CREATE UNIQUE PHOTO EFFECT WITH ABSTRACT BRUSHES AND COLORING TECHNIQUES IN PHOTOSHOP

Step 1

Create a new document sized 800px * 1135px with white background. Load the wall texture image into Photoshop and select the following portion with the rectangular marquee tool:

Copy and paste the selection over to our document. Re-size the texture to fit the width and height of the canvas, reduce the layer opacity to around 70%, and use a big soft eraser to remove the following portion: (this will be add variety and depth for our background)

Step 2

We will work on the model in this step. Load the model image into Photoshop and cut out the head/neck/shoulder portion of the model, and paste it over to our document.

Re-size this new layer and position it to the centre of the canvas, then use a grunge brush from the Deharme Brushes set we downloaded as an eraser, work on the edge of the model. You will have the following effect:

Add the following adjustment layers as clipping mask to this model layer:

Black and White

Apply the following layer mask on this black and white adjustment layer to reveal the eyes:

and here is the effect:

Levels

Curves

Add some splatter effect around edge as shown below:

and paint some hair with the hair brush you download over the model’s face:

Step 3

We will add some abstract patterns into our image. I found this great ice texture image and thought I could do something with it. So let’s select a portion from the image:

Copy and paste the selection over to our document, place the layer below the original model layer and distort it as shown below:

Apply the following image adjustments to this layer:

Black and White

Levels

and here is the effect:

We can duplicate this layer once the reduce its size to a smaller scale, and move it to a lower position to add some variety to this abstract pattern:

We can use the set method to add another one of the left side, as shown below:

Step 4

We will apply some brush painting effect in this step. Use this brush from the Deharme Brushes we downloaded:

Paint some abstract pattern around as shown below:

Add some particle effect to the top and bottom of the model as shown below, make sure you use a soft eraser to fade the edges to create some depth for the image:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 5

We’re almost done! For final touches, we can flatten the image and duplicate the background layer, apply the following Oil Paint (CS6 only) filter on the duplicated layer:

Apply the following layer mask on this duplicate layers to reveal the original layer below:

Create a new layer mask on top and use a light blue soft brush to paint some blue colour over the face area as shown below, make sure you set the layer opacity to around 30% for this new layer:

Let’s add some more colors for the image with the following image adjustment layers:

Selective Color

Vibrance

and here is the effect so far:

We can further utilise the ice texture to create an overlay for our image. Go back to the ice texture image and select a piece, copy and paste the selection over to our document as shown below, make sure you place it in an angel like this:

Change the blending mode of this new ice layer to “Hard Light” and reduce its opacity to 60%:

and this is my final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy going through it and find it useful. Drop me a comment below if you have any question.