Photoshop Compositing Secrets - Matt Kloskowski [75]
STEP 12:
Option-click (PC: Alt-click) on the last anchor point (on his leg), then click right below it to make the path go downward. Click-and-drag a few times back the other way until you’re back where you started (again, if you’re having trouble, go watch the video I recorded on this). Finish it off by clicking on the original point (you’ll see a tiny circle appear to the right of your cursor when you hover over it) to close the path.
STEP 13:
The Shape layer automatically picks up whatever color your Foreground color was set to. We had set it to white, so that we could see the shape as we created it, but we’re going to change it now. Click on the Add a Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Gradient Overlay. In the Gradient Overlay options in the Layer Style dialog, click on the down-facing arrow on the right side of the Gradient, and choose the Orange, Yellow, Orange gradient from the Gradient Picker (the second one from the left in the second row). Then, set the Angle to 0 and click OK.
STEP 14:
Now, if you look at the image in the next few steps, you’ll see I drew some more shapes. If you already know how to use the Pen tool, then you’ll look at these and think, “No sweat, I got it.” But, if you don’t know how to use the Pen tool, then no amount of text I write here will help. Trust me. It’s just one of those tools that is really difficult to read/write about. But, when you actually get to watch it being used, it all starts to make sense. So, I’ve done two things: First, like I mentioned earlier, I recorded a video that goes over how I created the shapes you see in the image here. Next, I’ve created an image with all of the shapes already in it that you can download from the book’s download site. This way, if you want to follow along and finish the tutorial, you can without having to go online and watch the video first. Sound good? (Yes, I know you really can’t answer me back. That’s why I love books.)
STEP 15:
Once you have the shapes image open, using the Move tool, drag the Shapes layer into the composite and position it like I have here. We’ll need a layer mask for the next part, so click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a mask to the Shapes layer.
STEP 16:
Press G to select the Gradient tool from the Toolbox. Then, in the Options Bar, click on the down-facing arrow on the right of the gradient thumbnail to open the Gradient Picker, choose the third gradient from the left in the top row (the Black, White gradient), and click-and-drag from left to right on the layer mask. This fades the shapes on the far-left side of the image into the background and makes them appear brighter as they get closer to the skater—almost like they’re following him. Then, press B to get the Brush tool, press X to set your Foreground color to black, and use a small brush to paint away the area where the shapes overlap the skateboarder.
STEP 17:
After all the shapes are done, click on the topmost layer in the Layers panel and press Command-Option-Shift-E (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E) to merge everything into one new layer at the top of the layer stack. Now, we can apply some finishing touches on the entire image.
STEP 18:
You’ll probably remember from the background tutorial that the sidewalk was copied-and-pasted a few times to extend it. Since the lighting is a little off (and bright in certain parts), we’ll do some burning to darken the whole bottom of the image. Get the Burn tool from the Toolbox (or press Shift-O until you have it), and then in the Options Bar, set the Range to Midtones and the Exposure to 10% (Exposure is similar to Opacity—the more you paint, the more you build up the burning effect).
STEP 19:
Use the Right (]) and Left ([) Bracket keys on your keyboard to make the brush roughly the size of the sidewalk and start painting over