In this tutorial, the author will describe and illustrate in detail how to create a collage in the style of photo art.
From the author:
I was asked to do a lesson on one of my work on the forum …
Where to begin? Where to start then ???
Usually I always begin the process with these thoughts. The process is long and painful – to invent an image. Sometimes it appears immediately, as soon as you look at the picture, and sometimes I can look at the photo for several months until it comes – an image.
And I had the following photo
Next comes another equally long process – the selection of sources. Of course, every self-respecting master creates his masterpieces only from his own personal photo sources, and this is very cool! But since I am not a master, although I want to respect myself, I often use source codes from drafts.
In this case, I liked the following, found on the Internet:
Materials for the lesson
Well, let’s start.
For starters, I always mount the background. I am doing the heroine at the very end (this is if an image has precisely formed in my head, if otherwise, it happens in different ways).
We begin work with a photo with a balcony. Translate it to psd. Separate the balcony from the background in any convenient way. Immediately make color correction, I thought that the whole picture I will be in pale pink tones. To this and approach. Call the command Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Color Balance (Layers – New Adjustment Layer – Color Balance) The edges of the columns in the railing I processed tool Dodge
(Clarifier), since they were very dark due to the former background.
For a layer with a balcony, a photo with clouds was placed (instead of the photo with the clouds I used, you can put any other, less cloudy photo), to which Color Balance color correction was also applied (Color balance) and a Gaussian Blur filter (Gaussian blur).
Then I put a mountain over the balcony, on top of a layer with the sky.
I chose the best, in my opinion, location. Fit in color and light.
All this I do on the adjustment layers, so it is easier then to change the settings, if something does not like it.
Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Curves (Layers – New Adjustment Layer – Curves)
Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Hue / Saturation (Layers – New Adjustment Layer – Hue / Saturation)
Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Color Balance (Layers – New Adjustment Layer – Color Balance)
Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Levels (Layers – New Adjustment Layer – Levels).
This is how the layers palette looks like.
We erase the extra sky on a layer with mountains and lower the Opacity (Opacity) layer up to 60-70%.
Then I had a complete improvisation. Over the layer with the mountains, but behind the balcony layer I once again placed the layer with the clouds, gave them the same colors as before, moved me a little for better location, lowered the layer transparency to 25-40%.
And she began to decorate.
Added a layer of “paint” in overlay mode (Overlap) and it began to blurt out with a soft brush with small transparency in different colors (pink, orange, purple, white)
In normal mode, the layer looked like this.
There may be several such layers with spots and with different blending modes and with different spots in size and color, the task of this layer is to diversify the colors of the clouds, add volume and indicate the depth. Therefore, it is worth experimenting!
Then, on a new layer of the “star,” I pasted white with a brush, shining stars. Glitters should not be the same. Closer – more, further – less in size and transparency.
Then you can still add the clouds, wipe the excess, add the missing, but this is up to you.
In the end, I did so.
Layers with the resulting sky, I merged. But did not pour the sky with layers of a balcony and mountains. I decided, what if it was still useful.
Then I decided to decorate the railing. I added plants to them, also giving them the desired shade by calling the commands Hue / Saturation (Cntr + U) (Hue / saturation) and Color Balance (Cntr + B) (Color balance).
and erosion very small Gauss in the menu Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur ( Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur).
Placing the plants on the canvas, in the intended place, you need to make their position realistic, that is, draw the shadow. Create a new layer under the plants, change the mode to Multiply (Multiplication) and a soft brush with a slight transparency, taking a color with a pipette from the railing, draw shadows under the plants.
(about)
Now we have a ready-made background!
Now you can do the main object of our collage. Cut out the heroine. Personally, I like to use the Pen tool.
(Pen) [P] for these purposes. Long, but effective! I cut out everything very carefully, except for the hair (tail), I can simply cut them as you like, since then you can still draw again. I have a girl in the right place for me.
My skin color model blends in very well with the background I prepared, which is not to say about her bow and the bottom of the dress, so I will only adjust these parts. In your case, perhaps, you will need color correction of the whole protagonist.
Having selected the necessary areas (bow and dress) with the Polygonal lasso tool 
(Polygonal Lasso) – [L], I customize the colors to pale pink and purple hues.
