Chuck Anderson is a well known graphic designer who has a knack for enhancing images by adding unique lighting effects. Today I’m going to show you how to make a piece similar to one of his well-known designs using mostly just simple brushing and blend modes.
Tutorial Contest Entry
This tutorial was entered into the PSDTUTS First Tutorial Writing Contest. See the results of the contest here. While this tutorial did not win the tutorial contest, it certainly caught our attention. Enjoy the Tut!
Introduction
Since we’re going to be creating a piece inspired by Chuck Anderson, I urge you to check out his work, titled "Godlike" here. You should also look at some of his other work, he really is a master of abstract color and light. Also, I hope it’s clear that I’m not at all trying to copy Anderson’s work, but simply understand how he does what he does. Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s begin.
Final Image Preview
Before we get started, let’s take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Click the screenshot below to view the full-size image. As always, the layered Photoshop file is available via our PSDTUTS Plus membership.
Step 1
To keep in step with Anderson, when I chose a stock photo I decided to stick to the theme that appears in his “Godlike” work, and go with a photo of an empty parking lot. I purchased this photo from Istockphoto, and if you’d like to do the same you can find it here. I do, however, encourage you to just take a photo of your own, if you’ve got a vacant parking lot in your area.
Step 2
Open up a new file in Photoshop the size of the image. Then copy and paste your stock photo into the document.
Step 3
Create a new layer, name it "Color," and set the blending mode to Color.
Step 4
Select the Brush tool (B) and choose a big fuzzy brush. I used the preset of Soft Round 200 pixels, and set the Opacity of the brush to 50%.
Step 5
Select a red color and begin brushing within the Color layer to add color to the current image. Repeat this process using different colors: purples, blues, yellows, greens, anything that you’d like, until the majority of the image is colored.
Step 6
To blend the colors together more, hold down the Option key while using the Brush Tool to select colors from within the colors you’ve already laid down. Doing this several times will help you blend everything together. You also may want to lower the brush size for blending purposes.
Step 7
Create a new layer, place it below the "Color" layer, name it "Multiply" and set the blending mode to Multiply.
Step 8
Push D to set black to the foreground and white to the background, and brush on the Multiply layer with a big black brush to darken the sky. You can go ahead and brush over the lights too. Now push X to switch to white, pick a smaller brush, and brush white over the light areas to pull them back out of the black.
Step 9
Go to the paths tab, create a three new path layers. Name the top "Front," the second "Middle," and the last "Back." We’re going to use these to separate line width and represent depth when we brush the paths.
Step 10
Select the Pen Tool and draw curved lines connected and coming off of the lights. Change the layer you’re drawing the path on based on it’s depth.
Step 11
Once you’re done with the initial drawing, go back to the layers tab and create three new layers, naming them the same as the paths layers: "Front," "Middle," and "Back."
Step 12
Select the Front layer, switch back to the paths tabs and select the Front path tab. Make sure white is the foreground color, select the Brush Tool with the preset of Hard Round 9 Pixels, but change the size to 5 pixels, and the Opacity 100%. Now push the Stroke Path With Brush button.
Step 13
Repeat Step 12 except with the "Middle" and "Back" layers, and decease the brush size each time. For the "middle" layer, make it 4 pixels, and the "Back" layer 3 pixels.
Step 14
After you’ve completed that, duplicate each of the layers to increase the intensity, and merge them with their partners. Put these three layers in a folder for safe keeping and call it "Lines." Also, apply a layer mask to this layer for future use.
Step 15
Next, let’s darken some of the lighter areas of our piece to strengthen some of the colors. Go back to the "Multiply" layer, select a big black fuzzy brush with an Opacity of 20%, and brush some of the lighter areas with the black.
Also, I’m going to use white on the "multiply" to lighten some of the dark areas in the sky ever so slightly so we can brush them with color in a bit. You may need to go back and forth between brushing with white and black to get a result you like.
Step 16
Now let’s go back to the "Color" layer, use the same big fuzzy brush, but select some colors from our canvas. Then brush some of the sky areas and touch up anything that needs to be adjustmented in regards to color. I suggest having the Brush Opacity set to 50% for this.
Step 17
Once you’re satisfied with your "Color layer," duplicate it, set the Blend Mode on the copy to Linear Light and Opacity to 70%. Then create a new folder called "Color Dodge." Place the "Color copy" layer in there, and set the Blend Mode of the folder to Color Dodge. You can have the "Linear Light" layer’s Opacity higher than 70% if you’d like your piece to be brighter.
