Photoshop tutorial: Advanced

compositing techniques
Intro
This photomontage by Serbian illustrator Becha was created for an haute couture
fashion editorial called Silent Spring that appeared in her home
countrys Faar magazine. It showcases the brightly coloured clothes and shoes of
designer Ana Ljubinkovic, which are perfectly complemented by Vesnas high-end
photo-illustration style.
The work features photographic elements shot by Milo Nadadin (milosnadazdin.com)
in his studio, and hand-drawn type and elements created by Becha.
In this tutorial, youll learn how to incorporate all these elements into one image and
get a dreamy, surreal atmosphere inspired by nature. Becha explains how to make
ceramic facial masks that match a models face and how to give vector lettering a
three-dimensional look. She also looks at how textures can be used to enhance an
atmosphere and how adjustment layers can integrate unusual elements.

Time to complete
3 hours

Tools
Photoshop CS3 or later

Download
Files for this tutorial can be downloaded from here. These files are for use only as part
of following this tutorial and must not be used for other projects including
commercial projects.

Step: 1
To get started, youll need to create a Photoshop document thats 25cm wide, 31cm tall
and 300dpi.
Create a Gradient fill (Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient). Click on the default
gradient to edit it change both opacity stops to 100%, then use #dfe8d7 for the lefthand colour stop and #68acbd for the right-hand one to create a sky-style background.
Set the Location for the right-hand stop to 70%. Click OK and make sure the gradient
is running light-to-dark from bottom to top.
Next, apply a Noise filter (Filter > Noise > Add Noise) with an Amount of 4%, and
Uniform and Monochromatic selected. This will make the background less digitally
clean.

Step: 2
From the project files (registration required), open the model shot (model.jpg) in
Photoshop. We want to remove her from the background, and the best way to do this

is to mask her out, then invert the mask to select just her. Using the Magic Wand tool
with a Tolerance of 30, select the background by clicking a couple of times and holding
Shift so you can add to the selection. Also select the area of her chest thats visible.
To fix details around the pearls and flowers, turn on Quick Mask Mode (Q) and, using a
brush, fill in the areas that should be part of your mask. Turn off Quick Mask Mode,
then go to Select > Inverse Selection (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I). Copy and paste the
model into your main composition.

Step: 3
To integrate the model with the background, and to get the overall colour tone we want
for the final piece, we need to reduce the contrast. Go toImage > Adjustments >
Brightness/Contrastand reduce the Contrast to -30.
A useful trick is to duplicate the layer with the model (Cmd/Ctl + J), select the lower
layer of the two and use Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with a Radius of 45px. Give
that layer a Hard Light blending mode. This puts a diffuse lighting effect behind her as
if she was really standing against the background.

Step: 4
Next, open Deer.jpg from the project files. Make a selection of its head, horns and
flowers but not the main part of the shoe using the same technique as in Step 2.
Copy and paste this into the main composition and put it behind the model layers at the
scale shown. Use Image > Adjustments > Levels on it and move the Input Levels
middle slider to 1.5 to bring it more in line with the main compositions tones.

Step: 5
Its now time to add some flowers. From the project files, open Flowers.png (which Ive
already cut out), and copy and paste it below the model layers, positioned as shown.
Next, open Rose.jpg and make a rough selection around it with Polygonal Lasso tool
(L). Use this one to fill the gap in her dress.

Step: 6
To add contrast were going to add some warmer colours and different kinds of
shapes. Well use some branches. Milo took some shots of blue ones, but
well change their colour to red.
Open each of the Branches files in turn and, with the Magic Wand (W) set to have a
Tolerance of 50, make a selection of background. Use Select > Inverse (Cmd/Ctrl
+ Shift + I) and move the branches to your composition. To change their colour, apply
a Hue/Saturation adjustment (Cmd/Ctrl + U) and move Hue to +180, then use Levels
(Cmd/Ctrl + L) to brighten them up, putting in Input Levels values: 0/1.18/229.

