Blending Technique #1 : boxy style
Someone asked me to do a tutorial for my "In the dark" piece. Since I've already made a full wallpaper tutorial, I decided to focus on the blending technique I used, which is what you could call "boxy". Everyone has their own boxy style. This is mine, it's a simple one and I hope it'll help you find your own while you're experimenting but, please, remember that all of this is about learning and not copying.Basic blending and composition effects
I personally like to work with a lot of screencaps and/or pictures when I do a boxy piece, but this is always up to you. For this wall, I used exactly 4 caps of which 2 were duplicated several times.
Now, open a new canvas - mine is 1024x768 - and fill it with black. After resizing/improving (etc.) your caps, choose one and add it on your canvas.
The key is to gently erase sides of your screencaps but keep some edges visible.
{The black backgroung won't be visible for the following first example, but remember it normally is! This is just to show you how I erase my caps when I want them to look "boxy".}
For my first cap, I erased the left side and a bit of the bottom. It looked like this. I added my second cap and since it had an interesting light shape, I set this new layer to Lighten (Layers Window -> Lighten @ 100%). I gently erased the sides and bottom. And my piece looked like this. I added my 3rd cap - a bigger one of Veronica's face - put it in the left corner beneath my first and 2nd layers, and erased some parts on the top. The first cap's bottom edge is visible on my 3rd layer, but I kept it like that, it helps with the boxy effects. I duplicated (Layer -> Duplicate Layer) my 3rd layer, put it beneath my first and 2nd layers again and set it too Darken (Layers Window -> Darken @ 100%). I erased the parts that covered my original 3rd layer. That 3rd layer copy - let's call it the 4th layer - made a nice dark border on both my first and 3rd layers, again this is very "boxy" looking. I duplicated my original 3rd layer again - 5th layer, now this is - , moved it a bit to the right and set it to Darken. Now, It's perfectly normal if you're lost or if you don't have exactly the same results lol. What I wanted you to understand is how blending options can do amazing effects and how you can create a boxy style by keeping some edges visible.
I finally added 2 other caps, duplicated one, played with the edges and blending options again, etc. I also made black lines with the brush tool and set them to Overlay (Layers Window -> Overlay @ 100%). This was my final blended result :)
Some tips...
¤ To keep your boxy edges' effects visible, use smooth textures/brushes/patterns etc. I personally used textures from Shattered and Unending.
¤ Have fun playing with blending options for your texting !
¤ Keep your coloring smooth - not too saturated. You'll find how I do my basic coloring in my Full Wallper tutorial.
¤ And to find how I gave this piece a "dramatic" coloring, read my Coloring technique #1 : black and white + colors tutorial :)
Any questions ? just email me !
Coloring Technique #1 : black & white + colors
This tutorial will help you create effects like these : example #1, example #2, example #3 and example #4.
It's really more simple than what it seems. I'd say this technique takes a max of 20 mins, but to obtain this result, you'll have to art a normal piece like you would always do, with textures, coloring etc. Like this one. I normally "transform" a normal piece into a b&w + colors version when I'm not happy with my coloring. But the base I'm using for this tuto has no problem at all, it's just that I wanted to try a different version when I first made it. And I ended up with this. But enough blabla an let's get to the "How to do that"?Step 1 : The basic effects
Ok so let's say your finished (normal) wall look like this. After Merging all of your layers (Layer -> Merge Visible), you'll need to duplicate your background layer (Layer -> Duplicate Layer). Desaturate your background layer (Image -> Adjustments -> Desaturate) and set your new layer (backgound copy) to Pinlight (Layers Window -> Pinlight @ 100%). Now, (still working with the background copy layer) go to Image -> Apply Image -> Multiply @ 100%. I usually use the Multiply effect or the Overlight effect for this step, Overlight brings out the brightness of a piece (like this one). But for this tutorial, it looks better with Multiply. The setting of oppacity may change, depending on the result you want. Your wall should now look like this. And you're done with the basic part ! :)
Step 2 : Changing the colors
Now, I personaly want to change the colors, so you can skip this step if you're happy with the ones you already have. I take my Pinlight (background copy) layer, go to Image -> Adjustments -> Hue / Saturation and set the Hue to -60 so it now has blue shades (the orignal piece had red/pink shades and I think I set it to something like Hue : +85). There's some "spots" on the background copy (colored) layer that I don't like, so I erase them. When I'm finished erasing I merge all of my layers together (Layer -> Merge Visible).
