Achieve Brilliant Lighting Effects in Photoshop
Achieve Brilliant Lighting Effects in Photoshop
By Mark Jay Caccam
Design55 CommentsADLighting effects can make or break any
digital artwork. When done properly, lighting can add visual
impact, draw the viewers eye, convey depth and emotion, and tie
together all the elements of the piece for a quality finished
result. However, achieving brilliant lighting is not always an easy
task, particularly for newer digital artists. Perfecting contrast,
color variation, sharpness and depth will help make your digital
art more enticing.
In this tutorial, youll learn the essential process of achieving
brilliant lighting effects in Photoshop. Using default brushes,
blending options and a few stock images, youll learn step by step a
variety of techniques that you can use in your own digital artworks
to achieve professional results.
This is tutorial is jam packed with tips, shortcuts and
techniques, and each detail is explained to allow beginning users
to follow along. But even if youre an advanced user, youll be
inspired and take away some useful new ideas for your artwork. Lets
get started!
Tools Required
Adobe Photoshop CS2 (or higher)
Final Image Preview
Step 1 The Background:
Start by creating a new canvas, sized 19701320 pixels. Then,
grab this custom background that I made (click the image for the
full size):
Next, were going to combine this with another background, so
click the image below or visit the following link and download this
background:http://jakezdaniel.deviantart.com/art/Texture-3B-108044404
Next, reduce the Fill option of this second background to 79%
(see screenshot below):
Step 2 The Foreground:
Now, we need our foreground subject image. Were going to use
this little rocker boy. You can use the following image that I
used:http://tonya-tjphotography.deviantart.com/art/Rocker-6-86012281or
you can use any of your own images that you desire. One thing youll
notice about this image is the hair, which will be a bit difficult
to extract. Software such as Vertus Fluid Mask can easily extract
these images, but for this tutorial, I will be extracting it
manually using the pen tool and I will apply some cutting
techniques.
Using your pen tool, slowly trace around the subject, then go to
the Paths tab and then right click the path you made, make
selection, and then you have your foreground subject. If youre a
bit unfamiliar with extraction techniques, read this article
onTypes of Extraction in Photoshop.
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Notice that there are still some white edges left in the hair,
so again you can use the pen tool to cut it off. You could manually
try to remove only the white area, but I found it quicker and more
effective to give him a haircut. And for finishing I used a soft
brushed eraser and Layer>Matting>Defringe (width 1) and
resized it to fit the document.
Now we will make some shadow for the boy, which will help create
depth for our image. For the shadow I used a soft brush, 200px
using black color to brush the perspective shadow (see below
screenshot or use your judgment). Then, go to Filter>Gaussian
Blur>30px to give it a more natural feel. Reduce the opacity if
necessary, erase some overlapping black parts caused by the gausian
blurr, and you should have a result like mine:
Now, we need to make the boy seem less pasted onto our
background. To do this, well burn the edges of the boy a little
bit, using the burn tool with the settings of 100px, Range:
midtones, Exposure: 50 and then go to
Layer>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast. Check the use layer
clipping mask and apply the following settings:
Add some crack to the walls to have more details and add visual
impact. You can use a stock image, or the following
brush:Download.
Step 3 Adding Abstract Elements:
I used a rendered C4d. There are packs of C4D renders all over
the internet, deviantART is a great place to start.
Resize it and use desaturate (CTRL-SHIFT-U) to make it pure
grayscale. Next, move it into your desired position, for this
image, I wanted to make it seem as though it was the boys
wings.
Next, erase some areas that you dont want in your image. It
should match the foreground subject and the shadowing we created
already, in order to allow the perspective to remain. You can use
the selection of your foreground subject to remove areas and make
it seem like the render is wrapped around the subject.
Duplicate the C4d layer, then bring back the duplicated one to
the bottom of the layers boy. By doing this, you can add a backup
of unwanted erased parts, and you can make the render feel more
solid.
