TECHNIQUES CREATE SHINING SKIN EFFECTS
QUICKTIP:TONEDOWNDODGEANDBURN
You painted black and white on 50% gray layers set to Overlay for some
non-destructive dodging and burning. Need to tone things down? Try setting
to Soft Light instead. If you need to reduce further, lower the layer opacity
and/or paint back lightly with the 50% gray colour (#808080).04
SMOOTH AND BURN
Right-click on the merged layer, choose
Convert to Smart Object. Go to Filter>Noise>Median.
Set Radius to 10px then click OK. Add a layer mask.
Paint black in the mask to reduce smoothing on the
eyes, lips, fingers, and a bit from the nose and melting
shapes. Create a new layer. Go to Edit>Fill (or Shift+
F5), choose 50% gray. Click OK. Set the layer to the
Overlay blend mode with the drop-down at the top of
the Layers palette. Paint black at 10% brush Opacity to
start burning.05
DODGE AND BURN
Continue to burn, increasing opacity as
needed. Create a new 50% gray layer and set to the
Overlay blend mode. Now use white to dodge. By
segregating the dodge and burn layers, you have
more control. If you need to intensify, duplicate the
layer. Finesse by lowering the opacity or intensify
further by duplicating again. Click the Create New Fill
or Adjustment Layer button in the Layers palette and
choose Curves. Plot two points and adjust to make a
slight S curve, pushing the contrast.06
APPLY PLASTIC WRAP FILTER
We’ll now start the process of creating a
liquid metal look. Merge layers again by pressing
Cmd/Ctrl+Alt/Option+Shift+E. Right-click on the
layer, choose Convert to Smart Object. Go to Filter>
Artistic>Plastic Wrap. Set Highlight Strength to 5,
Detail to 5, and max out Smoothness to 15. Click OK.
Add a layer mask. Paint black at 40-60% Opacity to
reduce a bit on the fingers touching the face, as well
as some of the outlining on her body.07
CREATE DISPLACEMENT MAP
Now you’ll create the displacement map, a requisite for the Displace
filter. This filter’s handy to know for a project such as this where you need to
overlay texture convincingly onto an object or character. Merge layers. Select all
(Cmd/Ctrl+A), then copy (Cmd/Ctrl+C). Open a new document, then paste (Cmd/
Ctrl+V). Because a displacement map doesn’t look at colour, you can go to
Image>Mode>Grayscale, even if there’s not much colour. Go to Filter>Blur>
Gaussian Blur, set Radius to 1.5px. Save as ‘Map.psd’. 08APPLY CHROME FILTER
Return to the main document. Press Cmd/Ctrl+D to deselect. Right-click
on the merged layer we copied to create the basis for the displacement map,
choose Convert to Smart Object. Press D for default colours. Go to Filter>Sketch>
Chrome. Set Detail to 0 and max out Smoothness to 10. Click OK. Merge layers
again. Right-click and choose Convert to Smart Object. Turn off the visibility of the
first Chrome layer. We’ll now apply the displacement map to help mould the
chrome effect to the contours of the model.