Gini's Magic Blog - Digital Art, Graphic Design, and Photoshop Tutorials

Photoshop Makeup Tutorial - Metallic or Glitter Eyeshadow

2009-07-04T02:12:00.000-07:00

Being able to add realistic makeup in Photoshop is a must for every digital artist. Whether you're adding makeup to enhance a portrait or painting on shimmering eyeshadow for an cartoon character, this Photoshop tutorial will be incredibly useful for you.Step 1. Choose a photograph subject who has little or no eye makeup on to begin with. Select the paintbrush tool and set your foreground to a

Digital Scrapbooking Tutorial: Photoshop Collage

2009-06-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

This Photoshop tutorial will walk you through the process of creating a textured collage with your photos. Photoshop effects like this are incredibly versatile and are perfect to use for all you digital scrapbooking needs.1. Choose a texture that is primarily one color. You can find great freebies, including free textures, at BittBox. Open it up in Photoshop as the background image and make it

Turning Trash Into Treasure - The Art of Recycling

2009-06-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

Let's explore one of the greatest ways to create art today - and the most environmentally friendly. Here are ten examples of the generation of green artists, how they do what they do, and where you can find more of their very impressive displays.Before getting into the amazing artists who recycle products into artwork, I need to explain why I feel this article and this art form is so very

Dark, Gritty Photo Effect in Photoshop

2009-05-24T01:48:00.000-07:00

In today's Photoshop tutorial, you'll be learning a simple method of giving everyday pictures a scary, gritty effect. This photo effect is extremely versatile, and can be used to come up with all sorts of results.Step 1. Make sure you start with a photo that has lots of texture. Images that consist mostly of smooth textures (like water) probably will not become gritty or scary looking,The first

An Exciting Opportunity: Be a Guest Blogger for Gini's Magic

2009-05-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

As a Guest Blogger on this site, you can gain exposure to a new readership, increase traffic to your website, learn from an experienced blogger, and make some cash all at the same time.Well, my readers, I have some wonderful news. The Gini's Magic Blog is thriving! Over the past three months we've had an average of over 10,000 visitors per month and it looks like by the end of this month we will

How to Create A Magic Golden Egg in Photoshop

2009-05-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

Turn an ordinary egg in a Magical Golden Egg just like in the fairytales! And you don't even need that really cool goose we've all been hearing about.Step 1. Start with a picture of a brown egg and adjust the hue to whatever base color you want. I chose to keep mine as the original brown, so the final image is kind of a golden-brown egg. If you want your egg to be really golden, just change the

Use Photoshop to Enhance Portraits, Remove Shadows and Smooth Skin

2009-04-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

This is an example of a portrait enhancement that I once did, along with some simple tips. For a detailed tutorial on skin smoothing for portraits like this in Photoshop, please visit my post on Making Skin Smooth and Beautiful in Photoshop.This photo was taken by a friend of the bride, not a professional photographer. Overall, It is a beautiful picture. The problem: It was obviously shot in

How to Make Brushes in Photoshop from Different Types of Images

2009-04-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Defining a brush in Photoshop can be very easy or far more difficult, depending on the image you wish to turn into a brush. This tutorial for Photoshop Beginners will guide you through making brushes in Photoshop, no matter what image you choose to use.Images with White BackgroundsCreating a brush in Photoshop using an image of an isolated object on a white background is by far the easiest.Step 1

20 Impressive Photo Manipulation and Illustration Photoshop Tutorials

2009-04-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

A list of great Photoshop tutorials that every digital artist (or digital art fan) should check out. Learn tons of different photo manipulation techniques.1. Combine Photo Elements to Create a Surreal Photo Manipulation2. Photo Montaging - Blending a Human Head to a Tree3. Photo Manipulation Techniques with Blending4. How to Apply Textures to Uneven Surfaces5. How to Create a Surreal Photo

Design a Pop Art Abstract Spiral

2009-03-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

A very easy-to-follow tutorial on how to design a dotted abstract spiral from scratch using Photoshop.Step 1. Open up a canvas 3000x2000 pixels with a white background. Create a new layer and choose the brush tool. Pull up the Calligraphic Brushes menu and choose the Oval 28. Change the size to 2500 pixels, as large as it goes and pick a color for your logo.Then set the brush options to these

Dreamy, Dramatic Photo Effects in Photoshop

2009-03-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

A dreamy photo effect can be an incredibly useful tool, and when a filter just won't cut it, we need to learn to create the effect ourselves. This tutorial is best used for images with only two or three dominant colors. Have I mentioned lately that Photoshop rocks?This is a photograph I shot of my cat and below is an example of how you can take a simple, albeit very cute subject and turn it into

Creating Clouds of Specfic Shapes (Hearts, Butterflies, etc)

2009-03-14T00:57:00.000-07:00

Photoshop Heart Clouds" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313334843675204658" border="0" />In this tutorial, you'll learn a very simple method of making specially shaped clouds. A perfect tutorial for any Photoshop beginners!Step 1. Open a 1000x1000 pixel canvas with a solid sky blue background.Photoshop Heart Clouds" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313332693930467314" border="0" />Step 2. Choose the Shape Tool and

