This week we are celebrating the launch of PhotoDune, Envato’s new stock photography website with a series of photo effect and photo manipulation tutorials that showcase the images from our new marketplace. In this Psd 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. Many of the photos used in this tutorial are available for free to Psd Premium Members. If you are looking to take your photo manipulation skills to the next level then Log in or Join Now to get started!
About the Author
Author Mark Mayers is a talented designer and illustrator from the UK. He has worked as a designer and creative director for several design/advertising agencies and specializes in print, branding, packaging, and exhibition graphics. Mark began his career when the tools of the trade were markers, layout pads, and most importantly, the ability to draw, but he embraced the digital revolution in the early 90′s and swapped his drawing board for a Mac. Today, Mark freelances from his studio in Cornwall for such clients as American Express, BMW, Future Publishing, IDG Communications and Imagine Publishing.
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Final Image
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This week we are celebrating the launch of PhotoDune, Envato’s new stock photography website with a series of photo effect and photo manipulation tutorials that showcase the images from our new marketplace. In this Psd 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. Many of the photos used in this tutorial are available for free to Psd Premium Members. If you are looking to take your photo manipulation skills to the next level then Log in or Join Now to get started!
About the Author
Author Mark Mayers is a talented designer and illustrator from the UK. He has worked as a designer and creative director for several design/advertising agencies and specializes in print, branding, packaging, and exhibition graphics. Mark began his career when the tools of the trade were markers, layout pads, and most importantly, the ability to draw, but he embraced the digital revolution in the early 90′s and swapped his drawing board for a Mac. Today, Mark freelances from his studio in Cornwall for such clients as American Express, BMW, Future Publishing, IDG Communications and Imagine Publishing.
Professional and Detailed Instructions Inside
Premium members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! Below are some sample images from this tutorial.
Final Image
Get Instant Access to Tuts+ Premium
Joining Tuts+ Premium will get you instant access to this tutorial as well as all the premium content in our archives. In addition, you’ll have access to all the source files for all of our free and premium content. You will also have free access to the premium content of all the other sites in the Tuts+ Network. If you’re already a premium member, Log in and download the tutorial. Otherwise, you can Join Today!
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This week we are celebrating the launch of PhotoDune, Envato’s new stock photography website with a series of photo effect and photo manipulation tutorials that showcase the images from our new marketplace. In this tutorial we’ll demonstrate how to create a miniature world using some interesting techniques. Many of the photos used in this tutorial are available for free for Psd Premium Members. Let’s get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. We have granted a complimentary personal license for some of the assets to Psd Premium Members for the stock photos used in this tutorial. The images can only be used for the purpose of this tutorial and they can be accessed in the source files of your premium download. If you are not a premium member, you can download the images used in this tutorial below.
Step 1
Create a new Photoshop document with 3000×1900 pixel resolution. With the Rectangle Shape Tool (U) draw a shape like this.
Step 2
Create a new shape below the first one with the Pen Tool (P). Then duplicate the shape and reflect it horizontally.
Step 3
Place the Grass texture inside the document with File > Places command (this will place the grass as a Smart Object). Set the grass layer as a Clipping Mask by clicking on the separation line between the shape layer and the grass texture while holding the Alt key. Decrease the texture dimension with Cmd/Ctrl + T. If needed duplicate the grass layer to fill the shape entirely. Finally add an Unsharp Mask (Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask) filter to the grass using a small Radius and an high Amount.
Step 4
Add a Hue/Saturation Layer Adjustment to boost the green colors with the saturation slider. Create a group for the top parts and apply a Layer Mask by loading the selection from the shape top layer, simply click on the layer’s thumbnails in the Layer Palette. With a small brush paint black inside to hide the upper straight lines, this will create a nice grass effect.
Step 5
Repeat the steps 3-4 for the lower shapes, this time use the Soil Texture and hide the lower parts. You have to separate the left part from the right part. Tip: organize your layers in group is the best option.
Step 6
In a separate blank layer, select a light brown color and paint with a small hard brush inside the soil texture to create some roots. Set the layer blending mode to Color Dodge. I also created a divider between the two sides.
Step 7
With a soft brush I painted lights and shadows using respectively white and black color. I created a new layer for each part.
Step 8
Create a new layer and fill it with white. Now in the menu, 3D > New Shape for Layer > Sphere to create a 3D shape, alter the sphere dimension to fit the base layer and finally rasterize it. Double-click on the layer in Layers Palette and set the Blending If propriety as below. Duplicate the sphere layer and set the blending mode of the copied one to Color Burn with 70% opacity.
Step 9
Create a black ellipse shape a apply a Gaussian Blur filter. Set the blending mode to Soft Light and the opacity to 80%. Put this layer above the sphere layers. I created another layer to add a white light spot on the top part of the sphere.
Step 10
Add a Hue/Saturation Layer Adjustment to simulate the water color, decrease the opacity to 60%, use a Layer Mask to apply this only to the sphere. Then create a black circular shape as below and set the blending mode to Overlay.
Step 11
Do add more depth to the water add a new layer and fill it with gray. Next go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Apply a Layer Mask to this layer and set the blending mode to Soft Light with 80% opacity. Try to decrease the layer dimension to achieve a different result, but remember to unlink the Layer Mask before.
Step 12
In a new layer paint some black in the bottom part of the sphere, set the Blending Mode to Soft Light an Opacity to 60%. As you can see, It’s time to hide the top part of the sphere with a Layer Mask in the Sphere layers.
Step 13
The next step is to create the sphere shadow. Simply use the Ellipse Tool (U) to draw a circular black shape and select a 60% opacity value, then blur the shape. Also notice that I add a little white spot inside the sphere, just paint some white color inside a new layer.
Step 14
Place the Jellyfish image inside the document, and open up the .psb associated file by clicking in the layer’s thumbnail in the Layer Palette. You can do this only if you place the image as a Smart Object Layer. Next press Cmd/Ctrl + I to invert the image and Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + U to desaturate. Save and close the .psd file. Set the jellyfish layer to Darken. Finally duplicate it and set the blending mode to Color Burn at 20% opacity.
Step 15
With the Stamp Tool (S) clone in a new layer part of the grass to hide the lower part of the sphere.
Step 16
Draw a circle with the Ellipse Tool (U) using a gray color. Apply this Layer Style and set the blending mode to Overlay at 20% opacity. Rasterize the layer and press Cmd/Ctrl + I to invert it.
