This is the second part of a three part tutorial on how to create an enchanting Ice Fairy. If you’ve missed the first part, don’t worry, the index to all three parts are listed below. We’ll see you back here in a bit.
Here’s the rest of the tutorial. Enjoy!
Step 48
Open a new 300 Resolution file with Width 1680 pixels and Height 1050 pixels. This will be the working canvas in which we place all our work.
Step 49 Open a background image of your favourite icebound scenery and move it to this new composition file. Go to Edit > Free Transform or press Ctrl + T to scale the image to your desired size and move it to the proper position.
Image ID: 5331486 © Moodboard 123RF.com
Step 50 Click and drag the Ice Fairy (“Layer 1”) to the composition file.
Step 51 Press Ctrl + T to transform the Fairy image.
Step 52 Base on your composition ideas, scale the image and place it to your desired position.
Step 53 Press Ctrl + J or drag “Layer 1” towards the New Layer icon to duplicate a layer. At the same time, disable the eye icon on “Layer 2” to make it temporarily invisible.
Step 54 Next, go to Filter > Artistic > Cutout.
Step 55 The setting for this Cutout effect is Number of Levels:8, Edge Simplicity:1, Edge Fidelity:1.
Step 56 Go to Filter > Noise > Median.
Step 57 Set the Radius to 3 pixels.
Step 58 Go to Filter > Artistic > Plastic Wrap.
Step 59 The Plastic Wrap effect setting is Highlight Strength:3, Detail:3, Smoothness:10.
Step 60 Change “Layer 1 copy” to Multiply mode and 70% of Opacity.
Step 61 Select “Layer 1” and “Layer 1 copy”.
Step 62 Press Crtl + E to merge layers.
Step 63 Press Ctrl + B to change color. My setting for this color balance effect is Shadows:-21,+13,+26; Midtones:-34,0,+12; Highlights:-21,+2,+10.
Step 64 Press Ctrl + J to duplicate a copy of “Layer 1 copy”.
Step 65 Go to Filter > Stylize > Find Edges.
Step 66 This is how it should look like after Find Edges effect.
Step 67 Change this layer to Multiply and Opacity to 60%.
Step 68 Click and hold Shift to select these two layers.
Step 69 Press Ctrl + E to merge these two layers together.
Step 70 Select “Layer 2” and press Ctrl + J to duplicate another layer.
Step 71 Go to Filter > Stylize > Find Edges.
Step 72 This is the effect after Find Edges.
Step 73 Change this layer to Multiply mode and Opacity to 38%.
Step 74 Select “Layer 2” and “Layer 2 copy” by pressing and holding “Shift”.
Step 75 Press Ctrl + E to merge the layers.
Step 76 Open a butterfly image. Press W to select Magic Wand Tool and click on the white background.
Image ID: 3733601 © Christian Musat 123RF.com
Step 77 Press Ctrl + Shift + I to inverse the selection of the white background.
Step 78 Go to Select > Modify > Feather Selection.
Step 79 Set the Feather Radius to 1 pixels.
Step 80 Press L to select Lasso Tool and press Alt to deselect unwanted areas except for its feelers.
Step 81 Ctrl + C to copy feelers and Ctrl + V to paste it to the layout.
Step 82 Press Ctrl + T to transform and activate the warp mode to bend the feelers.
Getting excited? Our Final tutorial here Creating an Enchanting Ice Fairy (Part 3) will complete this lovely image!