Apr 6, 2012

Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop. This is an intermediate tutorial so some steps can be tricky, but why not have a try :)










Along the way, we will apply some basic Photo Manipulation techniques such as layer blending and masking, we will also practice some selection techniques with Pen Tool and some photo retouch skills.
Put your design expertise on paper postcards, they’re great for showing off all of your skills.
Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)
parrot model flatten 500x300 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

OK Let’s get started!
To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:
Model
Parrot 1
Parrot 2
Tree
Some Grungy Brushsets

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1200px * 720px with white background, use the gradient fill tool (G) to fill the background with the following gradient:
1 gradient 500x298 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Load the model image into Photoshop, cut out the upper body of the model and paste it onto our document, use the eraser tool (around 85% hardness) to remove the lower parts as shown below:
1 paste 500x469 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Tidy up the edges of the model with a 70% hardness eraser tool:
1 erase 500x433 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Apply some slight dodge and burn effect with the dodge and burn tool (set exposure to around 10%) on the model”
1 dogde burn 500x299 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Use the grungy brushset as eraser, remove some parts of the model as shown below:
Hint: resize the brush to a smaller size before you erase.
1 erase 2 500x361 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Step 2

Let’s add the following image adjustment layers as clipping mask on the model layer:
Black and White
2 bw Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Levels
2 lv Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Apply the following layer mask on the Levels adjustment layer:
2 lv mask 500x331 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Curves
2 curves Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Brightness and Contrast
2 bright Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
and you will have the following effect:

2 effect 500x357 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Step 3

Load the “Parrot 1″ image into Photoshop, cut out the parrot and paste it onto our document, resize and position it as shown below:
3 parrot paste 500x345 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Use a soft eraser to remove the following parts off the parrot as shown below:
3 erase Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Add the following 2 adjustment layers as clipping mask to this parrot layer:
Black and White
3 bw Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Curves
3 curves Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
and you will have the following effect:
3 effect 500x315 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Step 4

We can add the second parrot into the manipulation. Load the “Parrot 2″ image into Photoshop and copy out the parrot, paste it onto our document and resize it, as shown below:
4 paste 500x349 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Use a soft eraser (with 40% flow and opacity) to erase the following parts of the parrot to give it some extra lighting effect:
4 erase light 500x461 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Duplicate this layer a few times, rotate and resize each layer, and hit Ctrl + U on each layer to adjust its Hue, for some variety in the image:
4 more 500x275 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Step 5

We can now add a red circle around the model for some abstract effect – create a new layer and use a hard brush to paint a big circle:
5 red 500x338 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Erase the centre bit with a slightly smaller eraser:
5 erase 500x411 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Use the grungy brushes as an eraser (set flow and opacity to around 40%), remove some parts of the circle off:
5 erase grunge Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Duplicate this circle layer a few times and resize them, attach them around the model:
5 dup 500x330 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Step 6

We want to add some tree texture to the model – load the tree stock image into Photoshop, use the Pen tool to draw a path as shown below:
6 tree select 500x468 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Right-click and make a selection with the feather radius of 1px:
6 tree sel set Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Copy and paste the texture into our document, resize it and fit to the lower half of the model:
6 paste 500x303 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Use the liquify filter to apply some liquid effect to this tree texture, just to give it some artistic feeling:
6 liquify 500x223 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Use the grungy brushes as an eraser (reduce their size), set the eraser flow and opacity to around 40%, erase some part of the tree texture as shown below:
6 erase 500x279 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Add the following 3 adjustment layers as clipping mask for this tree texture layer:
Black and White
6 bw Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Levels
6 lv Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Curves
6 curves Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
and you will have the following effect:
6 effect Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Step 7

OK we’re almost done! For some final retouches, we can add some more textures around the model with the grungy brushsets:
7 texture 500x308 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Use the Pen Tool to draw some curvy path and stroke a with a 3px brush to add some lines around the model and the parrots:
7 lines 500x263 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Either use a cloud brush or the cloud filter to add some cloud and paint some shadow under the model:
7 cloud 500x336 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
You can add some more particles with a hard brush (with 40% flow and opacity) under the model:
7 particles Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
Use a soft round white brush to paint some highlight around the model for some extra lighting effect:
7 highlight 500x312 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop
and you will have the following effect so far:
7 effect 500x434 Design a Natural Abstract Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

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