In this tutorial we will create a poster using stock vectors, basic shapes and stock photos. Along with this, you will learn to use basic Blending properties and shading. Every step is well explained and you will learn a lot of things if you follow them accordingly.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Completion time: 1 hour – 1.5 hours
Tools: Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3

Resources:

- Wall texture
- Female stock by Katanaz-stock
- Floral Vector Pack 48 by Designious.com
- Andes font from dafont.com
- Riesling font from dafont.com
- Damask pattern from patternsshop.com

- Floral Vector Pack 53 by Designious.com

So let’s begin.

What you’ll be creating

STEP 1

Go to File > New… to create a new document of 1000 x 1700 px in RGB color mode at 300 dpi.

STEP 2

Open the “Damask pattern” from patternsshop.com. Whether you open it with Photoshop or Illustrator, doesn’t matter, the file is compatible with both. Set it to open for 600 px Width.
In the Layers palette (F7), CTRL+click the layer’s thumbnail to load a selection. Then grab the Brush Tool (B), change foreground color to a light green and paint over the flowers of the pattern.

STEP 3

Go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D). In the Layers palette ( Window > Layers or F7), double-click the lock on the “background” layer and hit OK. Then create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N) and click-drag this layer below the “background” layer.

STEP 4

Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill this layer with a midtone green.

STEP 5

Go to Layer > Merge Visible (CTRL+SHIFT+E). CTRL+click the layer thumbnail to load a selection. Then go to Edit > Define Pattern (CTRL+F2). Name it “damask green” and hit OK.

STEP 6

Go to Window > Untitled-1 (our document), double-click the “lock” in the Layers Palette (F7). Hit OK. Click the “fx” button and select Blending Options.

STEP 7

Check the Pattern Overlay box and click its tag. Select the pattern we created from the patterns list. Hit OK.

STEP 8

With this layer still selected, hit CTRL+G to place it in a layer group. Double-click the group’s name to edit it. Name it “background”. Click on the small triangle to expand it.

STEP 9

Select the layer inside the group and click the “New Layer” button to create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N). Name it “gradient”. Grab the Gradient Tool (G), click on the gradient on the top left corner of your screen and select the gradient shown below. Drag the purple color out of the gradient bar and hit OK.

STEP 10

Make sure the gradient is set on Linear, then SHIFT+click-drag from top to bottom on the “gradient” layer. Then go to Layers palette (F7) and set Blending mode to Soft Light.

STEP 11

With the “gradient” layer still selected, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves. Click-drag the curve like in the image below and hit OK. Select the “Curve 1” layer mask, grab the Brush Tool (B), hit D, then 6 and paint over the middle of the image. This will create a nice spotlight for the background.

STEP 12

Contract the layer group (click the small gray triangle) and grab the Ellipse Tool (U) and set it on Shapes. Click-drag on the canvas, hold ALT+SHIFT keys and draw a circle.

STEP 13

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J), then go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T). Hold ALT+SHIFT keys and click-drag one of the gripping points and make it smaller. Hit Enter.

STEP 14

Grab the Rectangle Tool (U) and draw a rectangle like below.

STEP 15

Draw more rectangles similar to mine.

STEP 16

Select the first rectangle, go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T), hold SHIFT key and rotate them like below. Hit Enter.

STEP 17

Select the Shape layers shown below and go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+E). I’ve changed the colors for you to better see the shapes, you can make them the same colors.

STEP 18

Hit CTRL+G to place this layer in a layer group. Rename the layer group to “Base shapes”. In the Layers palette (F7), click the “fx” button and select “Blending Options”. Use the settings shown below.

STEP 19

Right-click on the “fx” icon near the layer thumbnail and select “Create Layer”. This will create a layer below your current one. That’s the effect applied in STEP 18, but on a different layer.

STEP 20

Select the newly created layer, go to Layers palette (F7), click the “fx” button and select “Blending options”. Use the settings below.

STEP 21

Repeat STEPS 18-20 for the other shapes.

STEP 22

Open the “wall texture”. Hit CTRL+A to load a selection of the entire image, copy it (CTRL+C), go back to our document and paste it (CTRL+V). Make it smaller, hit enter and click-drag it into the “base shapes” layer group.

STEP 23

Expand the “Base shapes” layer group and place the layer with the texture above all layers in the group. CTRL+click the layer with the shape to load a selection, go to Select > Inverse. Hit Delete, then go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D).

STEP 24

In the Layers palette (F7), click the “fx” button and select Blending Options. Use the settings below. Hit CTRL+SHIFT+U to desaturate the image and set Blending mode to Hard Light.

STEP 25

Create a new layer above all layers in the group. Grab the Gradient Tool (G), click on the gradient in the top left corner of your screen to edit it. Use the settings below and hit OK. Then click-drag the gradient as shown below.

STEP 26

In the Layers palette, set Blending mode to Overlay.

STEP 27

Repeat STEPS 22-26for the other shapes.

STEP 28

Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or CTRL+SHIFT+N), set its Blending mode to Multiply and place it inside the “base shapes” layer group. Now grab the Brush Tool (B), set Hardness to 0%, hit “6” to set its Opacity to 60% and start painting the shadow of the main shape.
Make sure your foreground color is black.

STEP 29

Repeat STEP 28 for the other layer groups.

STEP 30

Open the “girl” picture. Go to the Channels window (Window > Channels) and click-drag the “Red” channel over the “New Channel” button. Why red channel? Because the image contains a red tint.

STEP 31

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves (CTRL+M) and drag the curve like below. Repeat until it gets darker. Don’t overdo it, else it will have choppy edges.

STEP 32

Grab the Burn Tool (O), set it on Shadows with 70% Exposure and click the areas where there are hair strands. Make them darker, until they have a nice sharp contour.

STEP 33

Grab the Brush Tool (B), hit D to set foreground to default (pure black – #000000) and paint over the rest of the body. This is easier if you have a tablet, but a mouse will do nicely.

STEP 34

When the entire girl is covered with pure black, go to the Channels palette (Window > Channels) and CTRL+click the “Red copy” channel. Then go to Layers palette, click the layer thumb and hit CTRL+C to copy it. Then go back to our document.

