The Professional Photoshop Book - Volume 7 2015

11

PREPARE THE FEATHERS

Open the file feathers.jpg in a new document

in Photoshop. The easiest way to cut out the feathers is

to use Magic Wand to select all the white space.

Right-click while the selection is still active and then

choose Inverse Selection. Next use the Refine Edge tool

and create a layer mask. After that apply the layer

mask to the layer. Now select each feather with the

Lasso tool (L) and move it across the two documents.

10

POLISH THE ORNAMENTS

Create a new layer, change the blend mode to Soft Light at 55% Opacity. Clipping mask it to the

ornaments group and paint with a soft black brush to darken parts of the ornament. This step is the final

chance to touch up the ornaments on the mask. Check if there are any parts sticking out of the base mask

and the ornaments. If everything is satisfactory, create a new Exposure adjustment layer and set the

values to +0.34, 0, 0.81.

WORK ON THE MASK

ADD DETAILS AND REFINE THE MAGE’S MASK

001 FOREHEAD PIECE

Import the file peacock.jpg and cut out the feathers. Then like before, add

shadows to the sides and bottom

002 ADD A CHARM

Import chain.jpg. Cut out one charm from the chain. Place it in middle below base

mask layer, but above peacock feathers

003 JEWELS

Import jewel.jpg. Cut out and place it in the middle and above all

the ornaments

Improve your masking skills

The Professional Photoshop Book 43

09

UPGRADE THE MASK

Creating the mask requires multiple steps of duplicating the original layer, desaturating the layer,

transforming it to match the base mask, and finally adding realistic shadows and highlights. Keep repeating

the steps until the surface of the base mask is covered with ornaments. Remember to desaturate all the

layers because the colours will be painted later on.

001

003

002

040-045 PPB 007 Master Masks Tutorial.indd 43 06/10/2015 16:02