Preview of Final Results

3D Textured Text Photoshop Tutorial

Step 1

Open up Illustrator, and with the Type Tool type a letter or text, I typed the letter “C” I used the font Adobe Caslon Pro, you can use any font that you like, just make sure that it is a bit thick font to yield better results. I set the font size to 400 pt & scaled it horizontally & vertically to 150% through the Character Palette, though don’t worry about the font size too much because we’ll be pasting it as Smart Objects in Photoshop so we can adjust the size at any given time. The color I used for the letter is #8CC63F.

Step 2

Now go to Effect>3D>Extrude & Bevel, make sure that Preview is on. Use the settings shown below, apart from specifying rotations for x, y & z axis, I chose Tall-Round from the Bevel drop down list. The settings will more or less depend on the font, so if you have used a different font play a bit, though I will advise to stay away from the fancier Bevel settings, mostly None setting works best. You can also make it more thick by increasing the Extrude Depth.

Step 3

After you’re happy with your 3D effect, it will be time to move on over to Photoshop. Open a new document in Photoshop. Now, copy your 3D text/letter from Illustrator & paste it as Smart Object in Photoshop, press Enter key or checkmark to commit. You can now resize your text to whatever size you want, in fact, bigger the better, but for the purposes of this tutorial, I will stick to a small canvas.

Power Tip: If for any reason, you want to edit the pasted 3D Smart Object, just double click on the Vector Smart Object thumbnail in the Layer Palette, press OK on the resulting window, the Smart Object will automatically open up in Illustrator, do the changes or editing you want, then go to File>Save & close the file & tadaa the changes will reflect in your Photoshop file.

Step 4

Now, lets begin with the Photoshop magic, we will be adding various texture on the different layers & will spice them up with the variety of blending modes, the key is to experiment & choose the settings that will best suit your purpose.

Open the texture image that you would like to use, for the first layer I used a texture, lets call it Texture 1 from a texture pack on deviantArt. Go to Select>All & then Edit>Copy to copy the entire texture image, Now we are going to paste this image into our letter, but you have to tell Photoshop where to paste it. So return to your 3D text document & pressing down Ctrl/Cmd Click on Vector Smart Object thumbnail, this will select the entire text/letter, in our case, the letter “C”, now go to Edit>Paste Into (Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+V) to paste the texture image on “C”. Change the blending mode of the texture layer to Overlay.

Now, your image & layer palette should look like so:

Look at your layers palette now. You see your texture image there and a mask has been made that allows only the letter part of the image to show.

If you’re using different images, play around a bit with blending modes, mostly Overlay, Soft Light, Hard light, Multiply will give the desired results.

Step 5

Repeat the procedure prescribed in Step 4, but with a different texture. I used one of the texture from this pack.

In brief, open the texture image, Select All (Ctrl/Cmd+A), Copy it (Ctrl/Cmd+C) & return to your original document, pressing down Ctrl/Cmd Click on Vector Smart Object thumbnail to select the letter/text & go to Edit>Paste Into (Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+V) to paste the texture in the letter “C”. And, change the blending mode to Multiply.

Step 6

Now, its again time to do the same thing as mentioned in Step 4 & 5, but with the different texture image. This time I used a more colorful texture from a another texture pack over at deviantArt. And, this time I choose the blending mode to Soft Light.

This is how my image & Layer Palette looks like after step 6.

Power Tip: If you need to edit the filler texture image or if you don’t like how it looks within the letter, you can still change it! Just choose the Move Tool (V) & drag over with your texture layer selected. Also, if you need to resize the texture image select Edit>Transform to resize it.

Step 7

Now, select the Background layer & fill with a Gradient Tool (G). I used Linear Gradient & the colors for the two stops are as prescribed in the screenshot. Drag the gradient tool diagonally from bottom to top.

Step 8

Pressing down Shift key select all the layers in the Layer Palette except the background layer & Link all of them. Also make sure to link the Layer Mask thumbnails with their corresponding layer thumbnails by clicking once between them.

Step 9

Now, we will do the reflection of our letter “C”. For that, select all the linked layers & duplicate them.

Step10

Merge all the duplicated layers & name it Reflection.

Step 11

On the Reflection layer, go to Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical & place it beneath the letter “C”. Adjust its perspective if the need be.

Step 12

The next step is to add a layer mask to the duplicate layer. To do this simply click on the add layer mask button in the layers palette.

Now pick the Gradient Tool (G) and draw a gradient (black to white) in the direction from bottom to mid top.

Finally just reduce the opacity of the duplicate layer and you are all done. I reduced the opacity to 20% , there is no golden rule about the opacity % , just play with the opacity setting & choose the one that suits your image.

Step 13

Finally, with the Type Tool, I wrote the words “for creativity” with the settings as shown in the Character Palette.

The font used is Larissa & can be downloaded from here. I also rotated the words a bit via Edit>Transform.

Then I applied the layer style, as shown in the screenshots below.

Step 14

To add a bit of finishing touch, I added Outer Glow to the Vector Smart Object layer, as shown.

And, that’s how my Layers palette in end & final image looks like.

Here, is a another example of image, I made with the same technique.

To take it further, play & experiment with various textures, the blending modes, also changing the various Adjustments options like Invert, Posterize, Hue/Saturations settings etc. gives the different results. You can also make the text look grungy or rusty using grunge textures, its just the matter of exploring the powers of Photoshop & tapping your creativity!

::GFXZoOM::source:photoshoptutorials.ws::

::GFXZoOM::source:transfuchsian.blogspot.com::

Final image:

Here’s how you do it:

1. First we will create a border for the image that will keep everything we draw within a nice clean shape. Start by drawing two rectangles with the Rounded Rectangle Tool. You can use the Pathfinder Palette like in step 2 to make a traditional matte or the more simple technique is to make just one rectangle with a really thick stroke.

2. Select both rectangles and then in the Pathfinder Palette click on “Substract from Shape area” and then click on expand. Now make the new shape white and place it on it’s own layer and keep all other layers below it. As we continue throughout the tutorial you can make new layers as you see fit to place your different objects on. I will leave that up to your discretion; as such, I won’t be pointing out when we make new layers.

3. Draw a new rectangle and apply to it a blue gradient. This is the basis of what will become the sky. Note that this looks like a rounded corner rectangle because it is behind the matte layer.

4.Using the Pen Tool (P) draw some wavy shapes on the scene that will become the grass.

5. Now to make the bushes. Using the Pen Tool draw an abstract shape like below.

6. Select the new shape and go to Effects -> Distort & Transform -> Zig Zag and put in the settings below or you can experiment to get something different.

7. Next we will make a few variations of the bush shape. First copy it two times and then fill the copies with slightly different gradients. Finally double-click on Zig Zag in the Appearance palette and play with the settings a bit to vary each shape.

