How to Create a Painted Pet

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PHOTO EFFECTS

How to Create a PaintedPet Portrait Effect inAdobe Photoshopby Kirk Nelson 23 Jan 2015 11 Comments

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What You'll Be Creating

Pet portraits are are great way to add a creative flair to a snapshot of your beloved

fur-covered companion. Crafting a hand-painted portrait may seem intimidating and

the type of project only an accomplished artist should attempt. But Photoshop's

smudge brush makes the process so easy that even a beginner can achieve


stunning results. In this tutorial I will walk you through the process of touching up a

photo to be fit for a pet portrait, and then show you how to use transform it into a

hand-painted masterpiece. It's easy and it's fun!

This tutorial is one part of a larger set of instructions for the course: Creative Photo

Effects in Adobe Photoshop.


1. Prepare the Photo

Just transforming any photo into a painted portrait will often produce merely

mediocre results. This is because photos frequently contain the natural chaos of the

real world, whereas painted imagery usually depicts an idealized version of reality.

This separation between realism and idealism is subtle but important. Paintings are

intentionaleach stroke of paint is placed for a reason. Photos capture how the

world truly appears, whether it is picturesque or not.

The best results from any photo to painting process must take this into account.

Then the starting photo almost always requires a bit of editing before beginning the

painting process.

Step 1Begin by using the Download Attachment link to retrieve the starter image,

animals-3.jpg. Open the file in Photoshop and notice that there are a number of

things about it that don't fit an idealized, painted version of this puppy. The straps

hanging down into frame, and even the chair leg draw attention away from the

focus.


Step 2.Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) to create a rough selection around the chair leg.

Then go to Edit > Fill and set the Contents to Content-Aware.


Hit OK and Photoshop fills in the selected pixels with new pixels derived from the

background to remove the chair from the image!


Use the same process to remove the straps from the top of the photo as well. When

finished, be sure to cancel any selection with Select > Deselect (Control -D).

Step 3Use the Spot Healing Brush Tool (J) to remove smaller blemishes and spots that


could be distracting if smudged. In the case of our photo, there are a few spots on

the nose that can be cleaned up.


Step 4Add a new layer called Eye Black and use the Brush Tool (B) to softly darken the

outsides of the eyeballs. It may appear disconcerting now, but the final result will be

worth it.


Step 5Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw out a crescent shape for one iris. Use a soft brown

color for the fill ( #c07c3e ). The shape ultimately will be softened in the smudging

process, so don't be overly worried about getting the shape perfectly correct.


Step 6We will use a combination of Layer Styles to give the iris shape a more natural

appearance. Double-click the Eye Shape layer and add the following style settings.

Add a Inner Shadow style with these settings:

Use Global Light is unchecked

Angle: -79

Size: 10 pixels


Add an Inner Glow style with these settings:

Opacity: 53%


Source: Center

Choke: 15%

Size: 8 pixels


Add a Pattern Overlay style with these settings:

Blend Mode: Luminosity

Opacity: 48%

Pattern: Streaks

Scale: 65%


Then finally add a Drop Shadow layer style with these settings:

Blend Mode: Screen


Color: #d79356

Uncheck Use Global Light

Angle: -119

Distance: 4 pixels

Size: 4 pixels


The final result should be an iris that looks considerably more lifelike.


Step 7Use the Move Tool (V) and hold down the Alt key to drag a copy of the iris shape to

other eye.


Step 8Paintings usually contain more saturated colors than photos. Go to Layer > New

Adjustment Layer > Vibrance. Set the Vibrance to +88 to give the photo deeper

color saturation.


Step 9The nose could use some additional pink hue. Go to Layer > New Adjustment

Layer > Hue/Saturation. Check the Colorize box and use these settings:


Hue: 359

Saturation: 33

Lightness: -13


Step 10


Click on the mask thumbnail for the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to target it.

Then go to Edit > Fill and choose Black for the Content to fill the mask with black

and hide the colorization effect.


Step 11Grab the Brush Tool (B) and double-click the Foreground Color Chip. Set the

color to White. Right-click to get the Context Brush Panel. Select the Soft Round

brush preset, and set the brush Size to 40 px and the Hardness to 50%.


Now use the brush to paint the colorization effect back onto the dog's nose. Be sure

you are still targeting the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer's Layer Mask. The

reduce the Opacity of the adjustment layer to 68%.


Step 12Now let's enhance the blue color of the carpet. Add another Hue/Saturation

adjustment layer. Change the Color Channel drop-down menu to Blues and make

the following settings:


Hue: -29

Saturation: +60

Lightness: +21


Step 13Select all the layers by going to Select > All Layers (Alt-Control-A) and convert

them all into a smart object by going to Layer > Smart Objects > Convert to

Smart Objects. Rename the layer to Pet Portrait Retouch.


Step 14The smudging process works best if the finer details are removed from the image

first. Go to Filter > Blur > Smart Blur and use these settings.