Next, we use the same C4D render, desaturating it and resizing
it. Slowly we can add more elements, varying the size to achieve
our desired effect. Erase any unwanted areas, and try to build your
render around the boy.
Step 4:
In making the light effects, I only used default tools in
Photoshop. Using the pen tool for illustration, you can draw some
paths and stroke them. Create a new layer, then set your brush to
white, 7px, soft (hardness set to 0%). Next, draw paths along the
subject where you want light to appear. While the pentool is
active, right click on the surface, choose stroke path, and check
the simulate pressure option.
Open the blending options, and apply the following settings to
your layer.
Duplicate the line layer twice, and then blur the duplicated
one. Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur at 10px. Duplicate it again,
and make a new group and then set the blending option to linear
dodge (see below screenshot). Linear dodge is one of the most
powerful layer modes in achieving quality lighting effects.
Next, make a new layer and then fill it with black and set the
blending options to linear dodge. Grab the brush tool, and brush a
little bit of red in his shoulder and use this command CTRL+F three
times (to blur it again). This will enhance the glow effect from
the lighting.
Repeat this process and try to make some brush adjusments make
it bigger or smaller. Try making it 10px,5px,3px, whatever you
want. Try to put some it to the bottom layer of the boy. Heres how
it looks after my illustrations and repeating the process of
previous grouped layers. Just experiment use soft eraser to fade it
some parts nicely. I used motion blur to achieve some movement in
the piece. Overall, I had 7 groups for the lighting effects.
Step 5 Extra Effects:
Add some small particles, like its splashing away from the boy.
In this step, I used a nebula stock. There are many available
throughhttp://resurgere.deviantart.com/orhttp://hameed.deviantart.com/gallery/?3949421#Stock:
Place it on canvas and change the blending option to Linear
Dodge, then desaturate it to make it black and white. This will add
some extra contrast to our image, apart from just the red. Now that
it is desaturated, you can duplicate and place it anywhere you
want, just play around to see what gives a good result. I suggest
putting some of it behind the boy, to create a nice illusion and
enhance the depth. Erase any unwanted parts using a soft
eraser.
Step 6 Smoke:
I added some smoke, for the original work I used a stock image
of smoke. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the same image I
used, but I will still show you the erased parts of the smoke.
Theres plenty of free stock images of smoke (check http://sxc.hu
for example) and see what works for you. If you want the same image
that I used, it is available below:
Simply paste this smoke image into the document, move it over
the boy and set the blending mode to Screen or Linear Dodge
depending on your desired result. You can adjust your layer order
to achieve the appearance of the smoke behind or in front of the
lighting effects.
Step 7 More Effects:
Next, we can add awesome lighting effects to dramatically
increase the visual impact of the piece. First create a new layer
(CTRL-SHIFT-N) . Fill it with black and changethe blending option
to Linear Dodge. Grab the rectangular marquee tool, and use your
gradient tool (from white to transparent), then erase the sides a
little to make it softer.
Step 8 Final Lighting Adjustments:
We are almost done. Now we will add some more red lights to
incorporate the extra color into the piece. Well be using a soft
brush, paint bucket and blending options here. Create a new layer,
fill it with black, change the blending option to Linear Dodge. Use
the brush, and then refer to the screenshot below:
Were essentially done now, but we should make some adjustments
to achieve better depth and sharpness. Create a new layer, and
Apply Image (CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-E). Next, go to
Filter->Sharpen->Sharpen. Then, apply a curves layer by going
to Layer->New Adjustment Layer->Curves. Apply the following
settings:
After applying the curves, add a layer mask (Layer->New Layer
Mask) and erase some of the curves layer (particularly around the
head of the boy. Reduce the opacity to 42%, and then you can add
your own gradient maps and adjustments if you so choose. Heres my
result after adjustments:
Conclusion
You can add any more effects you want, but for now Im satisfied
with the result, and hopefully you are too. Remember to keep
experimenting, as small changes can have incredibly different
results and you never know what may end up looking incredible.
Hopefully you learned something from this tutorial, and thanks for
reading!
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