8. Select the 3 shapes and go to Object -> Expand Appearance. This will lock the Zig Zag effect we applied.

9. Now place the 3 shapes on a new layer behind the grass field and scatter them arround however you would like them to look. A simple way to copy them arround is to hold down the Alt key while dragging the shape. This will make a copy of it in the release spot.

10. Next we will create the sun rays. Start by drawing a hourglass shape like below.

11. Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+D to open the Transform window, put in the settings as below and press Copy.

12. Repeat the previous step until you get a full circle.

13. Go to Object -> Envelope Distort -> Make with Warp (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+W), select Twist and set Bend to 100%.

14. Move this shape over the scene, go to Object -> Expand Appearance and click OK.

15. Set the fill color to white and Opacity to 10%.

16. Now to make the Sun: draw a circle and apply a Radial gradient to it.

17. Duplicate the Sun (press Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+F to paste in front)

18. Set the fill color to yellow and then go to Effect – > Blur -> Gaussian Blur.

Conclusion

You should now have a better insight into what it takes to use simple shapes, color, and gradients to create a summer landscape environment. A pleasing illustration is not always about intricacy, one of the most rudimentary factors is composition. Keep practicing, learning, and continue to have fun.

::GFXZoOM::source:talextech.net::

Final Image Preview

Below is the final type treatment image to show you what we’re working towards.

Step 1

Before we get started in Illustrator, download the Museo Font, and install it on your system.

Step 2

Create a new Letter sized document, then use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a rectangle that is the size of your document.

Step 3

Fill the rectangle with a Radial Gradient from the Gradient Panel. Change the first swatch on the Gradient slider to a violet color and change the second swatch to a dark violet color.

Step 4

With the Line Tool (\), draw a line at a 45 degree angle that stretches from the bottom left corner to the top right side. Change the stroke to 5 pt and change the color to white (so you can see it against the background, but we will be changing it soon).

Step 5

Select the line with the Selection Tool (V) while holding down Alt, and drag out a copy to the right and down so the copied line is still inside the background.

Step 6

Select both lines and and create a blend by going to Object > Blend > Make. Next, go to Object > Blend > Blend Options, to bring up the Blend Options dialog. Change the Spacing to Specified Steps from the drop-down menu and change the option to 15.

Step 7

With the blend selected, go to Object > Expand to separate the blend. With the lines still selected, expand again, to outline the stokes.

Step 8

Fill the outlined line with the same Radial Gradient that you used for the background, but change the first swatch to a lighter violet than before.

Step 9

Select the lines and the background, then use the Gradient Tool (G) to adjust the gradient. Click in the middle of the rectangle and drag to the top of the rectangle. This will match up the transitions on the gradients.

Step 10

Create a ellipse with the Ellipse Tool (L) that is 10 px by 10 px. Fill it will a violet color.

Step 11

With the ellipse selected, go to Object > Path > Offset, to bring up the Offset Path dialog. In the dialog, change the Offset to -4 px. Change the offset ellipse to a light orange.

Step 12

Select the bigger ellipse and change the opacity to 0 from the Transparency Panel. Select both ellipses and create a blend by going to Object > Blend > Make.

Step 13

Before you start making a brush in this step, save a copy of the blend for later use. Select the new blend and drag it into the Brush Panel. When the New Brush dialog opens, select New Scatter Brush from the dialog. When the Scatter Brush Options dialog opens you are going to need to change a couple of settings.

First change all the drop-down menus to Random except the Rotation. Change the first field for the Size to 20 and the second field to 100. For the Spacing, change the first to 15 and the second to 115. For the Scatter, change the first to -220 and the second to 175.

Step 14

With the Brush Tool (B), draw a wavy brush stroke in the middle of your background, creating a scatter of your blend.

Step 15

With the brush stroke selected, change the Blend Mode to Overlay from the Transparency Panel and give it an Opacity of 25.

Step 16

Draw four to five more brush strokes, then change all of them to Overlay. Change the opacity on the stroke, but vary the percentage as well as the stroke weights.

Step 17

Select the blend copy that you saved from Step 13 and scale it to 52 px by 52 px.

Step 18

Set the copied shape to Overlay and it place over your brush strokes.

Step 19

Copy (Command + C) the blend ellipse and Paste (Command + V) a couple more times. Scale the copies separately to get varying sizes, then place them in different spots over the brush strokes.

Step 20

That should do it for the background. Now let’s take a look at the text. Type out some copy and change the font to the Museo font you downloaded. Change the Tracking to -100 from the Character Panel. Outline the text by going to Type > Create Outlines.

Step 21

With the outlines selected go Object > Ungroup (Command + Shift + G).

Step 22

In this step we’re going to modify the text. If you typed something different, the basic idea of connecting the letters will be the same. With the Direct Selection Tool (A), press Shift and select the top right line on the V. Drag the line until it’s overlapping the E. You might need to modify individual anchor point as well. In the example below, I dragged the top right anchor point to the right to close up the gap.

Step 23

Continue doing this to the other horizontal elements of the outline text until all the text is connected.

Step 24

Fill the text with a Linear Gradient. Add another swatch to the Linear Gradient by clicking right below the Gradient Slider in the Gradient Panel to give you a three swatch gradient. Change the first swatch to white, the second swatch to a light blue-green color, and the last swatch to a dark blue-green color. Use the Gradient Tool to adjust the gradient so the white color is on top.

Step 25

Place the text in the middle of your document over all the other artwork.

Step 26

For this next step, we’re going to create another brush. Draw a 14 px by 14px ellipse. With the Direct Selection Tool, select the right anchor point and drag it to the right – doubling its length. With the point still selected, set the Control Panel defaults to the Anchor Options. To the left of the Control Panel, press the Corner button, converting the anchor point to a corner.

Step 27

Fill the shape with black, drag the shape into the Brush Panel, and Choose New Art Brush from the New Brush dialog. When the Art Brush dialog appears, change the Colorization Method to Tints at the bottom of the dialog.

Step 28

For this step I’m going to use the Brush Tool (B). If you’re not comfortable with the Brush Tool (B) for making paths ,then you can use the Pen Tool (P) and apply the brush to the stroke. Create a brush stroke to the bottom left of the V. It is a good idea to change the stroke color to a lighter color than black so you can see it.

Step 29

Drawn another brush stroke above the previous one.

Step 30

Expand the brush strokes by going to Object > Expand Appearance. Next, it’s a good idea to clean up the leftover paths by going to Object > Path > Clean Up.

Step 31

Fill the outlined brush stroke with a Linear Gradient. Make the first swatch a blue and the second swatch a dark blue. Select the text and bring it to the front by going to Object > Arrange > Bring to Front.

Step 32

Copy (Command + C) and Paste (Command + V) both shapes numerous times around the text. On some of the copies, change the swatches on the Linear Gradient to a pink color and a dark pink color. Adjust the gradient so the darkest part of the gradient is closet to the text. When you place the copies around the text make sure to rotate and flip the shapes. All done!

