Being able to add realistic makeup in Photoshop is a must for every digital artist. Whether you're adding makeup to enhance a portrait or painting on shimmering eyeshadow for an cartoon character, this Photoshop tutorial will be incredibly useful for you.
Step 1. Choose a photograph subject who has little or no eye makeup on to begin with. Select the paintbrush tool and set your foreground to a light shade of the color that you want the eyeshadow to be. I chose blue as my color.
Step 2. Create a new layer and set the paintbrush tool to a medium sized, soft round brush. Paint your chosen color over the entire eyelid on the blank layer. Don't worry about getting color on the eyelashes or below the eye, we'll take care of that later on.
Step 3. Make another layer and choose a new foreground color that is a shade darker than the base color. Paint the beneath the brow bone and on the outer side of the eyelid.
Step 4. Create another layer and choose another color a shade darker and use a smaller soft round brush to paint eyeliner on the lash line.
Step 5. Add a blur to each layer of color by going to Filer> Blur> Gaussian Blur and applying enough blur that the color blend together continuously. You may need to apply a different amount of blur to each layer to get it right.
Step 6. Combine all the layers of digital eyeshadow color into one. You can do this by holding down the Control key and selecting each layer in the Layers Palette, then right clicking on them and choosing "Merge Layers". Now you have one layer with three shades of color. Change the blending mode of this layer to "Color".
Step 7. Choose the Eraser Tool and use a soft round brush set to an Opacity of 50% to erase any stray color on the eyelashes or anywhere else.
Step 8. Duplicate the eyeshadow layer and drag it to the top of Photoshop's Layers Palette. Set the layer's blending mode to "Multiply". Then use the Eraser Tool set to an Opacity of 30% and a large soft round brush, the height of most of the eyelid, and erase a circular area of the eyeshadow between the center of the eyelid and the innermost side of the lid. This will give the digital makeup a highlight, creating more shine and dimension.
Step 9. Duplicate the bottom eyeshadow layer again and drag it to the top of the Layers Palette. Set the blending mode to "Overlay" and the Opacity to 50%.
Step 10. Create a new layer and choose a very light shade of the color you've been using. Change the size of the Paintbrush tool to a smaller round brush and the Opacity to 50%, and paint between the existing eyeshadow and the eyebrow, creating a highlight on the brow bone.
Add a Gaussian Blur to the brow bone layer.
Erase any part of the brow bone highlight layer that may have covered the eye brow.
Step 11. To wrap up the whole look and give it a really sparkly metallic glow, duplicate the one of the main eyeshadow layers and go to Filters> Noise> Add Noise, set it to "Monochromatic" and make it look sparkly like this.
Set the Opacity to 35% and the blending mode to "Screen". erase the darker areas of the noise (the outer area of the eyelid)
All Done!
Here are some other eyeshadow effects I came up with using this makeup method in Photoshop.
If you enjoyed this post, please
This Photoshop tutorial will walk you through the process of creating a textured collage with your photos. Photoshop effects like this are incredibly versatile and are perfect to use for all you digital scrapbooking needs.
1. Choose a texture that is primarily one color. You can find great freebies, including free textures, at BittBox. Open it up in Photoshop as the background image and make it into a layer. Then name the layer "texture" and resize it and the canvas to fit the size that you want the page to be.
2. Paste photos onto separate layers and resize them a little bigger than you want them to show up. Don't worry if the photos overlap, you'll fix this in the next step.
3. Delete the edges of each photo with a soft eraser brush. The less background left in each image, the better. I'm showing each photo here on a transparent background so that you can see the edges more easily.
And here they are on top of the Texture layer.
5. At this point, decide if you want to add more photos. I wanted the overall image to be a bit fuller so I added one two more (the horses and the baby birds) and shifted things around a bit.
6. Add any finishes touches you'd like, and you've made a beautiful collage scrapbook page!
If you enjoyed this post, please
Let's explore one of the greatest ways to create art today - and the most environmentally friendly. Here are ten examples of the generation of green artists, how they do what they do, and where you can find more of their very impressive displays.
Before getting into the amazing artists who recycle products into artwork, I need to explain why I feel this article and this art form is so very important. I urge all of my readers to visit "Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait" by Photographer/Artist Chris Jordan. Using visual examples, Jordan shows us the immense waste that we in the United States provide to Mother Earth in a way that is impossible to ignore.
Mary Ann Cruse is a very inspiring woman who has been crocheting plastic bags into beautiful hats for the past 3 years. Using 30-90 bags to make up every hat, each is a unique style and color, inspired by fashions as early as the 1920s. Soon she plans to donate many of her hats to St. Jude's Research Hospital where they will be auctioned and the proceeds will go to the hospital. Please read more about Ms. Cruse at KFVS12 News Network.
