STEP BY STEP CANVAS PAINTING EFFECT

Turn pixels into paint with layer masks and effects tools

01 SMUDGE THE DETAILS

Open Elements_ before.jpg and duplicate the background so that you can edit it non-destructively – right-click it in the layers panel or press Ctrl/cmd+j, then hide the background layer. Use the Smudge tool to smear the shot, by ‘wiggling’ the brush over details.

02 CREATE LAYER MASK

Press Ctrl/cmd+shift+n to create a layer. Use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill it with white, and rename it “White BG”. Now drag Layer 1 to the top and create a layer mask by clicking the fourth button in the Layers Panel. Fill the mask with black, which turns the screen white.

03 PAINT THE IMAGE

Select the Brush tool and choose a brush – Pen Pressure 83 works well, with Scatter increased to 21%. Change the colour to white and as you paint, the image will start to appear. Keep going over areas to ‘paint’ them in more. Be messy! We’ll tidy it up next.

04 SECOND COAT

Hold Ctrl/cmd, click Layer 1 then White BG to select both, then hold Option/alt while clicking Layer> Merge Visible to combine them into Layer 2. Create and fill a layer mask with black, then hide Layer 1. Choose a different brush and paint the image in again.

05 FINE DETAIL

Hide everything except the background, then copy it with Ctrl/cmd+j. Go to Enhance>convert to Black and White, and choose Newspaper to create a mono. Duplicate it, then invert it with Ctrl/cmd+i. Change the blend mode in the layers panel from Normal to Color Dodge, then go to Filter> other> minimum.

06 ADD A CANVAS

Select both layers, then hold Alt/option and click Layer>merge Visible to create Layer 3. Drag to the top and change blend to Multiply. Unhide White BG and Layer 2 (reducing its Opacity to 80%). Use the Eraser on Layer 3 to tidy the edges. Flatten the image, then Filter>texture>texturizer to finish with a canvas overlay.