STEP 35

Paste it (CTRL+C) and make it smaller. Hold SHIFT key to preserve its proportions. Now go to Image > Adjustments > Curves (CTRL+M) and click-drag the curve like below.

STEP 36

Install the fonts (extract them in C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\), grab the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and type “august 17th”. Adjust the size as you see fit. Hit Enter. In the Layers palette, open the Blending options and use the settings below. Go to Edit > Free Transform to rotate it – hold SHIFT key when you do.

STEP 37

Repeat STEP 36: type “at my place”, but use these settings for Blending properties.

STEP 38

Grab the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) and draw 3 rectangles. Then copy the Blending Options from STEP 37 and paste it to them (right-click on the “fx” tag of the layer). As an extra, check the “Inner glow box in the Blending Options.

STEP 39

Type more text and play around with the fonts. To throw some effects on them, simply copy the previous ones.

STEP 40

Open the “Floral Vector Pack 48” from designious.com, grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), select a flower, copy it, then paste it into our drawing. Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all.

STEP 41

CTRL+click the layer thumbnail, grab the Brush Tool (B) with a green color, press 3 and paint over the flowers. Make sure the thumbnail is selected and not the layer mask. Then select the layer mask, press D, set Hardness to 0% and paint over areas you want hidden. Do this for multiple flowers.

STEP 42

Add shadows to them like in STEP 28. Also do this for the rest of the elements, since now it’s starting to shape up.

STEP 43

Select the top-most layer group and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Exposure. Use the settings below.

STEP 44

Grab the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and type “pijama”. Use Arial Black font. Then repeat STEPS 18-26 and apply the same effects. Also add some shadows like in STEP 28.

STEP 45

Expand the “background” layer group. Open the “Floral Vector Pack 53” and place some flowers in the folder. Go to Blending Options and apply a nice gradient – a blue to light blue will do.
Paste more until you are satisfied with the result.

Done!

You can download the source file from the link below.

How to Create a Vintage Party Poster in Photoshop is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

Today, we will create a nice wallpaper using stock vectors, images and a bit of imagination. Along, we will also learn some photo retouching techniques, enhancement and changing the lighting source.

Difficulty: Beginner – Intermediate
Completion time: 1-2 hours
Tools: Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3

Resources:

- Wall texture
- Frame
- Damask pattern
- Lamp
- Light Switch

What you’ll be creating

Setting up the scenario

STEP 1

Go to File > New… and create a document of 1680×1050 px at 72 dpi in RGB color mode.

STEP 2

Open the “wall texture” (File > Open… or CTRL+O) select all (CTRL+A), copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it into our document (CTRL+V).

STEP 3

Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (CTRL+SHIFT+U). Then go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J).

STEP 4

With the top-most layer selected, go to the Layers palette (Window > Layers or F7) and set its Blending mode to Hard Light. This will enhance a bit the shadows and lighten the highlights and midtones.

STEP 5

Select these two layers (hold SHIFT key and click their thumbnails in the Layers palette) and go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+E). Then duplicate it again like in STEP 4 (CTRL+J).

STEP 6

Go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T) to enter transform mode. Then right-click > Flip Horizontal. Move them around till you obtain some nice areas with torn cement. Feel free to add more duplicates. Doesn’t have to look great for the moment.

STEP 7

Grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Shapes and roughly trace the areas Where the wall has torn pieces. No need to be precise, it will look better if you get a bit sloppy.

STEP 8

Create a layer above all layers (Layer > New > Layer or CTRL+SHIFT+N). Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill it with a color of your choosing (any color will do, it won’t show anyway.

STEP 9

Open the “damask pattern” in Illustrator. Select one of the patterns and make it larger (Grab the Selection Tool, hold SHIFT key and click-drag one of the corners of the pattern).

STEP 10

Go back to Photoshop and create a document of 400×400 px. Then click-drag from Illustrator the pattern into the Photoshop document.

STEP 11

In the Layers palette (F7), CTRL+click the layer’s thumbnail to load a selection of the contour. Then go to Image > Crop. Go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D). To make a pattern out of it, go to Edit > Define Pattern (CTRL+F2) and hit OK in the popup window.

STEP 12

Go to back to our document. Select the top-most layer and click the “fx” button in the Layers palette (F7). Select “Blending Options”. Check “Pattern Overlay”, click it and set the pattern to the one we created in STEP 11. Set Scale to about 85%. Hit OK.

STEP 13

In the Layers palette (F7), CTRL+click the “shape 1” thumbnail , then CTRL+SHIFT+click the “shape 2” (or as many as you created) thumbnail to load a selection of the layers. Then select the top-most layer and click the “Add Layer Mask” button in the Layers palette (F7).

STEP 14

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select the layer mask, set foreground color to pure white (#000000) – hit D, then X (this will reset the foreground-background colors to black and white and switch them), then paint over the shown area. This will reveal the pattern below the mask. Select all layers from the Layers palette (F7) and hit CTRL+G. Rename it “background”.

STEP 15

Open the “lamp” image (File > Open… or CTRL+O). Grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Paths and carefully trace the contour of the lamp. Once you traced it, right-click > Make Selection and copy it (CTRL+C).

STEP 16

Paste it into our document (CTRL+V). Repeat the contour tracing until you clean up the entire lamp. Simply hit Delete when you load the selection from tracing.

STEP 17

Once you’re done cleaning it up, go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J), then go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set it to 1.1 px and hit OK. Go to Layers palette (F7) and set Blending mode to Overlay.
This will sharpen the texture a bit.

STEP 18

Select both layers (SHIFT+click) and go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+E). Now open the “frame” picture. Grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Paths and trace the frame like in STEP 15.

STEP 19

When you’re done, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it (CTRL+V) in our document. Feel free to resize it a bit. Also repeat STEP 17 to sharpen the texture. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill the interior of the frame with black.

STEP 20

Open the “girl” photo (CTRL+O). Go to Filter > Blur > Surface Blur and adjust it till the wall and the girl’s shadow look clean.