The Sights and Sounds of a Weekend in Las Vegas

2009-03-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

A friend and I stayed in Las Vegas last weekend where we went to a Little Big Town Concert, Caesar's Palace, a Nascar Race, and the Bellagio. This was my first time visiting Las Vegas and I thought I would share some photos with you here of the amazing things we saw!Little Big Town Concert, Opened by Kate & Kacey CoppolaCaesar's PalaceNascar RaceThe BellagioIf you enjoyed this post, please

Make Elegant Wooden Frames in Photoshop

2009-02-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

This tutorial will show you how to make gorgeous wooden photo frames in Photoshop. Using this technique, you'll be able to make something new and unique for each and every one of your photographs.Step 1.Open up a picture that clearly shows wood grain in it. It could be a picture of a tree, a log, an unpainted piece of furniture; anything. I chose to use a photo I took of the wall of a wooden

New Art Class and Exciting New 3D projects

2009-02-15T20:38:00.000-08:00

I started a new semester of college today and I'm very happy to say that I got into the classes I wanted! Last semester I took 2D Design and I enjoyed it so much. The entire time I was in that class I felt like I was so in touch with the art world, along with strengthening my design skills.This time, I'm taking a 3 Dimensional Design class; something completely new to me. I'm very excited to

Painting Beautiful Sunset Clouds in Photoshop

2009-02-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

The Render Clouds Filter in Photoshop comes in very handy in many projects, but to make pretty, fluffy clouds in Photoshop, the best way is to paint them. This tutorial will walk you through doing that, step by step.Step 1. Start with a 3000x3000 pixel blank white canvas. Create a new layer, select the Brush Tool and Choose a Medium Gray/Blue for your foreground color.Step 2. Choose a large soft

Google Page Rank and How Totally Unimportant It Should Be

2009-02-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

I understand the benefits of having a high page rank. Duh! You get more visibility, therefore more visitors. I'm certainly not complaining about that. I'm complaining about the way that Google ranks our sites, and about how all-consuming and important those ranks seem to have become.Excuse me while I rant a bit, but I'm thoroughly pissed off with Google Page Rank, and from what I've been reading

Creating Soft Selective Black and White Photographs

2009-02-02T01:25:00.000-08:00

Turn an ordinary color photo into a gorgeous, sophisticated selective black and white.Step 1. Select the part of the photo that you DON'T want to be black and white. I chose the lady bug in this photo, which by the end of this tutorial will be the only colored area in the photo. Use what ever selection tool works for you best; I used the Magnetic Lasso tool and then the Selection Brush Mask to

Top 10 Fantasy Art Sites - Fairies, Mermaids, Dragons, and More

2009-01-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

During the last month I've found some wonderful art gallery websites, so I decided to share them here, along with some of my favorites pieces from each. The galleries listed here feature fairies, dragons, elves, mermaids, unicorns, and many creatures that were derived entirely from the artists' minds.This is the first of what I plan to be monthly posts about my favorite art sites. Each month I'll

Designing Retro Kaleidoscope Flowers in Photoshop

2009-01-24T19:43:00.000-08:00

Lean how to design Kaleidocope images and vector style flowers in Photoshop.Retro Flowers Photoshop Graphic DesignStep 1.Open a blank file in Photoshop that's about 25% larger than you think you’ll need. As you create this image, it will grow bigger. Make your first petal shape using the pen, shape, or brush tool, whichever you prefer. Using one of the rounded Calligraphy brushes that comes with

Create Your Own Art Online For Free - 5 Sites You Shouldn't Miss

2009-01-19T13:58:00.000-08:00

While using StumbleUpon (which I love!) I discovered a some very cool websites that provide a place where anyone can come up with their own artistic creations right there in their browser. Here's a list of some of the sites I found.1. Sumo Paint - Sumo Paint is an awesome online image editor and creator. It's easy to use, incredibly versatile, free, and tons of fun. This is the best online

Remove Backgrounds in Photoshop: the Magic Extractor Tool

2009-01-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

This tutorial is an advanced guide covering how to use the Magic Extractor. The Magic Extractor is one of the most useful tools available in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, used to remove the background of photos.To open up the Magic Extractor, go to Image> Magic Extractor. First of all, let me explain the uses of the various tools in the Magic Extractor. I've composed a list and made a

Easy Vintage Photo Effect in Photoshop

2009-01-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a very useful one-step tutorial on how to give your photos a vintage look using Photoshop.Click on the image to the right for a larger view.For an instant vintage look, open up your photo in Photoshop and use an Unsharp mask on the entire image. (Enhance> Unsharp Mask) Set the Threshold to zero, radius to 100, and Amount to 150.Voila! Instant vintageness. And yes, I realize that isn't a

Fix Blurry, Overexposed Photos in Photoshop - Softening Filters to the Rescue!

2009-01-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

This tutorial will show you a great way to save a blurry and/or overexposed photograph by using a softening filter in Photoshop. Never throw out a blurry photo again!This effect can be done in most digital imaging or photo editing software programs.Photoshop Tutorial Fix Blurry PhotosStep 1. Open your blurry image in Photoshop.Step 2. Duplicate the image layer and set the blending mode to "

Turn Photographs Into Custom Text

2009-01-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

Let’s hear it for my first-ever Photoshop Text Tutorial! In this tutorial I will teach you how to create text using a photograph, outline, and bevel in Photoshop.Step 1. Open a blank canvas in Photoshop along with the photo that you want to make into text. Choose a font that is thick enough to become a border for the photo and use a size that takes up most (but not all) of the canvas. I chose the