How to Create a Modern Vintage Concept Design in Photoshop

In this tutorial we will create a beautiful vintage concept design using stock photos and Photoshop. The tutorial is well explained, you will get a clear idea of what you are doing in each step.

Following this tutorial, you will learn how to:

– cut out objects from an image using paths and channels
– blend images together to create a single scenario
– photo retouching
– effective use of adjustment layers
– advanced shading and lighting
– create light effects
– sharpen an image for top notch quality
– use shortcuts for a more smooth work flow

Difficulty: Intermediate – Advanced
Completion time: 2-3 hours
Tools: Photoshop CS3

Resources:

– nude from Marcus J. Ranum
– pedestal from Marcus J. Ranum
– frame from Synthetic-pain-stock

Create a Modern Vintage Concept Final Image Preview

STEP 1

Create a new document of 1500 x 2600 px in RGB color mode at 72 dpi.

STEP 2

Open the “nude” picture. Grab the Crop Tool (C) and crop the picture as shown below.

STEP 3

Grab the Path Tool (P), set it on Paths and trace the body and part of the linen cloth. Make a very rough contour of the hair, well cut out that later.

STEP 4

When you’ve traced it with a closed shape, right-click > Make Selection. Copy it (CTRL+C), create a new document and paste it (CTRL+V). The created document will have the max width and height of your copied selection.

STEP 5

Go to the Channels window (Window > Channels), select the Blue channel, right-click its thumbnail and select “Duplicate channel”. Now you have a “Blue copy” channel. Select it.

STEP 6

Grab the Path Tool (P) and trace only the body, leaving out the hair. Then grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint the entire body with pure black. Go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D) when you are done.

STEP 7

Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels.  Use the settings below. It’s not compulsory to get high contrasts from the first time, just repeat the command until you remove the gray background around the hair. Grab the Burn Tool (O) and darken the hair locks and the Brush Tool (B) to cover any white spots.

STEP 8

CTRL+click the “Blue copy” channel, select the “RGB” channel and hit Delete. Go to Select > Inverse, then Select > Refine edge. Use the settings below. Hit OK. CTR;+click the layer thumb, copy it (CTRL+C), go to our document and paste it (CTRL+V). Use the Eraser Tool (E) to clean up the selection.

STEP 9

Grab the Path Tool (P) again and trace the linen cloth. Right-click > Make selection, grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and right-click > Layer Via Copy. Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N), hit CTRL+SHIFT+[ to send it to back and grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G). Fill it with black.

STEP 10

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation, Brightness/Contrast and Levels. Use the settings below. Notice the layers have a small arrow that points to the layer below it? It means the effects will only apply to the layer below it. In our case, the cloth.

STEP 11

Open the “pedestal” picture. Grab the Path Tool (P), trace it and right-click > Make Selection. Copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it into our document (CTRL+V). Hit CTRL+T, resize it like below and hit Enter.

STEP 12

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J). Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Use the settings below. Then go to the Layers palette (F7) and set Blending mode to Overlay.

STEP 13

Select the original layer and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast, Color Balance, Hue/Saturation and Levels. Use the settings shown below for each. Again, make sure there’s an arrow pointing down. To toggle it, hold ALT and click between layers. An “eclipse” icon will appear.

STEP 14

Select the nude layer and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast, Levels, Hue/Saturation and Black & White. If you look carefully, I’ve accidentally moved the black background. Here’s what we do to prevent this.

STEP 15

Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid color. Select black and hit CTRL+SHIFT+[ to send it below the other layers. Why do I use a Fill layer instead of filling a new layer? The answer is simple: unlike a paint bucket filled layer, the Fill layer acts like an infinite plane, so if I accidentally move it, it will not affect the image.

STEP 16

Open the “frame” picture. Grab the Path Tool (P), make sure it’s still set on Paths and trace the flower shown below. Then right-click > Make Selection, copy it (CTRL+C), go back to our document and paste it (CTRL+V).

STEP 17

Go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T) and place it like below. In the Layers palette (F7), click the “Add Vector Mask” button. Grab the Brush Tool (B), set Hardness and Opacity to 100% and paint over the area shown below.

STEP 18

Go back to the “frame” image and copy another flower. Paste it into our document, resize it and place it as shown below. Basically, we’re building the flowers around the model, but don’t worry about blending them yet.