STEP 21

Grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Paths and carefully trace the girl’s contour. When you’re done, hit right-click > Make Selection. Copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it in our drawing (CTRL+V).

STEP 22

Go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T) and rotate the image a bit, like the girl would try to reach something. Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all.

STEP 23

Fron the Layers palette (F7), CTRL+click the layer below your current layer (the one with the frame). Grab the Brush Tool (B), hit D to set foreground to pure black, select the mask and paint the girl’s skirt that overlaps the frame. Make sure the teddy-bear comes over the frame.

STEP 24

When you’re done masking, go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D).

STEP 25

Do the same for the “light switch” picture (STEP 21).

Creating the lights and shades

Now that we have a scenario, we need to also make it believable. We will recreate the lights and shadows on each element.

Here’s the basic setup:

STEP 26

Let’s start with the lamp. Select the layer with the lamp, go to Layers palette (F7) and click the “New layer group” button. Name it “lamp”. Then click-drag the layer into the layer group.

STEP 27

Grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Shapes and draw a shape like below. Make it a dark gray color. Don’t use pure black, else it will look stiff and really dark.

STEP 28

Right-click on the layer in the Layers palette (F7), select Rasterize layer and set Blending mode to Multiply and Opacity to about 70%. Place this layer below the layer lamp layer.

STEP 29

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it to 6-6.5 px. Hit OK.

STEP 30

Repeat STEPS 27-29, but set Opacity to about 65% and place it below the first shape.

STEP 31

Select the second shape layer and go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and SHIFT+click-drag like below. This will make the shadow more subtle.

STEP 32

Repeat STEPS 27-29 and 31 for the shapes shown below. Feel free to adjust Opacity as you see fit.

STEP 33

With the Pen Tool (P) selected and set on Shapes, draw a shape like below. Rasterize it, then CTRL+click the thumbnail in the Layers palette (F7).

STEP 34

Grab the Gradient Tool (G), set it to white to midtone gray in Radial mode. Then click-drag from the center of the shape to one of the corners. Then go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D).

STEP 35

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set it to about 12 px. Hit OK. This will be our flare of the light source. Place this layer below the lamp layer.

STEP 36

Select all the “Shape” layers besides the last one and hit CTRL+G to place them in a layer group. Double-click its name and rename it to “shadows”.

STEP 37

Create a new layer group above the “shadows” layer group (click the folder-looking icon in the Layers palette) and name it “Lights”.

STEP 38

Grab the Ellipse Tool (U) and create a small oval like below. In the Layers palette, click the “fx” button and select Blending options. Check the “Drop shadow” and “Color Overlay” boxes. Use the settings below or similar.

STEP 39

Grab the Pen Tool (P) and create a shape like mine. Rasterize it, then CTRL+click its layer thumbnail. Grab the Gradient Tool (G), set it to white to midtone gray in Radial mode (like in STEP 34).

STEP 40

Set Blending mode to Linear Dodge (Add). Grab the Brush Tool (B), Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All, press D to set foreground color to pure black and paint over the areas shown below.

STEP 41

Repeat STEPS 39-40 to create the lights shown below.

STEP 42

Select all these layers and press CTRL+G to group them. Name this layer group “lights”.
I’ve seen a lot of people ignoring the layer groups, so I insist using them. If you’ve already grouped them, skip this step.

STEP 43

In the Layers palette (F7), select the “lamp” layer and duplicate it. Select the original layer and go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and set Lightness to -100 (minimum). Hit OK.

STEP 44

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it to about 7 px. Hit OK. Set Blending mode to Multiply and Opacity to 50% or somewhere around this value.

STEP 45

Go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T), click-drag one of the grip points from sides and hold ALT key. Distort it a bit and hit Enter.

STEP 46

Select the “lamp copy” layer, grab the Dodge Tool (O), set it to Midtones with 17% Exposure and paint over the areas shown below. Then switch to Shadows, with 6% Exposure and paint over the areas shown in the image below.

STEP 47

Grab the Burn Tool (O) and darken the wall hanger.

STEP 48

Select the “frame” layer and go to Image > Adjustments > Levels (CTRL+L). Darken the Shadows a bit and lighten the Highlights – play around with the cursors till you get a result you like.

STEP 49

Create a new layer group, name it “frame” and place the “frame” layer in it. Create a new layer above it, grab the Brush Tool (B), set it to soft round, hit D to set foreground color to pure black and paint over the areas on the frame where you need more shading.

This is relies more on your perception over the light, so results should vary, but not too much.

STEP 50

Now for other objects that affect the shadow on the frame – the girl.
Paint over the shadow that the girl drops. Try doing something similar to mine.

STEP 51

Select the “frame” layer and go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J) to duplicate it. Select the original layer, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (CTRL+U) and set Lightness to -100. Hit OK.

STEP 52

Go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T). Hold CTRL and click-drag the top and bottom right corners. Distort it like below and hit Enter. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it to 7 px.

STEP 53

Set Blending mode to Multiply and Opacity to 85%.

STEP 54

Repeat STEPS 49-53 for the “light switch”.

STEP 55

Now we need some retouching on the girl. Select the “girl” layer, create a new layer group, name it “girl” and place the layer in the group. Then expand the group.

STEP 56

Create a layer above the “girl” layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N) and ALT+click between the layers. Grab the Brush Tool (B), set foreground color to white, press “6” to set its Opacity to 60% and paint over the highlights of the hair to enhance them a bit.
Feel free to vary the brush size (press “[“ and “]”) for a more smooth effect.

STEP 57

Select the “girl” layer, grab the Burn Tool (O), hit “3” to set Exposure to 30%, set it to Midtones and darken the shadows on the girl.

STEP 58

Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels (CTRL+L) and use settings similar to mine.

STEP 59

Create a new layer above all layers and set Blending mode to Multiply. Grab the Brush Tool (B), press D to set foreground color to pure black, set Hardness to 0% and paint over the edges of the canvas. Place it above the “background” layer group.

