Clouds and paper airplanes

In this tutorial I will show you how to create the image above, together with the puffy clouds, paper airplanes and stars and whistles. Note that the final effect will be better if you use a pen tablet. So, let's get started. Open a new document
  1. Choose File>New…
  2. Type in the following Width and Height dimensions and press OK.
Draw the gradient
  1. Select the Gradient Tool (Shortcut G) .
  2. Select Radial Gradient 
    from the upper left Gradient Options.
  3. Click the gradient in order to open the gradient editor. Set the following colors in the Gradient Editor:

RGB (111, 223, 235) for the Dark Blue

RGB (13,53,108) for the Light Blue

Then move the sliders as shown in the picture. Leave everything else as shown.
4. Draw the gradient as shown in the picture, with the centered of the circle outside of the working area, for a nice, delicate effect.
Create the Rays of Light
  1. Select the Gradient Tool (Shortcut G) .
  2. Select Angle Gradient
    from the upper left Gradient Options.
  3. Click the gradient in order to open the gradient editor. Select Noise as gradient type and click the “Randomize” button to get a balanced gradient (any hue does the trick). Try to match the gradient below as closely as possible.
4. Create a new layer
on top of the one with the radial gradient. 5. Now draw the gradient so as to look similar to the one below:
6. Select Image>Adjustments>Desaturate  (Shortcut: Shift+Ctrl+U) 7. Choose the Soft Light blending mode for the Light layer. Use Overlay mode for a stronger effect.
8. Apply Gaussian Blur for an even more delicate effect.
Creating the Clouds
  1. Select the Brush Tool (shortcut B)
  2. Choose the Brush Tip Shape to be
    . Use a spacing of 17% and leave the Opacity and Flow at 100%
  3. Open the Brushes Palette (Window>Brushes or Shortcut: F5)
  4. Tick the Scattering checkbox. If you have a pen tablet, let the scattering and count jitter be controlled by the pen pressure. Otherwise choose some values that best suit your intended effect.
  5. Create new layers for the clouds (as many as you wish), then draw the clouds shape with the color RGB (111, 223, 235) or darker. Using a pen tablet would guarantee a unique shape and feel. The secret here is to use small brush sizes (1 and 2). It takes more time to create the composition this way, but it will give the composition that intended sketchy feeling, with a lot of lines composing the cloud shape.
NOTE: for a more dramatic effect you could also use a texture. Tick the Texture checkbox and the click on the word Texture to configure the options. The use texture is "Wax Crayon on Charcoal Paper" , which can be found in the Artist Surfaces Library which comes with Adobe Photoshop. (To access it click the drop-down arrow for Contents, then the dropdown arrow to the top right and choose Artist Surfaces.) Choose the Brush Tip Shape to be Sampled Tip 58. Use a spacing of 17% and leave the Opacity and Flow at 100%.
6. Experiment with the opacity of the cloud layers until you are satisfied with the effect 7. Create a new layer under the cloud layers, and call it White. Using a solid brush this time, paint under the clouds with white, wherever you want to highlight them. Crosshatch the clouds with the pen if you want to dim out the whiteness. Creating the Airplanes
  1. Select the line tool (Shortcut U). Give it a weight of 2 px.
  2. Use the line tool to create the following shape.
  3. Once satisfied with the shape, merge down the line layers.
  4. Create a new layer under the airplane layer. Paint it with white, with the brush tool.
  5. Convert the Airplane Layer and the White layer into a smart object.
  6. Copy the smart object layer 6 times. Rotate and scale each airplane until the image looks like below
Final touches: The stars
  1. Create a new layer. Call it Stars.
  2. Using the same brush as for the clouds, start drawing stars across the canvas, wherever you think the composition is not consistent enough.
Posted on Friday, Feb 19, 2010