Sparkling Hot Girl in Photoshop

Ive seen some very nice images mixing photos with light effects and sparks. If you go to flickr in those Photoshop and Graphic Design groups you will see images with this effect. Theres a designer, I think he's Brazilian, who has some amazing designs using this style, his name is Leandro Demetrius and its really worth checking his work out.
Anyway, in this tutorial I will show you how to create an image using this technique. It basically mixes some techniques from tutorials like Magic Lighting Effect, Amazing Photoshop light effect in 10 Steps, and the latest Create the MSNBC header effect.

Step 1
Create a new document, mine is 800x600 pixels. After that double click on the background layer to open the Layer Style dialog box and add a Gradient Overaly. Select Radial for the Style and use a dark red to black for the colors

Step 2
Select a nice photo, in my case an amazingly hot girl from the 30 Color and Pattern Inspiration Bikinis post. Select the Pen Tool (P) and start creating a path with the shape of the woman. Later we will convert this path to selection to mask the girl.

Step 3
After you create a path with the shape of the woman, go to the Path palette, right next to the Layer Palette. You will see the path with the girls shape. Click on the dotted circle icon at the bottom of the box to create a selection from the path.

Step 4
Back to the Layer Palette, select the girls layer and then go to Selection>Refine Edge. This command will allow us to adjust the selection in real time with some nice settings like feather, smooth, contras, and others. Make some tests with a black background. When you have a good selection click ok. After that go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection.

Step 5
Lets increase the contrast of our girl, go to Image>Settings>Brightness/Contrast. After that reduce the layer like the image below. Then add a bit of noise. Filter>Noise>Add Noise.

Step 6
Group the girl layer so it will be inside a folder on the Layer Palette. Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M), set the feather option to 30px and create a elliptical selection like the image below. Now select the Folder instead of the girls layer and after that go again to

Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection. We will add the mask to the folder and everything inside the folder.

Step 7
Double click on the girls layer to open the Layer Style box. Select Outer Glow. For the Blend Mode use Color Dodge and for the size set 35px. After that Duplicate this layer and go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Use 43 for the Angle and 155 for distance. Make sure that the blurry layer is behind the normal layer.

Step 8
Create a layer, not inside the folder anymore. This layer has to be behind the girl. Then go to Filter>Render>Clouds. Change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge.

Step 9
Create another layer, behind the clouds layer. Now go to Filter>Render>Fibers... Use 13 for the variance and 4 for the Strength. After lets add another filter, this time Motion Blur, go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. The angle will 90 and for the distance use more than 300px like the image below.

Step 10
First rotate the layer. Then select Lasso Tool (L) set 30px for the feather and create a selection like I did. Then one more time go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection. After that double click the layer to open the Layer Style box. In the Layer Styles first screen set the Fill Opacity to 60%, then add a Gradient Overlay, use the rainbow colors.

Step 11
Here its all about brushes. But first create a new Folder in the Layer Palette and set the Blend Mode to Color Dodge. After that create the layers you want to be light inside of this folder and using white color. You can even add some different shapes and apply gaussian blur to create those rays of light.

Conclusion
This is one of those designs that looks a bit complicated when we see it at first. But when you start working on it, it turns out to be much easier than we thought. You can add different light colors, more or less sparks, or even explode some parts of her body. Well thats another tutorial I will write about.

Deep and Moody

Right time to go into Photoshop and create a "simple" moody image using loads of simple effects to create an image with depth and composition. This is simpler than you think but can demand a lot from your system. You will be switching between Illustrator, Photoshop, Painter and throwing a few hand rendered elements in just for good measure so put the kettle on, sit back and get ready to begin!

Step 1
Obtain a mono shot which has good deal of contrast, the shot can have a background or be on an infinity screen, each will give a different feeling to the final piece. Your main task here is to find a shot you like as you will be staring at it for some time.

Step 2
Mask off the subject as tightly as possible, do this by creating a duplicate layer and adding a layer mask set to reveal all. Next select the mask itself and draw around the image you wish to keep. You can use feather edge brushes to allow semi transparent edges. Alternatively use a piece of masking software like Ez mask, a lot easier!

Step 3
Now add a layer in between your two existing layers and add a splash of colour, simply add a gradient of your chosen colour to create a little contrast and simply use the hue command in the layer effects. Don't make this too obvious as the effect should be subtle.

Step 4
Now switch your image into Illustrator. Just open up the image and begin to draw vector lines over the top. Remember to place it on a separate layer and lock it down before you start as to move the image and continue to draw your vectors is not good! Draw whatever you fancy and is fitting with your chosen image as this is where you stamp your mark on the piece.

Step 5
If you have kept the original the same size in Illustrator all you need to do is paste it in and it will be the correct size in photoshop. Also if you are not happy with the colour simply adjust the hue via the Hue and Saturation command in the Image > Adjustment > Hue and Saturation

Step 6
Now highlight vectors using the burn brush, use this to give added depth and vary the brush size to get the best possible result. You want to make this in between looking real and plastic false to help it stand out from the original layer. This will obviously differ depending on what you used as a base image.

Step 7
Dupe up the top layer of the subject and then adjust the Hue and Saturation as in step 5, find a colour that matches the composition of your piece. Then add more sections to your layer

mask to hide areas and give more interest to the viewer. Use your own personal judgement here and don't be shy!

Step 8
Now freehand draw a shadow beneath the model and using the layer effect multiply place one below at 100% opacity and one above at around 50% opacity to hide the joint between the model and the background.

Step 9
Open up the file splats.ai and paste onto your image and multiply the layer down. Place this image behind the main masked subject layer and experiment with the layer opacity to get the effect level you think is right. Then repeat this process numerous times until you get the complexity you desire.

Step 10
Next get out your pen and paper and do a few hand rendered drawings, scan these in and place them behind your subject image. The image then needs to be again multiplied down and also use the Edit > Transfer > Perspective function in photoshop to get it to match into your composition.

Step 11
Right time to swap programs again. Open your layer file into Painter and dupe the master layer of the girl, then apply the Effects > Fill > Pattern filter and choose the rose design. Then apply thelayer over the top using the Gel layer effect and reduce the opacity to around 15%.

Step 12
Next get a picture of an item that complements your image and clipped out then place the image behind the main image, then add a slight drop shadow, not too much but enough to boost the contrast. You then need to dupe this layer and resize and change the opacity and layer modes in random to get a mixed effect. There is no science to this just experiment!

Step 13
Now dupe up the splat effect and flower layers, change the Hue and Saturation to fit in within with the composition. This will give an overall more blended feel to the image as a hole, again multiply these layers down using layer effects in various fashions. I can't stress enough just experiment!

Step 14
Now introduce some other elements using the same effects as with the flowers in the earlier step, don't be shy here just pile them up and work on your composition. You can take this as far as you want. Remember this is all about experimentation and making it different so try to get a good selection of items in at this stage! Drawing vectors and importing them can be a good idea to add more depth.

Step 15
Now continue experimenting in this way adding layers until you are happy. Then just flatten your image and hey presto you are done!

About the author

Neil is a self confessed Mac monkey based in a rural miners cottage 20 miles north of Manchester. He creates pieces that combine elements from mixed media, photography that are interlaced with complex vectors to create pieces that always hit the brief for clients all around the world. Visit Neil's website to see his works.