What to Do With Plastic Bags is a blog showing many things you can create with plastic bags. Hats, purses, dresses, tube tops, rugs; you name it, it's shown here. The blogger, Cristen, displays her own work along with other people's projects and photos of classes she has given on plastic bag crocheting.
Apparently, the subway can be used to inflate things. Who knew? Joshua Allen Harris, who has become quite well known for his street art, takes full advantage of this fact in his very innovative inflatable trash bag sculptures.
Tim Noble and Sue Webster's displays are, in my opinion, truly incredible. Their amazing trash sculptures look cool enough on their own; but take a look at the shadows that those sculptures create, and you will be totally blown away. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find an official gallery for these artists, but Think or Thwim and Deitch both show great collections of Noble and Webster's works.
I've never seen a sculpture made of woven recyclables before, but that's exactly what was done at the Eden Project in the UK, and by artist Tone Holmen in a completely separate piece. Both of these polar bear sculptures are made of plastic bags. Notice the differences between the two styles; the sculpture made at the Eden Project is clearly woven together creating a smooth texture, while Holmen's representation is made in a way that gives the illusion of fur. Also, make sure you look at the peacock sculpture in Holmen's gallery. So cool.
Talk about clever and innovative, Web Urbanist's awesome article, Green and Geeky Adaptive Reuse Design Projects, features a collection of totally unique furnishings created by all kinds of reused materials including tables made of bike tires, chairs of aluminum cans, bath tub love seats, shopping cart chairs, and a chandelier made of disposable pens.
Visit Dr. Evermore's Scrap Metal Sculpture: Forevertron to enter a world that is fantastic and real at the same time. Take a look at the space capsule, three-headed cats, and the band of birds made of horn instruments. Forevertron is just one of many surreal work's by this artist. Featuring an eclectic collection of scrap metal from centuries past to absolutely modern. Don't bother running from the giant spider. If you've seen it, I'm thinking it'll get you no matter how fast you move.
Carl Rankin creates model airplanes from pieces of trash. To make each plane, he uses plastic wrap, straws, Styrofoam take-out boxes, and more. Oh yeah; and they fly too. Watch Xeni Jardin's interview with Rankin below and don't forget to check out Flying Puppets.
If you enjoyed this post, please
In today's Photoshop tutorial, you'll be learning a simple method of giving everyday pictures a scary, gritty effect. This photo effect is extremely versatile, and can be used to come up with all sorts of results.
Step 1. Make sure you start with a photo that has lots of texture. Images that consist mostly of smooth textures (like water) probably will not become gritty or scary looking,
The first thing we need to do is change your photo into a black and white. You can do this by opening your photo in photoshop and going to Enhance> Convert to Black and White. If your image already is, then yay for you! Skip to Step 2.
Step 2. Now we will give your photo a grittier look. Apply Photoshop's Unsharp Mask by going to Enhance> Unsharp Mask. In the option window that pops up, play with the settings until you have the effect you're happy with. It should increase the contrast and give it a gritty look, but make sure that you DON'T LOSE DETAILS. This is very important! If some areas of the photo are completely white or completely black where they shouldn't be, lower the Radius amount.
Step 3. Create a new blank layer and fill it with a warm medium brown.
Set the blending mode of the brown layer in the Layers Palette to "Color Burn".
Step 4. Photoshop's "Color Burn" blending mode can create very dramatic effects, but you will also probably lose some of the details in your photo in shadows. To fix this, you can use the Dodge tool to lighten specific area of your image.
Choose the Dodge Brush (found in the lower left corner of Photoshop's interface). Choose a soft round brush, set the Range to "Shadows" and the Exposure to 10%.
With the brown color layer still selected, use the tool to go over shadow areas to bring out details that may have been lost. Also use the tool on any areas that you'd like to be especially bright, like eyes. After i had used the tool, my brown layer looked something like this.
And my overall image looked like this.
Here is the image before and after I used the dodge tool, just to give you an idea of the effect the tool can have.
And here are the Original and Final Images
Depending on the photo, this tutorial will not necessarily create a menacing effect. Here are some other before and afters using this effect.
If you enjoyed this post, please
As a Guest Blogger on this site, you can gain exposure to a new readership, increase traffic to your website, learn from an experienced blogger, and make some cash all at the same time.
Well, my readers, I have some wonderful news. The Gini's Magic Blog is thriving! Over the past three months we've had an average of over 10,000 visitors per month and it looks like by the end of this month we will surpass that. Subscriptions, individual visits, page views, comments, and advertising are all up and growing at a very regular rate.
So far, the entire blog has been run by myself. I do the designing, writing, marketing; everything. Everything I've learned about running blogs and other websites I have learned from experience. Now, I would like to offer other people the chance to learn from my experience and to write here while being able to promote their own endeavors.