STEP 60

Grab the Horizontal Type Tool (T), click drag somewhere on the canvas where there’s a concrete texture and type a text of your choosing. Set Font to “Scratch_1” and size of your choosing. Set Fill to 27%.

STEP 61

Open the Blending options from the “fx” button in the Layers palette and use the settings below.

STEP 62

Go back to the “concrete texture” document, copy it and paste it into our document. Place it over our text and ALT+click between the two layers.

STEP 63

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation and set Saturation to minimum (the image will turn to black and white.

Done!

Download the .PSD file for this tutorial from the link below!

Note: The scratchy text is completely editable, so feel free to add your own text!

Create a Fantastic Grayscale Wallpaper in Photoshop is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

In this tutorial we will create a glass effect on editable text using only blending modes. We will also work with gray tones, so the text will grab its colors from the background and adjustment layers.

Difficulty: Intermediate – Advanced
Completion time: 2 hours
Tools: Photoshop CS3

Resources: Minion Pro font – generic, any font will do.

What you will be creating

STEP 1

Create a new document of 600×600 px in RGB color mode at 72 dpi (File > New…).

STEP 2

Grab the Type Tool (T), draw a rectangle large enough to fit a letter. Then type a letter of your choice. If you want a longer text, just create a larger document in STEP 1 (e.g. 1608×1050 px).
Set it to Minion Pro, 370 px and Sharp. For color, set it to #e5e5e5 – a light gray tone.

STEP 3

Open the Layers palette (F7) and set Fill to 0%. Select the Type layer (the thumb with a “T” in the center) and click the “fx” button. Select Blending Options.

STEP 4

In this window, check the boxes shown below. It will look nasty at the moment, but don’t worry. We’ll fix it.

STEP 5

Click on each line and use the settings below. To see better what your results look like, select the “Background” layer, grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill it with a dark gray.

STEP 6

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J). Select the original layer and right-click on the effects list in the Layers palette. Select “Create layers”. Hit OK on the popup window.

STEP 7

In the Layers palette, select all the layers resulting from STEP 6 (SHIFT+click), except “D’s Outer Stroke”, then click on the “Delete Layer” button – the one looking like a trash can.

STEP 8

In the Layers palette, CTRL+click the “D copy” layer to load a selection (it will appear like a marching ants contour), select the “D’s Outer Stroke” layer and hit Delete.

STEP 9

Go to Layers palette, set Fill to 0% and open the Blending Options like in STEP 3. Use the settings below.

Done!

How to use it:
Simply place it over an image and if you like, add some adjustment layers to give it a nice tint.
Here are a few examples.

You can download the source file from the link below.

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

How to Create Glass Effect Text in Photoshop is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

Today we will create a poster inspired by the all-known symbol, Ying and Yang. We will try to create the same balance from the sign in a more elaborate illustration.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Completion time: 1-2 hours
Tools: Adobe Photoshop CS3

Resources:

- Girl from Katanaz-Stock
- Birds from Fairiegodmother
- Designious splashes brush pack 1
- Designious paint brush pack 1
- Smoke brushes from Falln-Brushes

What you’ll be creating

STEP 1

Create a new document of 1920×1080 px in RGB color mode at 72 dpi. I usually make it larger, because I can crop it later on.

STEP 2

Open the “girl” picture. Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J), then go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set Radius to 1.1 px and hit OK.

STEP 3

Go to Window > Layers (F7) and set Blending mode to Overlay. Select all layers and to to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+SHIFT+E).

STEP 4

Go to Channels window (Window > Channels) and click-drag the Blue channel onto the “Create New Channel” button. A “Blue copy” channel will appear. Click it.

STEP 5

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves (CTRL+M). Set the graph similar to mine.

STEP 6

Repeat STEP 5 using an aproximate setting. The idea is to create a high contrast so we can load a precise selection from the “Blue copy” channel.

STEP 7

Grab the Brush Tool (B), press D to set Foreground to pure black and paint over the girl’s body.

STEP 8

Grab the Burn Tool (O), set it to Shadows and press “0” to set it to 100%. Darken all the lighter areas on the girl.

STEP 9

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves (CTRL+M) and adjust the curve similar to mine. We do this to remove the light gray areas from the channel.

STEP 10

In the Channels window, CTRL+click the “Blue copy” channel thumbnail to load a selection. You will see a “marching ants” contour. Click the “RGB” channel and turn off visibility of “Blue copy” channel.

STEP 11

Double-click the layer thumbnail in the Layers palette (F7) and hit OK to make it editable. Hit Delete.

STEP 12

Go to Window > Arrange > Cascade. Now click-drag the layer thumbnail into our document. Go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T) to enter Transform mode and click drag one of the corners while holding SHIFT key to preserve proportions. Hit Enter.

STEP 13

With this layer selected, go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Now grab the Brush Tool (B), press D to set Foreground to pure black and paint over the girl’s feet.

STEP 14

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J). Do this twice.

STEP 15

In the Layers palette (F7), select the original layer. Now grab the Smudge Tool (R), set a round, soft brush and adjust Strength to about 60%. Start doing strokes on the edges of the woman. Try to maintain the same direction.

STEP 16

Repeat STEP 15 for the second layer, but do a bit shorter strokes. Also reduce Strength a bit.

STEP 17

Go to the Layers palette (F7) and click the “New Layer Group” button.  Name it “girl” and click-drag all the layers with the girl in the layer group.

STEP 18

In the Layers palette, create a new layer above all the layers in the “girl” layer group. Open the “Designious paint splash 1” brush set. Use settings similar to mine.

STEP 19

Paint over the edges like I did. Simply hold ALT key to pick random nearby colors from the girl’s body. Also increase and decrease the size of the brushes using “[“ and “]” keys. There’s no need to draw strokes, just click around or tap your graphic pen.

STEP 20

Create two new layers above the splatters layer. Select the first one and grab the Brush Tool (B), set Hardness to 100% and paint three or four colors: bright yellow, orange, red and bright red.

STEP 21

Decrease the size of the brush to 5-6 px, select the next layer above in the Layers palette (F7) and start painting random, curvy shapes. Use the dark red color – pick it with ALT+click.

