each piece to its own layer.

   

   Next, make a copy of the body layer and Edit > Transform > Warp this so that it covers most of the interior of the glass. This layer will act as a backdrop to cover any unintentional gaps as we put the pieces together.

   

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   Step 22

   Use the Pen Tool to trace around the inside of the glass. It helps to hide the "Body copy" layer so you can see the edges of the glass. Go to Window > Masks to open up your Masks Panel and select the "Add Vector Mask" button (Alternatively, you can just right-click the path and select "Create Vector Mask" as long as you still have the Pen Tool selected). This will allow us to update the path at any time to refine our mask.

   

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   Step 23

   Make another copy of the body layer and Warp this one into position. This body layer will be used as the main body.

   

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   Step 24

   Create a new Layer Mask. Use this mask to blend this layer in with the background body layer. Also, remove the parts of the body that are coming out the top of the glass.

   

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   Step 25

   Make one last copy of the body layer and Warp it to appear as if it is bulging out the top of the glass.

   

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   Step 26

   Use the Pen Tool to create a Vector Mask, just like we did in step 22.

   

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   Step 27

   Next, make a copy of the "Head" layer and Warp this into position.

   

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   Step 28

   Make a copy of the "Foot" layer and place it as shown. Create a new Layer Mask and mask out most of the leg, leaving just the foot.

   

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   Step 29

   Make a copy of the “Thigh” layer and place it behind the "Foot" layer. Use a Layer Mask to blend the thigh into the rest of the body. It doesn’t have to be perfect—we will fix anything that needs it later.

   

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   Step 30

   Make another copy of the "Thigh" layer and Rotate and Scale (Command/Ctrl + T) into position.

   

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   Step 31

   Create a Layer Mask to help create the illusion that this leg is wrapped around the foot.

   

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   Step 32

   Go back to the original body layer and select some of the texture using one of the marquee tools. Copy and Paste the sampled texture over areas that need help blending in. Transform or Warp the texture into position and blend in using a Layer Mask.

   

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   Step 33

   After you’ve done this, go through and merge each grouping of pieces into their own layer. This image should have four layers (not including the “Background” layer): Body, Head, Foot and Thigh. Go through each piece and apply the Sharpen Filter (Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen). This will help bring out the detail that was lost when we were manipulating the pieces.

   

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   Step 34

   Our next step is to add some depth to our image. Just above the "Body" layer, create a new clipping layer with the Blending Mode set to Multiply. With a soft brush set to a low opacity, sample a dark gray color from the elephant and start painting over the low lights and shadows.

   

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   Step 35

   Continue this technique with each piece of the elephant.

   

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   Step 36

   Our next step is to make the elephant appear behind glass. To start, merge all the pieces of the elephant together (to make things easier, I’ve merged my scene down to three layers: the Background, the elephant pieces that appear inside the glass, and the pieces that appear outside of the glass. It might be a good idea to save this as a new file.

   

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   Step 37

   On a new clipping layer, use a white brush and paint over the elephant where it might be making contact with the glass.

   

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   Step 38

   Set this layer’s Opacity to 27%. Also, adjust the layer’s Blend If sliders to allow for the texture to show through.

   

   

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   Step 39

   Continue this technique for other areas on the elephant, making sure each new layer is a clipping layer. I’ve also used Layer Masks to fade the effects as needed.

   

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   Step 40

   Add another clipping layer and with a large, soft brush, paint in some white around the edges of the elephant.

   

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   Step 41

   Add another clipping layer and with the same brush, paint in some larger areas to make it appear to reflect light. Change this layer’s Opacity to 27%.

   

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   Step 42

   Continuing this technique, add a shine with a harder edge. Change this layer’s Opacity to 33%.

   

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   Step 43

   To finish the elephant, I have painted a new eye. To do this, create a new layer and use the Ellipse Tool to make a dark brown ellipse. Add a subtle Drop Shadow and Rotate (Command/Ctrl + T) into position.

