Advanced_Photoshop_141_-_2015_UK_

ILLUSTRATE WITH MASKS TECHNIQUES

TRANSFORM A PHOTO INTO A PROFESSIONAL PIECE OF

ILLUSTRATION USING FILTERS, MASKS AND BRUSHES

ILLUSTRATE

WITH MASKS

I

n this tutorial, you will learn how to take a basic

stock image of a woman and turn it into a

sketched work of art with some extra elements

that tie in and create a dynamic and stylised look.

You’ll also discover how to use Photoshop masks to

help shade and highlight the art.

Inspiration for this style stems from the look of

delicate line drawings combined with graphite portraits.

Smoke inspires the look of the tattoos and the way the

art flows overall. The art feels tied together and more

interesting with a striated, unconfined element such as

CREATE A SKETCH FROM PHOTOS

USE FILTERS AND BASIC DRAWING TECHNIQUES

the background fabric. This tutorial will require quite a

bit of hand drawing, so a drawing tablet, like a Wacom

tablet, is recommended. There are three extra

brushes needed for this tutorial that will be supplied

on FileSilo. The rest will be standard Photoshop filters

and tools. Photoshop CC was used to create this art,

but the same instructions should be applicable to

older versions as well.

To include all the detail in the art, it is best to start

from a large canvas and plan out the basic structure

and flow of your work.

01

START THE DOCUMENT

Create a new document for this project. Go

to File>New or press Cmd/Ctrl+N. To get the best

quality and usability it is best to start from a large

document with a high dpi (dots per inch), such as

2500 pixels at 300dpi. Once you have your document,

colour it with a basic beige colour, such as #E5DCC5.

02

SET UP YOUR PHOTO

Now it is time to set up and place your

sourced stock photo. Create a new layer (Layer>New>

Layer) and place your stock. Most of her features will

be changed or taken out, so the woman is

separated quite basically from her background using

the Lasso tool (L).

03

SET UP FOR LINE WORK

This stock image has very defined areas

that delineate between her skin, clothing and so on.

You can use this definition to create some starting

rough line work. Desaturate your photo (Image>

Adjustments>Desaturate) and then brighten it using

Levels (Image>Adjustments>Levels) and then

duplicate your layer as a copy. Next, go to

Filter>Filter Gallery>Style>Glowing Edges. You can

tweak the settings here to have crisper starting lines.

FROM PHOTO TO

FINISHED ART

WORK IN

PROGRESS

Progress 1: Sketching out

the photo

Progress 2: Cleaning up

the sketch

Progress 3: Finalising the art

GENEVA BENTON

genevab.com

@prinnay

OUR EXPERT

Geneva Benton is a self-taught

American artist who creates for a

living and as a way of self expression.

She prefers to use bright, bold

colours and organic shapes.

SOURCE FILES

Included on http://www.filesilo.co.uk/

advancedphotoshop are the

brushes needed to re-create the

sketched look. There is a basic pencil

sketching brush, a washy charcoal

for large areas, and a flowy, ink-like

brush. You’ll also find the start photo.