Christian Creations PSP Tutorials  

Blue Bird

This tutorial was written in PSP 8 using brushes made for PSP 8's new paint engine and brush variance. For earlier versions of PSP I suggest using the airbrush and smudge tool in the areas using the paintbrush.

What you will need:
My bluebirdzjh.psp file which has the selections saved to alpha channel.  Note:  The image will be blank when you open it.  The selections saved to alpha channel are not visible until you load them.

The brush set from Paint Shop Pro Digital Art Resources which you can download here.   On the new page that opens click on the "click here" text link to download the brushes.  When you extract the files from tp_Brushes there will be a Presets.zip and a Brushes.zip. Put the files extracted from Presets.zip into the Presets folder located inside the My PSP8 Files folder. Put the files extracted from the Brushes.zip into the Brushes folder located inside the My PSP8 Files folder. Special thanks to Tracy Pori for her permission to use these brushes in this tutorial. There are a lot of great brushes in this set to play with.

Note: The screen shots have been reduced so your image will be more more detailed.

1. Extract bluebirdzjh.psp from bluebirdzjh.zip file and open it in PSP.  Duplicate (Windows || Duplicate [Shift+D]) and close the original.  Note:  The image will be blank when you open it.  The selections saved to alpha channel are not visible until you load them.

2. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it feet.

3. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the feet selection.

4. Select the Flood tool. Tool Options settings: Match Mode = None, Sample Merged = UNChecked, Blend Mode = Normal and Opacity = 100. Change the Foreground to #846456 and the Background to #4A403F. Now change the Foreground to the Foreground-Background gradient with the following settings: Style = Linear, Angle = 0, Repeat = 0, and Invert = Unchecked. Click inside the selection to fill it with the gradient.

5. Click Adjust || Add/Remove Noise || Add noise with the following settings: Gaussian = Selected, Noise = 10%, and Monochrome = UNchecked. Click OK.

6. Selections || Float (Ctrl+F). Click Effects || 3D Effects || Cutout with the following settings: Vertical and Horizontal = 0, Opacity = 100, Blur = 15.00, and Color = #000000. Click OK. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

7. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it body1.

8. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the body1 selection.

9. Select the Flood tool. Tool Options settings: Match Mode = None, Sample Merged = UNChecked, Blend Mode = Normal and Opacity = 100. Change the Foreground to #FAF5F0 and the Background to #DAB78F. Click inside the selection to fill with the foreground color.

10. Select the Paint Brush tool (B). Click the arrow beside Presets (not Brush Tip as the preset will load the correct Brush Tip) in tool options and select tp_BirdFeather_2color from the list. Change the following in tool options: Size = 300, Density = 50, Rotation = 220, and Opacity = 50. Click inside the selection 3 or 4 times to add a little color. Click Adjust || Softness || Soften. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

11. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it body2.

12. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the body2 selection.

13. Change the Foreground #986050. The Paint Brush tool (B) should still be selected. Change the following in tool options: Size = 300, Rotation = 230, and Opacity = 100. Click inside the selection a few times.

14. Swap the Foreground and Background colors by clicking the double headed arrow in the materials palette. Change the brush Rotation to 270 and Opacity to 50. Click once at the bottom half of the selection, then click once more at the top.

15. Change the brush size to 200, working on the top half of the selection in an upward direction, click (do not drag) several times until the top half is almost solid. Click Adjust || Softness || Soften. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

16. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it head.

17. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the head selection.

18. Change the Foreground to #562FFD and the Background to #6D91DB. Select the Flood tool then click inside the selection to fill with the foreground color.

19. Select the Paint Brush tool (tp_BirdFeather_2color should still be loaded). Change the Brush settings to Size = 200, Density = 100, Rotation = 300, Opacity = 100, and Continuous UNchecked. Starting at the left bottom side of the head, left click then while holding down the left mouse button, drag to the right past the selection to add texture to the right side of the head also, then release the mouse button. Move the mouse to the left side of the head and up, left click then while holding down the left mouse button, drag to the right to add texture to the top part of the head, then release the mouse button.