   

   

   

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   Step 44

   Now, start to paint the eye using a new clipping layer. Use a hard black brush to paint in the pupil. After that, use a soft brush with a low Opacity to paint in colors of the iris and possible reflections. To finish, add some white dots to get that glossy, realistic effect to the eye.

   

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   Step 45

   Open up the image of the dessert and extract just the whip cream topping with the help of the Pen Tool. Paste the image into our scene.

   

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   Step 46

   Transform (Command/Ctrl + T) the topping into position

   

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   Step 47

   Add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer to color correct the image. Note that I have used a Layer Mask to hide the cherry from the affects of the Adjustment Layer.

   

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   Step 48

   Using the same techniques from Step 34, paint some shadows on a new layer to help add more definition to the whip cream. Do the same with the highlights, using a white color to enhance the highlights. Changes will be subtle, but effective.

   

   Lastly, add the shadows casted by the whip cream on to the elephant. Make sure to do this on a new layer that is below the Whip Cream Layer.

   

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   Step 49

   You’re Done! Your image should resemble the following.

   

   
   

   

   
4. 

   David Appleyard | January 4, 2012

   

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   • 

     WordPress 3.3 “Sonny” Is Finally Here! What’s New?

     The latest and greatest version of the WordPress software — 3.3, named ’Sonny” in honor of the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt — is immediately available for download or update inside your WordPress dashboard. We’ll be covering lots of the new features of 3.3 this week, but for now, go and great the latest version! As we’ve mentioned before, it’s the best way to keep your WordPress site safe and stable.

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   • 

     Getting Loopy – Ajax Powered Loops with jQuery and WordPress

     In this tutorial, we give you a starting point for creating AJAX interaction in your blog. We follow a step by step process, showing you how to load posts based on the viewers page scroll. The tutorial covers enqueueing scripts, setting up an AJAX handler, how to get a file outside of WordPress to use WordPress functions and access the database, and logic for loading posts on user page scroll.

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   • 

     Saintly” Practices that All WordPress Developers Should Strive For

     Here on Wptuts+, we talk a lot about the ‘how’ and less about the ‘why.’ Of course, we are a tutorial site, so that’s the goal, right? Well, as a followup to last month’s article on the “Cardinal Sins of WordPress Plugin Development“, today we’re going to look at a few practices that, if every developer followed, would make the world a better place (well, at least our world!).

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   Mobiletuts+ — Mobile Development Tutorials

   • 

     Getting Started With Kindle Fire Development

     The Kindle Fire is the new touchscreen and e-book reader from Amazon. This device has generated a lot of buzz, and for good reason! It is currently the best selling Android tablet, with millions of units already sold. This tutorial will teach you how to begin making apps with the Android SDK specifically targeted for the Kindle Fire.
     

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   • 

     iOS 5 SDK: Storyboards

     Storyboarding is one of the most exciting new features about the iOS 5 SDK. Take a look at the wealth of functionality offered by Storyboards in today’s iOS 5 SDK tutorial!
     

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   • 

     Titanium Mobile: Build an Image Uploader

     This tutorial will demonstrate how to build a custom progress bar by creating an image uploader with Titanium Mobile. Specifically, the demo project will allow you to select an image from the device photo gallery and upload it to a remote server for storage. Both the Titanium Mobile code and the server-side code will be explained. Now, let’s get started!
     

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   ---

   Happy New Year!

   We’d like to wish all our readers a very Happy New Year! Why not take a look at our Holiday Wishes post to see a video message from the Envato HQ team, and find out more about what you might have missed over the Christmas period.

   We hope you’ve enjoyed everything that we’ve had to share this year, and look forward to publishing thousands more top-quality tutorials, articles, freebies, and resources in 2012.

   Thanks for being part of the Tuts+ community!

   
   

   

   
5. 

   Grant Friedman | January 4, 2012

   

   As you know, each month, we round up some of the best Photoshop-related content from around the web. This month, there was some excellent Photoshop tutorials to choose from so please take a moment to review our favorites from December 2011.

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   Photoshop Tutorials

   • 

     Christmas Night Magic Scene With Flying Santa

     In this tutorial from Alfoart you will learn how to create a beautiful holiday card using a few stock photos in Photoshop.