Step 17
In the next step we’ll add some decoration to the base layer. Insert the garden image, and select part of the purple flowers, apply a Layer Mask to show only that part. Refine the mask border by painting with a small brush. Next add an Unsharp Mask filter to the flowers with a low radius and an high Amount.
Step 18
Repeat the step 17, place the flowers in different place, and if you want, change the flowers color with a Hue/Saturation Layer Adjustment applied as a Clipping Mask.
Step 19
You have to do the same process for mushrooms and pebbles. Use the image below as a reference.
Step 20
Basically the same things have to be repeated with the ship. But you’ll need to alter it’s shape with Cmd/Ctrl + T.
Step 21
I added a shadow to the ship and placed the little bottle. I added a light blue background too.
Step 22
Open the Air-balloon image, and make a selection of a balloon with the Quick Selection Tool (W), the with the Move Tool (V) Drag&Drop the balloon inside the project document and convert the layer into a Smart Object. Add a Hue/Saturation Layer Adjustment as a Clipping mask to boost the color and an Unsharp Mask Filter to boost details.
Step 23
Select another balloon from the image and repeat the step 22. Try to respect the light source orientation of the balloon. Moreover the second balloon will cast a shadow on the drop. So you have to draw it, into a new layer.
Step 24
It’s time to make the clouds. There are many methods to do it. The easiest one is to create a new blank layer and paint with a black soft brush with an opacity of 20%. You can use the Dodge and Burn Tool to refine the clouds lighting and the Smudge Tool to refine the shapes.
Step 25
Open the birds image and select the birds with the Quick Selection Tool. Put them in random order above the drop.
Step 26
Place the plane image inside the document and repeat the Step 3.
Step 27
With the Pen Tool (P) draw a shape like below and add the following Layer Style.
Step 28
In a new layer paint with a small brush the little cords between the plane and the banner.
Step 29
I added a text to the banner.
Step 30
And finally I added a shadow to the base layer.
Final Image
There are a number of ways that you can color correct an image in Photoshop. The method that we are going to be demonstrating in this tutorial is through the use of a curves adjustment layer. Some of the advantages of using a curves adjustment layer for this type of correction is that the image file size is minimally impacted and you can easily go back at anytime to modify your adjustments if your not satisfied with the results. Let’s get started!
This week we are celebrating the launch of PhotoDune, our new stock photography marketplace. Today, we want to present you with a list of some of our favorite photo manipulation, photomontage, and photo effect tutorials from our site and across the web. We hope that this list will inspire you to create some fantastic photo-based designs of your own. Please take a look, and enjoy!
Create a Fantasy Bird Girl Illustration in Photoshop
This tutorial will demonstrate how to create a fantasy bird girl illustration using digital painting and photo manipulation techniques.
Create a Refreshing Beer Themed Poster Design in Photoshop
This tutorial demonstrates how to produce a beautiful beer-themed advertisement in Photoshop.
Undress a Giraffe in Photoshop
This tutorial 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.
Paint With Fire
This tutorial demonstrates how to create a flaming person in Photoshop.
The Making of the Nutty Boat Trip
In this tutorial you will demonstrate how to place a couple of squirrels in a coffee mug that is floating in a body of water.
Playing With the Displace Filter in Photoshop
This tutorial demonstrates how to make a brick wall made of cloth.
Create a Fictional Arctic Snow Frog in Photoshop
In this tutorial you will combine several stock images and effects to create a fictional arctic snow frog in Photoshop.
Combine Stock Photography to Create a Sleepy Japanese Village in Photoshop
In this tutorial you will create a sleepy Japanese village in Photoshop by combining several stock photos.
Army Squirrel Photoshop Manipulation Tutorial
This tutorial demonstrates how to create a badass army squirrel that will eat you for breakfast!
Milk Monster and Chocolate Splash
This tutorial shows how to manipulate a splash to create your own milk monster.
Create a Devastating Tidal Wave in Photoshop
In this tutorial you will learn how to destroy London with a devastating tidal wave.
Create a Lost Fantasy Micro World with Powerful Photo Manipulation Techniques in Photoshop
This tutorial will demonstrate how to create a floating, micro world using several stock images in Photoshop.
How to Make a Car Advertisement Poster Design
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a cool off-road auto advertisement.
Meat Text Effect in Photoshop
This tutorial will show you how to create a text effect made from meat.
Create a Miniature Super Car in Photoshop
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a miniature super car in Photoshop and then give it a paint job.
Age Progression
This tutorial will demonstrate how to make a person look older in Photoshop.
Lighting a Giant Elephant
In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a giant elephant walking through city streets.
Make a Soft Grunge Product Ad Design in Photoshop
In this tutorial you will learn how create a shoe advertisement using a nice splash effect.
Applying a Realistic Tattoo
In this tutorial you will learn how to apply a realistic tattoo to a person.
Create a Realistic Blueprint Image From a 3D Object
In this tutorial, you’ll create a quick mock-up of a 3D car blueprint. Then place it on an image of a drafting table. This time we’ll use a particular Photoshop 3D Render Mode to create this awesome effect.
This week we are celebrating the launch of PhotoDune, Envato’s new stock photography website with a series of photo effect and photo manipulation tutorials that showcase the images from our new marketplace. In this tutorial we will turn a photo into a digital painting using several techniques to achieve a mixed media look. For this workflow you don’t necessarily need to be good at freehand drawing as we won’t start from scratch but use the photo as the base of our artwork. The photo used in this tutorial is available for free for Psd Premium Members. Let’s get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. We have granted a complimentary personal license to Psd Premium Members for the PhotoDune images used in this tutorial. They can be accessed in the source files of your premium download. If you are not a premium member, you can download the images used in this tutorial below.
Step 1
Open the Tribal beauty photo. First of all we need to extract the woman from the original background of the photograph. We don’t need to include the sticks in her hair, which makes the selection a bit easier. As the background and the foreground are too close to each other in colors we will you use the Pen tool for the selection. You can see the end result of the masking on this image:
Step 2
On images like this using the Pen tool is very useful as we have lots of clean curves on the edges. With the Pen tool you can create curves easily to track the outlines of the portrait. Once we draw the whole path, we will turn it into a selection and save it as a pixel mask. You should select the Pen tool and make sure you use the Path mode.
