Create the smoke portrait

USE YOUR SMOKE BRUSHES – OR OUR FREE SET – TO SEND YOUR PORTRAIT UP IN SMOKE

Convert to mono

Open the portrait into Photoshop. Duplicate the ‘Background’ layer with Cmd/ctrl+j, then go to Image> Adjustments>black & White. Use the controls to tweak the look. We chose the Red Filter preset from the dropdown to lift the skin.

White fill layer

Go to the Layers panel (Window>layers) and click the new layer icon, then go to Edit>fill, set Contents: White and hit OK. Next, click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Now we can paint on the image while the mask is highlighted to gradually reveal the portrait.

Tone the image

Continue painting to build up the effect. Once you’re happy, highlight the top layer and press Cmd/ctrl+shift+alt+e to merge a new layer, then go to Filter>camera Raw Filter for final toning. Click the Profile Browser and choose a profile – we used Artistic 02 – then use the tonal tools to finish off the image.

Warp the head

Go to Edit>transform>warp. Hold Alt and click a series of vertical points down the face, then click a point near the back of the head to add a column. Hold Shift and drag a box over the points over the back of the head, then drag them to the side to stretch it out.

Paint a mask

Grab the Brush tool from the toolbar and hit D then X to set the colour to black. Go to the Brush picker and choose one of your newly created smoke brushes (or alternatively load the smoke brushes supplied into Photoshop). Dab over the image to paint with the smoke brush tip.

Build it up

Continue dabbing over parts of the face with your smoke brushes to reveal the face, making sure to leave plenty of gaps. You can change the rotation and angle of your brushes in the Brush Settings panel by rotating the circular control. Or just hold R and rotate the canvas for different angles.