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   • 

     Photoshop Matte Painting Tutorial: Mountains

     In this tutorial 3D Total will explain how to create a matte painting using video opened in Photoshop.

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   • 

     Glossy Snow Globe Text Effect

     In this text effect tutorial on Textuts you will learn how to create a glossy snow globe text effect in Photoshop.

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   • 

     How to Create a Photo Manipulation of a Wolf in Stormy Weather

     This tutorial from PhotoshopTutorials.ws will explain how to take several photos and combine them into one composition.

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   • 

     Making Of ‘Ibaloy Warrior’

     This tutorial from 3D total will explain how to create a detailed warrior using digital painting techniques.

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   • 

     Paint a Multilayered Surreal Portrait

     This tutorial from Digital Arts will explain how to create a surreal portrait in Photoshop.

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   • 

     Candy Cane Text Effect Using Illustrator and Photoshop

     This tutorial from Design Instruct will explain how to create a candy cane text effect using Photoshop and Illustrator.

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   • 

     How To Intensify Your Landscape Photos in Photoshop

     This tutorial from Spoon Graphics will explain how to enhance your landscape photos in Photoshop.

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   • 

     Paint Bucket: How to Avoid a Messy Edge

     This beginner’s tutorial on Ctrl+Paint explains the best way to paint inside the lines using the paint bucket tool.

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   • 

     Working With Photoshop’s History Panel, Snapshots, and the History Brush

     This tutorial from Adobe’s Julieanne Kost will explain how to work with Photoshop’s History Panel, Snapshots, and the History Brush.

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   • 

     Make Your Type Pop With Layer Styles

     This tutorial from computer arts will explain how to use layer styles to make your text pop.

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   • 

     Dozens of New Timesavers

     In Photoshop CS5, Adobe released several tweaks to features that many users had been asking about for a while. This video from Photoshop Sr. Product Manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes will explain some of these tweaks.

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   • 

     Photo Manipulate a Surreal Apple Habitat Scene

     This tutorial from Psd Fan will explain how to create a surreal apple habitat in Photoshop.

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   • 

     How to Create A Detailed Cassette Tape in Photoshop

     This tutorial from WeGraphics will explain how to create a detailed cassette tape icon in Photoshop.

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6. 

   Grant Friedman | January 4, 2012

   

   The older I get, the faster time seems to fly by. It doesn’t seem that long ago when I was drafting last year’s Best of Psdtuts article. Since then we’ve published a ton of amazing Photoshop tutorials and articles. In this round up, I’ve picked some of my favorite content from Psdtuts to share. This content features photo manipulations, matte paintings, interface designs, text effects, and much more. Please take a moment to review some of our favorite content from 2011.

   ---

   Photoshop Tutorials and Articles

   • 

     The Cosmos: Create a Red Giant Star in Photoshop

     When a star like our own reaches the end of its life, it begins to run out of hydrogen fuel in its core. Like a car running out of gas, it will begin to sputter, swelling to a size that could encompass every planet in our solar system out to Mars. These stars are called red giants. In this tutorial we will explain how to create a red giant in Photoshop.

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   • 

     Undress a Giraffe in Photoshop

     Have you ever wanted to know what a Giraffe looks like without its spots? If so, this tutorial is for you, you pervert! In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to undress a giraffe by removing its spots. We will then show how to turn its spots into an outfit that will be draped over an ironing board.

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   • 

     Create a Retro Electronic Safe Lock Interface

     Photoshop can be used to create interfaces for all sorts of applications in addition to websites. In this premium tutorial, author Diego Monzon will demonstrate how to create a retro style electronic safe lock interface using both Photoshop and Illustrator.

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   • 

     The Incredible Digital Paintings of Serge Birault

     This article features the work of Serge Birault. Birault is a French digital painter with a stunning portfolio. Most of Birault’s work features the same theme; sexy, naughty, wicked, and often armed women. Please take a moment to review some of Birault’s amazing work and enjoy!