Step 3
You can choose to include the hand and the body in the selection and use it in the final composition but if you want to make the masking faster you can leave it out and only focus on the head as we will only use the head in this tutorial. Try to use the least amount of anchor points for your path but try to follow the edges preciously with your curves. If you are not familiar with the Pen tool check this tutorial out from my Photoshop for Beginners series:
Step 4
Once you go around the head with the Pen tool and you finish the path by closing it up you are ready to turn it into a selection. While still having the Pen tool selected use right click and choose Make Selection from the context menu. You can add 1 pixel feather.
Step 5
After you made your selection you will need to turn the Background layer into a normal layer by double clicking on it in the Layers panel and call the layer Portrait. After this turn your selection into a Pixel Mask by clicking on the this icon in the Mask panel or at the bottom of the Layers panel:
Step 6
The mask will hide the original background, where you should see transparent pixels now. Next thing we need to do is to brighten up the portrait. We are going to use a Curves Adjustment layer with the following curve:
Step 7
Select the Adjustment layer and make a clipping mask between the adjustment and the portrait layers by pressing Ctrl + Alt + G / Cmd + Option + G to make sure the adjustment won’t affect other layers below. After this use the Free Transform tool from the Edit menu (Ctrl/Cmd + T) to make the whole portrait slightly bigger to fill the original frame more tightly.
Step 8
We need to create a new layer at the bottom of the layer structure. Fill in this new and empty layer with white (press D and then Ctrl/Cmd + Backspace) and then apply the following layer style on it:
Step 9
You can call this layer Background. Next step is to make a new layer on top of the other layers and call it Mixer Brush. On this layer we are going to start creating the foundation of the painting effect. You will need to download the Watercolor Splatter brush set for this step. You can find the link at the beginning of the tutorial. Once you have the brush file, just double click on it to install it. After that the brush set should be available in Photoshop. First of all you will have to select the Mixer Brush tool (CS5 only) and set up the following options for it:
Step 10
After all these settings it is worth saving this brush setup for later use. Let’s save it as a Mixer Brush Tool preset. Click on the far left icon on the control bar and click on the new icon and name the brush Painting over photos.
Step 11
Make sure you have the new empty layer selected before you start painting over the photo. With this setup on the Mixer Brush you will be able to paint over the portrait blend details together. The Mixer Brush will not only use the portrait layer but it will also sample from the background, which will help us to break up the original edges of the face to make it a bit more artistic, painterly. Try to keep the details on the eyes, nose and mouth but you can be much more loose on the other parts of the face. Use your creativity in this step.
Step 13
After this point you can turn off the Portrait layer, which will also turn off the clipped Curves Adjustment layer. We don’t need them anymore, but it is good to keep them in case we want to add some more detail to the Mixer Brush layer (like the hand for instance).
Step 14
It is time now to add more canvas feel to our painting with the image you can download from the link I included at the start. Open up this image and drag it on top of our composition and name the layer Canvas Texture. Set the blend mode to Overlay and then create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer with the following options (this adjustment layer has to be clipped to the texture layer):
Step 15
To increase the contrast lets add a Levels Adjustment Layer on the top with these values:
Step 16
It is time now to make the whole painting more dynamic and interesting by using the Splatter brushes with Brush tool. Create a new layer under the Canvas Texture and call it Colors. There is no correct way to set the options for this step as you will get interesting effects no matter what options you use. It is useful to work with more than one brush tip shape from the brush set and also to use Jitter on the size and angle to get more variation. I was changing my color a lot and I tried to introduce interesting and vivid tints like purple, yellow and blue. On the left you can see the Colors layer separated and on the right the way it looks together with the other layers. This step took roughly 20 minutes, but it is the fun part of the process.
Step 17
Now we need to show the neck somehow. An interesting way to do it is to brighten the background instead of outlining the curve of the neck. This technique is very similar of using a sponge or a cloth to smudge and brighten up parts of your painting. The way we can easily do it in Photoshop is to make a new layer above the Colors and below the Canvas Texture, then fill this layer with 50% gray (Edit/Fill option with 50% gray option), set the blend mode to Overlay and the opacity to 60%. Once you are ready with this you will need to use the Brush tool with a soft edge brush set to white color and 20% opacity on this layer. Simply brush over the neck and maybe other areas as well a couple of times where you feel a bit of brightening would help the overall look. Optionally you can also darken with this layer if you change your brush color to black.
Step 18
Next step is to add more detail onto the face. I wanted to emphasise the eyes so I decided to create two new layers. I used a layer to paint some dark details (marked with red arrows) and another layer set to Overlay blend mode for adding bright paint spots on the face. These spots are actually following the design of the original makeup from the photograph.
Step 19
The last layer we need to create is for adding more detail to the whole portrait. On this layer I will use a simple default circular brush with hard edges and draw over parts of the image. You can place this layer below the Canvas texture and you call it Ink as it is similar to using ink over paint. Here are two close ups to see the details of this new layer:
Step 20
After this point it is up to your imagination how to finish the whole piece. Hopefully it was inspiring to go through these steps together. On the image below you can see the final layer structure:
Final Image
This week we are celebrating the launch of PhotoDune, Envato’s new stock photography website with a series of photo effect and photo manipulation tutorials that showcase the images from our new marketplace. In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to create a cutout photo using simple selections and advanced transformations. The photos used in this tutorial are available for free for Psd Premium Members. Let’s get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. We have granted a complimentary personal license to Psd Premium Members for the stock photos used in this tutorial. They can be accessed in the source files of your premium download. If you are not a premium member, you can download the images used in this tutorial below.
Step 1 – Put The Images Together
For the start of this tutorial you’re going to want to bring the picture of the girl running into the picture of the kitchen. You can do this by opening the file then copying and pasting, or using File > Place. Once you’ve got the picture of the girl running inserted convert that layer to a Smart Object. Right click on that new image layer and choose "Convert To Smart Object" from the contextual menu. If you haven’t used Smart Objects before, they can be a real lifesaver allowing a better non-destructive editing workflow many previous versions of Photoshop didn’t have available.
Make a duplicate of the girl running Smart Object layer you just converted by pressing Command/Ctrl + J. After this, turn off the visibility of this duplicate layer, we won’t need it until later.