STEP 22

Select the orange color and roughly try to follow the lines drawn with the bright red color.

STEP 23

Do the same for the rest of the colors. This is how the final result should look like.

STEP 24

Open the Brushes palette (F5) and change it to a splatter. Make a very small sized bush and as in previous steps, add random color spots of different colors.

STEP 25

Create a new layer above the top-most layer with the girl and set Blending mode to Soft Light. Then grab the Brush Tool (B) and pick the orange color (ALT+click), set Hardness to 0% and press “5” to set the brush’s Opacity to 50% and paint some bright lights on the girl’s body.

ALT+click between these layers when you are done.

STEP 26

Create a new layer above the bottom-most layer. Name it “paint”. Open the “designious paint scratch pack 1”, select a brush and use the settings below.

STEP 27

Grab the brush tool and paint two brush strokes, one light gray and one midtone gray.

STEP 28

Go to Layer > New layer. Name it “smoke”. Use the same settings as with the paint brushes, hit D key and paint 2 smoke strokes.

STEP 29

Grab the Ellipse Tool (U), click on the canvas and hold SHIFT key to draw a perfect circle. Give it a white color fill. Make sure it is set on Shapes. Set Blending mode to Soft Light in the Layers palette (F7).

STEP 30

Repeat STEP 29,  but use a dark gray color and set blending mode to Multiply.

STEP 31

Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N). Now create white shapes of your choice: draw them, create random triangles, circles, squares… go wild! Set Opacity to 40%.

STEP 32

Open the “birds” .psd file, grab the Lasso Tool (L), select a bird of your choice, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it in our document (CTRL+V). Also go to Edit > Free Transform to make it smaller. Hit Enter. Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (CTRL+SHIFT+U).

STEP 33

Repeat STEP 32, but this time go to Image > Adjustments > Invert (CTRL+I). Grab the Dodge Tool (O), set it on Shadows with 25% Exposure and lighten the dark areas.

STEP 34

Select the second copy of the “girl” layer. Now grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a shape similar to mine and use white as fill color. Set Blending mode to color.

STEP 35

Select the bottom-most layer and go to Layer > New > Layer. Open the “concrete texture”, select all (CTRL+A), copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it in our canvas. Resize it to fit and set Blending mode to “Hard Light”.

STEP 36

Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N), grab the Brush Tool (B), select a dripping splash and click under the bottom side of the girl’s body.

Done!

Create a Ying Yang Inspired Poster in Photoshop is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

Today we will create some really cool skin effects using stock vectors and a bit of imagination.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Completion time: 1-2 hours
Tools: Adobe Photoshop CS3

Resources:

- Dancer from Albert-Smirnov
- Designious floral pack 45

What you will be creating

STEP 1

Create a new document of 1680×1050 px at 72 dpi in RGB color mode.

STEP 2

Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G), press D to set Foreground to black (#000000) and fill the “background” layer with it.

STEP 3

Open the “woman” picture. Grab the Crop Tool (C) and crop the image to eliminate the white frame.

STEP 4

Double-click the layer lock in the Layers palette and click OK to make the layer editable.

STEP 5

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J), then go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set it to 1.2 px and hit OK.

In the Layers palette (Window > Layers or F7) set Blending mode to Overlay.

STEP 6

Go to the Channels window (Window > Channels), select the “Blue” channel and click-drag it on the “New Channel” button.

STEP 7

With the “Blue copy” channel selected, go to Image > Adjustments > Invert (CTRL+I).

STEP 8

Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels and use similar settings to mine.
Note: There are three triangles on the graph: black, gray and white. They control the shadows, midtones and highlights. The idea behind what we are doing is to reduce the midtones to a minimum, to have a high contrast between shadows and highlights.

STEP 9

Our goal is mainly the hair, since it has complex edges. Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves and set it like mine or similar. Repeat this step until the hair is darkened.

STEP 10

Grab the Brush Tool (B), press D to set Foreground color to pure black and paint the interior of the girl.

STEP 11

With the brush tool still selected, press X to switch pure white color to Foreground and paint over the pants areas.

STEP 12

Grab the Burn Tool (O), set it to Shadows and 100% Exposure and darken the loose hair strands. Switch to Dodge Tool, set it on Highlights with 45% Exposure and lighten the background. Try to obtain something similar to my result.

STEP 13

In the Channels palette (Window > Channels), CTRL+click the “Blue copy” channel to make a selection. Turn on visibility of “RGB” channel and off for the “Blue copy” one and switch to Layers palette (Window > Layers or F7). Hit Delete, then go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D).

STEP 14

Go to Window > Arrange > Cascade and click-drag the layer into our created document. Feel free to clean up the ruined hair strands with the Eraser Tool (E).

STEP 15

Grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Paths and trace the girl’s face. Make sure you make a closed contour. Hold SHIFT key and start a new path to trace the neck, chest and left shoulder. Do the same for the other skin areas.

STEP 16

Right-click and select Make selection… . Now you should see a “marching ants” selection. Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), right-click and select Layer Via Cut. Double-click the newly created layer’s name and rename it to “skin”.

STEP 17

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+D) and turn off the visibility of the “skin” layer.

STEP 18

Go to the Layers palette (F7) and create a new layer group. Name it “flowers”.

STEP 19

Open the “designious floral pack” either in Illustrator if you have, or in Photoshop, the file is compatible. Copy it, paste it in our drawing and place it like below. Place this layer in the “flowers” layer group.

STEP 20

CTRL+click the flower’s layer thumbnail in the Layers palette (F7) to load a selection. Select the “skin copy” layer, grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), right-click and select “Layer Via Copy”. Then click-drag this layer above the layer with the flower.

STEP 21

Select the layer with the flowers and use the settings below.

STEP 22

Add more flowers like in steps below. You’ll get a nice overlapping effect.

STEP 23

Select the “flowers” layer group and go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select the layer mask, press D to set pure black as Foreground color and paint over the extra flowers that bypass the skin contour.

STEP 24

Select the “skin copy” layer and go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select the mask and paint over the entire skin, except for the face. As a small detail, use a small brush to mask the skin using a flower as guide.

STEP 25

Create a new layer group above the “background” layer. Name it “background flowers”. Go to the “designious flowers” file, copy and paste more flowers into our document. Place them like below.
I’ve loaded a selection, so you can see them better.

STEP 26

Click-drag this layer group onto the “New Layer” button to copy it. Then press CTRL+T to enter Free Transform mode and make it smaller. Hit Enter.

STEP 27

Create a new layer group and name it “text”. Grab the Horizontal Type Tool (L), create a large type box and write a text of your choice. I wrote “designious”. Use a midtone gray (#a4a4a4) and Ubuntu font.

STEP 28

Go back to the “designious flowers” document, copy a flower and paste it in the layer group. Resize it (CTRL+T) and place it like below.

STEP 29

Repeat STEP 28 and place a flower like below.

STEP 30

Select both layers and go to Layers > Merge Layers (CTRL+E). Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all. Paint over the extra areas of the flowers.

STEP 31

Select the top-most layer group and go to Layer > New Fill Layer. Set the color to a light purple (#efb3fa). Set Blending mode to Soft Light, Opacity to 75% and Fill to 50%.

STEP 32

Select the Fill layer and go to Layer > New Fill Layer. This time, use a midtone blue color
(#445e98). Set Blending mode to soft light, Opacity to 20% and Fill to 70%.

STEP 33

Select the second Fill layer and go to Layer > Photo Filter and select the “color” option, with an orange color.

Done!

The source file for this tutorial is available for download in the link below. Enjoy!

If you create something based on this tutorial, please show us your outcome!

Create marvelous skin effects using vectors in Photoshop is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

In this tutorial we will create a nature poster using stock images, vectors and brushes.

Tools: Adobe Photoshop CS3

Difficulty: Intermediate – Advanced

Completion time: 1-2 hours

Resources:

- floral vector pack 31 from designious.com

- paper texture

- dry earth

- girl from npoz1

- parrot from RainaDayze

- branches from PKVstock

- bonsai from Resurgere

- splashes from fotolia.com

What you’ll be creating

STEP 1

Create a new document of 800×1200 px at 72 dpi in RGB color mode. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill the layer with pure white (#ffffff).

STEP 2

Open the “paper texture” image. Select all (CTRL+A), copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it in our drawing.

STEP 3

Go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T), hold the ALT+SHIFT keys and click-drag one of the corners to resize it. Make it fit our canvas.

Then hit Enter.

STEP 4

Open the Layers palette (F7) and set Opacity to 45%.  Grab the Dodge Tool (O), set it to Shadows at 17% Exposure and lighten the dark areas.

STEP 5

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J). Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (CTRL+SHIFT+U). Set Blending mode to Hard Light and Opacity to 18%.
This will amplify the small midtones.

STEP 6

Duplicate the layer again (CTRL+J) and set layer Blending mode to Overlay at 100% Opacity. This will enhance the small highlights on the paper texture.

STEP 7

Select the top-most layer in the Layers palette and click the “New Layer Group” button. Name it “background”. Select all layers (shift-click selection) and drag them in the layer group.

STEP 8

Open the “dancer” image. Double-click the lock in the Layers palette (F7) and hit OK to make it editable.

STEP 9

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J), then go to Image > Invert (CTRL+I).

Note:

Since we are doing a selection via Channels, I will explain how the trick works.
Try to envision the tints rather than the colors in a picture, like you would see only red, blue or green.

In our case, blue is dominant and stands out the most from the background.
Knowing this, we will be able create even higher contrasts between the element and the background using the Blue channel. The higher the contrast, the more precise our selection will be.

STEP 10

Go to the Channels window (Window > Channels) and click-drag the “Blue” channel on the “New Channel” button. This will create a copy of the blue channel to work on, so we don’t damage the original

picture.

STEP 11

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves (CTRL+M) and adjust the graph like below.

STEP 12

Repeat STEP 11 until the midtones disappear almost completely.

STEP 13

Use the Path Tool (P) and trace the midtone areas. Try to be more accurate in the contour areas.
Once you made a closed shape, right-click > Make Selection… and paint inside the selection with white using the Brush Tool (B).
Once done, go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D).

STEP 14

In the Layers palette, CTRL+click the “Blue copy” channel thumbnail. This will make a selection of the body.
Turn on the “RGB” channel’s visibility and off the “Blue copy” ‘s.
Open the Layers palette (F7), turn of visibility of the “Layer 0 copy” layer and select the “Layer 0″ and click the “Add Layer Mask” button.

STEP 15

Select “Layer 0″ layer and go to Layer > Duplicate Layer… (CTRL+J). Select both layers and go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+E).

STEP 16

There’s a nasty white contour left from the selection.
CTRL+click the layer thumbnail, then go to Select > Modify > Contract and set it to 1 px. Go to Select > Inverse and hit “Delete”.

STEP 17

Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint with black over the shadow under the right foot.

STEP 18

Go to Window > Arrange > Cascade and click-drag this layer into our document.

STEP 19

In the Layers palette (F7), click the “New layer Group” button and click-drag this layer into the group. Name this group “girl”.

STEP 20

Create a new layer above the “Layer 0 copy 2″ layer. Now grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Paths and draw a shape like i did. Feel free to make another one if you like.
Then right-click > Stroke Path… Hit OK.
This will be only a guideline, so don’t bother polishing it.

STEP 21

Open the “splashes”, double-click the lock in the Layers palette and hit OK. grab the Magic Wand (W) and select the background. Hit Delete.
Select all (CTRL+A), copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it in our document (CTRL+V).

STEP 22

Go to Edit > Free Transform and resize it. Hold SHIFT key to preserve proportions. Hit Enter.

Go to Edit > Transform > Warp and make it look something similar to below. Hit OK.

STEP 23

Repeat STEP 22 until you cover the entire black guide. Feel free to add layer masks to cover the loose areas, like in STEP 17.

STEP 24

Select all the splashes layers in the Layers palette and go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+E). Rename the resulting layer to “water”. Also place it in a new layer group.