Step: 7
We want to form the branches into something resembling a treetop behind the model.
Use Photoshops Transform tools (Cmd/Ctrl + T) for resizing and rotation. When you
get the perfect shape, select all the branch layers and then merge them (Cmd/Ctrl +
E).

Step: 8
We now need to add some details to the branches to make them more interesting.
There are already pearls on the models dress, so well use these for blossoms.
Open Pearl.jpg from the project files and select a pearl with the Elliptical Marquee tool
(M). Copy and paste it into main file and to make it shinier use an Inner Glow layer
style use an opacity of 72, a colour of #d9f1fd and a Size of 46. Right-click on the
layer in the Layers panel, and select Rasterize Layer Style so the effect remains in
proportion to the pearl when you resize it.
Duplicate the pearl several times with Cmd/Ctrl + J, then resize each and place them
on the branches. Put a few of them towards the top, so it seems they are hovering in
the air.

Step: 9
I wanted to give the piece an organic feel something that will support the natural look
of this artwork. To do this, I made a sketch on paper that I used as the basis of a vector
drawing in Illustrator. I then copied and pasted this into Photoshop as a smart object.
My original drawing is in the project files (Silent_Spring_Drawing.jpg). You should
create some similar type using your favourite method.
Apply layer styles to the letters to give them depth and make them look like clouds. I
used Bevel and Emboss with the settings as shown (above). Also apply a Color
Overlay layer style, using #faf2dc as the colour.

Step: 10
The letters have the right colour and volume, but need shadows. To add these, create
a new layer above your type, then Cmd/Ctrl-click on the type layers thumbnail in the
Layers panel to create a selection based on it. To paint the shadows use a grey brush
with soft edges, an opacity of 50% and a Flow of 30. This will help you give it a threedimensional appearance.

Step: 11
Its now time to give the model a halo. As with the type, we want this to have a handmade feel, so we will use a drawing.
From the project files, open Circlescan.jpg or draw your own, scan it in, and copy and
paste it into your main composition. Because we need the drawing in white, invert the
image Image > Adjustment > Invert (Cmd/Ctrl + I) and then use Screen blending
mode to keep only the drawn elements. This white is too bright, so drop this layers
transparency to 80%.

Step: 12
To make a mask on her eye that looks like its made of ceramic, first use the Pen tool
(P) to carefully make an outline around her eye.
Go to Window > Paths and while holdingCmd/Ctrl, click on the Work path thumbnail
to make a selection based on the path. Create a new layer and fill it with white (Shift +
F5).

Next, load the selection from this layer, then choose the model layer and
press Cmd/Ctrl + J to duplicate only that part of the layer. Move this part above white
layer in the layer stack. Desaturate this layer with Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + U.
Again load the masks selection of this layer, and select Filter > Blur > Gaussian
Blur with a Radius of 5px.
Apply a Levels adjustment and set the white slider at 198. Now, you need to apply
some additional shadows to make it appear realistic.
Choose a brush with soft edges and a colour of #8b6952. Select an opacity of 40%
and paint shadows onto a new layer with a Multiply blending mode. The best way to do
this is to use a graphics tablet and pen, but if you dont have one, be very careful with
mouse.

Step: 13
To give the model a glove that appears to be dripping with paint, follow the same
process as in Step 12. This time, however, youll need to create the shadows for the
drips from scratch. Carefully paint these on using the same brush as before, paying
careful attention to where the light is coming from in the rest of the piece.

Step: 14
For a final atmospheric touch, open Texture.jpgfrom the project files, and copy and
paste it at the top of the layer stack. Use a Soft Light blending mode for this. The
purpose of this texture is to visually connect all the layers.
Ive found it good practice to experiment with different kinds of textures and blending
modes until you find the right one.
Finally, touch up the colour by selecting Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves.
Choose the Green curve and make the Output:179 and Input:169.

Step: 15

Serbian-based Vesna Pesic aka Becha is a freelance

illustrator with a passion for collage and hand-drawn lettering. Her clients have
included Elle, Emirates Airlines, Ellecta Interactive, Playboy, MTV and Universal Music.
She is represented by Machas (itsmachas.com).

Contact
becha.me