Tip: A neat trick is that you can also drag files directly from their folder into the canvas of the kitchen picture and it should make it a Smart Object automatically. (Windows users may need to change their workspace/view to make this possible.)
Step 2 – Find The Focal Point
The next step might seem a bit obvious, but you need to identify where in the staging image (the one you’re compositing into) is the area that’s most in focus. This is often a part of compositing that gets over looked. If you don’t do this you can really paint yourself into a corner that is hard to work around. If you are compositing elements into an area that’s out of focus just remember that you’ll need to blur any additions out to match the out of focus of the staging image. In this case the kitchen image was shot with a really small depth of field, it almost resembles a tilt shift style image. To make sure I know where this area is in the image, I create some guides by dragging from the rulers to frame the focal point of the image. If you can’t see your rulers just press Command/Ctrl + R. The menu option for this is under View in the menu bar.
Tip: don’t forget to turn off the layer of the girl running to make sure you can see the whole picture.
Step 3 – Find The Perspective
Now we need to Distort the image of the girl running so that it looks like it matches the perspective of the surface of the counter top. I always find that perspective is one of those things that can make or break a piece so I like to trace the vanishing points of an image to help guide where I’m going to place the image. The vanishing point is where all the edges eventually lead to and meet. In an image like this, there are two vanishing points on what is called a two point perspective. The red lines below show the left vanishing point, the only one I’m concerned with for now.
After this I feel like I have a better sense of where the surface plane is. So now it’s time to make the layer of the girl running visible and press Command/Ctrl + T on Windows so that you can Free Transform the image. The great thing here is because you made this layer a Smart Object earlier, none of this distortion is permanent nor are we resampling any pixel data. So even after we distort the pic, if we wanted to adjust the tonal values of this image afterwards we could without any loss or rework necessary.
To Distort the image hold down the Command/Ctrl key and move with the central coordinate markers instead of the corner markers. This way you’re not abstractly distorting the shape of the image and instead you can distort it in a way that feels more intuitive to matching the perspective plane of the image. This is something that should be practiced if you don’t regularly distort images to match a three dimensional space.
Once you have the image matching the correct surface plane of the counter top, and you’re ready to match your perspective now hold Command/Ctrl and distort from a single corner to match the perspective lines on your image. From here move it into a position and layout you feel works best for you.
Step 4 – Make It Less Rigid
With your image moved into a position that you like, and in the correct perspective of the kitchen counter surface plan, we want to add a little dimension to this rigid photograph placed on the counter.
So while you still have your Free Transform box active now look up in the menu bar and click on the Warp Mode button so that we can do a more organic type of transformation. Once you’ve switched to this mode you can pull down on the corner so that it curves over the edge of the counter top and you can bend any side edges to add a curling effect to the photograph. The real reason to do this is to create a shape that forces you to add shadows and highlights. By making it so you can add shadows and highlights you should get a much more convincing composite.
Step 5 – Separating The Character
Remember the duplicate of the girl running picture we made earlier, right after we converted that layer into a Smart Object? Now make that layer visible and using the same transformation and distort techniques move it into position but this time match the vertical surface plane of the perspective instead of the counter surface. This will become our character that has broke free and is running out of her photograph.
Step 6 – Cutting Her Out
What makes this technique fast is the stylization of a choppy cutout from the photograph. As if it was done by some children’s scissors or an old xacto cutting knife. To emulate this I use the Polygonal Lasso Tool, and loosely clicked around the girl’s silhouette. You could also do this with the Pen Tool and produce a saveable Work Path that could be converted into a Selection. This could be very useful if you were dealing with more than one character in your final piece. Remember to click with some extra space around your character so that it accentuates the detail that the character is flat and from a piece of paper. Later in this tutorial we’ll add some slight paper frayed edges for texture here.
Step 7 – Mask Out & Position
Once your selection is made for the upright girl running, make sure you have that layer targeted and then press the Layer Mask button at the bottom of the layers palette. This will isolate the girl with your choppy selection.
Next move the girl into position, using the Move Tool, so that the foot aligns with the original foot on the flat surface image.
Step 8 – Making The Hole
Now that you’ve got your girl running setup to be vertical and cutout from the image, we need that same shape to be cut out from the image that appears to be resting on the counter surface. There are lots of ways to do this, but the way I did it was to right click on the layer mask we made on the upright girl running layer, then chose "Add Mask To Selection" from the contextual menu. You could just as easily hold the Command/Ctrl key and just click on the layer mask, that will give also give you a selection based on the layer mask. Once you have this active selection go to "Select" in the menu bar and come down to choose "Transform Selection."
This will produce a bounding box around your active selection that allows you the ability to transform and distort just that selection and not the pixels that are currently selected. Using the distort techniques we learned earlier, by pressing and holding the Command/Ctrl key, Distort the selection until it aligns around the image area of the girl that is flat to the counter surface. You’ll then use this mask to remove her from that picture, and produce your see through hole for the effect we’re making.
As you have that selection in place, just Inverse the selection by either pressing Command/Ctrl + I. You can also go to Select > Inverse in the menu bar. Now target the layer that has the image of the girl running flat to the counter surface, press the Layer Mask button and you should end up with the girl cut out from the counter surface image and the rest of the photo intact. If you’ve done this correctly it should look like the preview below. You can now see the vertical girl running picture with no background from her source image, and the other girl running picture flat on the counter surface with the selection knocked out to create the hole in the surface photo.
Step 9 – Puppet Warp To Adjust
At this point, if you’d like to adjust your girl running, I suggest doing it with the Puppet Warp feature found under Edit in the menu bar. I won’t dive too deep into the Puppet Warp feature, but basically you get a grid that allows you to add "Pins" to it. After you add a pin you can hold down the Command/Ctrl key and click on the pin to move or adjust that segment of the picture. Locking down various areas means they won’t transform while you move your selected pin. When you’re happy with your adjustment simply click on the check mark up in the options bar. There’s a lot of power behind Puppet Warp and it will allow you to adjust the form of your girl that is cut out to appear more dimensional as a piece of thin paper. I moved her left knee and her head just a little bit.
Step 10 – Layer Styles
So now we need to add some surface shadows for all that distortion, transforming, and warping, that we did earlier. Although I’m a big fan of just painting in shadows so they look more organic and less like a calculated digital production this is often a major time suck, so in this step we’ll take advantage of the drop shadow feature and then modify that after it’s added to create a better shadow for the image. So you’re first step is just to add a Drop Shadow by clicking on the Layer Styles button at the bottom of the Layers Palette and choose Drop Shadow.