Final Image

Below is the final type treatment image again.

::GFXZoOM |source:tutsplus.com::

Make an Aurora Borealis D

Final image

The image below is what we’re working towards (larger version available here); though the nature of this tutorial will more than likely generate a different result.

Step 1: Beginning the Background

We’ll begin by making our backdrop of the night sky. Place a rectangle of 1680 pixels by 1050 pixels on your artboard and give it a color of #151121.

Step 2: Background Mesh

Select the Gradient Mesh Tool and click three times on your rectangle to segment it into twelve areas.

Numbers, dimensions and colors throughout this tutorial are arbitrary, use whatever values you please. Have you ever seen the Northern Lights look identical in two different photos?

Step 3: Background Gradients

Recreate the colors you see below by clicking the Direct Selection tool and selecting each mesh point individually. Once selected, the color, the position and the handles of a mesh point can be altered.

For more detail on the Mesh tool take a look at Rype’s tut on Create a Glowing Abstract Light Vector Graphic.

Should you want to replicate these colors precisely, here’s a sample palette.

Step 4: The Stars

We’ve finished our backdrop for the time being, now let’s concentrate on scattering a few stars around.

Make yourself a circle with the Ellipse tool, then copy and paste in place (Command + C, Command + F). With the new circle selected, go to Object > Transform > Scale, and scale it to 25%. Give it a Normal transparency of 40% and color it #F2D0DC. Select the original circle, give it a Color Dodge transparency of 0%, and color it #E52266.

Step 5: Blending

Select both circles and go to Object > Blend > Blend Options. Choose Specified Steps in the dropdown and enter 25 as the amount, then click OK. Now go to Object > Blend > Make.

Step 6: Bright Centre

Use the Direct Selection tool and click on the centre of the smaller circle. Copy and paste in place (Command + C, Command + F). Now give the resultant circle a Normal Opacity of 90% and color it white (#FFFFFF).

Step 7: Checking the Star

Place what has become your first star on the dark background to check that the transparency and blending has given the result you wanted.

Step 8: Alternative Colors

Repeat this several times creating a small collection of blended circles, all with different colors.

Step 9: The Milky Way

Copy and Paste (Command + C, Command + V) your stars, placing them randomly around your background. Alter the Opacity and Scale them as you go. Once they’re in place, group them together (Command + G).

Step 10: Prepare an Opacity Mask

Make a rectangle over your grouped stars, then with the Gradient tool give it a gradient similar to what’s shown below. It should go from white to black vertically and begin fairly far down the rectangle.

Step 11: Select the Objects

With your gradient rectangle selected go to Select > Next Object Below. This will select the object directly underneath your gradient rectangle. Now hold down Shift and select the rectangle too. You should now have the grouped stars and the gradient rectangle selected.

Step 12: Make an Opacity Mask

Click on the menu in the Transparency panel and select Make Opacity Mask.

The stars will have taken on a faded mask whereby they shine completely through what was white in your rectangle and become invisible behind what was black. Everything in between appears with the appropriate amount of clarity. Your stars will be less visible towards the bottom of the sky.

Step 13: Your Aurora (Try Saying that Late on a Friday Evening)

Okay, we’ve dealt with our night sky and the stars dotted around it. Now it’s time to tackle the light effects. Begin by making a rectangle of more or less the proportions shown below and with a dark purple color of #130119.

Step 14: Gradient Mesh

Whilst no objects are selected, set a color of #7CA491 in your toolbar, then select the Gradient Mesh tool. Click on your recently created rectangle roughly where shown to make a mesh point with the color you’ve just chosen.

Step 15: Plenty of Mesh Points

Go along the existing horizontal mesh path with the Gradient Mesh tool and add around twenty new points. They will all automatically inherit the color of the first.

Step 16: More Mesh Points

It’s getting a bit meshy (as Sean Connery once said), but one last mesh path before we can start coloring our light. Place it roughly midway between the top and bottom of your rectangle to give you the following result.

Step 17: Peaks and Troughs

Having completed the mesh, take your Direct Selection tool, and one by one raise some of the mesh points to create peaks. This is again completely random and it’s up to you how many you raise or lower and how far.

Step 18: coloring the Mesh Points

Select individual or groups of mesh points on the first of the horizontal mesh paths you created and subtly alter their color. We’re trying to create movement with this effect, so try and give the impression of areas falling away or coming closer.

Again, here is a sample palette of the colors in this example, just in case you need them.

Step 19: Envelope Distort

We need to create waves in our object for the final suggestion of movement. It’s probably possible by altering the handles of your mesh points, but you won’t be making your life easy. Instead we turn our attention to Illustrator’s Envelope Distort feature.

Keep your mesh object selected and go to Object > Envelope Distort > Make with Mesh. There are several ways to manipulate an object Envelope Distort, this way will add a new mesh over your rectangle with as many points you determine.

Step 20: Define the Envelope

In the Envelope Mesh dialogue, choose how many rows and columns you want to work with, then click Preview to get an idea of how it will look. In this case, I’ve kept it relatively simple with just two rows, but the fewer mesh points you’re altering, the smoother the resulting form will become.

Step 21: Shear

Before we add waves, we’ll shear the rectangle to splash it across the sky in one easy step. Select the Shear tool, then click on either the left or the right side of your envelope mesh object, and drag to shear it, as shown below. Hold Shift down while doing so to ensure that the peaks and troughs remain vertical – not essential but helps the final effect.

Step 22: Distort

Having played around with Gradient Mesh objects, this will be second nature to you. With the Direct Selection tool, alter the Envelope Mesh points individually or in groups to create smooth wavy forms. Bend the handles on each point and try to create consistent movement in the object. Imagine you’re wiping the object upwards and towards the left.

Step 23: Blur

Now we’re getting somewhere.

With your distorted, sheared, colored, meshed rectangle selected, then go to Effects > Blur > Gaussian Blur. In the dialogue which appears, choose the amount of blurring you want. In my case 3 pixels is fine, but you can check what your object will look like in the preview pane and adjust appropriately.

Note: If you intend to print the resultant image you’ll need to make sure the blur is rasterized at a high resolution. By default the blur will be rastered at 72 dpi to optimize processing time, but for printing purposes it is likely you’ll need 300 dpi. Go to Effects > Document Raster Effects Settings to alter this.

Step 24: Transparency and Position

Give your object a Lighten transparency, then scale and position it above your background and stars. The Lighten transparency of your object will cause any areas which are darker than what’s underneath to disappear. You’ll be left with fluorescent waves and stars shining through them.

Step 25: Finishing Touches

Make a secondary Aurora (perhaps smaller, less opaque and blurred more) and place somewhere among your objects. Group everything together, then place a rectangle of 1680 px by 1050 px on top. Select everything and press Command + 7 to use this rectangle as a clipping mask.

