Create a Greek Sculpture Using Stock Photography and Photoshop
Tutorial Details
- Program: Adobe Photoshop CS+
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Estimated Completion Time: 2 - 3 Hours
Download Source Files
Final Product What You'll Be Creating
In today’s tutorial, we will demonstrate how to create a Greek sculpture using several stock images. We will then discuss how to add blood, cracks, and other elements to give it texture and depth. Let’s get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial.
Step 1
To start off, download Elegant Girl and open it with Photoshop.
First, isolate the image, you can use whichever method you like for this. I used the brush tool and a layer mask to isolate this photo (as well as all of the other stocks in the piece) but you should use whatever your most familiar with.
Step 2
Once you have isolated out the female we will need to isolate the Marble Bust.
Step 3
Now that we have our two main images, its time to start blending the two together. To do this we need to start off by creating a new document. So go ahead and press Cmd/Ctrl + N on your keyboard and set up the new document as I have done in the below screen shot.
Now drag and drop both of your stocks into the document. Create a duplicate of each layer (the bust you will need, the female just in case!). You will need to free transform them about 50% when doing this. To free transform them you will need to press Cmd/Ctrl + T on your keyboard.
When dropping the female in, free transform her (on top of the bust) so she fits about halfway up the bust as I have done in the below screen shot.
Step 4
Once both stocks are in and sized appropriately, make a selection around the female stock by holding Cmd/Ctrl and performing a Right Click with your mouse on the layer. Once that is done, invert the selection by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I on your keyboard.
Now erase away (on a layer mask) all of the bust that sticks out from behind our female stock.
Now switch back to your female stock layer. Once you have done that, grab a 400px soft edged eraser and erase away her edges too. Doing this will fade the statue into the female stock.
Step 5
Now grab your duplicate bust and drag the layer above the female layer. Once you have done that select the female, invert the selection as we have done before, and remove all of the new statue that is not covering her.
Now set this to an overlay layer and erase any of the edges that are still hard. If need be, use your clone stamp (50px soft edged) to fill up any areas your overlay layer did not, for instance the neck.
Step 6
Now merge all of your layers. Once this is done, we will desaturate the entire layer; to do this press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + U on your keyboard. Now that it has been desaturated we will fade this by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + F on our keyboards, fade the desaturation to about 40%.
Now repeat the above process, this time fading it as an overlay at 100%. Next we will add in a little bit of color. To add in color we will press Cmd/Ctrl + U on our keyboards. Set up your hue and saturation editor as mine is below.
Step 7
Now we can add in some more color. Make a new layer and fill it with purple, to create the new layer press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + N on your keyboards, then press G on your keyboard to grab the fill tool. Once you have filled the layer with purple, go ahead and make a selection around the statue (as we did before) and delete everything that is not covering that statue.
Set this layer to overlay at 20%.
Next we need to add some more color in. To do this we will head over to the Layer drop down menu and go to Adjustment layers – Photo filters, once you have clicked this a new dialog box should appear with a few presets we can choose from as well as the opacity or Density of the layer. We will click the drop down menu and choose sepia with a density of 25%. Then just press ok! Just leave this layer as a normal layer at 100% and we will continue.
Step 8
Now we will head over to Zen Textures and grab a nice Rocky Texture.
Now we want to drop this in and repeat the isolation process as before (removing everything that doesn’t cover the statue). Once you have done this set it to overlay at 15% and then duplicate it and set it to color. Once you have set it to color you might want to add a Gaussian blur with a radius of about 5px so you get a nice smooth transition.
Next we will enhance our shadows/highlights. To do this create a new layer (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + N) and then grab your brush tool. To enable your brush tool press B on your keyboard, once its enabled left click and set your brush up as mine is in the below screen shot.
Now press D on your keyboard, this will set your color swatches to black and white. Once you have done this just paint some black around the shadows and white around the highlights! Next apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 4px.
Now set the layer that we painted as an overlay. Depending on how much black/white you painted you may need to tone the opacity of this layer down, I kept mine at about 75%. Also be sure to erase anything that gets off of your statue! Now just merge all of your layers, to do this press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + E on your keyboard.