Step 3 : Final touches
I'd like my coloring to be more of a dark blue and more saturated so I change the Hue and Saturation ( Image -> Adjustments -> Hue / Saturation) to Hue : +15 and Saturation : +40. And tada, final result ! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me and I'll get right back at you asap ;)
Full Wallpaper
This tuto will show you how to do a wall like this oneStep 1 : Basic blending
Very easy to do since there's no real blending at all. I found this pic of Jessica Alba at Daydreaming. I resize it to 1200px and insert it in a 1024x768 canvas already filled with black (sometimes I'll fill my canvas with white or grey...depends on the sort of pic I use). All you need to do is put it where you want.
Layer - Merge Visible.
it looks like this
Step 2 : Textures and stocks
Sometimes I'll do my background and then add the main pic on it. But for this I'm adding textures on my main image and then erase the parts I don't want to see on Jessica's body.
First texture : this from Colorblinded. First I rotate it horizontally (image-rotatecanvas-flipcanvashorizontal) then insert it in my canvas and set the opacity to 50%. And then I erase the parts on Jessica.
Second texture : this from Black Lagoon. I set it (blending options) to Soft Light and then erase the parts I don't want to see.
Last texture : this, again from Black Lagoon. I set it also to Soft Light, but this time at 50%. I erase again.
Stock : I insert a barcode stock I found at SXC. I don't have the pic but I have the same with little changes I did. You can use it, I don't mind. Full credit goes to SXC anyway. (barcode). I set it to Darken, put it beneath all the textures' layers and erase the parts on Jessica.
Layer - Merge Visible.
(image-ajustement) Auto Color - Auto Level - Auto Contrast.
it looks like this
Step 3 : Coloring
For this I use gradient maps. All the gradients I used are mine and you can find them in the goodies section. These are the gradients I used.They're in the order that I used them. I make a copy of the main background for each gradient map(Layer - Duplicate Layer).
GRADIENT 1 : set it to Screen at 50%.
GRADIENT 2 : set it to Soft light at 50%.
GRADIENT 3 : set it to Luminosity 100%.
GRADIENT 4 : set it to Lighten 50%.
GRADIENT 5 : set it to Pin light 50%.
GRADIENT 6 : change the hue (image-ajustement-hue/saturation/hue : -180) and set it to Lighten 20%.
Layer - Merge Visible.
Auto Level- then Fade (ctrl-shift-F) to 50%.
I use the blur tool on some areas of Jessica's face and neck. Right here. Blur at 50%.
Final effect : In the filter galery, I go to Paint Daubs and set it to Brush size : 2 / Sharpness : 1. it looks like this
Step 4 : Texting
Max Guevara : Font used = Ck Maternal. Size = 100pt. Color = #76447b.
Effects = (blending option) Drop shadow - distance : 2, spread : 0, size : 2 - opacity @ 75%
Benvel and Emboss - original settings (means don't change anything ! lol) -opacity @ 50%
The girl's faster... : Font used = Georgia. Size = 10pt. Color = #F2F3F3. Opacity = 70%.
Effect = Stroke - outside, black, size=1, opacity=50%.
With the polygonal lasso I make a little rectangle filled with #7F658E, set it to Darken @ 50% and go to hue/saturation and set hue to -100.Put it beneath the text (the girl's faster...).
Layer - Merge Visible.
Then I select the text area with the lasso tool at 5px and add a paint daubs effect (filter galery) to the text - settings are 1 everywhere -. Then I use Fade (ctrl-shift-F) and set it to 40%.
it looks like this
Step 5: Final touches
Image - Adjustments - Auto Contrast.
Image - Adjustments- Curves = set to Input : 112 / Output : 135.
final result
So that's it ! :) If you have any questions, tag me or email me :D