Conclusion

Finished! After following these twenty-five concise steps you should have something attractive and unique to decorate your desktop with! It’s little wonder those clever people at Apple recognized the aesthetics of auroras with their last OSX release. The larger version is available here.

::GFXZoOM |source:tutsplus.com::

Note: Since Illustrator changes very little over the versions, it shouldn’t matter too much if you’re using an older version.

Step 1

First thing’s first, set up your canvas. Just go to File > New, and use whatever settings you like. I’ve never been a big fan of using custom sizes and all that in Illustrator, unless designing a business card or something like that, so just change the color mode to RGB and leave the rest.

Enable the grid (View > Show Grid) and Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid).

Step 2

Let’s create the base of our shape. Using the Rectangle Tool (M), draw out a rectangle on your canvas, keeping it aligned with the grid. Looking at the subdivisions of your grid, make sure that the base of our pencil is an even number of boxes tall, umm, see the screenshot:

Width isn’t important at this time. You can easily change it later if it looks out of whack with the rest of the pencil.

Step 3

Now we should make the rest of the separate shapes. You’ll need to use various different tools for this one, such as: the Pen Tool and the Rounded Rectangle Tool. See the below screenshot to get the idea of it.

So, using the Pen Tool, you should create the pointed end(s). Start by creating the wood part of it, then afterward create the sharper point (the lead).

Step 4

Now let’s give the pencil some life! Start with coloring each shape the color you would like it to have.

Now, using these colors as a guide, add gradients to each of your shapes (some might not require it, though).

Now, as you can see we’ve added gradients to each of the shapes. All of these are simple two-color gradients except for one, the metal piece next to the eraser. All of the colors used in this gradient were: #f2f2f2, #b3b3b3, #ffffff and #e6e6e6.

You should understand that it isn’t important that you comply exactly with what you see above, the shiny metal effect is very random, so you should just add a few extra points, change the colors of them, etc.

Get creative, be messy with the settings.

Step 5

Let’s finish off by adding a nice little highlight effect to the top of our pencil. Start by getting out the Pen Tool, then draw a simple two-point path along the top like this:

When you’re done with the path, add a fairly-thick rounded-corner stroke to it, using whatever color you like. In the “Transparency” tab (Window > Transparency), change the mode to Screen and lower the opacity to around 50%.

Hopefully by now you have something like this:

Hopefully!

Completion

OK, looks like we’re pretty much done! My apologies if the tutorial was a little lean on instructions, but this was my first Illustrator tutorial! If you have any questions at all, please leave a comment or contact me!

You can download the .ai (Illustrator) source file from here: Download Icon Tutorial Source File.

::GFXZoOM |source:designblurb.com::

I start by placing my sketch in Illustrator. Go to File > Place and choose the sketch. Since I’m going to want to have easy access to the sketch as I refer back to it, I put it on its own layer.

Then I trace around the outline of the sketch and fill it with a solid dark color. I chose a dark brown because I wanted the illustration to have a old classic monster feel.

Next, I start creating the bandages from my sketch. To create the bandages, I draw a long thin curved shape that comes to a point on each end. Then, I take this shape and copy it several times with each shape slightly overlapping. I copy it by holding down option (ALT) and dragging it. I do this until it is the proper height of the individual bandage. Once it is the correct height and any minor tweaking is made, I select all the shapes that belong to the one bandage and Unite them with the pathfinder palette. To open the pathfinder palette go to Window and choose Pathfinder. The Unite is the first button on the top left. With the shapes selected, hit the Unite button and expand.

I draw the other bandage shapes the same way, then add a radial gradient to them. I use the same dark brown I used earlier for the darkest color in my gradient. I also pick a yellowish beige for the lightest color. Finally, I choose a brownish color that is in between my light and dark color. I use the gradient tool to adjust the direction of the light on each piece. The gradient tool is located on the tool bar. Once you have the gradient tool selected, select the piece you want to adjust and then click and drag in the direction you want the light to go.

Next, I draw the shapes for the cheeks and mouth. After those are drawn, I add the same gradient as I used for the bandages. I use the gradient tool to adjust the direction of the light and adjust the gradient if I think it needs to be darker or lighter.

I wanted the cheek bones to pop out a little more and the nose area to recede, so I created additional shapes for those. Again, I used the same gradient for the new shapes, but I lightened the cheek bones 2 lighter colors and darkened the noses 2 lighter colors. Also for the cheek bones, I added another color after my darkest color on my gradient slider. The color was slightly lighter than the darkest color. This gives me a nice half light.

I continue with the same process for the eyes. Again, I lightened my gradient slightly and added a half light.

I draw a circle for the irises of the eyes and create a shape that will be a drop shadow on the eyes. I went with a slightly greener gradient for the irises. For the drop shadow over the eyes I used a flat color that was darker than the eyes.

Next, I draw more circles for the pupils. The pupil gradient has two steps. The dark brown I’ve been using and a lighter color. Using the gradient tool on the pupil, I pull a very short line to get an abrupt contrast between the light and dark color. This gives me a nice highlight dot on the pupil.

Finally I add the nose hole and a few detail like facial creases and liver spots. The facial creases are drawn the same way as the bandages were and the liver spots are just different sized circles.

Well, that is basically it. Hopefully, that helps you create some better gradients.

::GFXZoOM |source:illustrationinfo.com::

Final Image Preview

To begin with let’s have a look at the image we’ll be creating.

Step 1

Open a new document. I picked a soccer ball image from Stock.xchng. Feel free to pick your own soccer ball image.

Place the image into your document. Double-click the layer with the image, set the Dim Images To to 35% and select it. Now we have set up our source image. Lock the layer with the image. Then create a new layer above and name it “Background.”

Drag a horizontal and a vertical Guide onto the Artboard, and align them to the soccer ball. Select the Ellipse Tool (L) and click on the point where the two guides meet. Then hold down the Shift Key and drag outwards until it matches the size of the ball. Fill it with black, leave the Stroke set to None. Then Hide and lock the layer, so we can see the photo again.

Step 2

Create a new layer and name it “Shapes.” We’ll now create our mesh objects. First, trace each pentagon on the soccer ball (once filled with meshes this will be very effective). Trace each pentagon and fill it with the appropriate color (either black or white). Leave the stroke set to None. You don’t have to create the pentagons perfectly. Leave some small gaps between the shapes. This slightly imperfect look helps to make it more realistic.

Step 3

Once that is done, we can apply the Mesh Paths. Make the black circle we created earlier visible and lock it again.

Let’s set up our shading colors in the Swatch Palette. I picked the following colors: black (C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=95), light gray (C=1 M=2 Y=5 K=10), dark gray (C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=44), and white (C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=0).