Radius: 2.0

Threshold: 50.0

Quality: High


Step 15Go to Filter > Liquify and use the Bloat Tool. Size the brush to be just slightly

larger than the dog's eye and just click a few times to gently increase the size of the

eyeball. Do this for both eyes.


Step 16The nose looks slightly lopsided at the moment. While still in the Liquify window,

use the Forward Warp Tool (W) to adjust the nose shape and make the crease of

the nose more vertical.


2. Smudge Basics

Now that photo is touched up and ready to be transformed into a painting, we need

to setup the Smudge Tool to properly smudge the pixels. There's an interesting

quirk about the smudge brush in that it tends to ignore low transparency settings on

layers. Some see this as a bug, but we will exploit it as a feature to assist in

creating the painting effect.

Step 1Reduce the photo layer Opacity to 15%. This should make it barely visible. Then

add a new layer over the photo named Basic Smudge.


Step 2Select the Smudge Tool. If you don't see it, hold down the mouse button on the

Blur Tool until you get the tool flyout, and select the Smudge Tool from there. In


the Options Bar, open the Brush Selection flyout and click on the gear icon near

the top right. Select the M Brushes from the list.


When prompted, choose to Append the brushes to your list or brush presets.


Step 3In the Brush Preset panel, scroll down to near the bottom of the list where the new

brushes were added. Select the Soft Oil Pastel brush and set the Size to 36 px.

Then in the Brush panel, engage the Shape Dynamics and make the following

settings.

Size Jitter Control: Pen Pressure (if you are using a pressure sensitive

graphics tablet; otherwise ignore this setting)

Angle Jitter Control: Initial Direction


Engage the Transfer property and make the following settings.

Strength Jitter Control: Pen Pressure (if you are using a pressure sensitive

graphics tablet; otherwise ignore this setting)


Step 4Here's the real magic of this technique. Using the Smudge Tool with the Sample

All Layers option engaged means that the tool will pull the pixel information from

the underlying layer, even though that layer is nearly invisible. The tool disregards

the opacity setting and "sees" it as fully opaque.


So brushing along the image will produce smudge brush strokes that pull the pixel

colors from the photo, without actually painting on the photo!


colors from the photo, without actually painting on the photo!

So follow along the natural flow of the fur to capture the main features of the dog.

Be attentive to the natural contours and don't brush against them.


Step 5Add a new layer called Background Smudge just over the photo layer. This will be

the layer for painting all the non-focal areas of the painting.

The only difference in painting the background area is the brush size. It should be


considerably larger to produce paint strokes that contain less detail. I suggest a

Size somewhere between 200 px and 250 px.


Step 6Continue the smudge painting for the background elements. Along the edges of the

main brush strokes, be careful to brush in towards the edge, not away, or you can

inadvertently smudge the original strokes out further.

pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API3. Detailed Smudge Work


Now that the basic smudge painting is done, it's time to turn attention to the finer

details. This is what really helps make the piece look like a painting and not a

simple filter job. Some of the features, like the nose and eyes, could use quite a bit

of attention to refine the details.

Step 1Hide the Basic Smudge and Background Smudge layers. Add a new layer above

them called Smudge Details. Set the photo layer's Opacity up to 75%. Set the

Smudge Tool's Strength to 75% and reduce the Size to around 20 pixels. Then

carefully trace over the finer details of the nose to create a sharper smudged

version of it.


Step 2Turn off the Sample All Layers option and engage the Finger Painting option. This

feature deposits paint onto the canvas first, and then smudges that paint. Set the

paint color to Black, reduce the brush Size to 10 pixels and tighten up the dark

areas around the irises. Change the color to a light orange #a86f2d and add a

bright area to the iris shape near the bottom left.


Step 3Turn off the Finger Painting option and engage the Sample All Layers option.

Reduce the brush Size down to 5 pixels and use short strokes radiating out from

the pupil to create a bit of texture in the iris area.


Step 4Use the Finger Painting option again to add some white spots of specular

reflection opposite the bright area of the iris. These small gleams give the

impression that the eyes are wet and alive.


Be sure to complete both eyes using the same techniques. Be attentive to the light

direction so the eyes appear to be lit by the same light source.

Step 5.To give the fur a more realistic fur texture, let's create our own brush just for that

purpose. Go to File > New and create a document that has a Width of 100 px and

a Height of 100 px at 300 dpi.


Use the Soft Round brush preset with a Size of 5 pixels to create several small

spots in a tight, but random pattern.


Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset and name the brush Fur Brush. This brush

preset will now be available at the bottom of your Brush Preset library. The brush

file can be closed without saving.


Step 6Go back to the main project file and the Smudge Tool. Use the newly created Fur

Brush for the tip. Reduce the Size to around 25 pixels. Set the Strength to 75%.

Engage the Sample All Layers check box. Turn Off the Finger Painting option.

Add a new layer for Fur Smudge, and gently stroke out across the transition areas

to create the impression of fine tufts of fur.


