TUTORIAL #1: Photorealistic Coffee Stain in Photoshop
Monday, January 08, 2007 11:23 PM
For the first tutorial, I'm going to stick with something easy and simple. And like all the tutorials hereafter, I'm going to assume that anyone interested in reading this has some working knowledge of Photoshop, so I won't go into the finest details about the basics of the program.
I first came across this idea when I was creating a photorealistic montage for UCI's handbook contest last year. The idea was to create a top-down view of a typical student's desk. I was going to put an empty mug on the side of the desk, but I had a hard time making a convincing one (perhaps a project for the future), so instead I thought that a coffee stain could do just was well. (Maybe it could even be a subtle statement about how messy we college students are, heh)
We'll need to start out with a surface. This one will do (or you can use your own):
Now, create a new document with the desk surface. Create a new layer and use the Elliptical Marquee (m or Shift+m) tool and drag out a circular marquee on the canvas in this new layer. You can keep it circular by holding down Shift key when you click and drag.
On your menu toolbar, select Edit -> Stroke to get the stroke dialog box. Select a width of 20px (this will vary according to how big you want the coffee stain to be), and choose a color. In this instance, I chose a light brown (we'll see why in a second): #D0A259. Please keep in mind that the color you choose will be different if you have a different surface that you're working on. Choose Center for the location of the stroke.
You should have an outline of a circle now. Put the layer on Multiply blend mode. The color of the outlined circle should look more coffee colored now. Double click on the layer (or right-click on the layer and select Blending Options...) to bring up the Blending Options dialog box. Select Stroke on the left panel (it should be the last style option). Position the stroke on Center and set the Blend Mode on Multiply. Select a color that is darker than the previous outline: #A9855A.
This step is to simulate the liquid accumulating toward the edges of the rim outline. Whenever we manipulate the shape of the stain, the stroke should follow the shape.
Select the Smudge tool (r or Shift+r). Make sure you have a hard brush selected at about size 8-10. Also make sure that the strength is at 100%. Now, on the outer rim of the circular outline, start pushing out some bumps to simulate drips on the side of the mug. Don't overdo it, we just want to get rid of the unrealistic perfect circle shape.
Now, select a soft brush at size 8-12 and lower the strength of the Smudge tool to 60-80%. Select the brush palette (on the top right corner) and select Shape Dynamics. Change the Control option to Fade. Enter 15-30 next to the Control option. Now slowly scuff out an edge, repeatedly drawing out some of the stain. You may want to change the brush size and/or size of the Fade while doing so. This is to simulate a careless dragging off of the mug, brushing the stain in that direction.
And voila. To improve upon the example above, you could remove part of the stain outline, to have a partial stain. Or you could make the shape of the stain more irregular. By itself, it looks rather banal, but with other elements, it could really make a difference in a composition.
Link of the day:
Create a Realistic Gas Flame in Photoshop
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