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Chuck Anderson is a well known graphic designer who has a knack for enhancing images by adding unique lighting effects. Today I’m going to show you how to favor a piece similar to one of his widely known designs using mostly just simple brushing and mingle modes.

Tutorial Contest Entry

This tutorial was entered into the PSDTUTS First Tutorial Writing Contest. See the results of the contest here. While this tutorial did not win the tutorial contest, it certainly caught our attention. Enjoy the Tut!

Introduction

Since we’re going to be creating a piece inspired by Chuck Anderson, I urge you to put a restraint out his work, titled "Godlike" here. You should also look at some of his other work, he veritably is a master of dissociate color and light. Also, I hope it’s clear that I’m not at all trying to make a transcript of Anderson’s work, but simply understand by what means he does what he does. Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s begin.

Final Image Preview

Before we persuade started, give permission to’s take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Click the screenshot below to view the full-size image. As always, the layered Photoshop file is available by way of our PSDTUTS Plus membership.

Step 1

To keep in step with Anderson, when I chose a stock photo I decided to stick to the theme that appears in his “Godlike” work, and go with a photo of an empty parking lot. I purchased this photo from Istockphoto, and if you’d resembling to do the same you can perceive it here. I do, however, encourage you to just succeed a photo of your own, if you’ve got a vacant parking lot in your yard.

Step 2

Open up a newly come file in Photoshop the weak glue of the image. Then copy and paste your stock photo into the document.

Step 3

Create a new layer, name it "Color," and set the blending gradation to Color.

Step 4

Select the Brush tool (B) and choose a big fuzzy brush. I used the preset of Soft Round 200 pixels, and set the Opacity of the brush to 50%.

Step 5

Select a red color and begin brushing within the Color layer to adjoin color to the current statue. Repeat this process using different colors: purples, blues, yellows, greens, anything that you’d like, until the majority of the image is colored.

Step 6

To blend the colors together more, hold down the Option key while using the Brush Tool to rare colors from within the colors you’ve already laid down. Doing this several times will help you blend everything together. You also may want to fall the brush size for blending purposes.

Step 7

Create a new layer, place it below the "Color" layer, name it "Multiply" and set the blending mode to Multiply.

Step 8

Push D to set black to the foreground and white to the background, and brush on the Multiply stratum with a big atrocious brush to shadow the sky. You can go ahead and brush over the lights moreover. Now push X to switch to gray, pick a smaller brush, and brush hoar completely the clear areas to pull them back out of the black.

Step 9

Go to the paths tab, create a three new path layers. Name the top "Front," the second "Middle," and the last "Back." We’re going to use these to severed line width and stand for depth when we brush the paths.

Step 10

Select the Pen Tool and draw curved lines connected and coming off of the lights. Change the layer you’re drawing the path without ceasing based without interruption it’s depth.

Step 11

Once you’re done through the initial drawing, go back to the layers tab and create three new layers, naming them the same as the paths layers: "Front," "Middle," and "Back."

Step 12

Select the Front layer, switch back to the paths tabs and select the Front path tab. Make positive white is the foreground color, select the Brush Tool with the preset of Hard Round 9 Pixels, goal change the size to 5 pixels, and the Opacity 100%. Now follow closely the Stroke Path With Brush button.

Step 13

Repeat Step 12 except with the "Middle" and "Back" layers, and decease the brush size each time. For the "between the extremes" layer, answer for it 4 pixels, and the "Back" layer 3 pixels.

Step 14

After you’ve completed that, duplicate each of the layers to augment the intensity, and merge them with their partners. Put these three layers in a folder for safe keeping and call it "Lines." Also, put a layer mask to this layer in quest of denoting futurity use.

Step 15

Next, let’s darken some of the lighter areas of our piece to strengthen more of the colors. Go back to the "Multiply" layer, select a big black fuzzy brush with an Opacity of 20%, and brush some of the lighter areas with the black.

Also, I’m going to use white on the "multiply" to lighten more of the dark areas in the heavens ever so superficially so we can brush them with color in a grain. You may need to go back and forth between brushing with white and black to get a result you like.

Step 16

Now let’s go back to the "Color" layer, use the same massy fuzzy brush, but select some colors from our canvas. Then brush some of the sky areas and touch up anything that needs to be adjustmented in remembrances to color. I suggest having the Brush Opacity set to 50% for this.

Step 17

Once you’re satisfied with your "Color layer," duplicate it, set the Blend Mode on the duplicate to Linear Light and Opacity to 70%. Then create a new folder called "Color Dodge." Place the "Color copy" layer in there, and set the Blend Mode of the folder to Color Dodge. You can have the "Linear Light" layer’s Opacity higher than 70% if you’d allied your piece to be brighter.

