Photoshop Tutorial: Dark Art

Here’s a fairly complete tutorial I wrote a few years ago to get you started with dark art. It should be detailed enough for a beginner to follow, but if you have any questions, just drop a comment and I’ll see if I can help you out.

You’ll need some basic experience with creating layers and know how to get around Photoshop. The rest should be covered.

Step 1 Getting set up

The most important element of any photo manipulation is having a good image to start off with. For this tutorial’s sake, I chose Eyeball Stock 1 by jezebel. You can either download the image from DeviantArt, or download the following Zip file which contains all the images you’ll need to follow this tutorial. This image is particular is called Eye.jpg.

Fire up Photoshop, load Eye.jpg and let’s get started! If you find yourself unable to modify the image, head into Image/Mode and select RGB Color. Double-click on the layer to unlock it.

Rename that layer to Eye and proceed to Step 2.

Step 2 Playing with Blending

Duplicate your Eye layer by dragging it to the New Layer button. Set that layer’s blending mode to Multiply.

Doing with will, depending on the image you’re using, make it’s highlights and shadows more accented giving it a quick, spooky kind of look. This technique is used in allot of these kind of works because different blending modes and varying opacities can produce awesome effect easily and rapidly without having to airbrush painstakingly. It’s very important for you to know your blending modes.

Once you’ve got that second layer created, press Ctrl+E to merge it down with the Eye layer. If your layer name has changed, rename the layer back to Eye.

Step 3 Skin Texturing

Dig back into the Zip file to find the image Rust.jpg and open that up. Press Ctrl+A to select the entire canvas, then press Ctrl+C to copy the selection. Head back to the photo manipulation canvas and hit Ctrl+V to paste in the image.

Rename the layer to Skin Texture. Now, set the Skin Texture’s Blending Mode to Linear Light and notice how the texture already seems to be a part of the skin. Obviously it needs some tweaking before it looks realistic so we’ll adjust the Hue and Saturation by pressing Ctrl+U. I suggest you use the same settings I did for the Tutorial’s sake.

Hue: 0 (Unchanged)
Saturation: -100
Lightness: +10

Step 4 Behind the Mask

We’re already seeing our manipulation coming together. There’s some good texture going on but something seems off, doesn’t it? We only want the texture to cover the skin, and not the eye. Well, we’ll fix that. This is where Layer Masking steps in. Click on your Skin Texture layer to activate it, then click on the Layer Mask button on your Layer Toolbar.

In resume, Layer Masking is a great alternative to using the Eraser tool because masks are non-permanent, and can be modified at any time as long as it is not applied. Notice that your color selection has been set to black and white which are, respectively, Erase and Restore in masking mode.

If it isn’t already so, select Black as your foreground color and grab a soft, round brush of about 18px and brush away the eye. Be sure that you are in your mask while you’re doing this. If you’re doing it correctly, it should erase (mask) the texture with your brush strokes.

Keep at it until all the texture from inside the eye is gone. You can use different sized brushes for smaller regions or detail work. Also note that masking, as mentioned earlier, is not permanent and can be Enabled/Disabled by Right-clicking on it in your Layers Palette.

Step 5 Warp Speed!

Looking good, but still not good enough. Our piece needs some special effects and details added to it. Here’s a quick effect that can yield awesome results. Click on your Eye layer to activate it and head into Filter/Liquify. Now, click on the Twist Clockwise button.

Set the size to 140 then click and hold your cursor in the center of the eye, on the Pupil. The will warp the brush’s selection in a clockwise motion. In this case, it will warp the iris for an awesome effect. Once you’re satisfied with your result, click on the Ok button to apply it. You shouldn’t have to hold it for much longer than a second or so.

Step 6 Open your Eyes

Here’s another easy effect that will yield awesome results if done correctly. If it isn’t already, click on your Eye layer to activate it.

Select the Dodge Tool and, using a round blurry brush set on Midtones with a range of 100% Exposure, make a circular motion around the pupil overlapping in the iris a bit. This will lighten up every highlight color the brush strokes on, giving the eye a glowing effect.

Step 7 Tint ‘em

This step can be a bit tricky to accomplish but it gives out a very nice change if you can pull it off. Select your Lasso Tool and slowly surround the iris to select it.

Once you’ve got that, press Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V. That will create a new layer with your selection. Click on that new layer to activate it and press Ctrl+U to access the Hue and Saturation Panel. Now, move the Hue slider until you find a color of your choice. If your colors are too vivid, lower the Saturation slider.

Try different colors and different layer blending modes for various effects. Once you have satisfactory results, you can use Layer Masking as shown above to remove the excess you might have selected with your lasso. Make sure not to merge this layer down but rename it to Iris.

Step 8 Texture it

In this step, we’ll be texturing the eye and not the skin surrounding it.

Go back into your Zip file, grab Cracks.jpg and set it over your Eye layer then rename it to Cracks. Lower the opacity of that layer so you can see where your texture appears. Now, arrange and scale the texture to your liking and mask away the un-needed part.

Remember, we’re trying to cover the white portion of the eye this time. Not the skin around it, and not over the iris and pupil. Once your masking is done, return the layer’s opacity back to 100% and set it to Multiply blending mode, or whichever mode you think looks best.

You can edit the color of your texture by using the Hue and Saturation method you’ve learned above. Once you’re done, merge down with the Eye layer by pressing Ctrl+E.

Step 9 It tastes like burning

If you think a subtle touch is still missing from your image, try this: Grab the Burn Tool and, with a round, blurry brush, set your Range to Midtones and at about 40% Exposure. Then brush around here and there on your Eye layer. Make sure the layer is active before you start. The brushes areas should become darker and look charred or burned for a gruesome effect. You can repeat the same process on the Texture layer.

Note that over-doing it will yield bad results so I try and limit my brushing to the lighter colored parts. I did a few passes around the eye, and in the eyelid area.

You can also do the opposite effect using the Dodge Tool to lighten up your colors. Since we’re going for a dark, evil look, you shouldn’t really need to do this. Another fun tool to use is the Sponge Tool set to Desaturate. This will remove coloration and can give a good-looking “dead skin” effect.

Step 10 The final touch

Our manipulation is done! Be sure to save your work. There is one last thing missing that you should add to every piece you do and that is a proper border. Borders are too often over-looked but can make a drastic difference so head into Image/Canvas Size and add an additional 100px in both Width and Height. This will give you a 50px edge on each side to use for your border.

Create a new layer on top of all the others and rename it to Border. Grab your Rectangular Marquee Tool and set it to 50px width and 1000px high. Using this selection, fill both left and right side of your image in Black. Now, set your tool’s size to 1000px wide and 50px high and do the same to the Top and Bottom border.

Once that’s done, Ctrl+Click on your layer to select it’s content, then press Ctrl+Shift+i to inverse the selection. Head into Edit/Stroke and apply a white, 1px inside stroke.

All done! You can add some text if you’d like but don’t over-do it. Hope this tutorial helped you out. If you have any questions, just leave a comment.