In this tutorial, we will create a stylish grunge poster combined with bright lighting effects.
Preview:
Materials used in the lesson:
Step 1. Add textures to the background.
Getting started with creating a new document (1700×2000 pixels.). Open the texture with cracks, drag it into our document. Transform (Ctrl + T) and rotate 90 degrees. In order not to disturb the proportions, perform the transformation with the Shift key held down.
I really like to use different textures in my works, choosing all sorts of blending modes for them. It helps to achieve a variety of interesting visual effects. Free textures can be found at Design Instruct Freebies.
Step.2 Bleach the texture.
Use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + U, to bring up a window Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation). Decrease the parameter Saturation (Saturation) to -100 to discolor our image.
Step 3. Add the following texture.
Repeat all previous steps with a grunge texture. Transform and rotate to the size of our document, discolored.
Step 4. Texture overlay.
Modify the top layer with a grunge texture Blend mode (Blend Mode) on Multiply (Multiplication), Opacity (Opacity) layer reduced to 75%.
Now use the tool Gradient tool
(G) (Gradient), set the gradient parameters: Radial gradient (Radial gradient), from black color # 000000 to transparent, put a tick next to the option Reverse (Inversion).
Create a new layer. Pull the gradient from the center of the canvas to the outside. You may need to slightly increase and shift the gradient upward so that the bottom of the picture is more darkened.
Create a new layer below the gradient layer. Fill it with a light brown color # 9a8662 using a tool Paint bucket tool 
(G) (Fill). Change Blend mode (Blending mode) this layer on Color (Chromaticity).
You should have something like this:
Step 5. Create a light accent.
Before that, we worked with textures for the background of our work. Now we will create a light accent in the center of the canvas where the main elements of our composition with the clock and the raven will be located.
Create a new layer on top of all layers, apply a radial gradient on it, but this time from white #FFFFFF to transparent tick with Reverse (Inversion) must be removed. Drag the gradient from center to edge.
Change Blend mode (Blend Mode) a layer with a white-transparent gradient on SoftLight (Soft light). It should look something like this:
Step 6. Add a crow.
Now we can add basic elements to our work. To begin, open the photo with the raven. We need to separate it from the background. You can use the tool Pen tool
(P) (Feather), or cut the crow with Quick mask
(Q) (Quick mask).
After you have separated the crow from the background, drag it to the center of our work. If any part of the background remains, erase the excess using the tool. Eraser tool
(E) (Eraser).
Step 7. Darken the crow.
Duplicate the raven layer using the Ctrl + J keys. Hide the original raven layer by clicking on the eye next to the layer icon. We will work with a copy.
Note: based on the fact that the second layer with a raven is not used in further work, it can be concluded that a copy of the layer with the raven is needed in case of unsuccessful processing by the Dimmer.
Use the tool Burn tool
(O) (Dimmer) with settings Exposure (Exposure) 20-30%. We darken the crow around the edges, dark feathers and claws, focusing on the example in the lesson.
Step 8. Create rays of light.
Create a new layer on top of all layers. Use the tool Rectangular marquee tool
(M) (Rectangular selection) to draw rays, fill the selected area with white color #FFFFFF.
Copy the layer with the white beam twice. With the help of transformation (Ctrl + T) we reduce the rays and arrange them as in the author’s example.
Merge the three layers with the rays into one using the keys Ctrl + E. Change the layer with the rays Blend mode (Blend Mode) on Overlay (Overlap).
Press Ctrl + T to trigger the transformation mode on the layer with rays. Clamping keys Shift + Alt and drag the upper middle slider of the transformation frame up beyond the layer as in the author’s example.
Apply to the layer with the rays filter Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur (Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur) with settings Radius (Radius) 56px.
Rotate the light rays diagonally using the free transformation Ctrl + T.
Step 9. Add the clock.
Open the photo with the clock. Since the clock is on a white background, it will be easy for us to separate them from the background. Unlock the layer with the clock by double clicking on the layer, in the window that appears, click OK. let’s use the tool Magic wand tool
(W) (Magic Wand) – clicks on a white background and click on Delete. Move the clock to our document, place them in the center of the composition. Make sure the clock layer is on top of all other layers.
Step 10. Give a subtle tint to our background.
Create a new layer between the layers with a light brown fill and a layer with a white gradient in the center. Fill this layer with the tool Paint bucket tool
(G) (Fill) in red # ff0000. Change layer with red fill Blend mode (Blend Mode) on SoftLight (Soft light), reduce Opacity (Opacity) to 35%.
Step 11. Weaken the brightness of the rays of light falling on the crow.
In this step, we will make sure that the rays falling on the crow are not so bright. But we must make sure that the rays falling on the background remain the same. To do this, follow these steps:
With the Ctrl key pressed, click on the raven layer, a selection will appear.
Go to the layer with the rays, press Ctrl + J to copy the selected area to the new layer. Now the image looks lit, but we will fix it.
Press Ctrl once more and click on the raven layer again. Go to the original layer with the rays of light and click Delete to clear the selected area. Go to the duplicate layer of the rays and reduce Opacity (Opacity) to 50%. Thus, we get bright rays in the background and dim light on the crow.
Now our picture should look like this:
Step 12. Add bright color spots to the image.
Create a new layer. Using the tool Gradient tool (G) (Gradient), with parameters: Radial gradient (Radial gradient), from orange # F6520A to transparent. Draw a small spot in the middle of the image. Change this layer Blend mode (Blend Mode) on Screen (Lightening).
Duplicate (Ctrl + J) this layer with an orange gradient, place the duplicate in a different place in our image. It should look something like this:
Create a new layer. We use another radial gradient, but this time with a more dynamic blue color. Use the radial gradient of blue # 0AC7F6 to transparent, change layer Blend mode (Blend Mode) on Screen (Lightening).
As you can see, I duplicated the orange gradient layer one more time, zoomed in and placed it just below. This way we will balance the colors in our image.
Now our image has become brighter and more attractive. I would not like to make it dark, so I used bright accents. Try it and you use other bright colors, and you get an interesting, unique result.
Step 13. Add clouds using brushes.
Create a new layer on top of all layers. Use the Brushes of the Clouds by preloading them and installing them in the FS
Set the foreground color to white, select the tool Brush tool
(B) (Brush) and draw a few clouds, experimenting with their placement at their discretion.
You can create several more layers with clouds to add visual depth to the image.
Step 14. Final Adjustment.
To make our image look complete, you need to make recent adjustments.
To increase the image contrast we add an adjustment layer. Levels (Levels). To do this, click on the button Createnewfilloradjustmentlayer (Create a new fill layer or setting) at the bottom of the layers palette. Move the middle gray slider a little to the right, approximately to the value 0.84. Set the opacity to this adjustment layer to 72%.
Now go to the raven layer, double-click on the layer icon to bring up the parameters window. Add Drop shadow (Shadow) settings look at the example below:
At the end of the work, add an inscription.
Using the tool Horizontal type tool
(T) (Horizontal text), add text to the back and inscription at the bottom of the picture, but this step is not necessary.
So, in this lesson we looked at the technique of creating a grunge and mystical, but at the same time quite colorful image. We created an interesting textural background using stock textures and color tone and saturation settings. We created rays of light using ordinary rectangles and a Gaussian blur. Contrast raven added using dimmer. Finally added a correction layer and additional elements.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.