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   • 

     Create a Stitched Text Effect for an iPad Wallpaper

     In this tutorial we will show you how to create a custom stitched text effect for an iPad Wallpaper.

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   • 

     Create an Alien Portrait Using Photo Manipulation Techniques

     Our culture depicts aliens in all shapes and sizes – but what would a creature from another planet really look like? Would it be the classic anthropomorphic, almond-eyed beings from the X-Files and countless Hollywood movies, or would it be so different from our own DNA to be totally unrecognizable? In this premium tutorial, author Mark Mayers will mix human and animal textures to transform a 3D render into a fantastical extra terrestrial portrait.

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   • 

     Mockup Blister Packaging in Photoshop

     Designers and clients often have different ideas about how a finished product should be presented. Designers want to show the finished artwork, clients want to know exactly how their design will look on the shelves. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to create a mockup for some blister packaging so that you can present your design to your clients.

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   • 

     Create a Print-Ready Blu-ray Packaging Design

     Creating excellent product packaging is more than just producing a great design. To make great packaging you’ll also need to produce printer-friendly artwork that your printer can use to easily apply your design to print. In this premium tutorial, author Mark Mayers will demonstrate how to create a Blu-ray in-lay card for a fictional zombie movie and mock it up as an impressive 3-D Blu-ray case that you can present to your clients.

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   • 

     Create an Exploding Moon Orbiting a Gas Giant in Photoshop

     Exploding planets are a staple of just about every popular science fiction television show or movie, but did you know that you don’t need your own special effects department to create these types of effects on your own? In fact, all you need is Photoshop. In this premium tutorial, author Ed Lopez will demonstrate several techniques including how to break apart a planetary object, create a star field, dust and clouds, and even how to create a gas giant from scratch.

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   • 

     Create a Surreal, Politically-Charged Photo Manipulation

     Photoshop is a fantastic tool to help you create all types of artwork. By combining the right photographs, you can say just about anything you want without saying a word. In this premium tutorial, author Mario Sánchez Nevado will demonstrate how to create a politically charged photo manipulation using quite a few stock photographs.

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   • 

     Paint a Professional Caricature Portrait in Photoshop

     Having a caricature painted of yourself can be a fun and exciting experience. That’s because just about everyone has wondered, at some point, what they would look like as a cartoon or as an illustration on the cover of a magazine. In this premium tutorial, veteran illustrator, Jason Seiler will demonstrate how to create a professional caricature portrait using Psdtuts Editor, Grant Friedman as an example.

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   • 

     Create a Fictional Arctic Snow Frog in Photoshop

     Photoshop is a great tool to create scenarios that can’t or don’t exist in real life. In this tutorial, we will combine several stock images and effects to create a fictional arctic snow frog in Photoshop. As you can see, some of his unfortunate friends are frozen into the ice behind him and his meal is frozen just out of reach.

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   • 

     How to Make a Textured 3D Spray Can

     In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to combine Illustrator and Photoshop to create a 3D, textured spray can. This tutorial requires some basic understanding of Illustrator and Photoshop as well as the pen tool.

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   • 

     Clever Conceptual Photo Manipulations That Tell a Story

     Conceptual photo manipulations are all about depicting an idea, message, or story that a digital artist wants to convey to their viewers. In a conceptual photo manipulation the idea is the primary motive for the piece, not the materials, tools, or techniques that were used during its creation. These works are truly inspirational and tell a story through the characters, landscape, emotions, or through political or social commentary. In this collection you will find a mixed bag of clever conceptual photo manipulations, some of which include a bit of fantasy, surrealism, or humor.

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   • 

     Create a Snow Covered, Coastal, Mountain Town Matte Painting

     A matte painting is a backdrop that filmmakers use when the scene they need doesn’t or can’t exist in real life. In the past, they were created by actually painting a scene on a canvas or a sheet of glass. Today, they are created digitally by combining photographs to produce the scene that they need. In this premium tutorial, author Ed Lopez will demonstrate how to create a snow-covered, coastal, mountain town scene using Photoshop.

