How to make puppete in photoshop

In this tutorial I am going to attempt to show you how to ‘puppetize’ Charlize from this…


…to this! Bear in mind that I used PSPv9 and that this is my first attempt at a tutorial!!!


Use this tutorial in conjunction with Jobigoud's mini-tut on joints: http://www.worth1000.com/stories/thread.asp?cid=29&eid=219537

The first step is to use your smudge brush at about 46% opacity and smooth out her skin, hair and teeth until they have a plastic look to them.

Now draw some oval shapes in the darker skin tones and place them on her joints…look at the angles of her joints to help you with the placing. Just keep adjusting them until they look right. Notice that I have some darker ovals and some lighter ovals…the lighter ovals are placed where I thought more light would fall.

Where you only have one oval on a joint, eg, the neck/chin, shoulders, elbows and wrists, you have to copy and paste these joints from your background over the top of your ovals and then erase as much as is needed until it looks as though there is a gap between the joint and the oval.

Now go to your background layer and using your clone tool, get rid of the bits of knee etc that you can still see behind the ovals.

After cloning, this is how your joints should look.

Now using your pen tool, draw in the lines that hold the joints together. I added a shadow to the knee lines for more effect.

Here you need to blacken her mouth and move her chin and lower lip down to give the full puppet effect. I also drew in two faint brown lines to define her chin/jaw more.

Next I airbrushed a lighter skin tone onto all of her body and gaussian blurred it until it looked right (you will have to play with this until you are satisfied with your result). I also added highlights to her hair in the same way. This gave Charlize more of the plastic puppet look that I was looking for.

Now draw in the dots/holes where you would like to attach the strings.

Using the pen tool, draw in your strings….and there you have it…all done!!! Good luck.

Robotic Frog in Photoshop

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you some of the steps I took in making this image


There are a number of tricks and techniques people use when making an image of this nature, but I am going to show how I created this image using only the very basic tools. The same principles and process can be used on any animals, even humans, but I'm going to use a frog for my example because why not?
The first thing I did was gathered a few source images.

Finding a great subject source image to start with is one of the most important stages in the whole process. The reason I chose this particular image of a frog was that it was crisp, clean image with an interesting enough perspective, yet still be instantly recognizable as a frog even after we cover him in mechanical parts.
Now that we have our main subject and a few mechanical pieces ready, let's begin mechanicalizing him.

I needed to extract the usable parts from my mechanical sources. Using the Lasso Tool, I roughly selected areas from my mechanical sources I figured I could use, and saved these parts into a new document for easy access later.

I tried to select segments of varying shapes, sizes, and texture in order to create a nice library of chrome and mechanical sources for our image

The first thing I needed to do was to assemble the basic structure of the figure. Taking segments one by one, I started the assembly process of the actual robot figure. After pasting a segment of chrome onto our frog, we need to shape it. Using the Transform - Distort Tool, I transformed and skewed the segment in order to fit the contours of the frog's head. Making sure to always follow the curves and contours of the frog in order to help keep the familiar recognizable shape of the original frog.


Now we need to cover more space using the same basic idea. By selecting basic segments from our chrome sources and free transforming them to fit the shape of our frog. Select segments of your mechanical parts that best resemble the area of the frog you're trying to cover. It may help you to start by applying the pieces furthest most from the camera first, then overlap pieces as you come closer and closer to the camera. At this point i'm not worried about covering the background or overlapping any of the original frog, as we can go back and add them in again later. For now I just want to lay down the basic structure of the figure.

In order to create the mouth area, I needed to do something slightly different. I found a chrome pipe area on one of our chrome source pictures. I decided to use this segment for the mouth, as it was a nice long piece of chrome that I could transform into the shape of the mouth. I copied and pasted this segment onto our frog and Free Transformed it roughly in place until I was happy enough with the positioning of it. I also added this segment onto the head of our figure to create a median point on the figure.


Next, all I had to do was fine tune and clean up the pieces to sit right on our figure. I did this simply by using the Smudge Tool set at 70-80% in strength, and about 7-10 pixels wide. Then I proceeded to smudge and smooth out the surfaces of the chrome pipe and mold them to fit the curves and contours of the frog's original mouth.