Step 11 – Shadow Coloring
When I’m adding a shadow, whether it’s painted or a style, I always remember something my art professor in college told me. "Mark, shadows aren’t black…EVER!" Now I don’t know how true that is for the argument of science but I get the point. Shadows are an artifact of lighting that are cast onto a surface that most likely has color on it. So I try to use that influence in much of my compositing work. Here I sampled a dark color from the counter surface, and then I experimented with the Color Burn Blend Mode in the Layer Style Drop Shadow dialogue box options. This should give you a more subtle shadow. I adjusted the settings until I found that tone and contrast was similar to objects that original existed in the background photo so that it would be more convincing.
It’s worth noticing also that I keep the Size value down at 0. The reason for this is because we’re going to modify the softness/blur of the shadow by hand so it’s more believable. In Photoshop one of the simple rules is that it’s much easier to blur something then it is to un-blur something. So having a good sharp source to work with is always best in my opinion.
Step 12 – Separate The Shadow
After you’ve added the generic Drop Shadow, we’re going to convert that Layer Style into it’s own layer. To do this, Right Click on either the ‘fx’ icon in the layer with the Drop Shadow or click on the effect label itself. Scroll down and toward the bottom of the contextual menu there should be an option for Create Layer. This will then separate the Layer Style from it’s original layer and produce a new layer of it’s own. This new layer should be labeled with Drop Shadow in the layer title, and you’ll notice the blending mode and fill percentage mimics the original dialogue box settings. Now you have the shadow on it’s own layer in physical pixels that can be modified uniquely.
Step 13 – Warp The Shadow
Now that you have the Drop Shadow as it’s own layer, use both the Free Transform and Warp Mode techniques we utilized earlier to modify the shadow so that it better represents the shadow on the surface of the counter.
My advice here is to think about where you created curves on your surface photograph earlier so that you can Warp your new shadow to compliment those curves and bends of the photograph. Any part of the surface photograph that should be touching the counter top would have almost no drop shadows at all. Any edges of the photograph you bent up, would require being able to see more of the shadow under the photograph.
For the outer edge of the counter I cut a section of the drop shadow out and warped it to run parallel to the vertical axis of the counter top edge surface. This is primarily done because in the background image I can tell that there is a strong light source from high above, and slightly off to the left of the photographers frame composition.
Step 14 – Smart Object
At this point I convert any layers I have for the drop shadow into a single Smart Object. Just hold down Shift and click on multiple layers then Right Click on the highlighted layers and choose "Convert to Smart Object".
The reason for this is so that I can blur my shadow without permanently committing to those blur values.
Step 15 – Subtle Shadow Tweaks
After you’ve blurred your Smart Object, the one you created from all your Drop Shadow layers, go into the mask of the Smart Object using a soft feathered brush and paint out the areas that should not be so soft.
Tip: Remember, the closer an object is to the surface the more likely it is the shadow will get sharper edged. So mask out your soft shadow by painting into the mask of the Smart Filter so it will appear to sharpen the edge of the shadow where appropriate. You can see in the example below which areas I left soft and which ones I masked out the filter to gain a sharper edge shadow. This will help create a more dynamic believable lighting effect for your composite.
Step 16 – Fix The Less Obvious
So all of your fancy shadow work will be for nothing if you don’t notice things that need to be fixed. For example, here there is an original highlight from the source kitchen photo that is running behind our added photograph and underneath our made up shadow. There should be no highlight here!
So to fix this, you can just use the Stamp tool to remove the highlight. You could also consider using more modern tools like the Patch Tool or Content Aware Fill, but in this case the old tool is fast and easy to use. The way I did this was I created a new layer above the Background Layer. Then I chose my stamp tool, and made sure that I had the option for "Current & Below" selected on the tool. This allows me to have all my other visible layers active and seen but it will only clone pixels from the Background layer below this new layer. After this is set, choose a soft brush and work the Stamp so that it blends the highlight into the shadow.
The cool thing about doing it this way, is that I can keep my shadow which we created on one of the layers high above the Background Layer. Because our Stamp options were set to only clone the Current Layer & Below I can see how I’m cloning out the highlight in relation to the shadows we manufactured earlier.
Step 17 – Dab it Darker
My last little touch for lighting is to take some of the areas where the shadows could look stronger/darker and build those up for depth on the surface of the counter top. So I made a new layer in my layers palette above the existing drop shadow layer. Then using another color sample of the counter top, like we did earlier for the drop shadow, I painted in a few small parts using a soft brush with the sampled color. Next I set that layer to Multiply so that it would naturally darken between the two sampled colors and help enhance the shading. If you want to have more control, set the Opacity of your brush to 40% and then build up your painting by dabbing and layering the sampled color into the areas you want to improve.
Step 18 – Match The Highlight Direction
Remember earlier when we removed that higlight that was running underneath the photograph and through the photograph’s shadow? Even though it was accurate to remove that highlight it means that we still need to add a highlight to this photograph because it’s the new surface that is closest to the light source. To produce this I make a selection of my photograph, the easiest way is just Command/Ctrl + Click on that surface photo’s layer thumbnail. From here I chose a reflective gradient type with my swatch being white to transparent. Then I dragged the gradient within the selection until I got it to align with the counter top ridge edge. All these little details of lighting are what help making it feel more natural.
Step 18 – Cast Shadow
Next we need to add a cast shadow to our girl so that she looks more dimensional and interacting with the light direction from the source background photograph. Using the same techniques as earlier, I selected the girl’s cut out shape. Used that to fill with a dark surface color that was sampled from the counter top. Then the shadow was blurred, the top left was reduced with a mask out in the space of the hole, and the blend mode was set to multiply so it would adopt colors more naturally. From here the opacity is turned down to your own liking.
Step 19 – Torn & Frayed Edges
We’re almost done, but we need to add this small important step to help create a little more realism and texture to the effect. If this runner was to magically free herself from the confines of her photograph I think there would be some tearing or fray to the photo paper. Now you can take that concept and go crazy and really tear up the page but I thought that might be distracting. Instead, we’re going to use some brush settings to create a simple fray behind the girl and in the hole of the image below. So we’ll start with the spatter brush that comes with the default brush set in Photoshop.
