In this tutorial, we’re going to take this image :
And make it look like the following one thanks to a texture, blending modes and layer masks :
This process works best for images with a grayish neutral background, so I took one shot during a cloudy day.
I’m going to use the following texture :
This image was created shooting old canons, the rusty, green/brownish structure / texture is just what I wanted.
Take the texture ( you can find them on stock sites, shoot your own, license an image, etc … ) and place it above your original image.Hold your SHIFT button while dragging one layer into an other for a smooth centered drop.
With the new layer in place, go to the blending modes menu on top left of the layers palette, and choose OVERLAY.
This will give you this result :
Now we’re going to ease on down the opacity of this layer on specific areas of the face with a layer mask, so we can always go back and forth :
Go to LAYER —> LAYER MASK and choose REVEAL ALL , a new icon will appear next to your layer now.
Now select a standard brush, not too ‘hard’ ( right click your button to choose the hardness when the brush is selected ), and make sure your FOREGROUND COLOR is set to BLACK and your BACKGROUND COLOR is set to WHITE.The BLACK color is now chosen, when painting now with the layer mask selected ( click the icon, though the layer mask is selected automatically right after creation ) you will erase part of the texture layer, if you switch the color to WHITE you will bring back the layer.Play with the opacity of your brush to get the result you are looking for.
I cleaned most parts of the face and tux for this image :
The part of the image you erase will show black on the layer mask icon, as showed above.
You can now make the image more dramatic with more contrast layers and curves :
More tutorials :
How to draw custom 3-D arrows in photoshop
How to draw custom rainbows in photoshop.
How to draw an ‘Asian sun’ with photoshop.