STEP 25

Select small splashes areas from the “splashes” picture and paste them in our drawing. Resize them, but do NOT warp them like the first ones. Try selecting areas with shapes similar to our splash.

STEP 26

Repeat STEP 25 until you cover up the entire splash. Then select all splash layers and go to Layer > Merge Layers. Also Add a Clipping Mask like in STEP 17 to make the water pass behind the girl.

STEP 27

Select the top-most layer in the “water” layer group and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. Make sure you check the “Use previous layer to create Clipping mask”.

Use the settings below.

STEP 28

Create a new layer above the “Background” layer group (Layer > New Layer or CTRL+SHIFT+N). Open the “paint brushes” and select one of your choice.
Use the settings below or similar.

STEP 29

On the newly created layer, throw a few brush strokes, behind the girl. Set layer Blending mode to Multiply and Opacity to 54%.

STEP 30

Repeat STEP 29, but set Opacity to 59%. Place these in a layer group and name it “splashes”.

STEP 31

Create a new layer group below the “splashes” layer group. Name it “flowers”. Now open the “vector flowers”, use the Lasso Tool (L) to select a flower of your choice, copy it and paste it in our drawing.
Also place it in the “flowers” layer group.

STEP 32

Place flowers around and try to follow or continue the body lines or the water. Feel free to mask any harsh intersections that will create strong spots.

STEP 33

For each flower, click the “fx” button in the Layers palette and set Color Overlay to white (#ffffff).

STEP 34

Open the “bonsai” picture and extract it like we did with the woman.

Hint: Since the dominant color is green, try exploiting the “Green” Channel.

STEP 35

Place the “bonsai” layer behind the “Layer 0 copy 2″ layer – the one with the girl.

STEP 36

Create a new layer above the “girl” layer and ALT+click between the layers. Set the layer’s Blending mode to Overlay, with 70% Opacity.

STEP 37

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select a round, soft brush, lower Opacity a bit, pick a light color from the girl’s body (ALT+click) and paint over the girl’s body lights.

STEP 38

Create a new layer group and name it “text”. Then grab the Type Tool (T), make a large type box and type a text of your choice.
I wrote “INFINITE” with Franklin Gothic font.

STEP 39

From the “splashes” pictures, pick a detailed area of splashes, copy it and paste it in our drawing. Make it fit like below.

STEP 40

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (CTRL+U) and set Saturation to minimum and lower Lightness.

STEP 41

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves. Create a curve similar to mine. The “S” shaped curve creates a higher contrast between shadows and highlights.

STEP 42

Select the layer with the text from the Layers palette (F7). Then go to Layer > Layer mask > Reveal all.

STEP 43

Press D key to return to the default color setting, select the layer mask, grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint over the extra areas of the text.

STEP 44

Repeat STEPS 42-43 for the other letters. Don’t modify too many, else the text will be unreadable. Place all the splashes in the layer group.

STEP 45

Open the “desert earth” picture, select a piece, rotate it and copy it (CTRL+C).
In our document, create a new layer above the “background” layer group. Go to Filter > Vanishing Point (CTRL+ALT+V).
Create the plane like below.

STEP 46

Paste the texture in the new window and click-drag it onto the plane. Hit OK.

STEP 47

Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (CTRL+SHIFT+U). Then create a new layer above it and ALT+click between the layers.
Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill this layer with a light brown color. Set Blending mode to “Color”.

STEP 48

Select the layer below and go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint over the edges with a round soft brush.

STEP 49

Create a layer group above all layers and name it “nature”. Then open the “parrot” picture, copy it and paste it in our document. Also resize it like below.

STEP 50

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and play around with the “Hue” cursor till you get more vibrant colors on the parrot.

STEP 51

Open the “branches” image and extract the branches from the background like in STEPS 10-14. Copy it, paste it in our document and place it like below.
Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J) to create more copies.

STEP 52

Open the “vines” picture. Extract it using STEPS 10-14. Then copy it, paste it in our document and resize it.
Create copies (CTRL+J) and place them like below. Place all layers in a group and name it “vines”.

STEP 53

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and adjust it to have the same tint as the tree behind the girl.

STEP 54

Create a new layer and place it below the “vines” layer group. From the Layers palette, set Blending mode to Multiply.
Grab the Brush Tool (B), pick a dark color from the skin (ALT+click) and paint the shadows of the vines on the leg.

STEP 55

Go to Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it to about 3 px Radius. Hit OK.

From the Layers palette, reduce Opacity to 70% or until you are happy with the result. Then CTRL+click the “girl” layer thumbnail and click the “Add Layer Mask” button.
This will mask the unwanted areas of the shadows from the sloppy painting, if you’re using a mouse.

STEP 56

Select the top-most layer and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color balance. Use the settings below of feel free to use your own.

STEP 57

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Set Blending mode to Saturation and Opacity to 20%.

STEP 58

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map.

STEP 59

Select all layers and drag them on the “New Layer” button. Then go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+D).

Go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set it to 1.5 px. Hit OK. Set blending mode to Overlay and Opacity to 75%.

Done!

Create a dynamic nature poster in Photoshop is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

Getting your design ready for print can sometimes be a challenging task. Clients usually demand a limited number of colors for their vectors and there are designers that have trouble cleaning up their work and find those tiny hair-sized strokes that add one more color.

Here’s how you can clean up those loose colors, quick and easy.

We will work on this skull design that one of our artists created recently, but didn’t get the chance to clean it up yet.

STEP 1

Select the entire artwork. Click the “Recolor Artwork” button on the top buttons bar. It will show you the real number of colors used and you’ll get an idea of how you can fix them.

STEP 2

First, open the Swatches palette (Window > Swatches) and click the “New Color Group” button. This will create a palette of all the colors you used in your design.

STEP 3

Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle near your design.

STEP 4

With the rectangle selected, click the color in the created color group that you want to remove.

STEP 5

Grab the Magic Wand (Y), press Enter and set Tolerance value to “0”. Then click the square. Now you should have selected every shape in your design that has that specific color.

