Advertising sports shoes – an incredible source for design inspiration. Inspired by the energy and power of sports advertising, I created a fascinating effect of paint splashes that you can instantly recreate!
In this lesson you will learn how to create an effect from paint splashes in Photoshop, drawing inspiration from the Envato Market website.
The final result:
1. Create the Back Background
Step 1
Create a new document in Photoshop with the following dimensions 960 x 638 px. Using tool Fill 
(Paint Bucket Tool (G)), fill the layer with the background with a dark blue tint # 1f222a.
Open the original image with the watercolor paint texture, copy (Ctrl + C) / paste (Ctrl + V) the specified texture onto our working paper. Using tool Free transformation (Free Transform) (Ctrl + T), adjust the scale of the texture in accordance with the size of the working document. When you’re done, change the blending mode for the watercolor texture layer to To divide (Divide).
Step 2
Open the original image with the texture of acrylic paint, copy (Ctrl + C) / paste (Ctrl + V) the specified texture on our working paper. Change the blending mode for the acrylic texture layer to Brightness (Luminosity).
2. Add Shoes
Step 1
Let’s go to the shoes. Open the original image of sports shoes. Separate the shoe image from the white background with the tool. Magic wand
(Magic Wand Tool (W)). Copy / paste the selected shoe image onto our working paper. Flip the image horizontally, for this we go Editing – Transform – Flip Horizontally (Edit> Transform> Flip Horizontal). Next, with the tool Free transformation (Free Transform) (Ctrl + T), rotate the shoe image at an angle.
Step 2
Add a correction layer to the shoe image. Curves (Curves) as a clipping mask. Make a slight correction to the color of the shoe by changing the settings for RGB, Blue (Blue) and Green Channel Green:
With the help of Curves, the colors began to look much better, and also to be combined with the background!
Step 3
To create an energy burst effect, we need to separate the upper part of the shoe from the sole. Merge layer with shoe image and adjustment layer Curves (Curves). Using tool Polygonal Lasso 
(Polygonal Lasso Tool (L)), select the bottom of the shoe.
As soon as you create a selection, right-click on the selection area and in the appeared window select the option Cut to new layer (Layer via Cut) to separate the bottom of the shoe on a separate layer. Using tool Free transformation (Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + T)), push both sides of the shoe apart to create a space on the right side.
3. Add Spray
Step 1
You can use the original color of the spray in your work or you can change the color to your liking. Open the original image with Paint Splash 1 in Photoshop and use the tool Magic wand (Magic Wand Tool (W)), highlight the spray. Remove white background. Next, go Image – Correction – Brightness \ Contrast (Image> Adjustments> Brightness Contrast). Set the value Brightness (Brightness) at -14, and the value The contrast (Contrast) at 60.
You can skip this step if you already have a spray of white that you like. Since I could not find white splashes, then I decided to use blue splashes, which we change to white. To do this, first select and then remove the background with the tool Magic wand (Magic Wand Tool (W)). Next, go Image – Correction – Hue / Saturation (Image> Adjustments> Hue Saturation) to discolor the spray. Reduce value Saturation (Saturation) to -100.
Press the keys (Ctrl + I) to invert the gray splashes, and then we will enhance the white tones, for this we go Image – Correction – Brightness \ Contrast (Image> Adjustments> Brightness Contrast). Set the value Brightness (Brightness) at 84, and the value The contrast (Contrast) at 46.
I temporarily created a layer with a black background to show you how much whiter the splashes looked like.
Step 2
So, we made a splash correction, now we can add them to the scene. Copy / paste both splatter images onto our working paper. Using tool Free transformation (Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + T)), rotate the spray so that they are located at shoe level. Do not be afraid to use the mode Deformations (Warp) for further spray correction.
Now add a layer mask to both layers with both parts of the shoe, as well as to both layers with splashes. Temporarily turn off the visibility of the white spray layer. Choose a tool Brush 
(Brush Tool (B)), set a soft round brush, brush color is black. Now using a brush, paint the blue splashes on the layer mask to further combine the splashes with the shoes.
Do the same with white splashes. Paint the back of the sole with a black brush on the layer mask to hide it, as well as hide any extra areas that you think should be hidden.
4. Paint the Spray
Step 1
As soon as you have combined the splashes with the shoes, right-click on each layer mask of the layer and in the appeared window select the option Apply layer mask (Apply Layer Mask). To color the blue splashes and get the same bright pink edging as sports shoes, use the tool. Polygonal Lasso 
(Polygonal Lasso Tool (L)). Create a selection along the entire length of the blue spray, the width of the selected area should match the width of the pink insert on sports shoes.
Stay on the blue spray layer, come on Image – Correction – Hue / Saturation (Image> Adjustments> Hue Saturation). Set the value Color tone (Hue) at 107, meaning Saturation (Saturation) at 100, and the value Brightness (Lightness) at 19.
Repeat the whole process for the bottom of the shoe. Fix the roughness with a hard round brush.
Step 2
Let’s show a simple reflection of white splashes on blue paint. Press the keys (Ctrl + J) to duplicate the layer with white paint splashes. Next, with the tool Move 
(Move), move the duplicate layer to the blue spray area. Decrease Opacity (Opacity) duplicate layer with white splashes up to 25% and using the tool Eraser
(Eraser Tool (E)), hide the excess overlapping areas.
5. Add Final Strokes
Step 1
Combine all layers related to the shoe, except the layer with the background. To add a shadow to the background, as well as a texture to a sports shoe, right-click on the combined layer with shoes and select the option in the window that appears Options overlay (Blending Options). Next, select a layer style. Shadow (Drop Shadow) and Gloss (Satin). Set the following settings for these layer styles, which are shown in the screenshot below:
Step 2
Now add an adjustment layer. Color search (Color Lookup) as a clipping mask to a combined layer with sports shoes for a little color correction. In this case, we increased the color saturation. Set the following settings for this adjustment layer, which are shown in the screenshot below:
Step 3
Create a new layer, change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay). Using tool Brush (Brush Tool (B)), add brightening to the top of the scene. Do not forget to add clarification also on sneakers.
Let’s increase the intensity of the scene. Create a new layer, fill this layer with a light gray tint, change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay). Using tool Clarifier 
(Dodge Tool (O)), in the control panel of this tool, set the value Exposure (exposure) at 40%, add light highlights along the sock, as well as on the side of the sneaker.
Step 4
Feel free to experiment with the effect. Add adjustment layer Curves (Curves) to enhance contrast for the RGB channel. You can see the final result in the screenshot below.
Good luck!
Play with different colors and shapes to further explore this effect! You can try to experiment on other elements of the composition, as I have in the alternative version of the effect.
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I wish you a wonderful time creating a colorful energy burst!
The final result:
