Adobe Tutorial

Materials Needed:

• Desert 1
• Desert 2
• Iron mask
• Clock
• Bronze Hand
• Gearing Brushes
• Galaxy Brushes
• Bird Brushes
• Sky
• Tree texture
• Celtic Rune Charm Pack

Step 1: Create a new document and add the sky

Go to File > New (Ctrl+N) and create a new document in Photoshop. Then download this sky stock image, open it in Photoshop and move it into your first document using the Move Tool (V). Then go to Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl+T), hold down the Shift key and resize this image. Name this layer "sky", hit Ctrl+G to put it inside a group and name the group "background."

Step 2: Add a small galaxy on the sky

Create a new layer inside the "background" group and name it "galaxy." Then download these brushes and install them. Select the Brush Tool (B), chose one of those galaxy brushes, set the foreground color to #8c8c8c and create a small galaxy on your sky. Then set the blend mode of this layer to Color Dodge 25%.

Step 3: Add the first desert stock photo

Download this desert stock photo and open it in Photoshop. Double-click on the background layer to unlock it, then use the Magic Wand Tool (W) to select the sky and delete it. Move this image into your first document using the Move Tool (V). Hit Ctrl+M to open the Curves window and use the settings from the following image. Name this layer "desert 1."
Note: You can also use the Eraser Tool (E) and a soft brush to erase some parts of the sky from this photo.

Step 4: Duplicate the "desert 1" layer

Duplicate the "desert 1" layer (Ctrl+J), and then go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Use the Move Tool (V) to move this layer to the right side of your document and name it "desert 2."

Step 5: Add the second desert stock photo

Download this desert stock photo and open it in Photoshop. Double-click on the background layer to unlock it, select the sky using the Magic Wand Tool (W) and delete it. You can also use the Eraser Tool (E) and a soft brush to erase the top area of the desert. Move this image into your document using the Move Tool (V) and go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Double-click on this layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image for Gradient Overlay. Name this layer "desert 3."
Note: Arrange the image from this step in a way that makes visible the hills of the other two desert photos beneath it.

Step 6: Add the iron mask

Download this iron mask stock photo and open it in Photoshop. Use the Pen Tool (P) to separate the mask from the background and then use the Move Tool (V) to move it into your first document. Go to Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl+T), hold down the Shift key and resize this layer; right-click on the image, select Flip Horizontal and then hit Enter. Name this layer "iron mask" and put it inside a group (Ctrl+G). Name the group "iron mask" too.

Step 7: Add a Gradient Overlay layer style to the iron mask

Double-click on the "iron mask" layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image for Gradient Overlay.

Step 8: Mask the bottom area of the iron mask

The bottom area of our iron mask should be buried in the sand. To make this happen, make sure that you have the "iron mask" layer selected, and then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select a black soft brush (B) and paint with it over the bottom area of your iron mask.

Step 9: Add a Levels adjustment layer

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels, check the "Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask" option and use the settings from the following image to make the iron mask brighter.

Step 10: Create a shadow for the iron mask

Ctrl-click on the thumbnail of the "iron mask" layer to select it, then create a new layer and fill it with black. Put this layer beneath the "iron mask" layer, then go to Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical. Move this shadow at the bottom of the mask. Then go to Edit > Free Transform, hold down the Ctrl key and transform the shadow like I did. Blur this layer (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) and then use the Eraser Tool (E) and a big soft brush with the opacity of 20% to erase some areas of this layer. Keep in mind that the shadow should be darker at the bottom of the iron mask and brighter at the other end. Name this layer "shadow."

Step 11: Add a sign on the iron mask’s forehead

Create a new layer, set the foreground color to #cca899, select a soft brush (B) with the diameter of 100px and click once in the middle of the iron mask’s forehead. Name this layer "forehead light" and set its blend mode to Overlay 75%. Then download the Celtic Rune Charm Pack, open the "Rune-Ger.jpg" image in Photoshop and use the Pen Tool (P) to separate the sign from the background. Move this sign into your first document using the Move Tool (V) and put it above the forehead light. Name this layer "forehead sign" and set its blend mode to Overlay.

Step 12: Add two scars to the iron mask

Download this tree texture and open it in Photoshop. Move the image into your first document, use Free Transform (Ctrl+T) to resize the image and put it on the right cheek of your iron mask. Set the blend mode of this layer to Soft Light and use the Eraser Tool (E) and a soft brush to erase the areas of this texture that you don’t need. Then duplicate this layer (Ctrl+J), go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal, use Free Transform (Ctrl+T) to resize this layer and put this scar on the other cheek of your iron mask.

Step 13: Create some lights coming out of the iron mask’s eyes

Create a new layer, select a white soft brush (B) and use it to create some lights that are coming out of the iron mask’s eyes. Name this layer "eyes light" and set its blend mode to Soft Light 85%.

Step 14: Add a bronze hand

Create a new group and name it "hand." Then download this bronze hand stock image and open it in Photoshop. Use the Magic Wand Tool (W) to separate the hand from the background and use the Move Tool (V) to move the hand into your first document. Go to Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl+T) resize this image and rotate it. Then select the Eraser Tool (E) and erase the bottom area of your hand to make it look like it’s buried in the sand. Name this layer "hand."

Step 15: Make some color adjustments to the hand

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves, check the "Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask" option and use the settings from the following image. Set the opacity of this layer to 80%.

Step 16

Add three more adjustment layers (Color Balance, Channel Mixer and Levels) using the settings from the following image. You can create all these layers from the "Layer > New Adjustment Layer" menu.

Step 17: Add a texture to the hand

Chose one of these rock textures that you like, or find another one on the internet, open it in Photoshop and move it into your first document using the Move Tool (V). Then use Free Transform (Ctrl+T) to resize this image and rotate it. Make sure that this layer is above all the other adjustment layers, then right-click on it and select Create Clipping Mask. Name this layer "texture" and set its blend mode to Soft Light 30%.

Step 18: Use the iron mask as a texture for the hand

Duplicate the "iron mask" layer from the "iron mask" group (Ctrl+J). Then move this new layer above the hand’s texture layer, right-click on it and select Create Clipping Mask. Set the blend mode of this layer to Soft Light.

Step 19: Create a clock needle

Download these Gearing Brushes and install them. Create a new layer, set the foreground color to black and use one of the brushes which you have downloaded to create a clock needle coming out of one of the hand’s fingers. Double-click on this layer and use the settings from the following image. Name this layer "clock needle."

Step 20: Color the hand in orange

Ctrl-click on the "hand" layer to select it. Then create a new layer and fill it with the color #d57426. Name this layer "orange hand" and set its blend mode to Soft Light 70%. Then use the Eraser Tool (E) and a big soft brush to erase the bottom area of this layer.

Step 21: Create some gears

Set the foreground color to black, create a new layer and use the brushes which you have previously download to create some gears inside the hand. Double-click on this layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image. Then use the Eraser Tool (E) and a small hard brush to erase the area of the gears that you don’t need.

Step 22: Adjust the lights and the shadows of the iron mask

Double-click on your hand layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image for Gradient Overlay. Then use the Burn Tool (O) and the Dodge Tool (O) to create the lights and the shadows. Experiment with the Range and Exposure settings from the option bar to get the effect you want.
Note: when you have the Dodge Tool or the Burn Tool selected you can use the Alt key to quickly shift between them.

Step 23: Create a shadow for your hand

Create a shadow for your hand using the same process which you have used for the iron mask.

Step 24: Add some clocks

Create a new group and name it "clocks." Then download this image and open it in Photoshop. Use the Pen Tool (P) to separate the clock from the rest of the image. Then move the clock into your first document using the Move Tool (V). Go to Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl+T), hold down the Shift key and resize this image. Then use the Eraser Tool (E) and a grunge brush to erase some areas of this clock.
Repeat this step to add more clocks to your image. Change the size of each clock and rotate them. Take a look at the following image for reference. Select all your clock layers and merge them together (Ctrl+E). Name this layer "clocks."

Step 25: Add a shadow to the clocks

Double-click on the "clocks" layer to open the Layer Style window and use the settings from the following image for Drop Shadow.

Step 26

Create a new layer and fill it with black. Set the blend mode of this layer to Linear Dodge (Add). Then select the Brush Tool (B), select a brush with the diameter of 2-3px, select a nice orange color and create some random lines around your clocks. Take a look at the following image for reference.

Step 27: Add some birds

Download these brushes and install them. Then create a new layer and use those brushes to create some small birds on your sky. Name this layer "birds."