STEP 6

From the Swatches palette (Window > Swatches), click the closest color tone from the created color group. Then click-drag the unwanted color onto the “Delete Swatch” button.

To show the colors you used, create more rectangles and color them with all the colors from the remaining color group. It’s very helpful for someone to recolor it quick and easy.

Your turn! Is this post useful to you ? Share your thoughts!

Quick Tip: Control the number of colors in Illustrator is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

Quick Mask is often ignored by Photoshop users, but it can be really useful to control complex selections, quickly remove background from objects and more. Keep in mind that this tool is built to improve the other tools and not to be used as a stand-alone function.

Here’s how you can use it.

I picked a random landscape image from Google to work on.

Let’s say you want to remove the sky to add a dramatic, cloudy one. How do you select it?

STEP 1

Go to Select > Color range. Click the sky, hold the SHIFT key and click also on the clouds.

Adjust the Fuzziness a bit to make the selection more precise. Hit OK.

STEP 2

Notice that Color range does not make a perfect selection and you need to tweak it a bit.

Enter Quick Mask (Q), grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint over the areas that are not covered with red.

Use the Eraser Tool (E) and erase the red areas on the clouds and sky.  Exit Quick Mask (Q).

Now the selection is more clean.

STEP 3

Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), right-click inside the selection and click “Layer via Copy”.

You can use this as a clipping mask for the sky you want to add later.

Here’s how the image looks without the sky.

This technique is useful for high quality images and works better if the image has high contrasts.

Your turn now! Is this post useful to you? Leave a comment!

Quick Tip: How to use the Quick Mask Tool is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

In this quick tip I will explain how to easily enhance a photo using a very neat trick.

If you’re thinking about using Sharpen, it’s not a really good option, since it can ruin some details, such as hair or more detailed textures. If you overdo it, it will look really awkward.

So here’s the proper way to do it!

- Woman – by msaluste from SXC.hu

STEP 1

Open the image in Photoshop. Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer.

STEP 2

Go to Filter > Other… > High Pass. Set a value between 1-4 px or until you can see a raw contour of the objects in the picture.

STEP 3

Go to Window > Layers and set Blending mode to Overlay.

Done!

Original image

Differences

Hair

Observe how much the hair stands out more  sand how clear it is. Check the eyelids also and notice the same change.

Skin

Notice the texture and the contrast between the midtones and highlights. The skin and lips are more clear now.

Overall effect

The picture looks more alive and provides more details. It’s as if you’d be standing in front of the real model.

Advantages:

• Enhances the  sharpness

• Enhances the textures

• Enhances the contrast between shadows, midtones and highlights, especially for the small details, such as fur, hair or skin pores.

• Quick and easy.

• In most of the cases you don’t need to use other adjustments.

Did you enjoy this post? Share your thoughts!

Quick Tip: Photo enhancement in 10 seconds – Photoshop is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.

In the previous posts, I’ve explained how to draw the face, eye and nose. In this tutorial I will explain how to properly draw the lips, obtaining depth and volume.

I’ve received some requests of explaining more thoroughly the tracing process in Illustrator, so this will be a more in-depth research than the others.

So let’s begin. We will work on these sketches I’ve made.

The lips are not just three lines on the face, they are a complex entity surrounded by lots of muscles. It has high flexibility and this is a very important attribute to keep in mind, it will affect the thickness of the lips when drawing expressions.

It is important you understand the shape and positioning, else your subject will look like he has a flat face, and we definitely don’t want that.

Basics

The lips are composed of five distinct areas, shown in the image below. You can start with those shape as a base for the lips, you can throw a rough contour later on.

The waterdrop-like shapes allow you to create smooth contour lines alot easier that if you would draw them directly. So my advice is to start with these lines.

Proportions

Notice in the image below the proportions between the top lip and the bottom lip. Usually, the top lip is thinner than the bottom lip, but not in all cases. Study your subject closely and you’ll get them right. Just imagine a line between the mouth’s corners, then everything will be clear. One thing about the mouth’s corners: do not draw them sharp! It’s an area where the top and bottom lips intersect, so make sure they have a fair amount of volume.

In the second image above, take a close look at the tri-dimensional profile and understand the shape of each lip. This will basically enable you to do a  great shading with no headaches.

For the profile view, the top lip usually stands out more than the bottom lip or as much as it.

Shading and lighting

Once you got hold of the shape, this part should be fun to do. In the image below, I’ve marked the areas for:

- Dark shading (red)

- Medium shading (yellow)

- Light shading (blue)

- Green (light)

There are some areas that need special attention, namely just suggesting them. They’re hardly noticeable, but you’ll obtain more depth.

Brief

In short terms, your workflow for the pencil sketches should be like this:

Turning into vector

Create a new document and drag-drop the sketch onto our canvas and reduce its Opacity to 65%. Create a new layer above it and lock the first layer. Grab your Pen Tool (P) or Brush Tool (B) if you have a graphic tablet.

Start Tracing the strong lines of the contour with a dark line. Try to keep a nice line flow as much as you can.

Create a layer under this one and select it. Then lock the top-most layer. Pick a dark gray and draw the strong shades. You don’t have to be precise, you’ll draw under the contour lines.

Create a layer under the current one and lock the one above it. Then use a lighter gray and draw the medium shading.

Do the same for the base color and lights. It sounds awkward to have the lights under the shadows, but trust me, you’ll have it alot easier this way.

Unlock all layers, select all (CTRL+A), then go to Edit > Expand appearance, Edit > Path > Clean up. Go to Pathfinder window (Window > Pathfinder) and click the “merge” button”.

At this point, you are free to adjust the colors as you please.

Go to Swatches window (Window > Swatches), click the button in the bottom left corner and select “Skintones”.

Grab the Magic Wand (Y), press Enter, set Tolerance to “0″ and click each color, then pick one from the Skintones palette.

Feel free to add small lines to texturize the surface of the lips!

Want to take a closer look ? Download the source file from the link below.

Drawing vector portraits Part 4: The Lips is a post from Designious Times - Graphic design tutorials, resources and inspiration.