THE TREE TUTORIAL.

Some people have asked me how I do my pictures and I will try to explain some things here. First I want to say that I'm almost completely self-taught in Photoshop. Some friends that I have say that I work in a very odd or funny way. But I don't think there is a right or wrong way. This is the way I think is the easiest way for me to draw since I can't draw by hand very well. If you have any comment or questions about this don't hesitate to ask. I will explain how I make an easy but beautiful tree. (This technique can be used for many things you want to draw). Down under the text I'll show you a picture of my workflow.

1. Open Photoshop and create a new document. Add a new layer and draw one big leaf over the whole picture. (It really doesn't have to be perfect). Use the Burn tool and the Dodge tool to create highlights and shadows on the leaf to get volume in it. (You may have to practise this a bit). I often make a lot of details as veins and textures on the leaf now, using the same tools. But it not necessary since we're going to reduce the size. When you are ready, reduce the size to about 1/5 of the original size. (Notice that Burn and Dodge tool have 3 options if you right click with it in the working area. Experiment with them and learn how they deferens).

2. Now we duplicate the leaf. Hold down alt/option and move the leaf with the move tool. (This is the fastest way). Now you have an identical copy but since no leaf is exactly the same we need to alter it a bit.

3. Press Ctrl - T, and there should be a rectangle with small handles, around the leaf. Hold down Ctrl and grab one of the handles with your mouse and drag it to alter the shape. Double click in the rectangle when ready.

4. Now press Ctrl - U, to reach Hue and Saturation or Ctrl - B for colors. Drag the sliders to change the colour very slightly. When you feel that it okay, press OK.

5. Merge the layer with the 2 leafs and duplicate once again. Choose the layer under the top layer (by clicking on that layer in the Layer palette) and press Ctrl - U. Take the lower slider and drag it as far to the left as you can. The leafs should now be black. You can alter the shape again in the same manor as we did on point 3 if you like.

6. Use the filter Gaussian blur (Filters/Blur/Gaussian blur). Don't use to high value. Adjust the shadow so that it falls in right angle and if you want you can lower the opacity by drag the slider. You find it down to the right on the Layers palette. Merge the 2 layers. (Be careful so you don't merge the leaf layer to the background).

7. Repeat the previous actions (2-5) for as many time you like. Try not to place the leafs in such order that it looks like tiles. And Voila' the foliage for the tree is ready.

You can do the trunk for the tree an exactly the same way but sometimes you want to "bend" it a bit. If you do you could use the filter Shear (Filters/Distort/Shear). Good luck with the trees and remember that the trees will be better and better the more you practice.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Copyright: Kenneth Olsson.

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