Photoshop CS Timesaving Techniques For Dummies [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

previous section. The sampled color is actually stroked onto the empty layer above the image layer and noise layer shown in Figure 24-3. (If you haven’t prepared your image for painting, go back to “Preparing the Canvas” and follow the steps.) Time to get started!

Select the Smudge tool from the Toolbox.





Select the settings that you need on the Options bar.





Use the Mode drop-down list to select Normal.





Move the Strength slider 100%.





Enable the Use All Layers check box.





Make sure that the Finger Painting check box is unchecked.







Use the Brushes palette to select a brush tip.

You can use brushes from any of the brush libraries. (To find out how to load brush libraries and create custom brushes, turn to Technique 23.) If this is your first time painting in Photoshop, select a large, textured brush. One of my favorites is 100 Rough Round Bristle found in the default brush set. This brush gives big textured strokes.






With the empty painting layer selected, start stroking the canvas.

Keep your strokes small and follow the lines of the image with your strokes, as shown in Figure 24-4. For instance, if you’re trying to paint a leaf, stroke in the direction of the leaf’s veins. Pull any darker shaded areas up into lighter areas for contrast. You can always switch brushes if you need a smaller brush or one with a differently shaped tip. Also, a tablet and stylus can really come into their own. If you have a tablet, use it. You’ll be surprised at the good results.




Figure 24-4: As you stroke with the Smudge tool, the color from the image layer is painted onto the empty painting layer.








Tip

If your strokes don’t look right, or if you feel that you made a mistake, don’t worry! You can always undo the previous stroke by pressing Ctrl/z +Z or by using the History palette to move back a few history states. If after a while you’re really unsatisfied with your painting, you can always select the entire layer, and then choose Edit>Clear to start fresh with an empty layer.






Continue painting with the Smudge tool until you’re satisfied.

If you’re working on a small area, you can zoom in to see it more clearly. Also, if you’re working close up, open a second image window as described in Technique 5 to view your painting at actual size as you stroke the magnified image.







Tip

Use the Brush tool to add highlights to any areas that need special outlining or emphasis. Use the Eyedropper tool to select a highlighting color from the image and select a hard, small brush to perform the highlighting. You can stroke this highlighting onto the same layer that you’ve been painting on with the Smudge tool, or you can create a new layer above the painting layer just for highlights. I recommend this extra highlighting layer because you can always correct or add any highlights later without affecting the painting layer.