Now we can start adding the meshes. Make sure no color fill or stroke is selected. Then select the Mesh Tool (U), and click on the center (approximately) of a pentagon. Then click on each cross mesh path near the edge of the shape. Repeat this with each side of the pentagon.

Select the White Arrow Tool (A), and click on the most outer mesh points. Then fill them with the black (C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=95) color swatch. Select the points all around the edge, and repeat this step. This will add our shades to the white pentagon shapes.

Step 4

Select the next cross point towards the middle, and fill it with the dark gray color. Sometimes, you might see that it gets too dark, and then you can fill it with the lighter grey. At the edges we might need some darker shades. Repeat this with all the white shapes.

Step 5

Now let’s apply the same method to the black shapes. But no worries, this will be quicker since the black pentagons need only one highlight. Select a black pentagon, and grab the “Mesh Tool” (U). Add a mesh point in the middle of the shape. Make sure no fill color and stroke is selected.

Choose the Direct Selection Tool (A), and select the cross point in the middle of the shape. Fill it with the black color. This might not look like much, but it’s enough to make a difference. Repeat this step with all the black pentagons. Voilà, the soccer ball us complete!

Step 6

Let’s add some life to the image. Create a new layer beneath the “soccer ball” layer, and name it “Background.” Create a Rectangle (M) and fill it with black. Select the Gradient Tool, choose Radial as the type, and start dragging from the left upper corner downwards.

Step 7

Create a new layer above the gradient “background” layer, and name it “Reflection.” Then select all the “soccer ball” shapes by clicking on the right of layer. You can see a green square appearing. This means that all the sub-layers are selected.

Make sure though that none of the sub-layers are locked. Now group them (Ctrl+G). Then click on the rectangle again, hold the mouse key down, select Ctrl+Shift+Alt (you will see a “+” sign appearing), and drag towards the new layer.

This will give us a complete copy of the “soccer ball” layer. Move this underneath the “soccer ball.” Keep the selection active, go to Object > Transform > Reflect, choose the horizontal reflection, and click OK.

Step 8

Create a new rectangle over the bottom soccer ball. Then fill it with a gradient vertically from white to black. Now select all shapes from the “reflection” layer, open the Transparency palette and click on the Right Palette Arrow, as shown below. Then choose Make Opacity Mask. Deselect the shapes. We’ve now created our reflection.

Step 9

Lets create the swooshes. Select the Ellipse Tool (L), and create shapes as shown below. I filled them with a green radial gradient. Duplicate the layer to the right and set the Transparency to Multiply. Repeat this two more times. Select all the ellipses and click on the Path Divide tool. Then start deleting the right side of the ellipses by selecting the shapes with the Direct Selection tool.

Step 10

Now rotate the group of ellipses counterclockwise. Go to Object > Envelop Distort and choose Make with Warp. Select following options: Style of Flag, Horizontal Bend of 19%, Horizontal Distortion of 13%, and Vertical Distortion of 33%. Then click OK.

Next, go to Object > Envelop Distort > Expand. Rotate the group a little bit more counterclockwise and place it under the “soccer ball.” Make sure the shapes are below the “reflection.” Duplicate the “swoosh” group and move it slightly upwards. Then set the Transparency layer to Overlay. You might want to duplicate more then once.

Step 11

Let’s make a custom brush to add more interest. Create a circle, fill it with white. Select the Crystallize Tool and click several times on the outer edges of the circle. Then transform the circle horizontally.

Open the Brush Palette, and drag the transformed circle shape into the palette. Choose Art Brush from the pop-up menu, and click “OK”. Then select Stroke From Bottom, and click OK. Now we have our custom brush.

Step 12

Draw a curved line with the Pen Tool (No fill color, only a stroke color) and select the brush we just created. You will see that it gives us instantly a beautiful stroke. Now we will ad another Opacity Mask, just like we did in Step 8. This again adds some dynamism to our soccer ball.

Step 13

Create another circle and apply the Crystallize Tool again, just like before. Then Transform it slightly (E), and place it under the “soccer ball,” but above the “swooshes.” Make a copy and move it slightly to the right and upwards. Then set the Transparency to Multiply. Now select our white custom brush stroke and duplicate it. Then move it slightly downwards.

Step 14

Last but not least, select one of the swooshes and also duplicate it. You can move it downwards.

Conclusion

As a final touch, I added extra pentagon shapes in the background with an Opacity Mask applied and made them into a symbol. That’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed this challenge and that your creative ideas are flowing.

::GFXZoOM |source:tutsplus.com::

For those of you without good sketching ability – please don’t jump ship just yet! I will also discuss a number of tips and techniques to using your pen tool that applies to ALL vector artists – so keep reading. You’ll still learn a thing or two. And who knows – maybe you try to sketch something anyway.

I am going to meander a bit between different sketches, but here is one example of a vector illustration that was based off of a sketch.

This is a design our firm was hired to do for the rock band Mr. Gnome. The theme was straight forward, a gnome with a guitar in a dynamic pose.

The tools you’ll need for this tutorial are:

1. Pencil
2. Paper
3. Scanner
4. Computer (with a monitor)
5. Adobe Illustrator (and Photoshop wouldn’t hurt either)

This tutorial will cover:

1. Sketching – How detailed to get in your sketch?
2. What resolution to scan your sketch.
3. How to set up your Illustrator file.
4. Tips and Techniques to digitally inking your sketch using vector lines.
5. Tips and Techniques to coloring your vector illustration.

Step 1. Sketching.
Ok here we go. Since we will not be using photographs – we’re going to have to rely on our ability to draw. As I mentioned in my tutorial “Comic Book Style Graphic Design” I will not be able to go into the fine details of how to draw here, but I want to try and give you a few tips.

First, I believe that learning how to draw is like learning any other skill. It takes time, practice and it doesn’t hurt if you study a little. So go buy yourself books on drawing, find tutorials online or sign up for classes at your local college. And of course, nothing in the world can replace practice.

This sketching phase of the process should be a fun relaxing part of the process. If you put pressure on yourself you will surely struggle. When I am drawing I try to let go of all expectations. When you sit down to draw tell yourself: “I may draw for the next three hours and may draw nothing good. But I am going to enjoy the process.” Have a pile of paper, a pencil sharpener and an eraser. Always start by sketching as loosely as possible; just work on basic shapes. Get yourself to relax. Turn on some good tunes, have a can of Coke, whatever it takes to get yourself into a good place. I really think this is a big part of getting yourself in the right frame of mind to draw well. It may seem silly – but imagine if you sat down with one sheet of paper, a thirty minute deadline and a rigorous expectation of what you needed to draw. Wow… what pressure! You would be setting yourself up for failure! That’s no fun. So, sit down, relax, let go of any expectations you put on yourself and have some fun.

