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Face Painting Effect in Photoshop

How to Paint a Face in Photoshop?

Face painting is a creative and fun technique that allows you to transform and enhance portraits, photographs, and artwork using digital tools. With the powerful features of Adobe Photoshop, you can easily experiment with various face painting effects to add a touch of whimsy, fantasy, or artistic expression to your images.

Photoshop offers a wide range of tools and capabilities that can help you achieve impressive face painting effects. By utilizing brushes, layer blending modes, masks, and adjustment layers, you can apply virtual paint and create stunning designs on the faces within your images. Whether you want to create intricate patterns, animal-inspired looks, or bold artistic statements, Photoshop provides the flexibility to bring your face painting ideas to life.

Understanding the fundamentals of face painting effects is crucial to mastering this technique in Photoshop. By studying real-life face painting artistry and exploring different styles and themes, you can gain inspiration and insights into how to translate those effects into the digital realm. Learning about color theory, shading, and highlighting techniques can also greatly enhance your ability to create realistic and impactful face painting effects.

Additionally, studying tutorials and online resources can significantly expand your knowledge and skills in Photoshop face painting. These tutorials provide valuable guidance, tips, and step-by-step instructions to help you navigate the tools and techniques required for achieving various face painting effects. By following along with these resources, you can gain hands-on experience and develop a deeper understanding of how to create stunning face painting effects in Photoshop.

Experimenting with different brushes, colors, and layer blending modes is essential to achieving unique and captivating face painting effects. Photoshop allows you to work non-destructively, meaning you can easily modify and refine your face painting effects without compromising the original image. This flexibility enables you to iterate and explore different creative possibilities until you achieve the desired result.

Photoshop offers a versatile platform for exploring and creating face painting effects. By understanding the basics, seeking inspiration from real-life face painting artistry, and following tutorials and online resources, you can master the art of digital face painting. With your creativity and Photoshop’s powerful tools, you can transform ordinary portraits into extraordinary works of art that captivate and inspire.

Today we will Paint a Face in Photoshop. You will learn a quick and easy way to create a Face Painting Effect in Photoshop. With the help of this Photoshop Tutorial, you can paint any graphics on a face.

Face Painting Effect in Photoshop

We will require two images for this tutorial; a model face image and a graphic image. You can download these images from different stock image websites.

Now follow the below-mentioned step-by-step process to create a Face Painting Effect in Photoshop.

Step 1

Open the Model image and the Graphic image in Photoshop as two different documents.

Model Image
Graphic Image
Step 2

Now select the model image document and convert the layer to Smart Object.

Layer > Smart Objects > Convert to Smart Object

Convert to Smart Object

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer. Under Destination, set Document to New and Name the document as Displacement.

Select Duplicate Layer
Duplicate Layer Dialogue Box

Click OK and the duplicate layer will open in New Document named Displacement.

Face Painting Effect in Photoshop
Step 3

In the Displacement document, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

Select Gaussian Blur
Apply Gaussian Blur

Click OK to apply Gaussian Blur.

Step 4

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White.

Black & White Adjustment Layer
Create Black & White Adjustment Layer

Go to File > Save As. Save the Displacement Document in PSD format.

Save the File
Step 5

Now switch to the Model image document and select the Quick Selection Tool. With the help of the tool, select the face of the model except for the ears, hair, and neck.

Make Selection

Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection.

Select Reveal Selection
Add Layer Mask
Step 6

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White. The Black & White Adjustment Layer will get created in the Layers Panel.

Face Painting Effect in Photoshop
Black and White Adjustment Layer
Step 7

Select the Layer Mask Thumbnail in Layer 0. Then with the left click, drag the layer mask and place it on the Black and White 1 Layer Mask Thumbnail. A dialogue will appear asking you whether you want to Replace the Layer Mask. Click on Yes in the dialogue box.

Face Painting Effect
Face Painting Effect in Photoshop

Now we will select the Layer Mask Thumbnail and then the Brush Tool. Set the Foreground color as black and remove the Layer Mask from the eyes. (See the Image Below)

Face Painting Effect in Photoshop
Step 8

Switch to the Graphic document and convert the graphic to Smart Object. Then select the Move Tool to drag and place the graphic in the Model Image document.

Face Painting

If required, you can transform the Graphic Image by pressing Ctrl + T. You can resize the image with the help of the Transform Tool.

Reduce the opacity of the Graphic Image to see the Model Image beneath it. Change the Blending Mode to Linear Burn.

Reduce Opacity and Change Blending Mode
Step 9

Go to Filter > Distort > Displace. In the Displace Dialogue Box, click OK and then Browse the Displacement File saved in PSD Format. (Step 4)

Select Displace

Select the Layer Mask thumbnail of the Black & White 1 Layer. Press and hold the Alt key and drag the Layer Mask in the above layer (Layer 1).

Replace the Layer Mask
Paint the Face in Photoshop
Step 10

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Vibrance.

Select Vibrance
Vibrance Adjustment Layer

Replace the Layer Mask in the Vibrance Adjustment Layer using the Alt Key and change the Blending Mode.

This is how you can Paint a Face in Photo with Photoshop.

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Author

  • Vivi Designing

    Vivi Designing is a platform for people who are in love with design and are eager to learn for creativity and inspiration. We provide free design resources, articles, tutorials, techniques, and the latest trends in Adobe Illustration and Adobe Photoshop.

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