Step 28: Final color adjustments

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map and use the settings from the following image. Set the blend mode of this layer to Soft Light.

Step 29

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map and use the settings from the following image. Set the blend mode of this layer to Soft Light 38%.

Step 30

Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient Fill and use the settings from the following image. Set the blend mode of this layer to Soft Light.

Step 31

Create a new layer, select a big soft brush (B) and paint with yellow in the left side of your image and with blue in the right side. Then set the blend mode of this layer to Color 25%.

Final Result

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that you learned something new. What we have obtained is a photo-manipulation with some ruins in the desert; the clocks, the gears and the clock needle make everything to gravitate around the time theme.

So the first thing I did was go looking for a good stock image. I wanted a face with a lot of detail such as facial hair, expression, and most importantly, pores! I tend to get my stock images from the free site www.sxc.hu. Being impoverished and all I can’t afford to spend a buck on each picture. I ended up using this great image by Emiliano Spada.
Next thing we need is a tattoo design. You can create your own but I am not only poor, I am lazy as well. Head over to gomedia.us and get your hands on their Vector Sample Pack (from the Freebie Section).

Step 1

Ok, open up your stock image and duplicate it by clicking on the layer and dragging it to the New Layer icon down the bottom (it’s the one to the left of the trash can). Name this layer Base, desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+U) and duplicate it again. The reason I am doing this is that I like to have multiple stages of my base image, just in case I mess up, so that I can come back at any given time and fix errors.

Step 2

Time to prepare our image. I really want to bring out the detail in the skin, so I am going to up the contrast and adjust the tones a little bit. Let’s add three adjustment layers: First, a Levels layer, then a Brightness/Contrast layer, and last a Curves layer. You can add each by going to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels/Brightness/Curves depending on which you’re adding. Adjustment layers allow you to change the properties of the image below without actually destroying or changing image data.

Step 3

The well known ‘S-shape’ in the curves layer enhances contrast but may have a downside. As you can see, some parts of the stock are affected heavily by the light. These parts include the forehead and parts of the cheeks. The curves layer can make these parts too light and eliminate their detail. To solve this, you need to apply a layer mask to the curves layer and brush up those parts.
You can do this by going to your layers palette, clicking on the curves layer, then down the bottom clicking on the button third from the left to add a Layer Mask. Once you’ve added a layer mask, you’ll see an extra mask clipped on to the layer. Click on that mask, and then using a softish brush gently paint black over the areas where you do not want the curves layer to show through. Remember that when you add a layer mask, white lets the layer show through and black hides it.

Step 4

I was not all too happy with what I had, so I decided to use the Burn Tool (O) to touch up the image manually. I used a large, soft brush and set the range to Shadows with an Exposure of 32% (shown)
Now go to Layer>Flatten Image and save the file as Displacement.psd. DO NOT CLOSE THE FILE, as you will lose everything. Hit Ctrl+Z to undo the ‘Flatten Image’ command and now go to File > Save As and save the file as Tattoo.psd or any other name apart from Displacement.psd
We will be using the Displacement.psd file as a displacement map. Therefore we shouldn’t edit it any further, and any change we apply to our image from now on will be saved into the Tattoo.psd file. Ok, on to the fun part…

Step 5

Now that we’ve finished prepping our image, we can finally start applying the tattoo. Open up your Gomedia free vectors file in Illustrator (preferably, but you can also open it in Photoshop). Copy and paste a design of your choice onto the face. Rotate it and adjust it accordingly, so that it fits more or less. Mask out any parts that should not appear to have a tattoo on them. In my case these are the lips. Rename the layer to ‘Tattoo’ so that you can find it easier. Close the vector eps file and do not save the changes. Here is how my design (tribals, set 3) looks applied.
I masked out the top part so that it doesn’t go over the lips, and I got rid of the tips that stick out beyond the face.

Step 6

Duplicate the shape layer twice. There now should be a ‘tattoo copy’ and ‘tattoo copy 2′. Set the ‘tattoo copy’ layer to Overlay at 80% Opacity. Set the ‘tattoo copy 2′ layer to Soft light at 64% Opacity. Hide the original ‘tattoo’ layer.
For organizational purposes, I have created several layer sets and dropped my layers into those sets. You can create a layer set by clicking on the icon in your layers palette that is located between the ‘new adjustment layer’ icon and the ‘new layer’ icon. Using layer sets will smooth your workflow.

Step 7

Rasterize your ‘tattoo copy’ layer by right-clicking on it in the layers palette and selecting Rasterize layer. This process will return the blending mode to Normal so we must set the blending mode back to Overlay and the Opacity back to 80%. Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur and blur the layer with a value of about 2.0 pixels.
Next, this is where your creative mind steps in. You will have to mask away parts of both ‘copy’ layers until you have found a satisfying result regarding the opacity of the tattoo. I prefer to use a big brush and alter in between 10 and 20 percent opacity while brushing. Here is how my result looks:
Congratulations, you have just gone beyond the part that is covered in any other tutorial. You have created something that looks more or less real. But we are not done yet.

Step 8

We are almost there–time to apply our displacement map. Select your ‘tattoo copy’ layer and go to Filter > Distort > Displace. Leave the default settings and hit ok. A window will come up prompting for a psd file. Now navigate to your Displacement.psd file and select it. Select your ‘tattoo copy 2′ layer and hit Ctrl+F. This will repeat the filter for this layer giving you something similar to this:

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial.

• Ironing Board
• Giraffe

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Step 1

Let’s start by creating a new document in Adobe Photoshop. The size of document is 2200×3200 pixels at 72 px/inch of resolution. Start by filling the background with any color (white for example).

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Step 2

First of all let’s create a simple and plain background. You may crate your own more interesting and multi-layered background – old style wallpapers or may be savanna landscape.
We will use gradients and filters. Unlock the "Background" – right click on background thumbnail and choose "Layer from background", click "Add a layer style" small icon in the bottom part of the Layers Palette. Apply "Color Overlay" and "Gradient Overlay" styles. Use setting and colors just like on the screen shots below.

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Step 3

Create a new empty layer above background layer – click "Create a new layer" icon . Choose huge soft, light color Brush Tool and draw a spot in the central part of the document.

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Step 4

Create a new layer above light spot layer. Go to Menu > Filter > Render > Clouds.
Choose Filters menu again and find Blur filter, apply Motion Blur and Gaussian Blur filters to clouds layer one by one. Add Layer Mask to blurred layer, click "Add Layer Mask" icon. Make Layer Mask active and fill it with black and white Reflected Gradient in the bottom part of the document.

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Step 5

In order to create Vignette effect, choose Menu > Filter > Distort > Lens Correction > play with Vignette Amount & Midpoint settings.

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Step 6

Merge all created layers. Make lighter the right part of our background, the light source will be directed from right. Make active Quick Mask Mode , choose Linear "black and white" Gradient Tool. Fill layer with gradient from left to right edge of the document. The left side should become pink. Make Quick Mask inactive (click icon).

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Step 7

You will have selected area like on the screen shot. Play with Levels settings. Menu > Image > Adjustments Levels, move gray marker left. You can add small noise effect, to the created background layer. Go to Menu > Filter > Noise > Add Noise > 4; Uniform.

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Step 8

Insert giraffe image. Menu > File > Place – choose giraffe .jpg file. In order to separate giraffe silhouette from background, choose Polygonal Lasso Tool. You may use other methods, but this one is pretty easy and convenient. Click in the giraffe silhouette area to set the starting point. Continue clicking to set endpoints for subsequent segments. To close the selection border click over the starting point.

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Step 9

Click Refine Edge to improve the quality of a selection’s edges.

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Step 10

Use following Refine Edge settings. Click "Ok" and inverse selection: Menu > Select > Inverse. Erase or clear selected background area (Menu > Edit > Clear).

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Step 11

In order to retouch and improve color balance of the Giraffe image choose Shadows /Highlights from Image > Adjustments menu. Apply following settings:

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Step 12

Add the new adjustments layers above Giraffe layer- "Levels", "Color Balance", "Selective Color Options", click icon in the bottom menu of the Layers Palette. Select all adjustments layers (make them active), right click > choose "Create Clipping Mask". Apply setting for each adjustment layer like on the examples below. Fill "Selective Color" and "Levels" Layers Masks with linear "black and white" gradient.

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Step 13

Load selection for white stripes with Magic Wand Tool. It is not necessary to load selection for all white spots at once, you may do this work by portions. Go to Menu > Select > Modify > Expand (expand by 1px).