From here we’ll customize the brush settings. Pressing F5 on your keyboard will bring up the brushes palette where you can customize all of the brush options. There’s a lot going on here, but your end goal is to create a brush that has a random variance to it so that as you paint it appears natural and organic in it’s stroke. In most of these dialogue boxes this is called Jitter, and it’s a great feature of the brush tools for getting wonderful effects really fast. Below you can see screen shots of my settings, but explore some other settings, and maybe some other texture brushes to see what you can produce and make it your own.
Step 20 – Make A Work Path
Now, that you’ve got a brush set, load a selection of the girl (easiest way I find is to Command/Ctrl + Click on the layer mask of the upright image of her, this should auto load a selection). Now with the girl selected, bring up your Paths palette, and press the button that is labeled "Make Work Path From Selection". If you’ve done this correctly you didn’t even need to switch from your brush tool, bonus points for you if you did that!
Step 21
You should now have a work path around the girl, and you have your customized brush active with the brush tool chosen. Create a new layer that goes beneath the layer of the upright girl running, stay on that layer. I then set my brush size to 9px for a size.
Choose white as your foreground color. Now press the "Stroke Path With Brush" button in the Paths palette.
This should now create a fibrous sketchy stroke from your custom brush around the contour of the girl. To create some denser strokes and more variety, press the Stroke Path button a few more times, I did mine twice.
Here is a preview of what that looks like after you’ve applied the brush stroke. A helpful tip, if you like the treatment of the brush stroke for a fibrous/torn/frayed edge save it as a Brush Preset in your brush palette so you can use it again and work faster next time!
Down by the foot of the girl, I erased some of the brush stroke. I did this because I didn’t want her to be completely torn free of the photograph yet causing the two images to interact more as one image to the viewer. So just make a quick marquee down by the foot, and simply press delete on that layer with the brush stroke.
Step 22 – Adjust The Global Three
The final and last step of all my composites usually involve global adjustments. Things that I can do to make the piece feel more unified in its appearance. This usually involves three key things. Luminance: Does the brightness of the images composited seem to match? Contrast: Are the shadows, and highlights between the composited elements equal in their appearance of contrasting tones? Saturation: Are the colors for my additions as vibrant and dense as the ones in the source image, or are they too saturated?
For this piece, I had been working with the Luminance and Contrast concerns in mind all along, trying to match my shadows and highlights to those I saw in the kitchen image. But, our girl running photo appears to be much more Vibrant and Saturated with it’s colors comparing it to the kitchen image. One thing I find is that too much saturation is a clear sign of something being done on a computer, so I like to with draw saturation when I have the choice of either/or. It feels a little less "rendered" and more natural. Plus, a lot of computer monitors now have the saturation and contrast already turned up very high so that could actually take your image and push it further.
So all I did as a final step was add two Vibrance Adjustment Layers above all the other layers. Make sure they are not clipping grouped. (If it’s indented from the alignment of the other layer thumbnails, it’s grouped. Remove a clipping group my pressing Command/Ctrl + Option + G on a Mac, or CTRL + ALT + G on Windows).
For the final values I experimented with two Vibrance Adjustment layers on different parts of the photograph. I kept the vibrance and saturation down on the surface photograph but I kept the vibrance turned back up on the girl running. Experiment with this to your own taste so you feel it best suits the background image.
Conclusion
When you’re done compositing, crop to create a unique, macro styled, break out graphic. Here’s a close-up crop of the final piece and a wider preview below.
I hope this tutorial covered enough wide variety of techniques that you gained a few ideas or learned something new to add to your toolbox of tricks for making graphics. Have fun with your pixels!
This week we are celebrating the launch of PhotoDune, Envato’s new stock photography website with a series of photo effect and photo manipulation tutorials that showcase the images from our new marketplace. In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to create a lamb’s coat in Photoshop using several stock photos that are available for free for Psd Premium Members. Let’s get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. We have granted a complimentary personal license to Psd Premium Members for the stock photos used in this tutorial. They can be accessed in the source files of your premium download. If you are not a premium member, you can download the images used in this tutorial below.
Step 1
Download and open in Photoshop the first lamb photo, I used the size 2690px * 2231px. In order to create a bunch of future layers, we need to separate lamb body from white background. Choose Magic Wand Tool
and click in the white area. Then activate Quick Mask Mode 
and correct body contour with small black brush.
Step 2
Press Quick Mask Mode
again to return standart selection mode after corrections. Go to Select > Inverse, then choose Select > Refine Edge. Apply following settings, to make selection contour smoother.
Step 3
Copy selected lamb body and paste it in the new layer two times. We will use second copy later, you can make it invisible. To make lamb’s skin darker and increase contrast between body and light color underwear, apply following levels settings to the first copy of lamb body. You may go to Image > Adjustments > Levels or create Adjustment Clipping Mask, just like on the screen shot. Adjustment Layer helps to change setting many times without losing original layer settings. If you prefer adjustment layer method, click icon
in the bottom menu of the Layers Palette, choose adjustment layer ("Levels" in this time), apply settings, then right click to adjustment layer and apply "Create Clipping Mask". Use the same way to crate adjustments layers in the future steps – "Gradient Map", "Black &White", etc…
In order to make darker only skin area, process Adjustment Layer Mask with black soft brush in the marked spots.
Step 4
Make visible the second copy of the lamb body. We will use this layer to create patterned underwear. Apply Gradient Map and Levels adjustments to it, you may find settings and result of retouch corrections on the examples below.
Step 5
Extract pajama shape from the lighten body. Add Layer Mask and fill undressed areas with black color. You may use Brush Tool for the legs and tail. Create path with Pen Tool
to outline neck area. Press Command/Ctrl + Enter to load selection, fill selected area in the Layer Mask with black color.
Step 6
Create a new layer, fill it with any color, set Fill = 0%. Apply pink heart pattern. The scale parameter depends of your document size, move scale marker while you get similar result like on the screen shots.
Step 7
Merge patterned layer with the new empty layer, apply transformation and fit the pattern with pajama shape. Choose Multiply Blending Mode and Opacity 28% for this layer.