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   • 

     Design a Conceptual Album Cover in Photoshop

     Album covers are always fun projects to work on. In this tutorial we will take a look at the step-by-step process of creating a conceptual album cover in Photoshop.

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   • 

     The Cosmos: Create a Green Planet, a Setting Sun, and a Space Ship in Photoshop

     Our universe is vast. So vast, in fact, that astronomers don’t measure its size in meters or miles but by explaining how long it would take to travel a certain distance at the speed of light. Light travels approximately 186,282 miles per second. This means that in a one year a person traveling at the speed of light would travel about 6 trillion miles. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to create a green planet, a setting sun, and a space ship which has traveled several million light years.

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   • 

     Create a Herd of Grazing Dinosaurs in Photoshop

     Just about everyone remembers that scene from Jurassic Park when the characters come across herds of dinosaurs grazing in a grassy field. In this premium tutorial, author Ed Lopez will demonstrate how to create a scene filled with Triassic era dinosaurs including a Brachiosaurus, one of the largest animals to ever exist. In this lesson we will demonstrate several matte painting techniques and will also show how to create dinosaurs from scratch.

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   • 

     How To Draw a Vintage Polaroid Camera Icon

     In this tutorial, we will create a Polaroid camera icon. We will use lots of layer styles and draw manually with the brush tool to achieve a realistic appearance.

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   • 

     Create a Sweet Donut Icon in Photoshop from Scratch

     In this icon design tutorial we will learn how to make a sweet and tasty donut icon from an initial sketch. So let’s begin, and remember: don’t try to bite the screen!

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   • 

     Create a Surreal Rock Formation in Photoshop

     While photo manipulation is an important part of just about everything we do in Photoshop, photo manipulation isn’t always the answer. Sometimes you’ll need to do a bit of digital painting to create the image that you need. In this premium tutorial, author Marco Casalvieri will demonstrate how to create a surreal rock formation in Photoshop.

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   • 

     Create a Wine Bottle and Glass with Smart Objects

     Smart Objects are very powerful layers in Photoshop. In this premium tutorial, author Stephen Petrany will show you how to create a wine bottle and wine glass using Smart Objects as well as demonstrate their benefits.

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   • 

     Epic StarCraft 2 Fan Art

     StarCraft is one of my all time favorite video game franchises. I started playing back in high school – way back in 1998. I continued to play it off and on throughout college but eventually stopped when it seemed as if Blizzard would never release a sequel. Fast forward about 12 years and today, StarCraft 2 is a thriving e-sport with people like HuskyStarCraft and Day9 pushing the game on their YouTube pages. Since I am such a huge fan of the game, I decided to showcase some of my favorite pieces of StarCraft fan art for all of you to enjoy.

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   • 

     Create a Devastating Tidal Wave in Photoshop

     Matte painting is a technique that filmmakers use to create backgrounds for scenes that can’t or don’t exist in real life. In the early days, matte paintings were actually painted onto glass. Today, modern filmmakers use digital applications such as Photoshop to produce the backdrops that they need. We have published many matte painting tutorials on this site meant for intermediate and advanced users. This tutorial is part of a series of tutorials that we will be publishing on this meant for those of you who may be relatively new to Photoshop or matte painting in general.

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   • 

     Create a Planetary Asteroid Impact

     While asteroids don’t slam into the Earth all that often, movie producers sure act like they do. We can all think up a few movies with similar plots. An asteroid is about to hit the planet and a group of heroes comes to save the day. In this premium tutorial, author Ed Lopez will demonstrate how to create an asteroid impact, just like in the movies.

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   • 

     The Making of the Nutty Boat Trip

     Most of you probably know how hard it can be to find the perfect stock images for your designs. That means you will often have to get creative and find new ways to create the perfect composition. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to place a couple of squirrels in a coffee mug that is floating in a body of water.

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   • 

     Create a Lakeside Scene From Scratch in Photoshop

     Photoshop is a great tool for creating realistic photo manipulations or compositions but it can also be used to create scenes completely from scratch. These types of exercises can be helpful to learn how to create textures and then apply them to your artwork. In this premium tutorial, author Stephen Petrany will demonstrate how to create realistic-looking wood and water textures, adding some nice nails to create a nearly true-to-life lakeside scene.

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   • 

     Create a Detailed Camera Icon in Photoshop

     Icons can be a lot of fun to create. Simple icons are relatively easy to create but more realistic icons can be quite challenging. In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to create a detailed Fuji X100 camera icon in Photoshop.

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   • 

     Create a Winter-Themed Holiday Card in Photoshop

     In this premium tutorial, author Stephen Petrany will demonstrate how to use various techniques to create a winter-themed holiday card in Photoshop. This tutorial will creatively utilize Photoshop filters and transformations to create a fantastic winter illustration.

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   • 

     Create a Post Apocalyptic Panoramic Matte Paintingl

     This tutorial is part of a two-part series demonstrating how to create a post-apocalyptic photo manipulation. In Part 1, we showed you how to shoot and assemble the base panorama. In Part 2, author Tony Aube will demonstrate how to turn the image we created in Part 1 into a snowy post-apocalyptic matte painting.

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   • 

     Create a Medieval Landscape in Photoshop

     In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to create a medieval landscape using digital painting and photo manipulation techniques. We will begin by sketching out a rough idea of how we want our image to look. Then, we will then add various stock images and build upon them until we produce the scene below.

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   • 

     Fan Art From Popular Nerd Franchises

     There are no shortages of nerdy movies on the big screen these days. In this web round up we will feature some of our favorite fan art from some of your favorite nerd franchises. Pieces included in this showcase will include Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, and many more. Please take a moment to review this fantastic showcase of nerd fan art.

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   • 

     Photo Effects Week: Create a Cutout Photograph in Photoshop

     In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to create a cutout photo using simple selections and advanced transformations.

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   • 

     The Artwork of Miriam Moshinsky

     In this article we will be showcasing the work of Miriam Moshinsky, a Russian-born designer currently living in Israel who has authored several tutorials here on Psdtuts. Miriam’s work features colorful, fantasy worlds full of children, animals, food and candy. Her work always includes some type of dark and morbid twist, which is a hallmark of her unique and creative style. Please take a moment to review some of her remarkable creations and enjoy!

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   • 

     Photo Effects Week: Create a Print-Ready Environmental Poster

     In this premium tutorial, author Mark Mayers will walk you through the entire process of creating a poster design with a strong environmental message. You’ll use Photoshop to assemble the illustration, then add the text and graphics with InDesign to produce error-free artwork.

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   ---

   Sessions

   • 

     Photoshop Basix

     Are you new to Photoshop? Have you been trying to teach yourself the basics of Photoshop but have found the amount of educational material available on the net a bit overwhelming? Photoshop Basix, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor Martin Perhiniak, is a series of 29 short video tutorials, around 5 – 10 minutes in length that will teach you all the fundamentals of working with Photoshop.

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   • 

     Digital Art for Beginners

     Photoshop is an excellent tool for manipulating photographs but it can also be used as a means to create stunning works of art. Digital Art for Beginners is a 25-part video tutorial series demonstrating everything you will need to know to start producing digital art in Photoshop. Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak will begin by teaching you how to draw in Photoshop and during the course of the series will show you all you need to know to produce your own concept art and matte paintings in Photoshop.

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7. 

   Alessandro Giglio | January 4, 2012

   

   In this tutorial, I’ll show you a creative process that gets you using your crazy brain. The workflow for creating the splashes involves taking photographs of thrown paint. Through photography you can capture amazing 3D images without the need for 3D software. Learn to make a splash in your next design.

   Editor’s note: This tutorial was originally published on Psdtuts in April of 2008.

   ---

   Step 1

   We need three boat photos taken from a high view. For this tutorial, you can substitute boats with cars, shoes, or anything else.

   

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   Step 2

   Start to throw the paint from a cut plastic bottle. You can do it in front of a white wall or a green screen (if you have it) to obtain a good contrast on the edges of the splashes. The results will show better if you mix water and paint together. Be forewarned, stay away from the paint. In this attempt, we lost a cashmere pullover and a watch—irremediably stained.

