One of the effects my human plays around with a lot is creating a sketch and paint effect, as if someone had added detail on top of watercolor. She started off with this photo (completely unretouched here):
To make the sketch part, she used part of this old Photoshop video tutorial, but she made some changes.
After cropping and color correcting the original photo, she duplicated (Command+J for Mac or Control+J for PC) the original layer and desaturated (Shift+Command+U for Mac or Shift+Control+U for PC) the copy layer. Then she duplicated the desaturated layer and switched the blend mode of the copy layer to Color Dodge, as you can see above. Then she inverted it (Command+I for Mac or Control+I for PC) and you’ll never guess what she got!
It didn’t stay that way for long, though. She went up to the menu at the top of Photoshop where it says Filter and went to Blur->Gaussian Blur. This is where my human and the tutorial started parting ways. The video’s instructor wanted a graphite look so she dialed the Gaussian Blur way up. My human wanted more of a sketch effect, so she kept it lower. This is one of those filters you have to play with because it is going to look different depending on the photo and what you are looking for. Then to bring out the detail of my fur, she went to the Levels Adjustment.
You can easily access the Adjustment layer by going to the bottom of the Layers panel and clicking on the black and white circle. The Adjustment Layer will be in the drop down menu. The instructor was looking for something different than my human with this step. My human was going for more detail, especially in my muzzle fur. Instead of brightening the picture like the instructor, she actually made the details darker.
Next, she duplicated the image the way it was done in the tutorial — she went to the Image tab in the top menu bar, went to Duplicate and when the window popped up, she ticked off the “Duplicate Merged Layers Only” box. This created another file, with just a single layer.
My human used the Unsharp Mask tool on this single-layer file. You find it by going to the Filter menu at the top of Photoshop, and finding Sharpen in the drop-down menu, then going to “Unsharp Mask.” Then you see a box open like the one above. This is another tool that you will have to eyeball to see what looks good to you. Along the way, my human also erased some sketchy detail in my eyes and nose so they looked cleaner.
Next, my human went to the original file she was working on and copied the original color layer only (she did that by selecting the whole image, highlighting the color layer and hitting Copy, not Copy Merged (Copy Merged copies all the layers). Then she created a new layer on the duplicate picture, pasted in the color image and moved it underneath the sketch.
She heavily blurred the color layer with Gaussian Blur, clicked okay, then clicked on the sketch layer to highlight it and changed its Blend Mode to Multiply. This made the color show through the sketch. To finish it off, she added a layer on top with a canvas texture and changed its mode to Multiply too, so that the texture would bleed through. This was the final result:
My human worked on a high resolution file, and you can really see the texture there, not so much on this smaller version. There are all sorts of things you can do with this — changing the Gaussian Blur will move the colors around, and you can use different textures to see how they look with your own image. Getting the sketch right is the real key.
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How brilliant – I do hope some of these finished images make it up onto your walls they are just fab!
These effects are super cool! Your human has got some serious editing skills and a good eye!
Mom’s brain froze…..need to reset it….hehehe……we will only be able to look at your beautiful self and your mom’s creative art. Our mom just doesn’t ‘compute’ hehehe!
Marty
that is so cool!xx Speedy
Awesome artwork, though I say there’s nothing like the real thing. Happy Sunday to you, my friend!!
Very cool picture!
Wow. Now that is a dedicated Human you got yourself there, Sparkle, and we hope you appreciate how much work she puts in to helping you look your VERY best all the time. One thing I really noticed on the last picture version was those incredibly wonderful eyelashes you got goin’ on. Sparkle, you are *stunning*!
wow that is incredible. your human has talent, our pffft! not a one.
That’s SO cool!!
We love the effect : )
Wow. That is just fantastic!
We love it! Your Human is amazing…for a peep!
That was a lot of work but love the final effect.
Your human keeps coming up with very cool pics!
This is amazing! You NEED to make a card or shirt out of it. I bet it will be a top seller. TW would never attempt something so complicated with so many steps. I may have to rent out your human.
Very wild and big cat exotic. The eyes really pop.
You look lovely Sparkle. Great effect.
that is very cool, Sparkle! our mom has a Photoshop program but she hasn’t had the patience to figure it out yet ::sigh::
Pip, Smidgen, Minnie, Hollie
Very cool effect. We like it.
Your natural beauty shows through too 🙂
Thank you for your purrs about Grammie.
We and Mom appreciated them.
Purrs Georgia and Julie,
Treasure, JJ
and Angels Tiger and Tillie
Your human is very talented Sparkle, really, she is…we so enjoy her photo skills
The third picture down. See that one? The one with just the blank page? If MY peep was doin’ this, that’s what the final picture would look like ’cause yes, my peep is THAT hopeless. MOUSES! I have GOT to get myself some new peeps.
Purrs,
Nissy
That picture looks furry COOL !
My mom-person just use stuff that change pictures in one click
XOXO
Quite a interestin process Saprkle…quite nice butt we LUB da originall SPARKLE BESTEST!!!! 😉
Lub Nylablue n Sherriellen Mum xoxoxo
That is gorgeous, even on my small tablet. Of course, that has something to do with the subject as well 😀
Awesome! Your eyes are intense Sparkle…
OOOH, Lady Sparkle–what your human did was GREAT (although she had a gorgeous model to work with!) WOW–Tommy wants to do all that, when she read all the directions–well, my human heads to a cookie jar. I’m gonna get her to work on this…i LOVE it. Please send of that talent to Dallas so my human can ease up on the cookies… 🙂
Wow, that looks so cool!
You look like a wild cat!
Great tutorial! We were thinking of trying to write up simplified versions of some of the processes we’ve used because lots of folks can’t follow video tutorials. Paws up for the handy reference!
Excellent tutorial! Sometimes it seems our mom LIVES in Photoshop, MOL!!
I would never try to pretend that I understand one word of what you wrote – but both photos are marvelous.
Sparkle, this is so stunningly beautiful. Your mommy is so talented. Our big question is: How long did this take? Until Mom can get her computer problems resolved she can’t even install the Photoshop Elements Dad got her for her birthday. And now with so many of our photos going off into outer space somewhere and having to be recollected from various other computers drives and memory cards, we don’t know when that will ever happen. But we will continue to enjoy all your beautiful art. Have a great weekend. XO, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
That is amazing to know how to do all those little steps to get a picture like that. Our Person should learn how to do all that. Great picture.
Wow Sparkle..your Mom is so cool..this picture would looks pawsome hanging on yous wall ❗
We always learn so much here on art day! Not that we’ll have time to use it, but it sure is fun.
Wow! That’s cool!
Wow, but then you are gorgeous in any image.
It looks terrific! You lost our human after the control-J to duplicate the layer, though. LOL.
Thanks for stopping by to wish Mr. Brat Nicki a happy Gotcha Day. 🙂
That gives you a very different look Sparkle.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
An amazing process, looks fantastic.
Happy Caturday
That looks amazing!
Purrs xx
Athena