This one’s a little advanced, as in I’ve not put many detailed steps. You should know your way around photoshop before going in for this one. Anyway, it’s easy enough otherwise and produces some great results.
Step 1: Create a new document. Make it large enough, maybe a 1680*1050 for a 20” iMac widescreen monitor ☺
Step 2: Double click the background layer and hit Okay to make it a normal layer. Now, go to Layer > Layer Style > Gradient Overlay. Give it a nice light blue to dark blue gradient. Make the gradient from top to bottom. You can also use the gradient tool from the toolbox to do the same, though this method gives more control.
Step 3: Create a new layer (“Surface”). Now make a selection using the marquee tool roughly the same shape as your document though it should be just about half it’s size. Press D on keyboard to make your colours default. Now give it a clouds filter (Filter > Render > Clouds). Hit command+F a few times until you get some nice contrasting clouds.
Step 4: Hit Command+T and drag the handles so that the clouds stretch to fill the document. It gives a better effect rather than rendering the clouds on the full sized document especially a high resolution one.
Step 5: Now give those clouds the Plastic Wrap filter (Filter > Artistic > Plastic Wrap).
Once that is done, just hit command+T again and command+drag the handles to get a sort of perspective image which looks like the surface of the water. Doesn’t have to be perfect.
Step 6: Change the blending mode of this layer to linear dodge and reduce the opacity to around 70%. Now create a layer mask (Layers > Mask > Reveal all. Take a nice soft brush and brush around the sharp edges to create a gradual blend.
Step 7: Go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects. Change the light type to “Omni” and fiddle around with the settings and the light size. Position the center on the roughest part of the “Surface” clouds. This will be the sunlight penetrating through. Try it a couple of times to get it perfect.
Step 8: Now to create the rays of light, If you have read my previous tutorials, you already know how to do it. Still, all you have to do is:
- Create a new layer
- Create a shape near the top using the lasso/rectangular/elliptical marquee tool, although, in this case I’d say rectangular marquee tool covering around 35% of the top works best.
- Fill it with a clouds filter (Filter > Render > Clouds)
- Then if you want, you can give it a threshhold adjustment (Image > Adjustments > Threshold). Just drag the slider till you get a nice contrasting effect.
- Then, Filter > Blur > Radial Blur. Make it “Zoom”, 100 percent, and move the source point up.
- After accepting, hit Command+F again to run the filter a second time.
Step 9: Change the blending mode of the rays to Color Dodge. Then hit Command+T and just drag the handles to make the rays come down from the sunlight of the “Surface” layer. Create a layer mask, and brush out the sharp edges. Reduce it’s opacity.
Step 10: Now, duplicate the “Surface” layer, hit command+T, right click on it, and choose Flip Vertical. Now drag it down to the bottom of the document and it will surely look like the bottom of the sea. If not, try some different blending modes.
Step 11: Now you can add some plants, objects, bubbles (you should be able to find a bubbles brush somewhere on the net).
* If you are getting banding effect on the background layer, just give it some noise (Filter > Noise > Add noise).
(
A big screw you to
FreeImageHosting.net for screwing up all the images)
Photoshop:: Create Underwater Ocean
great 1
Linear Mode