Step 8
In order to create volume effect for the pattern layer, use Liquify filter. Filter > Liquify. To preview only body shape and see result of your actions, check "Show Background" box, find lamb body layer in "Use" drop down menu and choose "Behind" Mode. Touch stomach and other bulb areas with Bloat Tool
. Then choose Forward Warp Tool 
and process pattern around body contour. Make moves with 
from outside to center. Play with brush size parameters.
Step 9
You should have something like this.
Step 10
Find the layer with white pajama (extracted part from the lamb body) and load selection for the Layer Mask. Command/Ctrl + click Layer Mask thumbnail. Then erase selected area in the pattern layer.
Step 11
Create seam contour with the Path Tool
, correct points and path shape with Convert Point Tool
. Then make active Brush Tool and set size ~14 px, don’t pay attention to color settings. Return to path Tool, right click to path and apply "Stroke Path". Don’t remove created path after this action.
Step 12
Set Fill =0% for the white stroke layer, apply Bevel and Emboss and Gradient Overlay styles.
Step 13
Choose 6 px Brush Tool and make active seam path again move it little bit left and down. Create a new layer. Apply Stroke Path like in the previous steps, but in this time it should be thinner.
Step 14
Set Fill = 0%, apply stroke pattern effect.
Step 15
Create ridge piece of fabric. Make path like on the screen shot with Pen Tool
. Click Command/Ctrl + Enter to load selection, fill selected area in a new layer with linear gradient, use light and dark brown colors.
Step 16
Create a new path. Click Command/Ctrl + Enter to load selection. Move selection to the lighten part of the pattern. Go to Edit > Copy Merged. Paste copied piece of fabric.
Step 17
In order to create shadow effect, duplicate first white stroke layer. Apply to the bottom copy Multiply Color Overlay effect, keep Fill = 0% for this layer. Move this layer little bit up, like on the example below.
Step 18
Apply Gaussian Blur Filter. Then Load selection for the original stroke and cut out selected area from the shadow blurred layer. Clear selection and erase shadow layer with Eraser Tool under top fabric edge and round fabric corner.
Step 19
Use the same way to create other seams. For the new seam from the screen shot apply drop shadow effect.
Step 20
For the legs border use more solid light color, just apply Screen Mode in Gradient Overlay style.
Step 21
One more seam above pattern layer.
Step 22
Use different gradient effect for the neck border to create volume effect.
Step 23
To create button shape use Ellipse Tool
. Then add four small round selections, created by using Elliptical Marquee 
Tool (choose Add to selection 
option). Erase selected circles from the big button shape.
Step 24
Add following layer style effects to "button" layer. You may find the same gradient in Photoshop preset "Spectrums" set.
Step 25
Draw crossed threads with Line Tool in a new layer. Hold the shift key down to create angle 45 °.
Step 26
Make a new layer and cover front legs area with white (background) color, you may use Brush Tool.
Step 27
Insert another lamb image above all created layers. Separate lamb body from background using exactly same method as for shaved lamb. Move second lamb figure to combine front legs position with original lamb image.
Step 28
Add Layer Mask to this layer. Erase back legs and head with black brush.
Step 29
Find textures brush, you may use preset "Texture 6" brush from "Assorted" brushes set. Apply "Shape Dynamic" settings like on the screen shot to make the brush more unstructured. Process erased edges with textured brush in the Layer Mask to create hair silhouette effect. After this action, apply layer mask, right click to Mask thumbnail and choose "Apply".
Step 30
Duplicate created "fur coat" layer and make the copy temporary invisible, we will use it later to create second part of the coat. Transform first part of the coat using Liquify Filter. As in the example with pattern layer transformation, find shaved lamb body in "Show Background" options. Indent collar area and create wrinkles in bottom edge with Forward Warp Tool
.
Step 31
To make curled edge of the collar, create path like on the image below. Load selection (Command/Ctrl + Enter).
Step 32
Cut out selected part and paste it into a new layer. Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Then rotate shape to find position like on the second screen shot.
Step 33
Apply Warp transformation to this shape. Move points and handles to align subtense with coat edge.
Step 34
Make this shape lighter using Levels Adjustment Layer.
Step 35
Load selection of created shape, Command/Ctrl+Click layer thumbnail. Create a new layer below selected shape. Fill selected area in a new layer with dark brown color and apply Gaussian Blur filter to it (around 3-4px). Move blurred dark shape little bit down and left like on the second screen shot. Apply Overlay Blending Mode to it and Opacity 45%.
Step 36
Then merge "Fur Coat" and curled edge layers and process marked edge with Eraser Tool to create flocky hair effect. Use textured brush like in Step 29.
Step 37
You should get something like on the image below.
Step 38
In order to create "fur coat" border, create a path as on the example below. Command/Ctrl + Click to load selection.
Step 39
To make shadow from fur, load selection for "fur coat shape" and fill it with dark color in a new layer under selected shape. Apply Gaussian Blur filter (around 4px) to dark shape. Move the shape left on several pixels. Apply Opacity 20-30% for this layer. Erase shadow layer outside the coat border.
Step 40
Find and make visible copy of lamb’s fur layer. Move this layer below first separated from background shaved lamb body.
Step 41
Open Liquify filter window. Make visible in background options bar only already corrected fur shape, choose "In Front" Mode.
Step 41
Use Forward Warp Tool
to join collar edges and create smooth collar line.
Step 42
Make the second part of coat darker using Levels Adjustment layer.
Step 43
Create extra one empty clipping mask layer for second fur shape and touch it with large soft, brown color brush. Apply Multiply Blending mode to it and play with Opacity setting.
Step 44
Create Black and White adjustment layer above all created layers, Apply Screen Blending mode to it and following adjustments.
Step 45
Find "Fur Coat" layer and load selection for it. Go to Select > Inverse. Make active "Black and White" adjustment layer Mask and fill inverted selection in the Mask with black color. The image except top part of fur coat should have original colors (look at the second screen shot).
Step 46
Then load selection for the second part of the coat and subtract from created selection lamb body shape (Command/Ctrl + alt + click lamb body thumbnail). Fill "Black and White" layer mask selected area with white color in this time. You should have "Black and White" adjustment layer effect only for both parts of coat shape. Take soft white brush and process Layer Mask in the head and back legs.