Also, you need to know that the final sketch will usually be achieved through a process. Many amateur artists don’t truly realize all the “steps” that go into creating a final piece of art like the one I drew. The assumption is that I sat down and in one fell swoop illustrated this final sketch. Frequently there are a lot more steps to this process. Here is a typical process that a professional illustrator might go through to produce a final illustration:

1. Extremely rough “comps” are drawn to show your client what you are intending to draw. Often times there will be several of these so your client has some options. Often times the client will give you feedback on your comps – so you’ll have to modify your composition until they’re happy. Here is a sample of how rough the early “comps” can be:

2. “Studies” are then drawn for a variety of the elements in the image. If, for instance you’ve never drawn a palm tree before you might want to download some pictures of palm trees and sketch them for a while till you get a good handle on how to draw them.

3. The first draft of the final illustration is then done. It always starts with loose light lines to get the composition worked out, then you’ll go over it filling in with “tighter” lines to get your details.

4. Often times some aspect of the illustration looks bad. A professional artist will re-work that part of the illustration on a separate piece of paper until they get it right.

As you can see – this is definitely a process. So, don’t get frustrated if it takes a lot of work to get your final sketch together.

How detailed you get with your sketch is up to you. Personally, I find that it is always easier to decide where I want lines while I am in the sketching phase. So I will get fairly detailed in my drawing before I scan it into the computer. Deciding where to put lines when I’m vectorizing (digitally inking) my sketch is much harder. So I will err on the side of a “tight” sketch (lots of detail) versus a “loose” sketch. Here are two examples of illustrations. This first one is the fairly tight sketch of a demon that I drew for Ozz Fest.

The second sketch is a much more loose drawing:

Lines are not well defined and there is a lot that you would have to make decisions about once you get the drawing into Illustrator. You have to be extremely skilled in your ability to work through a drawing on-the-fly. If you are, you can take a very rough sketch like this and make inking (vectorizing) decisions as you work. I don’t think most people have this ability, so I would recommend that you try to get a little bit more detail into your sketch before you scan it into Illustrator.

While I am endorsing a “tighter” sketch I want to mention the fact that one of the biggest advantage of creating a vector illustration off of a sketch is that the over-all feeling of it is MUCH looser than what you create when you work off of a photo. When, for instance you are working off of a photograph – you are somewhat bound by the natural laws of nature. But in a sketch you can really go over-board with exaggerated features. When you combine these loose exaggerated features of a sketch with the tight clean lines of vector art you really get a wonderfully unique looking illustration. So, don’t be too tight with your drawing! You don’t want to lose your personality.

Step 2. Scanning your Artwork.
HHmm.. not sure why I made this into a whole section of this tutorial. I guess it’s just an important step – you need to get your sketch into your computer. Here are a few tips to scanning your sketch:

1. Make sure to scan your sketch in “photo” mode at 300dpi or higher. You may want to go as high as 600dpi. It really helps to zoom in on your sketch while you’re vectorizing (digitally inking and coloring) it. At this zoomed in state you might be looking at a part of the sketch 300% – 400% bigger than the size you drew it, so you’ll need that extra resolution to see where to put your lines.

2. If your sketch is bigger than your scanner – you’ll have to scan it in pieces and stitch them together in Photoshop. One little tip that helps make this process easier is to make sure that you butt one side of the paper up against the edge of the scanning surface. Scan it, then slide the paper keeping that same side flush up against the edge of the scanning surface. This process insures that your different parts of the sketch are not rotated differently. It is much easier to piece together two images that don’t need to be rotated. Once your sketch pieces are in Photoshop, open one and enlarge the canvas area to make room for the other pieces. Copy-and-Paste the other pieces so that they are all in one image. Set the properties of each layer to “multiply.” This will allow you to see through each layer and more easily line them up. Once you have them all lined up, change the layer properties back to “normal,” flatten the image, and save it as a .jpeg

Step 3. Setting up your Illustrator file.

I like to create 3 layers in Illustrator when vectorizing a sketch. The bottom layer is where I place my sketch. I will lock this layer so I don’t accidentally select it or move it. The middle layer is my color layer. This is where I will fill in my shapes with colors. I will also lock this layer until I get to the coloring part of the process. The top layer is the inks (the lines) of the drawing.

I should take a moment here to mention that you can illustrate vector art without lines. The artwork can be comprised completely of solid shapes with no “line art.” Here is an example of each:

This is a vector illustration without any lines defining the shapes. It simply uses color and value to define the shapes.

This illustration does have lines to separate the shapes.

Whether you choose to make line art or not is up to you, but we WILL be making the line art first on this project.

Step 4. Tips and Techniques to digitally inking your sketch using vector lines.

Ok.. now we get to drawing our vector lines. I don’t have one set style for creating these lines; in fact I have several. I will discuss each. But before I do, I want to discuss our goals. The goals with these lines are that they have character. And by “character” what I mean to say is: “they look cool.” So, how do we make our lines look cool?

For starters, we need our lines to vary in what is known as “weight.” “Weight” of a line basically means how thick or thin your lines are. A lot of weight is thick a little weight is thin. Making your lines vary in weight adds a LOT of character (makes them look cool.)

And where we put this character into the lines is also important. I use three general rules when making a determination of where to put weight:

1. Most important is how close an object is to you. So, if you have a drawing where the super-hero is punching out towards you, the fist would be the closest thing to you. The closer something is to you, the thicker the lines should be. The further away something is – the thinner the lines should be. The city in the background, for instance, should be illustrated with very thin lines. This creates an illusion of depth.

2. The outer-most line of each separate object I will also tend to make a little thicker than the interior lines. This helps define that object apart from the other objects.

3. I will also pay attention to light source. If, for instance, the sun is just over the right shoulder of a character – I might thin that line so much that it ends… there is actually a gap where the line ends then re-starts. The side of the object opposite of the light source will have thicker lines.

4. Finally – I will tend to thicken a line that dead-ends into another line. This is a hard one to explain, so here is a picture:

Now that we have a clear understanding of what kind of lines we’re trying to make… how do we make them?

My first step is usually to outline my object or a portion of the object and then “knock out” the shapes that are inside it. Using my pen tool I will simply find a starting point and start drawing around a shape. If you are not experienced using the pen tool in Illustrator this may be a bit of a frustrating process. Have faith that in time you will get better and faster. It takes time to learn how to best use this tool. Here are a couple of tips:

1. Place your points at the most extreme spots – at the very top of the peak of a curve or the very bottom of a curve.

2. Fewer points will give you a smoother line, so challenge yourself to eliminate points.

3. If you need to bring a curving line to a sharp turn, click on where the curve will end, click-drag your mouse to create the curve before the sharp turn (don’t worry about the vector line on the far side of the point. When you get the curve before the point where you want it, let up on the button, but before you make your next point – click one time on the point you just made. This will eliminate the bezier handle that runs through the point. When you place your next point, the line from the previous point will come out straight from that point. Here is a little picture sequence of this process. **This is a VERY useful tip. So, if you don’t understand it – read it five more times, study the images below and don’t proceed till you get it. It will be on the S.A.T.!**

Once I have my outline I will simply start drawing the shapes that are inside it that need to be subtracted (or for us old-school designers: “knocked out.”) Be aware that the “lines” you’re creating will be comprised of the outline minus the interior shapes. So, in terms of giving your final lines varying weight, you will have to vary how close your interior shapes are to the outline.