   

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   Step 3

   Select the best splashes you photographed. If some parts of the paint are out of focus, don’t worry. It’s a fine effect and it will contribute to a sense of depth in the final result.

   

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   Step 4

   Use the Rapid Selection Tool or Magic Wand Tool to select the white background around the splashes. After you complete the selection process, go to Select>Refine>Edge and make some adjustments. Add Feather, Radius, and Expand or Reduce the selection until you find a nice result. Use a black background to remove excess white pixels on the edges. After that, go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection to hide the white background.

   

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   Step 5

   For each splash you need to repeat Step 5 and duplicate the layer every time. At the end, you may have a multilayer file like the image below.

   

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   Step 6

   Now switch off every Paint layer so we can concentrate our attention on the boats. Select the Pen Tool (P) and start creating a path in the shape of the first yacht. This is the only way to make it. Without a suitable green screen the edge becomes too complicated so you can’t use any Photoshop tools to speed up this step.

   After you create the path, click on the dotted circle icon at the bottom of the path box to create a selection. Select > Inverse and Delete the background (or create a mask to hide it). If your object is complicated, then your paths may take some time to create. Repeat this step with all the boat images (cars, shoes, or any images you’ve chosen).

   

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   Step 7

   Use three different layers to work on the boats. At the end, you should have a good composition like this.

   

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   Step 8

   Now the boats need some improvements. Start with the opaque glass. Select the Pen Tool (P) and create a path around the shape of the glass.

   

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   Step 9

   Go to the Path Palette. Click on the dotted circle icon at the bottom of the box to create a selection from the path.

   

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   Step 10

   Add a new layer called “glasses” over the boat layer and fill it with a gradient using white to black for the colors following the direction of the arrow shown below.

   

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   Step 11

   For the Blend Mode use Color Dodge. Also, set the Fill Opacity to 60%.

   

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   Step 12

   Repeat this step for all the boats. Now we must improve the color of the boats. Start with Select > Color range. Then pick a white point on the foredeck of one boat with the Eyedropper and set the Fuzziness to 123.

   

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   Step 13

   With this new active selection, copy the white color from the boat layer and paste it into a new layer called lights over the boat layer. For the Blend Mode use Soft Light and set the Fill Opacity to 100%. Repeat this on the other boats. Now the foredeck appears brighter.

   

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   Step 14

   Start revealing every single splash layer and move them below the boat layers. Keep in mind, you can put some layers of paint below one boat layer, while being above another boat layer. Mix and match until you have a nice composition, like the second image below.

   

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   Step 15

   The Warp Tool is the magician of this tutorial. From the Top Menu go to Edit > Transform > Warp. Move the anchor points creating the spray from the paint waves, bringing the splashes near the hull.

   

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   Step 16

   You can also create new splashes from your images by changing their shape with the Liquefy Filter. Go to Filter > Liquify. Use a medium brush to change the shape of the blue splashes.

   

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   Step 17

   Your design so far should look like the image below.

   

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   Step 18

   Create a new layer over the splashes. Select a brush similar to the one used in the image below. Set the Hardness to 0%. Then, with a dark blue color selected, draw shadows below the boats.

   

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   Step 19

   For each boat, duplicate a splash layer near the hull. Move this new layer over the boat. Call it “reflections.” For the Blend Mode use Overlay. Then set the Fill Opacity at about 60%.

   

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   Step 20

   Select the Pen Tool (P) and create a path along the lower side of the yachts. Create a selection from the path. Then create a new layer above the boat layer. Fill the selection with a blue color picked from the blue waves. Call this new blue layer “Halo.”

   Deselect (Command/ctrl+D) and from the Top Menu choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Apply a Radius similar to the settings below. For the Blend Mode use Multiply. Then set the Fill Opacity to about 75%. Now you have a blue reflection on your hull. Repeat this process for every hull (which includes this step and the previous step).

   

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   Step 21

   After having completed the shadow and reflection, now we’ll create a light background. Create a New Layer (Shift+Ctrl+N). Call it background. Put this layer below the others. Use the Elliptical Marque Tool to draw an Ellipse.

