Advanced_Photoshop_141_-_2015_UK_

ACHIEVE REALISM IN COMPOSITES TECHNIQUES

LEARN HOW TO CREATE AN IMPOSSIBLE SCENE AND USE

PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUES TO MAKE IT BELIEVABLE

ACHIEVE REALISM

IN COMPOSITES

I

n this tutorial you will learn how to squeeze an

elephant into a glass bottle. For this we will

explore many aspects of Photoshop, such as

the Warp tool, blend modes, filters, masks,

lighting concepts and photomanipulation. To do this

successfully you will need to develop not only your

technical knowledge, but also your imagination.

It is important to continually stretch your

creativity and think outside of the box – or in this

case the bottle – which is why we are going to

cram an elephant into it. With practice you’ll see

that creating this type of image is a fun challenge

BUILD THE BACKGROUND

START BY SETTING THE FOUNDATIONS OF YOUR PIECE

that will help you to better understand the tools that

Photoshop offers and experiment with new and

creative ways of using them.

One of the coolest things in Photoshop is the

possibility to make endless combinations with the

tools. The sky is the limit! There is no right or wrong,

what matters is the final result, so let’s learn how to

make combinations that will help you to create an

unexpected, but realistic image. You will see that

creating a complex composite is not easy and

requires a lot of work, but hopefully at the end you

will see that all your hard work was worth it.

01

BEGIN WITH THE GREEN BACKGROUND

First, create a new document (File>

New) at 24x31cm and 300dpi. Fill the layer with

green (#0a3710). This first tip is very important

for the final result: when the image is ready to be

printed you must use the Proof Color tool (Cmd/

Ctrl+Y). It allows you to work in RGB and see

how your image will look in CMYK.

02

ADD BACKGROUND LIGHTING

Make a new layer and draw a white circle,

apply a Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur),

Radius 670px. Make sure the layer is set to Overlay.

To stop it looking too obvious, apply the Noise filter

(Filter>Noise>Add Noise) set to 30%. After that,

duplicate the same layer and put it in Soft Light.

03

CREATE BACKGROUND SHADOWS

As we want to make a dark atmosphere,

let’s create some shadows. For this you have to

create two different layers and, using the Pen tool,

make two green shapes (#243c26), one at the top

and other at the base of the image. Then apply a

Gaussian Blur of 670px and put it in the Soft Light

blend mode on both layers.

FROM BACKGROUND

TO THE ELEPHANT

WORK IN

PROGRESS

Progress 1: Creating

the background

Progress 2: Elephant in a bottle

Progress 3: The final image

RODRIGO MARINELLI

rodrigo_marinelli.prosite.com

OUR EXPERT

Rodrigo Marinelli is a 31-year-old art

director. His main focus is image

manipulation, but he is interested in

everything that is related to creativity.

Head to shutterstock.com to source

the files used in this tutorial, or you

can find your own if you prefer.

SOURCE FILES