This image was created using Photoshop 7; PS 6 offers adjustment layers but users of previous versions, and some other apps, will have to work around the use of adjustment layers, Ill offer an alternative solution at the conclusion.
Its actually a relatively simple image to construct, a lot of sleight of hand using subtleties to fool the eye.
Take a look at our finished layers palate to get a feel for the depth of the image.
And lets jump right in.
First off, lets double click on the Background layer and rename it Original.
Drag that layer onto the page icon at the bottom of the Layers Palate to duplicate it, double click on the new layer and name it Cloned.
Then Click on the folder icon to create a new layers folder, double click on it and name it Background. Drag both of our layers into the Background folder. Do this by dragging each layer icon onto the folder icon.
They should stack in their original order, if not; you can reorder them as usual. Now save your working document.
Make the Cloned layer active, select the clone tool with a 20 to 35 pixel soft brush (according to taste) and clone over the frogs right eye.
Dont worry about getting some of his head too, just make sure the shadows and the wood look smooth and natural.
Duplicate the Original layer, name it No Eyes and put it above the Cloned layer.
With the No Eyes layer selected, click on the layer mask icon (gray box with a white circle) to apply an empty mask to that layer.
Click on the layer mask to activate it and paint with a hard edged black brush to mask out the right eye.
Get in there with the zoom and use small brushes (around 2 to 3 pixels) to get a nice clean forehead.
Just press x on your keyboard to switch to a white brush if you want to undo any masking.
Save File.
Now click on the No Eyes layer (so youre no longer working on the mask) and select the clone tool with a 20 to 35 pixel soft brush.
Clone over his left eye, set your clone source to a part of his body that has similar texture and color. You dont want to clone directly from his nose; youll get an obvious pattern.
You might even lower the clone tools opacity and use smaller brushes at the end to gently cover any seams around the edges.
Goal: smooth, realistic transition.
Alright, weve got a nice eyeless frog now. Thats even a pretty good mutation, but were going big!
OK, lets hide the Cloned and No Eyes layers momentarily. Now make Original the active layer and activate the rectangular Section tool.
Make a selection around the right eye with plenty of extra room around its edges; copy and paste. This will paste a copy of the right eye and its surrounding skin onto a new layer.
Click on the Original layer and make a similar selection around the left eye. Copy and paste. Name each new layer Left Eye and Right Eye respectively.
*** Note on eye layer names: I named the eyes according to the frogs perspective. ***
Make a new layer Folder and name it Eyes. Drag the two eyes layers into the eyes folder.
Position the eyes roughly where theyll sit at the end of the eye stalks. Then link the layers and makes the eyes smaller with the free transform tool (Ctrl+T); hold Shift when scaling to retain proportions. Unlink the layers and reposition the eyes again.
Slap an empty mask on each layer and mask out the pixels you dont need.
*** The illustration has an intentionally dark background to highlight the masking that is being done. ***
Make a copy of the No Eyes layer and rename it Right Stalk.
Drag this layer into the Eyes folder beneath the eyes layers.
Apply the mask on the layer (right click on the layer mask and click on Apply Layer Mask.)
Leave both eye layers visible for reference.
Use a soft clone tool to create a rough approximation of the eye stalk.
This is the artistic part, set your clone source to a texture around the legs so you can get curves and textures you might envision on the stalk.
Try to get some nice patterns and, again, strive for realism, no seams. This may seem a little tough because youre really just making a big blotch up there but you can come back and fix it up after you get a mask on it.
Now slap a mask on the Right Stalk layer and fill it with black (Alt E, L) so all that hard work is covered up.
Now use a hard edged white brush on the mask to reveal a stalk.
Again, lots of room for artistic interpretation here. You can use varying size brushes and edges to get a nice fleshy & wrinkly feel.
OK, weve got a decent stalk area but its rather flat looking. Make sure the Right Stalk layer is selected and click on the adjustment layers (yin/yang) icon at the bottom of the layers palate.
Activate (click on) the Right Stalk Levels layer.
Now paint on the mask with a soft black brush to expose the areas you want to brighten. Get in there with some small brushes to heighten the wrinkle and fold effects.
At this point, now that youve got some 3D perspective to work with, you might even resample parts of the stalk with the clone brush.
Remember, youve got the entire frog body under the mask on the Right Stalk layer to sample from. Just temporarily disable the mask (right click on layer mask, Disable Mask) to find exactly the texture or pattern you want on the stalk.
You may have to play around with the opacity of the Left Stalk layer as you make the initial clone so it is realistically proportional to the right stalk.
By that, I mean it helps to see at least a vague outline of the right stalk as you create the left stalk.
Once you put the mask on the Left Stalk it is easier to outline because you see the right stalk plainly.
Again, this is the real fun part, so enjoy.
Well, in hindsight, just make a copy of "Right Stalk," apply the mask, merge with a copy of "No Eyes" and use that as "Left Stalk." You'll have the clean right stalk to reference as you clone the rough left stalk.
One youve completed the Left Stalk and Left Stalk Levels layers, you might see the need for some shadow behind the left stalk. Well, I did anyways.
Make a new layer, drag it below the Left Stalk layer and rename it Left Eye Shadow. Grab a 35 pixel fuzzy black brush and approximate a shadow from the stalk and eye.
Slap a mask on it and use a soft black brush at about 50% opacity to define the edges of the shadow.
If you look closely, I used a firm brush around the orange wart for perspective.
And now, the finishing touches.
So, now youve got a crazy looking mutant frog. Now, here come some of those extra five minutes you always hear about
Collapse the two folders, Eyes and "Background. Hide the eyes folder by clicking on the little eye icon on the layer.
Activate the Background folder and select the entire canvas (Ctrl+A), and copy merged (Ctrl+Shift+C) all that is visible. Paste, it will automatically create a new layer, drag the layer above the Eyes folder and name it BG Done.
Hide the Background folder; make visible and activate the Eyes folder. Select the entire canvas, and copy merged all that is visible. Paste, it will automatically create a new layer, drag the layer above BG Done and name it Eyes Done.
The contents of the Eyes Done layer will be in the middle of the canvas.
Keep the Eyes folder visible and drag the Eyes Done layer directly over it.
You can hide and show the layer contents until they are positioned perfectly over the folder contents.
Now, hide the Eyes folder and make the BG Done layer visible.
Well, that was a lot of busy work, eh? The reason I want to isolate the entire eyes structure is to add some selective blur in strategic places. If you look around the frogs body youll see how it blends in with the background.
Our eyes have some sharp edges that smack of cut and paste. We want to get a 3 to 5 pixel-wide blur tool at about 30% strength and blur up some of the sharper pixels around the edges of the Eyes Done layer.
Lets do a final adjustment and upload this beauty.
Select all and copy merged, and paste. The new layer should be at the top and active. I just threw on an Auto-Contrast (Image>Adjustments>Auto Contrast) to touch it up and its good to go.
Auto Levels changed the color too much for my tastes, but at this point you can experiment away to apply effects to the entire image on one layer.
Save for web and go gloat.
And dont forget to thank Jax at all possible opportunities!
Ive tried to include a lot of little tidbits and shortcuts; I know thats what makes the W1000 tutorials invaluable to me. So, hopefully you picked up something new here and bring it to the contests! Cheers, fRedline