20. Swap the Foreground and Background colors by clicking the double headed arrow in the materials palette. Change the following brush settings: Size = 300, Rotation = 290, and Opacity = 50. Click once in the head selection to add a bit more texture.

21. Click Adjust || Softness || Soften. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

22. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it wing.

23. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the wing selection.

24. Select the Flood tool and click inside the selection to fill with the foreground color.

25. Select the Paint Brush tool (tp_BirdFeather_2color should still be loaded). Change the Brush settings to Size = 200, Density = 100, Rotation = 230, Opacity = 100, and Continuous UNchecked. Starting at the bottom of the wing, left click then while holding down the left mouse button, drag up and to the right to the top of the wing then release the mouse button. Move the mouse to the bottom of the area that wasn't filled with the first stroke, left click then while holding down the left mouse button, drag up to cover the rest of wing area, then release the mouse button.

26. Change the Brush settings to Size = 150, Rotation = 210, and Opacity = 60. Working from bottom to top, click around to add more texture.

27. Optional:  (When Dorothy (of PSPMagic) tested this tutorial she added a drop show to wing that looked really nice.)  Click Effects || 3D Effects || Drop Shadow with the following settings: Vertical = 4, Horizontal = 3, Opacity = 50, and Blur = 7.92.

28. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

29. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it wing2.

30. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the wing2 selection.

31. Change the Foreground color to #240C8A. Select the Flood tool then click inside the selection to fill with the foreground color.

32. Selections || Float (Ctrl+F). Click Effects || 3D Effects || Cutout with the following settings: Vertical and Horizontal = 0, Opacity = 50, Blur = 15.00, and Color = #000000. Click OK. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

33. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it body3.

34. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the body3 selection.

35. Change the Foreground color to #FAF5F0. Select the Flood tool then click inside the selection to fill with the foreground color.

36. Change the Foreground #986050 and the Background to #DAB78F. Select the Paint Brush tool (tp_BirdFeather_2color should still be loaded). Change the following: Size = 150, Rotation = 230, and Opacity = 100. Click inside the selection a couple of times.

37. Change the brush Size to 75, Rotation to 210 and Opacity to 50. Click inside the selection several times until the selection is almost solid. Click Adjust || Softness || Soften. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

38. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it face1.

39. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the face1 selection.

40. Change the Foreground color to #493D46. Select the Flood tool and click inside the selection to fill with the foreground color. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

41. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it face2.

42. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the face selection.

43. Change the Foreground color to #877E7D. Select the Flood tool and click inside the selection to fill with the foreground color.

44. Click Adjust || Add/Remove Noise || Add noise with the following settings Uniform = Selected, Noise = 15%, and Monochrome = Checked. Click OK. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

45. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it beak.

46. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the beak selection.

47. Click your Flood tool. Change the Foreground to #8E705A and the Background to #7D6856. Now change the Foreground to the Foreground-Background gradient with the following settings: Style = Linear, Angle = 350, Repeat = 1, and Invert = Checked. Click inside the selection to fill it with the gradient.

48. Click Adjust || Add/Remove Noise || Add noise with the following settings Gaussian = Selected, Noise = 10%, and Monochrome = UNchecked. Click OK.

49. Selections || Float (Ctrl+F). Click Effects || 3D Effects || Cutout with the following settings Vertical = 3, Horizontal = 0, Opacity = 100, Blur = 15.00, and Color = #000000. Click OK. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).

50. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer) and name it eye.

51. Selections || Load/Save Selection || Load Selection From Alpha Channel and choose the eye selection.

52. Click your Flood tool. Change the Foreground to #000000. Click in the selection to fill it.

53. Click Effects || 3D Effects || Inner Bevel and choose the Round preset. Settings for the Round Preset are Bevel = 2, Width = 14, Smoothness = 15, Depth = 12, Ambience = 0, Shininess = 50, Color = #FFFFFF, Angle = 315, Intensity = 25, and Elevation = 30.  Click OK. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D])

54. Click Layers || Merge || Merge Visible. That's it resize and/or tube as you desire.