Here is an example of how I will draw an outline, then subtract (or knock-out) the interior with a second shape:

One way to deal with this varying line weight issue is to deal with it in the sketching phase. This way – you don’t have to think about it while vectorizing. You can just follow your sketch lines.

While you are drawing these knock-out shapes you may want to ignore little detail lines that might be hard to draw. If for instance you have some cross-hatching lines that extend from a large black shape – I won’t try to draw them both at the same time. I will start by just drawing the black shape, then will go back and draw the hatch-lines. I can merge these shapes using the Pathfinder tool later if I want to. Here is a sample of that:

Once you have all of your interior shapes in place, you’ll now need to knock them out of your outline. You will do this by
1. Grouping all of the interior shapes.
2. Bringing these grouped interior shapes to the front: Object>Arrange>Bring To Front
3. Selecting both your grouped interior shapes and your outline
4. Clicking on the knock-out (or “subtract”) function of your pathfinder tool.
5. Fill with black! (or whatever color you want your lines.)

Another way to draw lines of varying weight without drawing the inside and then the outside of each line is to just draw a single vector line down the center of your intended line. Then you “stroke” this line with a brush. Specifically you might want to use one of the calligraphy brushes that Illustrator includes.

Here is how using one of these brushes looks when applied to a curving line:

This looks great and is a much easier way to make lines with character – but it is much harder to control where the line is thick and where it’s thin. This is determined by the shape of the brush and the angle of your line. If you have a set of brushes set up at various angles and experiment a bit, you can figure out how to control where the thick and thin parts of your line are, but it takes some work.

If you are using this technique to vectorize (digitally ink) your sketch there is one additional step you have to take. Once you get the line how you want it, you’ll have to: use the Object>Expand Appearance function. This will take your brush stroke and convert it into a solid shape.

You may also experiment making your own brushes in Illustrator. One very useful brush is a simple triangle.

Simply make this triangle shape, select it and then go to the drop-down menu in your brushes window and select “New Brush>New Art Brush. Then draw a curvy line and apply this brush. You will quickly see how useful it will be in inking. Here is a sample of what a triangular brush on your vector path looks like:

I suggest experimenting with brushes like this. I will not reveal all of Go Media’s secrets here – but this should get you started.

Now you have the meticulous job of “inking” your illustration. Depending on how complex your drawing is – this process may take an entire day or more, so settle in and try to enjoy yourself. After all – that’s why we’re here right?

Here is the finished inking I did on this sketch… Pretty sharp if I do say so myself!!

First the pencil sketch:

Now the final inked illustration:

Ok, now to the really fun part – coloring.

Step 5. Tips and Techniques to coloring your vector illustration.

This tutorial is going to cover coloring in Adobe Illustrator. At this point you could also export your line art to Photoshop and color your drawing in it. In fact, most professional coloring you’ll see of illustrations is done in either Photoshop or Painter. Making a vector coloring – as we are in this tutorial is a very different process with a different look and feel to it. In Photoshop for instance, you can much more easily make soft-edged transitions between your various colors. Here in Illustrator your color shapes will have sharp edges.

Now I will make a confession – I don’t think I have a very good sense of color. I think I am a bad colorist. So, hopefully I can give you some tips I use to “fake it.” Remember: “Fake it till you make it!”

Now, you’ll be coloring on your color layer, so lock your inking layer and unlock your color layer.

Usually I will try to pick the colors I’m going to use before I start coloring. I will start with 2-4 main color themes that work well together. For each of these colors I will try to get a range of color values from dark to light. Once I have this palette of colors I try very hard to stick with it. Since I don’t have a good sense of color, I’m afraid to stray too far from a nice color palette once I’ve made one. Here is an example of a color palette I put together:

I will usually assemble my color palettes by opening a Pantone Swatch Library (located in the Swatch window drop-down in the Swatch Libraries drop down). I’ll then see a color I like and grab the entire value range from dark to light of that color.

One “cheat” I use occasionally for finding a good color schemes– is the website: colourlovers.com. It doesn’t give a complete coloring palette and isn’t usually exactly what I’m looking for, but it’s a great resource for inspiration.

In the case of this illustration, he went with a fairly straight-forward coloring scheme. The girl’s skin is flesh color, the skull is grey and the devil-baby is red. For each of these object there is about 3-4 color values; a middle value, one dark color for shadows and one light color for highlights.

While going with a straight-forward coloring scheme is fine, I want to encourage you to really experiment with colors. Explore the space. I got a fever, and the only prescription – is MORE COW BELL… no wait – I mean – MORE COLORS. I think doing a good realistic coloring job is almost passé these days. Using non-traditional colors is the current trend.

To start, lets use this little devil baby sketch that Dave did and start by filling each main shape with a middle value. Here is what the baby looks like with each of his primary shapes filled with the middle-value. You’ll notice the back of the tail is dark. We obviously decided that we were going to have a light source to the upper left. This would place the tail in a shadow.

When I say “We filled each main shape..” what I mean specifically is that we stole the line art and used the vector lines that were already drawn to fill the main shapes.

In order to do this you need to make sure you’ve used your Pathfinder tool to subtract (knock-out) and consolidate all your line art into one complete path, then you will:

1. Unlock your inking layer (if it isn’t already)
2. Select your Inks (lines)
3. Edit>Copy
4. Switch to your color layer (I’ll even re-lock my inking layer)
5. Edit>Paste In Front – this will drop a copy of the inks into the coloring layer in the exact same location that it was taken from – so it lines up perfectly.
6. Select the line art and then Object>Compound Path>Release. This will break all of these shapes back up into their own pieces of art. You can then delete the outline and simply deal with the fill shapes. By selecting them you can fill them with the appropriate color.

Using this technique will save you a lot of time. Here is the single-color initial fill of the devil-baby:

If you are not familiar with the Pathfinder tool in Illustrator, let me just say: please take the time to explore this tool. It is indispensable. I use it constantly.

Once the main color fill is in place, we can start adding shadows and highlights. Since your highlights and shadows will be contained within the area we’ve already established with our fill, you really only need to draw the line that will distinguish the barrier between your middle value and shadow.

In this first image you can see where I drew the dark red shape to define the shadow area. I only concerned myself with where my shape intersected with the red fill of the devil baby’s body.

I then need to make a copy of the devil-baby’s fill shape so I won’t lose it when I use the pathfinder tool. I use the Copy and Paste-In-Front function to create two duplicate shapes that are directly on top of one another. Then I select the main fill shape and the shadow shape as well.