When I'm satisfied with the positioning of all the mechanical pieces, the next step was to apply some highlights and shadows to separate the segments a little better. I started with the shadows. Using the Brush Tool set at 100% opacity, I painted in the black shadows on a new layer directly underneath each chrome segment layer. Next, I took the Smudge Tool set at 60-70% pressure and smoothed out the shadows. Following the contours of the underlying pieces, I shaped the shadows. The shadows should give our figure more depth and help to isolate each segment a little better


Next, in order to further accentuate the shadows, we're going to add some simple highlights. Again by using the Brush Tool (this time set to white) set at 100% opacity, I painted in some basic highlights on the edges and areas I figured could use a little further bump in contrast on a new layer directly above each piece of our chrome layers.

Then just like the shadows, I then took the Smudge Tool set at 60-70% pressure to smooth and shape out our highlights to fit the curves of our figure.

You may still notice some remnants of the original frog showing on the edges of the figure. This can be easily cleaned up with a little work using the Clone Tool. At this point, it'll be a good idea to hide all our layers except for our background layer. Create a new layer directly above your original frog image. With the Clone Tool selected, make sure you have the "select all layers" box selected. Hold the "alt" key and select an arbitrary area of the background to copy. Then it's all a matter of cloning the background in.

In order to make the image look even more interesting, I decided to create the illusion of the frog's skin being pulled away to reveal the robot. On a new layer above our background, I roughly painted the insides of the opened skin. Using the Brush Tool set at 100% opacity set to a brown, skin-toned color, I mapped out the area our skin would cover


Next, I wanted to give the skin some shadow. Selecting a darker shade of our original skin color, I roughly painted in the shadows. Then, using the Smudge Tool set at 60-70% pressure, I smoothed out the shadows just (as in Step 07) until I was happy with the general placement and shape of the skin

I then wanted to add some of the original skin from the frog to form the outside of the skin as well. I opened the original frog image in a new File for easy access. Using the Lasso Tool, I selected edges of the frog's original skin to copy. I copied this selection and pasted it on to our robofrog document. Using the Transfrom-Distort Tool, I transformed the skin to follow the direction of the skin "pull". And like we did in our earlier steps, I proceeded to add slight shadows and highlights to the skin to further accentuate the "pull" effect.

For the skin flaps on the arms, I did something different. First I selected the original arm and copied it onto a new layer. Then using the Smudge Tool set at 80-90% pressure, I smudged and drew in the direction of the skin and folds of the skin. Then, using darker and lighter shades from the original skin, I drew and smudged in shadows and highlights again as in the previous steps


When I was happy with the look of the skin, the next step was to go back and return some of the orginal rough skin texture from the original skin. I did this by copying an area of the original frog skin and pasting it on a new layer directly on top of our Arm Skin layer.

I then set this layer with the "overlay" Blend mode. This gives our skin the rough texture. I then erased the edges of the overlay skin layer so as it covers only the necessary areas

Next, I wanted to make the chrome look even more like chrome. By adding reflections from surrounding elements, I hope to add some more realism to the chrome. I did this by copying layers of surrounding elements and forming them to create an illusion of reflection.

For example, as in the image above, I started by Duplicating the layer with the metal valve. I then set the opacity of this layer to 50% then using the Transform-Distort Tool, I shaped and formed the element to fit onto the shoulder chrome segment. I used this same method for other surrounding areas like the leaf and areas where the skin overlaps a chrome segment.

Finally, I needed something to hold up the frog's skin. I decided to use a couple of dragonflies for this effect. After finding a good image of a dragonfly, it was then all a matter of extracting him from the original file and pasting him onto a new layer in our working document.

I added the Motion Blue filter to the winged areas of the dragonflies to simulate motion.


And voila! Our image is complete! A robotic frog created using only the very basic tools of photoshop!

Creating a sexy mechanical pinup in Photoshop

Photoshop is great tool for combining several images into a scene that can’t always be created in real life, like an android. In this tutorial I will teach you how to manipulate body parts, create depth from missing pieces and also how to integrate gears and engines to make an sexy mechanical pinup.

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Stocks

1. Engine 1
2. Engine 2 by D_R_F
3. TATRA engine
4. Car engine by jlburgess
5. Automotive 1

Step1: Model Isolation

Open your model stock image, I’ve used this beautiful model photo form Shutterstock

Select the pen tool (P) and slowly draw a path a long the silhouette of the body. Make a selection and invert it (CTRL+SHIFT+I) then press delete. We are going to do some heavy cutting to the original body, it’s better if we have our object isolated so we can create a backup layer of the model in case we make some mistake.
Note: Do you are a newbie who doesn’t know how to extract objects from their background? Check out our tutorial on this matter: 6 techniques to extract anything from its background.