In other words I am looking for guest bloggers; but this opportunity comes with a twist.
Guest Bloggers on this site will receive the following:
- A byline at the top of your post telling your name or pseudonym, a little something about your experience on the subject of your writing, and a link to your website or blog if you have one. It will look similar to this:Gini from Gini's Magic is posting here today to share her expertise in Photoshop.
- 10% of the direct sale advertising revenue this site receives for 30 days after your post. (At the moment, that would be approx. $10, but depending on the timing, you could make more or less)
The opportunity to learn from me personally about how I have grown this blog from nothing into what it is today. I will be happy to give you tips and answer any questions you may have about how to do the same for your blog or website.At some point in the future I may consider taking on an intern or a coauthor, and I will choose this person from among people who have written for me in the past.
Guest Blogging Requirements and Rules:
Anyone can be a guest blogger. You can be an expert in your field or just starting out, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you enjoy what you're writing about and that you are eloquent and accurate. Contact me and I may choose you to be a guest blogger.
The subject of any articles you write must have to do with art or blogging. Part of the purpose of having guest bloggers here will be to branch out into other areas of art, so I'm leaving the subject open to art in any form. I will personally decide if the subject you choose is appropriate for this blog.Articles must be a minimum of 500 words long. I am very happy to work with you and be your beta reader, however it must be understood that this is my blog and I have the final say on any editing that might need to be done.Your 10% share of advertising revenue will be paid through Paypal. I cannot guarantee that all articles written will be posted on this blog. I reserve the right to turn any article down at any point during our transaction.Once any content has been published on this blog, the existence of the same material anywhere else on the web or in print will be considered plagiarism.
How Guest Blogging on this Blog Will Work:
Contact me and tell me your about your idea(s) for one or more articles to be posted on this blog. Include you name, website address if you have one, and what experience you have that you think will be an asset to this blog. If you have any samples of your writing, please include this as well.
If I approve of the subject you choose, you can go ahead and write a rough copy of the article and email it to me. I will beta read the article and discuss with you any opinions I have on the subject and any changes that I'd like to be made. I will always be true to your voice as a writer, but it is important that the subject you write about goes well with the rest of the content here.Once the article is completely ready, I will post it along with a byline up to 140 characters long stating you name, area of expertise, and a link to your website.30 days after your article is posted, 10% of the direct advertising revenue that this blog receives will be sent to you via Paypal.**Important: Do not send me anything that has already been published, even if you are the copyright holder. If I find that you have plagiarized (copied, stolen) someone else's content, you will be banned from this website and I will inform the copyright holder of the problem so that they may take whatever action against you that they see fit.
Guest blogging here is an excellent opportunity for you to gain exposure, build online relationships, learn from someone who has built a successful blog, and make a little money in the process. Please contact me if you are interested!
If you enjoyed this post, please
Subscribe in a reader or Subscribe by EmailDel.icio.us -- Digg -- Technorati -- Furl -- StumbleuponTraffic Rush - Learn How to Drive a Rush of Traffic to Your Site with Stumbleupon!
Read More......
Turn an ordinary egg in a Magical Golden Egg just like in the fairytales! And you don't even need that really cool goose we've all been hearing about.
Step 1. Start with a picture of a brown egg and adjust the hue to whatever base color you want. I chose to keep mine as the original brown, so the final image is kind of a golden-brown egg. If you want your egg to be really golden, just change the base hue to more yellow-ish color.
Step 1. Create a New Layer on top of the background image and use the Paint bucket tool to fill it with black. Then go to Filters> Render> Lens Flare.
Step 2. With the top layer selected go to Filters> Blur> Radial Blur> and use settings; Blur Method: Zoom, Amount: 100. Repeat this blur 3 times.
Step 3. With top layer still selected, go to Filters> Distort> Twirl, Angle 150
Step 4. Create a new layer on top of the black layer. With your foreground and background colors set to black and white, create some clouds by going to Filters> Render> Clouds.
Step 5. Make an oval selection using the Elliptical Marquee tool, then feather the selection by a radius of 50 (shown here using red selection mask).
Step 6. Go to Select> Inverse and then hit the delete button on you keyboard. You should be left with an oval of clouds.
Step 7. Next, go to Filters> Blur> Motion Blur> Angle: -45, Distance: 700 pixels
Step 8. Filters> Distort> Twirl, Angle: 100
You'll be left with something like this.
Step 9. Use the Magic Wand to select a dark section of the clouds layer. Go to Select> Similar, the Feather by 10 px and delete.
Step 10. Filters> Blur> Gaussian Blur 40 px and duplicate the layer.
Step 11. Set the black layer's Blending Mode to Screen and Merge the cloud layers together, but keep it separate from the background photo and the black layer.