While smudging the fur, you will likely find that the brush tip needs to be rotated to

get a better angle. The easiest way to do this is to right-click to open the Context

Brush panel and use the Rotation Widget.


Step 7Next create a new layer for Single Strands. Use the Soft Round brush tip with a


Size of 4 pixels, disable the Sample All Layers option, and engage the Finger

Painting option. Set the Strength to 95% and the paint color to a light grey

#dfdbd8 . With very swift, smooth strokes, draw out individual strands for the

whiskers, eyebrow hair, and even a few pieces of ear hair.


4. Finishing Touches

The primary painting stage is complete at this point. You are almost done! The only

thing left is a handful of finishing effects. These are not required, but they do add a

final level of polish to an already great piece!

Step 1Add a new layer named White just over the photo layer. Use the Edit > Fill

command to fill it with white.


Step 2Add another new layer to the top of the layer stack called Edge Smudge. Use the

Soft Oil Paint brush tip again with Size set to 150 pixels, and the Sample All

Layers option engaged. Be sure to turn off the Finger Painting option. Proceed to

smudge around the transition between the painted area and the white background.


The result should be a surrounding edge that looks much softer and more painterly.


Step 3Create a merged layer by holding down the Alt key while going to Layer > Merge

Visible. Rename the resulting layer Merge. Set the Blending Mode to Soft Light to

pop the colors, and reduce the Opacity to 50% to pull the effect down a bit.


Step 4Add a new layer named Canvas above the Merged layer. Use the Edit > Fill

command again, but select 50% Grey from the Content menu. Then change the

layer's Blending Mode to Overlay and the grey fill becomes completely invisible.


Step 5Go to Filter > Filter Gallery and open the Texture folder. Select the Texturizer filter

and use the following settings:

Texture: Canvas

Scaling: 132%

Relief: 4

Light: Top

pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF APIThis provides a subtle canvas texture to the painting, which enhances the illusion of


This provides a subtle canvas texture to the painting, which enhances the illusion of

the piece being an actual painting, and not a filtered photo.


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Step 6The canvas should have an off-white color to be more realistic. Double-click on the

Canvas layer to open the Layer Style dialogue box. Add a Color Overlay style with

the following settings.


Blend Mode: Multiply

Color: #fff9e8


and here's the final effect!


Want More?

Think this project was a lot of fun and eager to learn about other techniques for

creative photo painting in Photoshop? This project is just one of several covered in

the Creative Photo Effects course here at Tuts+. Check out the full course to learn

about the Oil Paint filter, the Mixer Brush Tool, and even how to create your very

own custom Painting panel!

As a final treat, here's a time lapse video of this Pet Portrait Project, for your

enjoyment!


Suggested Tuts+ Course

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Difficulty:

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Length:

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About Kirk Nelson

I have been working as an all aroundgraphics geek or Visual InformationSpecialist for the past 17 years around the

Washington DC Metro area. With my careerspanning across almost every aspect of the designindustry, I have worked from web design, to 3danimation, to logo design, to photo retouching.

Creative Photo Effects in AdobePhotoshop

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scatmack 2 months ago

Thank you so much!Time flew by in the blink of an eye!I sat here listening to music for 3 hours and just slowly painting the dog!

I was so focused, that I missed you not painting everything and leaving out the background.In the end I didn't want to change it because that was the work I put in :)

Keep up the work!Greetings from Germany :)

1

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Kirk Nelson 2 months ago> scatmackSpectacular! Great work scatmack. I completely understand what you mean about losing track of time withthis. I often find these type of painting projects to be wonderfully therapeutic!

Thanks for sharing your result.

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mysun 2 months ago

Amazed

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Carlo 2 months ago

do you think it will work good also if the object is a human? TIA

Reply

Kirk Nelson 2 months ago> CarloHi Carlo,

Yes, it will. The brush work is slightly different due to lack of fur, but the process is the same. Here's one I didusing the same techniques.

2

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Carlo 2 months ago> Kirk Nelsonnice, I also want to create one...thanks for sharing your works :)

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chen wei 2 months ago

Wow, really good. I come from China, thanks for sharing, let me find pleasure.

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duken 2 months ago

Hola estaba realizando este tutorial pero quede en este paso si alguien lo entiendo podran ayudarme por favor.

Please understand this step could help me please

Reply

Kirk Nelson 2 months ago> dukenHi duken, I'm happy to help, but I'm afraid I cannot speak Spanish, are you able to converse in English? Isuspect there may be some confusion in the translation of the step instruction.

1

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duken 2 months ago> Kirk NelsonSeriously you can help me, I am interested in finishing this tuts and the translation of tyraductor wouldhelp me to google but do not know where to reach you Might kirk by facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/duken...

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Kirk Nelson 2 months ago> dukenHi duken,I sent you a message on facebook, I'm happy to try to help you with this.

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How to Create a Painted Pet