Step 18

At this time, you may want to reach back to the "grow in number" bed., and brush some black on areas that may have become too bright or washed out by the last action. Go ahead and do that at this time.

Step 19

Above the "Lines" folder, create a new stratum and call it "stars." Select the Brush Tool, with white for the reason that the foreground color, and create a brush with the settings shown below. Also, make sure the Opacity of the Brush is 100%.

Step 20

Use the brush to fill the celestial expanse with stars. Don’t worry too much about in what condition many there are, just don’t overdo it and completely cover the layer in white. Also, stay respecting the horizon line and feel free to cluster stars around not difficult sources.

Step 21

Duplicate the layer and official station the copy in the "Color Dodge" folder we created earlier on high the "Color Copy" layer.

Step 22

Now grab the Eraser Tool and choose a hard round medium sized brush. I went by a 50 pixel brush. Also, make sure the Opacity is 100%. On the "Stars" bed. start erasing some of them to produce a more realistic, appealing, and less cluttered result.

Step 23

It’s time to work with the lines again. One thing you’ll notice about Anderson’s "Godlike" piece is that he uses some dashed lines over, for a like reason lets go back to the paths tab, create a new layer called "Dashed," and use the Pen Tool to create some more lines.

Step 24

When you’re nimble to brush, go posterior portion to the layers tab, create a new layer in the "Lines" folder, and name it "dashed." Go back to paths. Now let’s select the Brush Tool and lay upon these settings.

Step 25

Making sure your foreground color is white, click the Stroke Path With Brush button. As we did before, duplicate this layer, and merge it through the original to greaten the strength of the lines.

Step 26

Let’s work with the lines some more. Duplicate the "lines" folder, right-click on it and select Merge Group.

Step 27

With the "Lines" Copy layer selected, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and apply a disgrace with a radius of 3. Now set the Blend Mode of this layer to Overlay and move into the "Color Dodge" folder, above the "Stars Copy" layer.

Step 28

Now select the layer mask of the Lines folder, grip suddenly the Brush Tool and a fuzzy instrumentality sized black brush (I used the Soft Round 45 pixels preset) through some opacity of 20% and make a beginning to brush away some of the intensity of the white lines. You can do the same to the Lines Copy’s layer mask.

Step 29

Create a new layer in the "Color Dodge" folder, above the "Lines Copy" layer, and call it "Flare." Grab the Paint Bucket Tool and fill it with black. Then set the Blend Mode to Screen. Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare and apply a 50-300mm Zoom with a 50% Brightness.

Step 30

With the Move Tool, drag the glowing glare we virtuous created on top of your biggest light. Feel free to use the Transform Tool to scale the layer whether or not the flare is too wide.

Step 31

Time to brush in some glow and highlights. Create a new layer above the "Lines Copy" layer within the Color Dodge folder and name it "Highlight." I’m going to use the same collision (with 20% opacity), but change my foreground color to white, and begin brushing in more glow into the fire-arm. Once you’ve brightened up your lights, you should increase your brush size, and brighten other areas you be warmed are necessary.

Step 32

At this time go back to your "Multiply" layer and add any shadows you feel are necessary. Switch upper part and forth between this layer and the "Highlight" layer adding or removing, until you are satisfied with your result.

Step 33

If you’ve added a lot of highlights, as I have, duplicate the "lines" folder to increase the vehemence.

Step 34

One last thing that I almost forgot. Let’s add some slices of planets in the background. Create a recently made known layer in the "Color Dodge" folder right in a high place Highlight. Name it "Planet." Grab the Ellipse Tool and with innocent as the foreground and create a nice oval shape so without more around a fourth of it is on the page.

Step 35

Now right-click on the layer and come in contact Select Pixels (or Command-click the layer). Now push the Add Vector Mask button to load the selection as a layer mask. Command-click again on the layer to violence the select, and go to Select > Refine Edge and use the following settings.

Step 36

With the Marquee Tool selected, move the selection up and to the left, so the edge of the election overlaps the rim of the elliptical. Now making sure that you’re on the "Planet" layer, rather than it’s mask, delete the selection.

Step 37

Duplicate the "Planet" stratum, call it "Planet 2," and hide it for now. Select "Planet 1" again and go to Edit > Free Transform. Scale, rotate, and stir the planet so it looks acceptable in the background. Change the blending mode of this stratum to Screen, and feel free to lower the opacity. Alternatively, use a big black fuzzy brush with a low darkness to fill in the layer mask some so the planet wasn’t such bright. You can also use white to clear off the planet.

Step 38

Now reveal the "Planet 2" layer, and do the similar thing you did with the previous layer to make it fit into the background.

Final

That’s all folks! Thanks for checking exhausted this tutorial and I hope you enjoyed it. Here’s the final image or follow this link for a larger version.