Immediately draw a shadow, so that the girl stood on the floor, and did not soar over the background. By the same principle as under the plants, because here, in my opinion, there is no complex lighting, in order to denote shadows in more detail. On a new layer in Multiply mode (Multiplication), located under the layer with the girl, draw with a soft brush with a slight transparency. Color take a pipette right from the floor, where there will be a girl.
Well, now let’s do the actual girl. The photo seemed a bit unsharp to me, so I tried to fix it. Make a copy of the layer with the girl, apply the filter Other – High Pass (Others – Color Contrast).
Change layer blending mode to overlay (Overlap) and lower the capacity (Opacity) layer up to about 50-60%. Merge these two layers with the girl in one. Remove all skin defects (if any). After applying the filter, we see that a lot of noise has appeared, we need to get rid of them. Here everyone can do as he likes, someone uses noise, someone just does it with pens. In general, it is up to you. I did it Mix brush (Mixer Brush) (in CS5).
or you can with the smudge tool 
(Finger).
On a new layer with a small mix brush, very carefully smooth the entire skin. Slowly repeating the direction of the lines. We will see how the noises disappear and a new skin is drawn, then eyes, nose, lips, ears … For hair, it is better to use hair point brushes.
We get smooth skin. You can play with the transparency of the “finger” layer. If the result suits you, we merge the girl’s layer with the “finger” layer.
Then work with the eyes. Let’s make it more expressive, change a little color, add an iris pattern. Select the pupil, copy to a new layer, play with color, layer blending modes and transparency.
Merge a layer of pupils with a girl. Next, on the new layer, add a drawing to the iris. There are special brushes “pupils” where you can choose a pattern. With a white brush we draw this pattern, place it on the iris, deform it if necessary, and translate the layer into Overlay mode (Overlap) and reduce the opacity.
Now draw the cilia. Single-pixel brush, color taken from a dark area of the century. The upper cilia are more expressive, the lower ones are better drawn on a separate layer, in order to later slightly lower the opacity, thereby making them less visible.
Do not forget about the shadow of the eyelashes on the sclera of the eyes. We fall on the lips. You can add them shine. Again a new layer, Overlay layer mode (Overlap), a white soft brush with a small opacity draw a small spot in the center of the sponge. Lower the opacity of the layer to the desired.
In general, of course, in this case, working with the face is very small, because this is a child, and everything is beautiful with them. If this is an adult, then there may be more work. Now it’s hair! For me personally, this is still a complicated procedure – to draw hair. But I try, I study. For a start, I simply marked the brush where and how my hair would be located on a layer located below the layer with the girl herself. This helped me finished hair brush.
A dot brush of hair of a lighter tone approximately draws hairs on a new tail. Then smudge tool (Finger) with a brush of point hair, the girl’s hair increased in the indicated direction on a new layer. Pay attention to the settings of the finger tool and the settings of the brush itself. Settings may change during the work and at your discretion.
Well, then strand by strand, draw hair. Color take a pipette with natural hair. I drew hairs on different layers, changing their blending modes, playing with the color settings, and then merging the layers, when I more or less liked the result.
Next went to the top. Since it seemed to me difficult to re-draw pigtails, it still seems difficult to me now, I decided, after long torment, to abandon them.
The tail and the hair on the head itself turned out in different shades, correcting it with the help of color correction. We also tint the hair in the background color – on a new layer we draw a soft brush with the color of the general background over the hair, especially along the edges, transfer to the Soft Light mode (Soft light) and lower the opacity.
And add highlights.
Well, the final stage!
I wanted to add more lightness to the image. On top of all the layers, I added a copy of the previously made layer with colored clouds. It lowered its transparency to 30%, erased with an eraser everything above the balcony railings and from the girl’s face.
Added soap bubbles. Corrected the color and transparency of bubbles. They must match the color of the background. Played with layer blending modes with bubbles (optional). The farther the bubble – the smaller and more transparent it is, the closer – the more and more clearly it is visible.
That’s all! If you have any questions, please contact us, because the lesson is my first and perhaps not everything is clearly described. Moreover, I did not describe in detail each of my steps, because it may seem easy for me, but it will make it difficult for someone else. But, nevertheless, I tried!