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Step 14

Duplicate the retouched Giraffe layer and fill selected stripes with brown color in the duplicated layer, name it "Clean skin layer". The original retouched Giraffe layer will be needed in the future steps, be sure that the original layer is below duplicate). Use 0% hardness brush and hold down the "Alt" key to activate Eyedropper Tool and find right color next to each stripe.

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Step 15

You should have something like this and you may fill out white areas with color step by step. Brown color stripes will be helpful to create more accurate result.

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Step 16

To remove stripes traces, use Patch Tool. Drag the selection border to the clean and textured skin area. When you release the mouse button, the trace of the selected area is patched with the sampled pixels. Repeat these actions to mask all stripe traces.

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Step 17

You will have giraffe body without spots.

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Step 18

Correct the "Clean skin" layer edges with smooth Eraser Tool to create blending effect between original (spotty) bottom layer and "Clean skin" layer.

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Step 19

Mask the small defects with Patch Tool and Spot Healing Brush Tool. Choose a brush size in the options bar. A brush that is slightly larger than the area you want to fix works best so that you can cover the entire area with one click.

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Step 20

Now we can change skin color and levels balance. Add "Gradient Map", "Levels" and "Black and White" adjustment layers and create Clipping Mask for "Clean skin" layer. Apply following settings.

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Step 21

Insert Ironing Board image, it doesn’t require any changes and adjustments.

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Step 22

Return to the retouched Giraffe layer and duplicate it once again. We will make Giraffe’s jacket using a new copy. Erase head and legs area.

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Step 23

This is a shape for our future jacket.

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Step 24

Correct the shape of the spotty jacket using Warp Transformation. Make a shape flatter. Go to Edit > Transform >Warp.

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Step 25

Liquify filter from Filters menu will help you to create flat shape effect. Use large Forward Warp Tool to correct large areas and smaller Warp Tool size to work with parts such as legs or skin wrinkles.

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Step 26

Now we have flatter shape for the jacket.

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Step 27

Apply Free transformation to jacket shape, make it smaller and little bit stretched by horizontal.

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Step 28

Select top part (above ironing board bottom edge) of the spotty jacket, cut out this part and paste it into a new layer. Stretch it by vertical using Free Transformation like on the example below.

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Step 29

Apply Perspective Transformation to the top edge, Menu > Edit > Transform > Perspective.

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Step 30

Keep active modified top part of jacket layer. Cut out top part again (above ironing board top edge), just leave stripe above trouser-legs ("Layer 20" on the screen shot below). Stretch top part by vertical again.

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Step 31

Apply Perspective transformation.

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Step 32

Make active top layer of the jacket layers. Erase iron and area above ironing board. Try to imitate skin wrinkles shape.

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Step 33

Draw white line with Line Tool in a new layer above giraffe jacket, use weight around 13 px and apply Gaussian Blur Filter (R=10px).

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Step 34

Change Blending Mode for this layer on "Overlay".

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Step 35

Copy neck area from the original retouched Giraffe layer. Paste it into a new layer below ironing board layer. Apply flip Vertical transformation to this shape and Gradient Overlay layer style effect with settings like on the screen shot below.

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Step 36

The final part of our work is creating the drop shadow effect for Giraffe and Ironing board. Load selection for Giraffe shape (Command/Ctrl + click Giraffe layer thumbnail). Create a new layer below of the all visible giraffe layers. Fill selection with any color.

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Step 37

Apply Distort transformation to created shape. Edit > Transform > Distort. Move top edge and left bottom corner left and down. Try to combine drop shadow and legs in same points. Correct central legs shadow with Eraser Tool.

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Step 38

This is result of our transformation.

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Step 39

Set Fill parameter 0% and Opacity around 20% for the shadow layer. Apply Gradient Overlay layer style effect. Make active Quick mask Mode, fill layer with linear gradient like on the example below.

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Step 40

Click Quick Mask icon and apply Gaussian Blur to the selected area of the shadow layer.

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Step 41

Duplicate shadow layer and apply Gaussian Blur filter with radius = 50 px and change Opacity to 70-75%.

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Step 42

Create shadow effect for the ironing board using the same method. Load selection for ironing board and jacket, Apply Fill = 0%, Gradient Overlay effect with the same parameters. Apply Blurring 10 px and duplicate shadow layer with Opacity 75% and More Blurring.

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Final Image