STEP 19

Select the first flower piece, go to the Layers palette (F7) and click the “Add Vector Mask”. Grab the Brush Tool (B), set Hardness to 0% and paint over the area shown below.

STEP 20

Repeat STEPS 18-19 to add more flowers to build around the model. Here’s a really good tip: use the model’s body lines as a guide for the flowers. Also consider the shades, bones or adjacent lines to create a visual harmony.

STEP 21

In the Layers palette (F7), select all the layers containing a piece of the frame and hit CTRL+G to place them in a group. Double-click the group’s tag and rename it to “flowers”. Right-click the group’s tag and select “Duplicate group”.

STEP 22

Hit CTRL+E to merge the copied layer group and hide the original layer group.

STEP 23

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer Color Balance, Brightness/Contrast and Hue/Saturation. Use the settings below. Also make sure the small arrow is present (uses bottom object as clipping mask).

STEP 24

Create a new layer above the adjustment layers (CTRL+SHIFT+N) and set Blending mode to Multiply. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint some small shadows on the flowers. Keep in mind the light comes from the right. ALT+click between it and the layer below.
NOTE: The shadows are marked with red so you can see them better.

STEP 25

Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N) and set its Blending mode to Overlay. Grab the Brush Tool (B), grab a bright orange color and roughly paint over the flowers, like below. ALT+click between the layers.

STEP 26

Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N) and set Blending mode to Soft Light. Grab the Brush Tool (B), set Foreground color to a light orange and paint some small strokes on the light areas of the flowers. Then repeat STEP 25, but use pure white.
NOTE: The painted areas are marked with green.

STEP 27

Select the top-most adjustment layer above the cloth (use the Selection Tool (V) with the “Auto-select” feature checked) and create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N). Set Blending mode to Multiply. Name this layer “body shadows”.

STEP 28

Grab the Brush Tool (B), hold ALT key and click a dark spot on the girl’s body. Then paint the shadows of the flowers on the girl’s body. If it looks too intense, reduce the Opacity of the layer.

STEP 29

Select the Fill layer and create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N). Grab the Brush Tool (B), set the brush Opacity to 50%, set the Foreground color to a bright orange and paint the area shown below.

STEP 30

Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N), set Blending mode to Overlay, grab the Brush Tool (B) again, set foreground color to a bright yellow and paint a smaller area, like below.

STEP 31

Select the “body shadows” layer, create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N), set Blending mode to Linear Dodge (Add). Now Grab the Brush Tool (B), set it to 2 px and trace the contour of the girl, like below. Use a bright orange color.
If you don’t have a graphic tablet, use the Path Tool(P): create a path and right-click > Stroke Path and check the “Simulate pressure” check box.

STEP 32

Create a new layer, hit CTRL+[, set Blending mode to Overlay, grab the Brush Tool (B), set its Opacity to 40% and paint the edges on the girl’s body.

STEP 33

Create a new layer, grab the Brush Tool (B) and draw some vertical lines. Grab the Eraser Tool (E) to clean up the lines when you’re done. Then create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N). Hold SHIFT key while drawing to create a straight line.

STEP 34

Hit CTRL+SHIFT+] to make it the top-most layer and repeat STEP 31 to create lines in the areas below. This will add more perspective to our image.

STEP 35

Create a new layer above the “body shadows”, grab the Brush Tool (B), set foreground color to white and paint small strokes over the orange lines. Do this for every line. This is a tedious process, but be patient, the result will be awesome.

STEP 36

Select the Layer with the lines, grab the Burn Tool (O), set it on Midtones and around 37% Exposure and click the tips of the lines. For the ones near the body, do this only to the thin extremities. For the body trace, burn larger areas.

STEP 37

Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N) and hit CTRL+SHIFT+] to place it above all layers. Draw some longer lines, like in STEP 31. Grab the Eraser Tool (E) and erase small areas of the lines, till you obtain something similar to mine.

STEP 38

Repeat STEPS 34-35 for these lines.

STEP 39

Select the top-most layer and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Exposure and Gradient Map. This is necessary to enhance the colors a bit and “remove” the flatness.

STEP 40

Select the top-most layer, select all artwork (CTRL+SHIFT+C) and paste (CTRL+V). This is a copy of the merged layers. Go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp mask. Use the default settings and hit OK.

Done!

You can download the source file from below:

[download id=”172″]