Step 9
Now we need to go ahead and choose our background image. We will use a stock of a Museum Gallery located at Shutter stock.
Place this stock into a 2000 x 3000 document and apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 9px.
Step 10
Now we can grab our final stock, the Greek Pillar. This is also located at Shutter Stock. Once you have the pillar stock isolate it out as you have done your previous stock images.
Now pull the pillar stock into our 2000 x 3000 canvas and then pull in the statue. Once both are in, align them as I have done in the below screen shot.
Step 11
Once everything is lined up nicely, go ahead and apply the same coloring techniques we applied to the female/bust to the pillar. This way everything will blend together nicely.
Step 12
Now grab a Gold Texture. We will use this gold texture to give the statue a name plate.
Once you have the texture and have dropped it onto your canvas, apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 4px as we have done prior. Once that is done all you need to do is free transform it into a tiny rectangle and clean off the edges with your marquee tool (M on your keyboard).
Step 13
To create the blood we will need to make a new layer. Once this is done enable your brush tool and set it up as mine is below.
If you have a tablet, in your brush settings, enable the size jitter and set it to brush pressure. Now just draw some lines on your statue.
Step 14
Next, we will draw some drips. To do this, draw a V like shape. The top of the V (the opening) will be where the drip meets the object (the statue) and the tip or point of the V will be the droplet. Once you have drawn a drip, set your brush settings as mine are so we can create some shadows/highlights.
Now that your brush is set up, just draw over the drip with your brush using black for shadows and white for highlights. If you’re having difficulty with this step you can adjust the opacity of the brush lower or use the burn and dodge tool. Now continue drawing drips for the rest of your statue. When doing so make sure all of your highlights and shadows face the same way!
Step 15
Using the same layer, we will now do some quick adjustments to the eyes. First off, set your brush back up to normal at 100% opacity and then set your color to white. Once that is done, make a slash in each eye to create a highlight. Once you have done that set your brush opacity back down to about 50% and using purple slightly cover the whites of her eyes.
Now we can draw more drips and blood lines coming from the eyes. This is the epicenter of the blood, so make sure it looks good here!
Once you’re satisfied with your drips, we will create a new layer and set it to overlay. Now using the same red that we used for the drips, we can paint some ‘blood stains’ on the statue.
My image now looks like the below image.
Step 16
Now repeat the blood process on the pillar.
Step 17
Once you’re done with your blood we can start adding in some Cracks to the pillar and statue.
Drop this stock onto a new document and desaturate it as we did before, this time however do not fade it. Now we will do a manual level edit. To do a manual level edit press Cmd/Ctrl + L on your keyboard. This will bring up a diagram showing three different triangles, set yours up as mine is in the below screen shot.
Our stock now looks like the below image.
Now using a 300px soft edged eraser go ahead and clean up the sides/edges of the stock. We could clean up the inside as well but any texture given off will be fine.
Once you have cleaned the crack up a bit, make a selection around it. We will now create a brush out of our stock. To create the brush make sure your stock is selected and click the Edit tab, once you have clicked the Edit tab select Define Brush Preset. Now just apply your brush to the statue/pillar.
When doing this it’s best to use more then one crack stock. I used several as shown below.
My image now looks like.
Step 18
Now we can repeat this process with a Spider Web stock to add some web effects.
Conclusion
To finish the piece off I merged it down, applied a color adjustment (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift+ B on your keyboard), sharpened it and sized it.
I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and have picked up a trick or two. Or at least came out with some ideas/an image you liked!
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I can’t wait to try this on my co-workers. What a thorough tutorial- I need help in photo manipulation so that images look as if they are from the same source, and this one should to the trick, thanks!
Nice simple techniques, but I wish these tutorials would stop using purchased stock photos…
The technique can be applied to any photograph – what difference does it make if the stock is paid for? It just means that you actually have to learn to apply the tutorials to whatever resources you have available.
The hairs, eyebrows and pupils should have been white if you look at photo references.
Agreed. This tutorial actually reminds me of one of the tuts from photoshop top secret dvds. The designer could have really used some shadows around the edges here. Just to give it more depth.
Seems like the face is too bright… And it looks too realistic to be a sculpture. Nice tutorial nonetheless.