Step 18
At this time, you may want to go back to the "multiply" layer, and brush some black on areas that may have become too bright or washed out by the last step. Go ahead and do that at this time.
Step 19
Above the "Lines" folder, create a new layer and call it "stars." Select the Brush Tool, with white as the foreground color, and create a brush with the settings shown below. Also, make sure the Opacity of the Brush is 100%.
Step 20
Use the brush to fill the sky with stars. Don’t worry too much about how many there are, just don’t overdo it and completely cover the layer in white. Also, stay about the horizon line and feel free to cluster stars around light sources.
Step 21
Duplicate the layer and place the copy in the "Color Dodge" folder we created earlier above the "Color Copy" layer.
Step 22
Now grab the Eraser Tool and choose a hard round medium sized brush. I went with a 50 pixel brush. Also, make sure the Opacity is 100%. On the "Stars" layer start erasing some of them to produce a more realistic, appealing, and less cluttered result.
Step 23
It’s time to work with the lines again. One thing you’ll notice about Anderson’s "Godlike" piece is that he uses some dashed lines too, so lets go back to the paths tab, create a new layer called "Dashed," and use the Pen Tool to create some more lines.
Step 24
When you’re ready to brush, go back to the layers tab, create a new layer in the "Lines" folder, and name it "dashed." Go back to paths. Now let’s select the Brush Tool and apply these settings.
Step 25
Making sure your foreground color is white, click the Stroke Path With Brush button. As we did before, duplicate this layer, and merge it with the original to increase the strength of the lines.
Step 26
Let’s work with the lines some more. Duplicate the "lines" folder, right-click on it and select Merge Group.
Step 27
With the "Lines" Copy layer selected, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and apply a blur with a radius of 3. Now set the Blend Mode of this layer to Overlay and move into the "Color Dodge" folder, above the "Stars Copy" layer.
Step 28
Now select the layer mask of the Lines folder, grab the Brush Tool and a fuzzy medium sized black brush (I used the Soft Round 45 pixels preset) with an opacity of 20% and begin to brush away some of the intensity of the white lines. You can do the same to the Lines Copy’s layer mask.
Step 29
Create a new layer in the "Color Dodge" folder, above the "Lines Copy" layer, and call it "Flare." Grab the Paint Bucket Tool and fill it with black. Then set the Blend Mode to Screen. Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare and apply a 50-300mm Zoom with a 50% Brightness.
Step 30
With the Move Tool, drag the glowing flare we just created on top of your biggest light. Feel free to use the Transform Tool to scale the layer if the flare is too large.
Step 31
Time to brush in some glow and highlights. Create a new layer above the "Lines Copy" layer within the Color Dodge folder and name it "Highlight." I’m going to use the same brush (with 20% opacity), but change my foreground color to white, and begin brushing in some glow into the piece. Once you’ve brightened up your lights, you should increase your brush size, and brighten other areas you feel are necessary.
Step 32
At this time go back to your "Multiply" layer and add any shadows you feel are necessary. Switch back and forth between this layer and the "Highlight" layer adding or removing, until you are satisfied with your result.
Step 33
If you’ve added a lot of highlights, as I have, duplicate the "lines" folder to increase the intensity.
Step 34
One last thing that I almost forgot. Let’s add some slices of planets in the background. Create a new layer in the "Color Dodge" folder right above Highlight. Name it "Planet." Grab the Ellipse Tool and with white as the foreground and create a nice oval shape so only about a fourth of it is on the page.
Step 35
Now right-click on the layer and hit Select Pixels (or Command-click the layer). Now push the Add Vector Mask button to load the selection as a layer mask. Command-click again on the layer to load the select, and go to Select > Refine Edge and use the following settings.
Step 36
With the Marquee Tool selected, move the selection up and to the left, so the edge of the selection overlaps the edge of the oval. Now making sure that you’re on the "Planet" layer, rather than it’s mask, delete the selection.
Step 37
Duplicate the "Planet" layer, call it "Planet 2," and hide it for now. Select "Planet 1" again and go to Edit > Free Transform. Scale, rotate, and move the planet so it looks acceptable in the background. Change the blending mode of this layer to Screen, and feel free to lower the opacity. Alternatively, use a big black fuzzy brush with a low opacity to fill in the layer mask some so the planet wasn’t so bright. You can also use white to lighten the planet.
Step 38
Now reveal the "Planet 2" layer, and do the same thing you did with the previous layer to make it fit into the background.
Final
That’s all folks! Thanks for checking out this tutorial and I hope you enjoyed it. Here’s the final image or follow this link for a larger version.
