I love to use gradient maps in Photoshop. In this quick tutorial I want to show, how I made up Batista as Phantom. The process is very simple, please continue reading.

The first comics I read was Rani Shiba'r Kantha-har means 'Necklace of Queen Shiba' in Bengali. I was 4 years then, and from that time I am the greatest fan of Phantom. Actually I get to know Phantom as Phantom later – in Bengali he is called Vetal (the name of the ghost from the Indian mythology Vikram and Vetal) for the translated comics published by Indrajaal Comics or Aranyadev (The god of the jungle) for Ananda Publishers.
These two Bengali names were given by two famous Bengali writes Nirendranath Chakraborty and Lila Majumdar.

A quick search in Google, and I found this image – the pose is perfect for a stubborn character like Phantom. So I saved it on my hard-disk.

Next inside Photoshop I opened the image. Double clicked on the default background layer of the jpeg and renamed it as 'model'. Saved that as Photoshop psd.
Then I stamped out tattoos on the belly and hand and nipples, simply recreated the head to make him bald.
And for the background I added a gradient layer under 'model' with the following settings:

This is time to create the bodysuit using Gradient map.
I Added a Gradient map above the 'model' layer and clipped it with the layer clipping mask. I also added a layer clipping vector path roughly to cover the whole skin portion of the model – this is not necessary, but I wanted to make sure that no unused raster data is included.
The settings of the Gradient Map layer are as follows:

As Phantom wears a brief with black and blue diagonal strips so I added another Gradient Map layer on top of the 'bodysuit' layer. Here is the settings :

You can see, this far the body suite is ok, but it looks flat where it reaches to the open skin.
I have added a new layer just above the 'model' layer and draw depths to the edges with brush. I renamed this layer as 'fix_up'

to cover Phantom's eyes it is needed to add the goggles. I added a Gradient layer on top of the layer stack and renamed it as 'goggles' – the settings are as follows :

I also added two more Gradient layers above the 'goggles' layer for the glasses for two eyes. Settings for the left eye

so he is wearing a mask made of paper – right? We need to create a lot of depth and make it look like 'solid'.
I added another raster layer on top of the eyes and renamed it as 'fix_up'.
After 15 minutes struggle with Pen, Lasso, Feather, Gradient tool and Brushes I managed to curve the depths on the goggles and added some shine.

So here is the final output – the good thing in life is that I had reused the same Gradient Map for my other Phantom make-over s, all I had to do is to add clipping path and fix up depths.
The first comics I read was Rani Shiba'r Kantha-har means 'Necklace of Queen Shiba' in Bengali. I was 4 years then, and from that time I am the greatest fan of Phantom. Actually I get to know Phantom as Phantom later – in Bengali he is called Vetal (the name of the ghost from the Indian mythology Vikram and Vetal) for the translated comics published by Indrajaal Comics or Aranyadev (The god of the jungle) for Ananda Publishers.
These two Bengali names were given by two famous Bengali writes Nirendranath Chakraborty and Lila Majumdar.
Looking for a hero
A quick search in Google, and I found this image – the pose is perfect for a stubborn character like Phantom. So I saved it on my hard-disk.
Prepared model and background
Next inside Photoshop I opened the image. Double clicked on the default background layer of the jpeg and renamed it as 'model'. Saved that as Photoshop psd.
Then I stamped out tattoos on the belly and hand and nipples, simply recreated the head to make him bald.
And for the background I added a gradient layer under 'model' with the following settings:
- Start color : 92592b
- End color : 4f2004
- Gradient type : Radial
- Angle : 90
- Scale : 125%
Added bodysuit
This is time to create the bodysuit using Gradient map.
I Added a Gradient map above the 'model' layer and clipped it with the layer clipping mask. I also added a layer clipping vector path roughly to cover the whole skin portion of the model – this is not necessary, but I wanted to make sure that no unused raster data is included.
The settings of the Gradient Map layer are as follows:
- Start color : 000000 positon - 0%
- Intermediate color 1 : 2c1c4a position - 41%
- Intermediate color 2 : 7f358c position - 80%
- End color : ceaad4 position - 100%
Decorating his pants
As Phantom wears a brief with black and blue diagonal strips so I added another Gradient Map layer on top of the 'bodysuit' layer. Here is the settings :
- start color : 000006
- intermediate color : 0d5cc8 position - 50%
- end color : ffffff
Added depths of the cloths
You can see, this far the body suite is ok, but it looks flat where it reaches to the open skin.
I have added a new layer just above the 'model' layer and draw depths to the edges with brush. I renamed this layer as 'fix_up'
Cover his eyes
to cover Phantom's eyes it is needed to add the goggles. I added a Gradient layer on top of the layer stack and renamed it as 'goggles' – the settings are as follows :
- Start color : 676767 position - 0%
- Intermediate color 1 : 2d2d2d position - 30%
- Intermediate color 2 : 000000 position - 70%
- End color : 676767 position - 100%
- Gradient type : linear
- Angle : 0 degree
Added glasses
I also added two more Gradient layers above the 'goggles' layer for the glasses for two eyes. Settings for the left eye
- Start color : c0c0c0
- End color : 323232
- Gradient type : reflected
- Angle : 0 degree
- Start color : c0c0c0
- Intermediate color : ffffff position – 50%
- End color : 6c6c6c
- Gradient type : reflected
- Angle : 0 degree
Fixed up eyes
so he is wearing a mask made of paper – right? We need to create a lot of depth and make it look like 'solid'.
I added another raster layer on top of the eyes and renamed it as 'fix_up'.
After 15 minutes struggle with Pen, Lasso, Feather, Gradient tool and Brushes I managed to curve the depths on the goggles and added some shine.
And at last...
So here is the final output – the good thing in life is that I had reused the same Gradient Map for my other Phantom make-over s, all I had to do is to add clipping path and fix up depths.
nvm ur so cool good tutorial ^^
ReplyDeletelol....... funny tutorials
ReplyDeletenice:)
ReplyDeleteCan you make a more detailed tutorial and put it on youtube?
ReplyDeletei would love to create video tutorials - check back soon - it will be here
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, I have just written some Flash Photography Tips and I thought you might find them useful.
ReplyDeleteweird...
ReplyDeleteIn one word - EXCELLENT!
ReplyDeletethanks arihjit - thanks for your EXCELLENT word of inspiration.
ReplyDeletewow cool tutorial! end result is perfect!
ReplyDeletethank you photoshopinspire :)
ReplyDelete