Idea is good, composition looks good, detailing looks good, but the face…not so much. Could have spent more time making it look more like stone.
It’s a good tutorial, just needs to be taken a little further (or maybe a lot).
very nice tutorial :)
i would have tried to keep the neck similar to the “real” statue… it doesnt look classical enough this way. but its a tutorial, i wouldnt copy it 100% anyway
Hmm, I’ve seen way better tutorials, details are not good at all, just look at the shoulders of the sculpture, the sculpted wrinkles are simply flat, perspective is wrong, (check the windows in the background with the sculpture, it seems like it’s tilting over towards you), lightning is all wrong, the blood looks so unreal and the background is really too blurry… dof would have done the trick much better. What’s left is indeed the composition, but that’s about the only good thing in this, sorry …
Yeah, started off decent but, got kind of amateurish towards the end. You really should have finished up the detail on the head.
i like the idea very much, the tut is good enough for me to learn new stuff :) … the only things that i would have changed are :
bigger girl and smaller pillar, to see the girl better
and maybe a rock texture for the girl’s skin
anyway i like it!!!
Wow Fantastic i dead Dude , but i think the Blod is not Real !
ummm look at the eyes and you will know what i mean
Also the The background is not Good i hope you change it
anyway Good Work and i like it , i remember DVDS Photoshop Top Secret :D
I would say this is a good tutorial for beginners highlighting some basic PhotoShop techniques. The composition, however, looks a bit flat. If you could have worked in the original folds of the clothing back over the shoulders as well as the pendant it would give the image more depth. Right now it looks like a cut out thrown on top of a last minute background. I agree with the others that the face looks incomplete unless you were going for a statue/human hybrid. For all things considered though, it is a free tutorial so respect to the author for taking the time to create it.
Sorry, but there is a difference between “Greek Sculpture” and “Greek Sculpture inspired a (bit cheesy) goth styled photomanipulation” And these is the former one.
Amazing tutorial!
This was a very good tutorial – and the final outcome looks great! I just don’t really understand why you can use several stock images from Shutter Stock but contributors are not allowed to use iStock? Maybe I am missing something.
I love the outcome of this tutorial, keep up the good work
Good for you that you are not in Greece. Abusing ancient artwork is a federal offense over there.
Bad, really bad!
Nice tutorial. You showed us some useful techniques and ways to combine images and textures to create a decently polished photo manipulation.
And to those who complain about the finishing touches I’d say this: as with all tutorials, the idea is to introduce you to the concepts and techniques for you to take this and do something of your own with it. This tutorial accomplishes that nicely. If you didn’t like the “cheesy goth-styled photo manipulation” then leave that part out of it. Do something of your own on there instead. If you didn’t like the way the blood was done, do your own. Are there ways to improve this? Sure, but that’s the POINT. You’re not supposed to take this tutorial and do your own gothic-greek statue and slap it in your portfolio. You’re supposed to learn something new and apply that to your own work. If you see ways to improve it, then SHARE that instead of just nit-picking about how you didn’t like X or Y. Show some class, people.
Agreed 100%. A lot of these comments were downright nasty. Photoshop snobbery sickens me.
Yes. Down with constructive criticism! Boo, hiss, etc!
There are definitely things I can take from this tut, but I do have to agree and say that some techniques and the end result is a bit amateurish.
Very good tutorial, but there are some mistakes (in other meaning forgotten things), the greek status wasn’t colored at nor the hair neither the eyes, from my point of view, it would be better if the eye and the hair is gray. but still very very nice tut :)
Sorry guys: the original greek statues WERE colored. But, at this time, they are not. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1621108
Interesting article, thanks for posting. I’m not sure why you’re apologizing though. Don’t say sorry unless you really mean it.
Either way, the criticism about color still stands. This tutorial features a museum interior for a background, so the eyes and hair serve to diminish the finished product. A few more steps would have this image into fine shape.
Otherwise a decent tutorial.
Nice tutorial indeed. By the way, dont you just hate ppl that only say bad thing about other peoples work? If you dont like it, try to say positive things to make it better… or better yet, just make your own FREE tutorial site. One of the best attribute of a great designer is humbleness.
Saddens me to find haters everywhere…always nagging.
What makes me happy is the people appreciating it, or move on.
Peace.
Nice tutorial. I’ll give it a try and see if I can take the idea a little further.
I agree with Steph: stop using purchased stock! Not everyone can or will use images that they have to pay for, especially because there is so much free stock of excellent quality available. These tutorials are meant for everyone, not just the wealthy few. Besides, mentioning “Shutterstock” every 5 minutes sounds like hidden advertising to me. Do they pay you for it? :)
Like I replied to Steph, it doesn’t matter that the tutorial uses purchased stock. You can apply this to ANY photograph!
Try LEARNING rather than just copying.
Nice idea.
the head definetely doesn’t look like sculpture, and why is the difference in head between steps 8 and 10 so strange? in step 8 head has some color and in 10 it’s desaturated and it remains till the end…
the hair part doesnt look real sculpture
Wow!
This is very impressive!!!
Im gonna try this out later.
Thanks,
Zach
This tutorial is a meh… the face is to bright and the texture is not so stone like
bloody
i like this one alot , very good tutorial keep up
Hi , I’m Kevyn, i’m young photoshop user . I’m French and I would like translate this tutorial, give me rights to make it? (If you accept I will wrotten your name and parent link to your tutorial.)
Thanks, Bye :)
Kevyn, we don’t allow our content to be re-posted on any other site; in English or any other language.
- Psdtuts, Editor
Ok, thanks for your answer. I will make with other method. God work :)
Great tutorial for beginners. To Steph and others whinging about the use of Shutter stock images: My background and my pedestal were both different than that used by the author.
Also if you reached the point of applying the cracks you’d have noticed the author mentions using different pics to create brushes.
Peace
DAmn that is amazing
and hard a little bit , but it would be a great gift for someone :D :D :D
thank you for the nice tutorial :D ;)
:O duhhhhhh fucking not easy
Would be nice to learn how to manipulate the hair, eyebrows and eyes to look like the real deal but asides from that, I enjoyed this tutorial :)
Nice tutorial, i think it’s inspired from Photoshop Top Secrets, well i agree with Brat, i don’t like the background there is something wrong with it’s perspective, but you it’s good tutorials, it present some useful techniques, you can learn from it and try to make it better.
thx for the effort
keep it up
very nice
It’s really nicely you have done…good job.
This is a fantastic example of pure creativity.
I liked this tutorial and the concept a lot. I see some comments about what’s right and what’s wrong with the image and my comment to them is do your own however you want. I do a lot of tutorials to improve my skills and each time I go off script somewhere and end up with my own version using what I learned. That’s the way it is suposed to work :-) Good tutorial, thanks!!!!
Here is my results:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31003670&l=259eceb413&id=1495197280
veryyyyyyyyyyyy nice…. thank … very thanks
This is really an amazing tutorial! Shall experiment this on myself any time soon!
Amazing tutorial, I just think the neck is a little bit to long, but love the tutorial!
Look at the comments you JACK WIPES that wanna be rude, oh never mind I will just copy and paste
Conclusion
To finish the piece off I merged it down, applied a color adjustment (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift+ B on your keyboard), sharpened it and sized it.
I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and have picked up a trick or two. Or at least came out with some ideas/an image you liked!
yeah exactly so for you haters go do your own and have enough balls to post it. Then when people mouth yours you will know how it feels.
By the way I thought it have some good points will try and see what I come up with.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!!!
I think it looks really good. But It could use more of a stone look on the face and neck.
http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z380/Peter_Chesky/astatue.jpg
[IMG]http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z380/Peter_Chesky/astatue.jpg[/IMG]
Great Tutorial. Here is my idea…. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=234848&l=7e0a4f0823&id=100001414903937
thanks
good work :)
Hey love this tutorial…..and ive started trying it ///anways as described on Step 6…u said u have to merge all the layers and desaturate….
i have merged the layers but the Desaturate is not getting highlighted under Image-Adjustments tab,so hw am i gonna desaturate the image…pls help
I was trying it but got lost on step 5, LOL! I’m stupid!
hello!! it nice work. I’m Student art from Puerto Rico. I need of your Contact or your E-mail Address. I need some question about your work Joe.