Then, using the Pathfinder tool use the overlap Pathfinder tool. I’m not sure what the technical term is for this function, but it basically takes two shapes and removes any parts of them that do not over-lap. Here’s a pic:

I will go through and use this technique to define each of my shadows, bright spots and any other little details I would like to add.

So there you have it. An insight into my mind as I go from sketch to vector illustration. This is how I do it, but every illustrator has a different technique. So use this article/tutorial as a guide to help you establish your own technique. I hope you learned something useful!

::GFXZoOM | source:gomediazine.com::

Before we get started, let’s take a look at the image we’ll be creating. The way I’ve done that is simple, though there’s a lot to explain.

Step 1

Open up your 3ds max. We have to create some shapes starting with the only one that may be a bit complicated for average max’s user that is heart. It’s not a standard shape and has some rounded edges so we have to create it by hand. You can try to draw it manually inside 3D Studio but I prefer to do it the other way. So, open a new document in Photoshop, fill the background with white and create a black heart’s shape which comes with Photoshop’s standard shapes. Save it as a JPG file.

Step 2

Now, go to the Adobe Illustrator and open up the heart file you’ve just created. We want to convert it to a vector, otherwise we won’t be able to make it 3D. Select your heart with Selection Tool (V) and go to the Object -> Live Trace -> Tracing Options…. Make sure Mode is set to Black and White. Press Trace and save it as a *.ai file. For some reason 3ds max works better if you save your work with older version of Adobe Illustrator than CS3, so I suggest to choose the oldest one otherwise you may experience some problems with importing it.

Step 3

Go back to 3ds max. File -> Import… and import your Illustrator file from the previous step. You will be asked whether you want it to be a single object or multiple objects. Choose the first option. Finally get rid of some unnecessary segments.

Step 4

Once you’ve done that go to the Create panel -> Shapes -> Splines. Create some more shapes you like. Extrude them and create something interesting. In my case they aren’t anything special but anyway you can see how do they look like below. I made three similar shapes and put them on top of each other. Also I’ve added Edit Poly modifier and used Chamfer to round edges a bit.

Step 5

Actually you can render this scene as is before we move to the Photoshop but I used here V-Ray with basic environment and GI turned on to quickly get better shadows. It’s a good idea to use here some reflective material and HDRI map but I’m leaving it at this point and will use this method for the main heart.

Step 6

Move to the Photoshop. Open a new document. I used 1920×1200px but you may want your composition to be different so feel free to use any other aspect ratio and image size as well. Fill you background with black.

Step 7

At this point you can plan how should your final image look like. As you have seen I didn’t make much planning and started this work not knowing how does Valentine’s picture usually look like and I’ve ended up with something a little scrappy . Anyway, I made some guidelines and marked places where it’s usually best to put any key elements.

Step 8

Paste your render to the photoshop and use Magic Wand Tool to ged rid of your background. I suggest to make a bigger render and then resize it to avoid sharp edges after removing black background but you can always fix that later.

Step 9

Grab your Pen Tool and select part of your heart that is going to have some ornaments on top of it. Make a selection from your path, create a new layer and fill it with any color. After that apply some style to this layer. I’ve added Gradient Overlay, Stroke, Inner Glow and Outer Glow with just a little bit different settings to these which are standard.

Step 10

Now, try to look for some vector shapes on the Internet and once you’ll get them paste them into your document and change their blend mode to Color Dodge. Add a mask of heart’s surface to this layer. To do it press Ctrl + left-mouse click on surface’s layer to select it and go to Layer -> Layer Mask -> Reveal All.

Step 11

Group your object’s layers, make a copy and merge it. Go to the Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation or press Ctrl + U and change its color to whatever you like. I’ve also created a new layer, set my brush to 1px, 50% hardness, 25% opacity and 25% flow and painted over some edges to make them shinier.

Step 12

Do the same with the other objects. You should get something similar to this objects on the image below.

Step 13

For background create a new layer and apply a Gradient Overlay to it. Use Radial for the Style and #000000 – #101216 for the colors. After that create another layer. Make sure your colors are set to black and white (press D if they are not to reset them). Go to Filter -> Render -> Clouds. Place a new layer above the layer with gradient and set its blending mode to Color Dodge.

Step 14

Back to 3ds max we have to create a bit bigger heart that will be placed at the center of our image. I have used 3 splines from Adobe Illustrator for that. First is a regular extrudion. Second it just a spline visible on renders but scaled in one axis a lot. Third one is also visible on renders but this time I’ve placed it as an edge of heart.

Step 15

To create environment I suggest to use HDRI map. There is many free HDRIs available on the Internet. All you need to do with them it to put one into V-ray’s Environment slots, turn off standard lights and turn on GI. It doesn’t have to be perfect but we want to see that it is reflecting anything so for the heart’s material let’s just put something reflective.

Step 16

And here goes the rest of my settings.

Step 17

Once you’ve done that you can copy your render and paste it into Photoshop. Again get rid of black background using Magic Wand Tool. Make a slection with Pen Tool of front part of your heart, border and back part (all on different layers). Don’t worry if your selections are not perfect. You can fix that later with brush.

Step 18

Fill back part layer with #f67811, set it to Overlay, duplicate it, set the copy to Soft Light and apply it a style like mine. You should get something similar to what I got.

Step 19

Do the same things with the rest of your heart but changing some options until it looks fine for you. I’m not able to show you everything here but you will be able to download final *.psd and *.max files in the future if you are a forcg member. Unhappily it is not possible yet.

Step 20 – Adding Details

Let’s add some details painted either using brushes or vector shapes. There are four things I did not mention about earlier but decided to add them at the end.

Step 21 – Painting Clouds

For clouds I believe I’ve used free cloud brushes from here. Simply create a new layer and click several times to paint some clouds.

Step 22

To paint the infinite symbol use Pen Tool and create several paths on top of each other (1, 3). To start a new path hit Ctrl/CMD and start drawing. Set your brush to 2px, 100% hardness (2) and right-click with Pen Tool selected to stroke your path (4, 5).

Step 23

Particles can be made with brushes. I used 4 different sizes of 1px, 2px, 4px and 6px. Each on different layers and with different blending modes such as Color Dodge, Overlay and Soft Light. Also I’ve added Inner and Outer Glow to some of them.

Step 24

Back to background paint some light next to the heart usign big brush with some kind of green color. Then set this layer to Color Dodge. Finally create one more layer, fill it with black and go to Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise…. Apply some soft Motion Blur to it by going to Filter ->Blur -> Motion Blur…. I think something around 3-4 pixels will be enough. Set this layer to Color Dodge and decrease its opacity a lot like to 10 or 20%.

Conclusion

That is all. I hope this was useful for you. Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you!

::GFXZoOM |source:forcg.com::