   Then Select > Modify > Feather and set the Radius to about 40px. From the Menu go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Use white for the foreground and a light blue for the background. Set the Opacity to 70%.

   

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   Step 22

   Now we’ll add a background using Photoshop Brushes. Select a Rounded Brush and play with options like Shape Dynamics, Color Dynamics, and Scattering to create a good distribution of random bubble patterns. On a new layer, called bubbles, draw a texture with a light blue foreground and a dark background. After this, select Color Dodge for the bubbles layer in the Layer Palette.

   

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   Conclusion

   Now you can add anything you want to your advertisement design. I placed a logo and some text in the image below. Good job, your work is finished! Remember to use your software well, but also use your crazy brain. See you at the next tutorial.

   

   
   

   

   
8. 

   Mark Mayers | January 4, 2012

   

   Enhancing a sports photo with cooling liquid effects can drastically improve the look and feel of a composition. In this Tuts+ Premium tutorial, author Mark Mayers will apply these effects to a photo from sports photographer Jordan Weeks. In the process, Mark will explain how not to overwhelm the model, but rather, to compliment the flow and movement of the original photography. This tutorial is available exclusively to Tuts+ Premium Members. If you are looking to take your compositing skills to the next level then Log in or Join Now to get started!

   View the Tutorial

   Tuts+ Premium Members can login now for instant access to this tutorial. Membership to Tuts+ Premium gets you access to hundreds of exclusive premium tutorials, top selling ebooks, in-depth courses, member forums, and much more. To learn more about Tuts+ Premium, Take the Tour or Join Today.

   
   

   

   
9. 

   Martin Perhiniak | January 4, 2012

   

   We know how much you guys like to test your knowledge of Photoshop so today we are giving you an opportunity to do so with another quiz from Martin Perhiniak. Please take a moment to complete this 10-question quiz and see if you’re prepared to pass our test! Good luck!

   Editor’s note: this quiz is for Photoshop CS5.

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10. 

    Danny Outlaw | January 4, 2012

    

    Movie posters are meant to be attention grabbing, captivating, stunning and intriguing. The designers have a large canvas to work from, so their creativity has few limits. Because of this, movie posters can result in some of the smartest graphic design you’ll ever see. Here are 50 brilliantly Photoshopped movie posters for your viewing pleasure.

    Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Psdtuts in March of 2009.

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    1. Batman: The Dark Knight

    

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    2. Watchmen

    

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    3. Taken

    

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    4. X-Men 3

    

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    5. Push

    

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    6. Gladiator

    

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    7. Day Watch

    

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    8. Sin City

    

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    9. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

    

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    10. Spider-Man 3

    

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    11. Death Proof

    

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    12. Planet Terror

    

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    13. 300

    

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    14. Walk the Line

    

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    15. Superman Returns

    

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    16. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

    

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    17. Crash

    

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    18. Ocean’s 12

    

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    19. Terminator: Salvation

    

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    20. I Am Legend

    

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    21. Star Wars Episode 1

    

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    22. War of the Worlds

    

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    23. Apocalypto

    

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    24. Narnia – Prince Caspian

    

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    25. Pan’s Labyrinth

    

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    26. Cloverfield

    

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    27. American Gangster

    

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    28. Transformers

    

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    29. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

    

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    30. A Scanner Darkly

    

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    31. Hellboy II

    

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    32. V for Vendetta

    

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    33. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    

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    34. Bridge to Terabithia

    

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    35. WALL-E

    

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    36. Napoleon Dynamite

    

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    37. Lord of War

    

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    38. Big Fish

    

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    39. Zodiac

    

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    40. Star Wars Trilogy DVD Poster

    

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    41. 3:10 to Yuma

    

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    42. No Country for Old Men

    

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    43. Jurassic Park 3

    

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    44. The Eye

    

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    45. Iron Man

    

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    46. Dawn of the Dead

    

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    47. Halloween

    

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    48. Perfume

    

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    49. Identity

    

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    50. Pathfinder