Christmas Ornament

December 17th, 2010

Open a new document in photoshop sizing:

Create a new layer.

Select the Circular Marquee tool.

Make a circle (hold in shift to keep perfect) and fill with black.

Right click on the layer to bring up Blending options…

Use the following settings:

You will have this:

Create a new layer and name it topper.

Draw an oval and fill in black.

Create a new layer and make rectangle to fit the oval. Merge layers together.

You will have this shape:

(ignore the selection)

Select the smudge tool.

Smudge the bottom of the topper to give a softer edge.

Right click on the layer and select Blending Options…

Use the following settings:

You’ll have this:

Select the custom shape tool that is a ring:

Make a ring at the top. Then erase some of the bottom (you will be asked to rasterize, say yes):

You can now add designs to the Christmas ornament of your choosing using various brushes.

You will have something like this:

Grassy Face

December 13th, 2010

Open an image of a face in photoshop. I used Sandra Bullock.

Now open an image of grass.

Go back to the document of the face.

Create a new layer and name it painting.

Select a soft edge brush with black as the color.

Paint around the edges of the face.

Select the Face layer.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves…

Darken the image.

Now go to Image > Adjustments > Black & White..

Now go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast

Use the following settings:

You will have this:

Now go to your grass image.

Press Command A to select all.

Press Command C to copy.

Go back to your Face image.

Press Command V to paste.

Set the layer mode to Hard Light.

You will have this:

Select the eraser tool, and erase the areas you want to “pop”. Such as the eyes. Toggle with opacity of the eraser brush to get different effects.

Arrange your layers like this:

Set the opacity of the top layer to 45%.

You will have this:

How to Make Bamboo

December 8th, 2010

Open a new document in photoshop sizing:

Make a rectangular shape and fill with black.

Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise…

Use the following settings:

Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur…

Use the following settings:

Select a layer mask and choose hue/saturation…

Your layers will look like this:

Use the following settings on the adjustment layer:

You’ll have something like this:

Press Command T to transform, and select warp…

Warp like this:

Select the burn tool.

Use the following settings:

Burn edges.

Duplicate the layer by pressing Command J.

Set the blending mode on the duplicated layer to Screen.

You’ll have this:

Select both layers by holding shift, and right click… select Merge Layers

Now duplicate the merged layers, set the blending mode to Multiply at 10% opacity and arrange like this:

Now, merge top 3 layers together.

Using the rectangular marquee tool, select the top of the bamboo. Press Command T to transform, and right click to select Warp.

Use this as your guide to shape:

Select a soft edge paintbrush, choose black as the foreground color, and toggle the opacity to paint like this:

Paint along edges to create depth.

You’ll have this:

Duplicate this layer.

Arrange on top of the other piece to get this finished look: