A Work in Progress: Atlas and the Tennis Ball



This guide was made for entry:
Atlas and the Tennis Ball
In Contest:
tennis ball


Original image


step 1 of 22

Cut atlas out from the museum background.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 1
sources used for this step:

step 2 of 22

Made a stone texture from a part of Atlas' arm.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 2

step 3 of 22

Inserted the tennis ball into the image, desaturated it, then overlay-patterned it with the stone texture from step 2.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 3

step 4 of 22

Painted a shadow over the ball on a clipping mask layer, then made an an adjustments layer over the ball and darked it with curves.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 4

step 5 of 22

Selected, and copied the head onto a seperate layer.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 5

step 6 of 22

...did the same for the cape.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 6

step 7 of 22

Began coloring things in with colorize/hue adjustments. Gave the body layer (the untouched original layer) a flesh tinge, the tennis ball, a lime-green, and the robe, a red color. Now selecting the face with an inverted freeze mask.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 7

step 8 of 22

Finished coloring everything in. The beard is a light brown, the eyes, grey with a blue tinge, and the face, the same color as the body. Finally, added a bit of shadow to the ball on a seperate masked layer, using a soft brush.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 8

step 9 of 22

Adjusted lighting a bit more.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 9

step 10 of 22

Took the photo of the Parthenon.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 10
sources used for this step:

step 11 of 22

Put atlas on the Parthenon background and added a few duplicated layers with overlay over the Parthenon, strengthening it.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 11

step 12 of 22

Here's where the tiny details come in: with two curve adjustment layers, on dark and one bright, I masked both and filled in the mask, then painted over the mask in minute areas to bring out either shadows or highlights. I learned this technique from this excellent tutorial: http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photo-effects-tutorials/how-to-turn-humdrum-photos-into-cinematic-portraits/

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 12

step 13 of 22

Finished curves adjustments painting.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 13

step 14 of 22

Added a gradient map on a clipping mask over Atlas.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 14

step 15 of 22

Set the gradient to overlay.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 15

step 16 of 22

On a new, merged copy of Atlas, I use glowing edges and levels to get the shown result.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 16

step 17 of 22

Set the glowing edges layer to overlay and 14% transparency. The resulting effect is subtle, but visible.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 17

step 18 of 22

Here, I made a merged copy of the parthenon layers, erased most of it (leaving just the top part as shown in the picture) and brought levels up to max. This will be the first step in creating the light beams.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 18

step 19 of 22

Now, on the max-levels parthenon copy, I used zoom blur and desaturated. This effectively gives the look of some light beams. Light beams are moved slightly into the corner.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 19

step 20 of 22

Here, I once again made another merged copy of the Parthenon and used the Luce filter (link provided) to added some more light beams over it. Using a soft eraser, I deleted all of the new beams except for those joining with the ones I made in step 18-19.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 20
sources used for this step:

step 21 of 22

Went over the beams a few times with a very large, transparent white brush, and added a subtle spotlight to the Parthenon.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 21

step 22 of 22

Some final shading to the overal image, especially the ball.

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Step 22

Final result

Creation of Atlas and the Tennis Ball: Final Result

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