Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create the look of realistic oil paintings from photos that
doesn't rely on any oil paint filters and that gives us results unlike any other I've seen.
After much experimentation, I found a quick way to give raised, dimensional texture to
each individual brush stroke we make.
Before we begin, if you're not already a subscriber to Blue Lightning TV, smash that "Subscribe"
button to let you know as soon as I upload new Photoshop tutorials.
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Open a photo that you'd like to turn into an oil painting.
I downloaded this one from Shutterstock.
We'll get back to it in a moment.
I provided this gray image of brushed texture that we'll use later.
Its link is in my video's description or project files.
In addition, I provided a link to a set of custom paint brushes that you can download and install.
The first step is to crop our subject to size and position it.
Open your Crop Tool and click the "Clear" button.
This clears its width, height, and resolution.
For its resolution, type in 150 for its pixels per inch.
In either the width or height field, type in 3000 pixels.
This will make our image large enough to accommodate the dynamics of the brush we'll be using.
Leave the other dimension empty.
It'll default to an amount after we crop our image.
Go to the middle of any of the four sides and drag them in or out.
Once you're happy with the way its framed, press Enter or Return or click OK at the top.
To fit it back onto your screen, press Ctrl or Cmd + 0 or to zoom in incrementally,
press Ctrl or Cmd and the Plus key on your keyboard a few times.
Next, we'll brighten the darkest tones by going to Image, Adjustments and "Shadows/Highlights".
Drag the Shadows slider all the way to the left to view our image as it looked prior to opening this filter.
Slowly drag it to the right until you're happy with the amount of brightness and detail in the shadows.
Open the Art History Brush Tool.
Basically, this tool allows us to paint with stylized strokes using an image from a specified
history state or snapshot.
However, when we try to use this tool, we get an error message because the current canvas
size doesn't match that of the history state.
Even when we create a new snapshot, it won't work.
The solution is to save our cropped image by going to File and Save As.
We'll save it to our Desktop for easy access.
Name it whatever you'd like.
Save it as a JPEG and click "Save".
Then, click OK and close the document.
Go to File and Open.
In our Desktop window, we'll click our image we just saved and click Open.
Click the New Layer icon to make a new layer.
Open the Art History Brush Tool and open the Brush Picker.
We'll adjust the size in a minute.
After you install this brush set, pick a brush from it.
Personally, I like the top one, but feel free to use whichever one you like.
There are 10 stroke styles from which to choose.
Each one controls the shape of the paint stroke.
For this project, I suggest using "Dab", but again, feel free to use others.
The Area specifies the number of pixels covered by the paint strokes.
The greater the size, the larger the covered area and the more numerous the strokes.
I'll make it 20 pixels.
The Tolerance limits the regions where paint strokes can be applied.
In other words, a low tolerance lets you paint unlimited strokes anywhere in the image, while
a high tolerance limits paint strokes to areas that differ considerably from the color in
the source state or snapshot.
I'll keep it at 0% to give me the freedom to paint as many strokes I want, anywhere I want.
The Blend Mode is Normal and the Opacity is 100%.
Go to Window and "Brush Settings".
Click "Brush Tip Shape" and make sure the Spacing is 25%.
Open "Shape Dynamics" and make the "Angle Jitter": 25%.
We can close the panel now.
We'll actually be brushing over the empty layer, thereby keeping our original image intact.
First, let's start with a relatively large brush tip.
To adjust the size of the brush, make sure the CapsLock key is off and press the left
or right bracket key.
Brush over the entire image.
The art history brush is applying brush strokes using the colors of our original image as the source.
To add more detail in the face, reduce your brush's size and brush over the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Remember, it's using the colors of the original image as our source; not the large brush strokes under it.
Click on other areas.
If you want to delete a stroke you just made, just press Ctrl or Cmd + z.
Reduce the brush size again to brush in finer details.
Continue to adjust the size of your brush and place paint specks within larger strokes
and some medium strokes bordering more detailed areas.
This creates more interest in the painting.
Next, we'll add dimension to our brush strokes.
Make a copy of the painting layer by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J.
We'll remove all its color by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + Shift + U and then convert it into a Smart Object, so we can
modify it non-destructively.
To do this, click the icon at the upper, right and click, "Convert to Smart Object".
Go to Image, Adjustments and Shadows/Highlights.
We'll keep the Shadows at its default amount of 35%.
Go to Filter, Stylize and Emboss.
Make the Angle: 140 degrees, the Height: 2 pixels and the Amount: 200%.
Change the Blend Mode to Linear Light.
This adds realistic depth and dimension to each brush stroke!
Next, we'll add another texture to give it a look as if we treated the canvas with a coat of gesso.
Gesso is used to prepare a surface so oil paint would adhere to it.
Open the gray brush stokes texture I provided.
We'll make it into a pattern by going to Edit and "Define Pattern".
Then, click OK.
Open back your painting and make a new layer.
Fill it any color.
The quickest way to do this is to press Alt or Option + Delete to fill it with your foreground color.
Double-click an empty area of that layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click "Pattern Overlay".
If the brush texture doesn't immediately appear, open your pattern list, scroll to the bottom and click it.
The Blend Mode is Normal, and the opacity is 100%.
The Angle is 0 degrees and I'll make the Scale: 75%.
We'll convert this layer into a Smart Object, as well.
Change the Blend Mode to Overlay.
As I toggle before and after, you can see how this texture adds a realistic undercoat of brush strokes.
If you can see your subject's eyes, we'll add tiny highlight reflections onto the pupils
to give life to our subject.
Make your painting layer active and make a new layer above it.
I'll name the layer, "Pupils".
Press Ctrl or Cmd + 1 to see your image at 100% magnification.
Press and hold the Space bar as you drag your painting until the eyes appear on your canvas.
Open your Brush Tool and press "x" on your keyboard to invert your colors.
White should be your foreground color.
Reduce the size of the brush to approximate the size of the highlight and click a few times on the same spot.
Press "v" to open your Move Tool and make a copy of the highlight by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J.
We'll drag the copy over to the other eye by pressing and holding the Shift key as you drag it over.
If you want to move this highlight up or down, press the up or down arrow on your keyboard.
Zoom back out.
Lastly, we'll adjust its vibrancy and tweak its colors.
Make the top layer active and click the Adjustment Layer icon.
Click "Vibrance".
I'll type in 100%, but you can make its strength any amount that looks good to you.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon again and this time, click "Color Balance".
Play around with CMY /RGB colors in the Midtones, Shadows and Highlights until you're happy
with the color balance of your oil painting.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!