This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
A Quick Pencil Sketch
This lesson is just for fun—like many of the others in the book. I like to have fun in Photoshop, as well as use its powerful imaging capabilities to enhance my professional photographs. I'll show you how I created an image that looks like I sketched it with a pencil on white paper.
I'll use a picture I took of a seagull in St. Augustine, Florida (Figure 3.114). Note that this effect, like many others you can create in Photoshop, works on some images better than others.
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Tech info: Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon 100-400mm IS lens @ 4200mm. Exposure: 1/250 sec. @ f/8. ISO 200.
With the Layers dialog box open (Window > Layers), I created a duplicate layer Figure 3.115). You can create a new layer using either of the following techniques: go to Layer > New Layer > Layer via Copy (press Command-J: Mac or Ctrl-J: Win), or drag the background layer down to the "Create a new layer" icon, which is what I did here.
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With the new (top) layer active (shaded in blue) (Figure 3.116), I went to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. The image now appeared in black and white (Figure 3.117).
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Next, I duplicated the top layer (you can use any of the aforementioned techniques). I now had a three-layer document (Figure 3.118).
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Working on the top layer, I chose Image > Adjustments > Invert (press Command-I: Mac or Ctrl-I: Win). The file now looked like a negative (Figure 3.119).
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While still working on the top layer, I selected Color Dodge mode from the pop-up menu at top left (Figure 3.120). The image almost totally disappeared, which is the normal result (Figure 3.121).
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Still on the top layer, I went to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and adjusted the Radius slider until I was pleased with how the pencil sketch image looked (Figures 3.122 and 3.123).
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Just in case you thought this effect was only for the birds, here's how the same technique transformed another picture I took in St. Augustine into a pencil sketch (Figures 3.124 and 3.125).
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Tech info: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, Canon 17-40mm lens @ 17mm. Exposure: 1/125 sec. @ f/8. ISO 100.
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Tech info: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, Canon 17-40mm lens @ 17mm. Exposure: 1/125 sec. @ f/8. ISO 100.
Have fun, as always!