Step 47
Create a new empty layer, add Layer Mask to it, the same as for previous "Black and White" adjustment layer. Load selection of adjustment layer (Command/Ctrl + click layer thumbnail), Inverse selection and fill new Layer Mask with black color in inverted selected area. Choose textured brush, you may use one of preset brushes from "Natural brushes" set. Draw chaotic spots, the layer mask should keep the areas outside the fur clean. Apply Soft light Blending Mode and Opacity 70%.
Step 48
Create white spots in a new layer. Apply Soft Light Blending Mode for this layer too.
Step 49
Create several paths to make zip slider. Fill them with color in separated layers. For the first shape choose Rounded Rectangle Tool
, apply Perspective transformation for the bottom edge. Edit > Transform > Perspective.
Step 50
Create second rounded rectangle shape with one step. And apply some transform actions to the third one: Perspective Transformation > Add couple of new points with "Add Anchor Point
Tool" > Move crated points to the center of the shape.
Step 51
Apply following layer style effects for the created shapes, but use different gradient for the second shape.
Step 52
Create a new path for the zip line. Apply 9 px white brush stroke to it. Use the same method as in Step 11.
Step 53
Select white line and draw regular black spots with 18 px black brush. Apply Opacity 75% for created line.
Step 54
Add Drop Shadow layer style effect to created zip line. Repeat previous actions to make second zip line.
Final Image
To celebrate the launch of Envato’s new stock photography marketplace, PhotoDune, we’re excited to kick off a phenomenal week of content on Psdtuts+!
During Photo Effects Week, we’ll be teaching you some amazing photo portrait retouching techniques, colour correcting photographs, creating a photo montage, photo cut-outs, and much more! At the end of the week, we’ll be announcing a fantastic competition for you to show off the techniques that you’ve learned. Read on to find out what’s in store, and discover how you can make the most of Envato’s latest marketplace!
Boost Your Income with PhotoDune
Envato’s top authors make between $20,000 and $40,000 per month selling stock! Imagine shooting the images you want, when you want, making passive income whether you’re working or not. Some of our authors sell stock in their free time as a hobby, some do it to get their name out there, and some are able to make it their full time profession.
If you’re ready to learn more, take a look at how to sell your work on PhotoDune. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the bumper week of photo effects content we have in store for you at Psdtuts+!
Today we bring you an interview with talented Canadian digital artist Mostafa Nassar. His unique paintings feature a lot of dark and horror themes that he feels have endless possibilities. In out interview we discuss many topics ranging from the equipment he uses to why he decided to start painting. Be sure to check out this great interview.
Q Welcome to Psdtuts+, please introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you got started in the field?
Hello I’m Mostafa Nassar, an electrical engineer and a self-taught artist. I have been interested in art since I was little and been doing digital art for 3 years. I started learning Photoshop when I first saw forums signatures and banners. I got hooked with doing signatures for a while until I stumbled on digital painting using “tablets”. I experimented with Photoshop and Corel Painter because the brushes felt very organic and rich.
Savage
Q Your paintings cover a wide variety of unusual topics and almost no two paintings are the same. So where exactly do you fish for idea when you are looking to start a new illustration?
I get inspired mostly by the people in my life, listening to music and my own imagination. Almost all of my paintings have a story and they somewhat relate to my own personal experiences. I have always been a fan of “alternate realities” and video game bosses, so video games also inspire me at some point. I concentrate on challenging myself to draw a disturbing concept to any idea I have in mind, I believe it pushes my ideas to be different.
Free Spirits
Q The majority of the paintings seen on your page could be classified under fantasy and horror, what exactly draws you to this specific genre of paintings?
I find fantasy/horror art to be a very open ended theme because everything and anything is possible, I have been a fan of witches, exorcism, and dark art which brought me into drawing fantasy and horror. I personally found dark art to be emotionally expressive and seeing a disturbing yet appealing painting feels very satisfying.
Dinner Time
Q You definitely have a signature style to all of your paintings, do you believe it is important for designers to build this type of trend and follow it throughout their careers?
Before doing digital painting I tried photo manipulation and vexel art but didn’t find myself progressing, being restricted by photos and solid shapes didn’t cut it for me because my ideas are always changing. When I finally started painting I didn’t have any defined style or basis to follow, I experimented with different brushes and different software until I found a painting “style” that didn’t feel like doing “homework”, to me using oil brushes in Corel Painter was my turning point.
Style is the artist identity and what defines ones artwork. But it is very misinterpreted by many young artists, having a “style” is not an excuse for an artist to stay in his comfort zone, but trying different themes and color schemes could help such artist to have a new and improved “style”. Bottom line, the best way to discover an artist’s inner style is to think outside the box.
Devils
Q “Disturbed” is a truly unique painting that you submitted for the latest Intrinsic Nature Experiment, could you walk us through the idea of this illustration and how you created it?
Oh I was afraid you’re going to ask me that, well this piece is very personal but I’ll share some of the insight behind it. I wanted to express that any exterior emotion is a disturbance to the overall “balance”, be it good or bad disturbance.
A heart simulated by a demon was exactly image I was going for, it started as a normal heart, then the demon started taking over, then the dark aura is the “disturbance” is the resulting after effect. I used oil brushes to do that “painterly” effect, I followed a heart diagram just to draw the proportions correctly, once I got all the basic shapes in I started blocking in my shadows and detailing (which took the major portion in producing this piece).
Disturbed
Q All digital painters use a tablet, so break down your set up for us. Also, why do you prefer your tablet to all others?
I use a Medium Wacom Intuos 2 with Corel Painter X and Photoshop 7.0, I’m not planning to upgrade yet since the difference in the new model seems very insignificant to me. I prefer a Wacom over any other tablet just because the pen feels very light and the nibs are very robust (I have only changed 2 nibs in the past 4 years).
Monad
Q Who would you say are your “heroes” in the design field? And why do you look up to them?
Tiziano Vecelli aka “Titan” is my all-time favorite, his art is very expressive (especially his latest paintings) which up to this day are being taught in many art schools. I like how he expresses moods in his body language and color pallets.
Bobby Chiu, is a Canadian artist and has been an inspiration and the reason I kept doing digital art till this day, his video logs and painting sessions on Youtube are very motivating and inspiring, plus his art is very innocent and fresh.
Positive Energy
Q Thanks again for providing Psdtuts+ with this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?
Thanks for the interview, it was a pleasure. My advice the reader is to keep experimenting as much as you can and always push yourself to the limit.
The Investigation
Where to find Mostafa on the Web
Witchcraft