Step2: Background

Create a new layer behind the model and fill it with white, this will be our background. Now we can add some shading and texture. To do so, double-click on the layer thumb to bring up the layer styles menu; check the “Gradient Overlay” box and use the following settings.

The background still looks a bit plain, so we can add some grain using the noise filter.
Create a new layer on top of the background and fill it with black. Go to Filter > Noise > Add noise, use an Amount of 40%, set the distribution to “Uniform” and check the “Monochromatic” box. Change this layer blending mode to screen. Below you can take a look at how your canvas should look.

Step3: Body cutting

Now we are going to start cutting the pieces of the body which we will fill with the machinary and engine parts. Grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw an oval shape around the lower part of the model’s body, make a selection (ctrl+enter) and delete it.

Do the same for the left arm.

Step4: Body Filling

Now we create the effect of depth on the model’s body for the missing chunks. First take the Eyedropper Tool (I) and sample midtone, highlight and shadow colors from the skin of the model.

Create a new layer under the model, take the Pen tool and draw again an oval shape around the lower part of the body. This will be the surface part of the waist. Fill that shape with the midtone color and use that color as a base to paint shadows and highlights on the surface in order to blend them and make the effect look realistic.

Make a new layer, just above the layer of the waist, select the two layers and then ALT+CLICK between the thumbnails into the layers panel in order to create a clipping mask. Take a large soft rounded brush and sample a highlight on the body skin (ALT+CLICK while using the brush tool to sample color), or use the color previously selected. Now, according to the light on the body, make some smooth strokes around the lighter parts of the waist. Repeat the previous step for the shadows (take a look at the image below to understand how to add shadows and hihlights).
When you are satisfied, add some noise to the clipped layer with an amount of 3% (this will give a textured effect to the skin).

Repeat the same for the arm.

Step5: Body Holes

In this step we are going to create the spaces, inside the body, where the gears will be contained.
Create a new layer above the waist layer and take the Pen tool then draw a smaller oval shape inside the waist and fill it with black. Now, using again the pen tool, cut and paste a piece of the upper part of the oval shape and align it with the main shape. This little piece will be the edge of the hole. See the pictures below to understand better how to create the shapes which will contain the mechanical parts of the android.


Add the Layer style to the edge of the hole, in order to create a shiny metallic edge, using a reflected Gradient overlay and Satin with the following settings:



Repeat the same now for the arm.

Create an edge for the opposite side, just below the stomach of the model.

Step6: Gears

Now we are going to place all the gears and parts of engines that will compose the robotic part of the body.
Download and drag this engine image, place it on your document and resize it. Then rotate it, as shown, so it matches the position of the hole. Make a selection of the hole (CTRL+CLICK on the layer thumbnail) and add a layer mask on the engine stock. This will erase anything outside the circle.

Now add a new layer, just above the layer which contains the engine parts, and then create a clipping mask (it will be useful to paint some shadings and shadows).
Using a soft rounded brush tool and black color to paint some shading, it sjould look like the machinary is fading away inside the body.

Take this engine image and extract it from the background using the Pen tool. Be very careful and patient while you do it, a really detailed extraction makes more believable the final result.
This engine will be the base of the metallic spine. Resize it and place it over the first engine picture. Delete the lower part of the image that falls out of the hole. Then create a new layer and use the same technique, previosly seen, to add a realistic shadow to the last layer.

Extract the piston from its background in this photo. Resize it and go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness and contrast then apply the following settings:

Flip the image horizontal and place it on top of the engine, then paint a shadow.
Now, to form the spine shape, duplicate the piston several times. Rotate and resize each one a little to simulate the way the ‘backbone’ should be bent.


For the arm, I’ve extracted one piece of cable from the first engine image:

Drag the cable whitin the two pieces of the arm and erase the parts that fall outside the hole. Then add a new layer and with the help of the Brush tool paint the shadow.

Step7: Details

Cut a circle in the chest using the Eliptical Marquee tool and mask out the arm. Repeat the same tecnhiques of the previous steps to add the gears on the chest. I’ve used this image to obtain the following result:

I’ve also added a little detail on the finger. The tube is a piece from the first engine image.

For the head we can use this image, you can add a metallic edge on the bottom of the engine as shown.

Below you can take a look at the final result.