Step 13. Set the clouds layer to Linear Light and then select both the black layer and the clouds layer and place them over the egg. Resize, distort, use whatever tools you want to get it just perfect. In this case, I used the Free Transform box to get the design exactly how I wanted it to look, but I didn't have to do much.
Click on the main photo layer and select the egg using the tool of your choice. Shown here with a red selection mask.
Step 14. Select the inverse so that the background around the object is selected. Then choose the the clouds layer in the Layers Palette and hit delete.
Step 15. Select the inverse again so that the egg is selected and click on the egg layer in the palette. Right-click on the selected egg and choose "Layer Via Copy".
Step 16. Make another new layer and sample a color from the egg as you foreground color. This will be the color of the swirls, so make it a light golden-brown. For this step, you'll need some light effects brushes. As always, I highly recommend Obsidian Dawn's brushes. Make sure you especially take a look at the Fantasy page in her Brushes section.
Use the brushes to make magical swirls and sparkles all around your egg, making sure that some are placed on a separate layer behind the egg layer but above the background image. For some of the swirls use the color you sampled from the egg, and for some use plain white.
Optional Step 17.If you decide that you want you egg to be more golden after all, select the egg again, create a new layer on top of the egg layers, and fill it with a yellow-gold color. Then set the layer's blending mode to Soft Light and adjust the opacity to whatever you prefer. I chose 60%.
Now you have a golden egg so real you might be able to crack it open. But then it probably wouldn't be as pretty, so I advise against it.
If you enjoyed this post, please
This is an example of a portrait enhancement that I once did, along with some simple tips. For a detailed tutorial on skin smoothing for portraits like this in Photoshop, please visit my post on Making Skin Smooth and Beautiful in Photoshop.
The details of what I corrected included lots of detail work around the eyes, lightening shadows on the neck and chest, adding shiny highlights to each jewel on the tiara and each pearl, and a bunch of dodging and burning on the lace of the dress to bring out the details.
Because there were both extreme shadows and highlights on her face and chest, It took some serious work to come up with the nice, smooth skin you see in the finished image.
Here are some tips to get rid of unwanted shadows based on the steps I took using Adobe Photoshop Elements after I had regained some of the details around her eyes:
1. Select all of the skin on your photo subject's neck and right click on it, choosing "Layer via copy".
2. Use the eraser tool with a soft brush and 10% pressure; making sure that I was working on the copied layer, and run the eraser over major facial features: eyes, outline of the nose and nostrils, mouth, jawline, and any major lines and dimples.
3. Go to Filters> Noise> Median. Increase the median until the skin looks overly smooth, to where the face appears more like a blurry painting than a photo.
5. Choose a few places that still have shadows and highlights which need to be smoothed. Select and use the Gaussian Blur filter on the copied layer to smooth each one individually.
6. Now that you have smooth skin to work with, you m may still have tons of shadows to get rid of. If you do, go to into "Enhance", "Adjust Lighting", and then chose "Shadows/Highlights" I ran the "Lighten Shadows" bar as far as possible, to 100. I did this several times over until I was satisfied with the result.
7. After this it was mostly small detail work. I repeated a similar process on the lips and chest. I whitened her teeth, and did a bit more detail work on her eyes, dress, pearls, and tiara.
If you enjoyed this post, please
Read More......
Defining a brush in Photoshop can be very easy or far more difficult, depending on the image you wish to turn into a brush. This tutorial for Photoshop Beginners will guide you through making brushes in Photoshop, no matter what image you choose to use.
Images with White Backgrounds
Creating a brush in Photoshop using an image of an isolated object on a white background is by far the easiest.
Step 1. Open your image in Photoshop.
Step 2. When you define your image as a brush, Photoshop will automatically turn any white in the image into transparency. Use the eraser tool or a white foreground brush to get rid of any stray markings in the background that you don't want to be part of your brush. Make sure that you don't accidentally erase any shadows that the object is projecting. One of the best things about defining brushes on a white background is that the shadows will automatically included in the brush.
Step 3. Select the entire image using whatever tool you prefer. I used the Rectangular Marquee Tool, since it is the simplest. Go to Edit> Define Brush From Selection.
If the program won't let you choose the Define Brush option, the selection may be too large. In this case, either use a different selection tool to select the image or cut and resize the entire image before defining the brush.
Your brush should now show up last in your "Default Brushes" Folder. Don't forget to save your brushes!
Step 1. Open your image. I used a photo of fireworks in the night sky.
Step 2. Get rid of stray marks. In this case, I recommend first using the healing brush to get rid of the more obvious parts of the image that I don't want included in my brush. Then I did a rough selection of the are surrounding the object and used Levels to even out the background further.
Step 3. Deselect the image and go to Filter> Adjustments> Invert. This will make the black background white and the lighter colors of the object become dark.
Step 4. Follow the instructions above for white backgrounds.
If you enjoyed this post, please
