Designing a Diving Wallpaper
Diving Wallpaper (1024x768px)
First step is to create blurred grass in the background.
Set foreground color to dark green, background color to black. Then switch to
gradient tool (G), make sure that current gradient is green-to-black, select
Radial gradient (on top bar), then draw a big gradient from center to the edge
of image.

good for background. Paste the image into your file…

(Ctrl-Shit-U) and apply Gaussian Blur (found in Filters menu – Blur) with large
setting (50-100 pixels).


is very easy – set foreground color to black, then use Pen tool (P) to create
some simple shape of a leaf.

soft Light and opacity to 30-40%. They are only for background and should be
barely visible.

Set foreground color to vivid green, then in the new layer, use Pen tool to make
the shape of the leaf (I wanted it to twirl a bit).


– Inner glow (white,
opacity = overlay 50%)
– Drop shadow (black, overlay 20-30%)

(behind the original green layer), change its color to darker green (almost
black), and move the shape itself a bit down – it will give leaf some
depth.

above it, and Create Clipping Mask (from Layer menu, or Ctrl-Shift-G). Use large
soft Brush tool (B) with white (and then black) colors to add highlights and
shadows to the leaf.


apply a lot of Noise (Filters menu).

so that this layer is also masked by leaf shape. Then, find Smudge tool (hit
Shift-R until you see the finger icon), open Brush settings dropdown, select 4th
brush from the end of default brushes set, set Strengh to about 50%.

direction of leaf growth.



shape that overlays the bottom part of leaf.

Layer menu), set opacity mode to Overlay, then open layer effects and add some
Inner Glow effect (black, opacity mode = soft light, size = 40-60px)


new layer, use small (1-2 px) hard white brush and draw several threads.

effects and add Pattern overlay (blend mode = overlay, opacity around 50%, use
any pattern that looks noisy).

Shape tool (U), make a green circle (hold Shift to make circle, not
ellipse).

– Drop shadow
(blend mode = overlay, black, 1-2px)
– Inner Glow (white, overlay,
1-2px)
– Gradient overlay (white-to-black, blend mode = overlay, opacity
30-40%)

same layer effects: this is a body.

Gradient overlay (white-to-black, blend mode = normal, opacity = 20-30%)


legs

circles in the endings.


more?

with grey color, create a circle (use Ellipse tool, U, and hold Shift while
making a shape). then switch to Direct Selection tool (A or Shift-A), and click
on the bottom point of circle. use keyboard (Up arrow) to move it up a
bit.

and add:
– drop shadow (black, multiply, 40-50%, 1px)
– bevel and emboss
(both highlight and shadow are white, overlay, highlight opacity: 10%, shadow
opacity: 60-70%, size = 0px)

Paths palette, right-click on the path and in the menu click Make
selection…

then create merged copy of the selected area (Ctrl-Shift-C then Ctrl-V). Apply
some Gaussian Blur to it (Filters menu – Blur), 2-3 pixels.

palette (behind the merged copy), then use soft black brush (B) and make a spot.
Transform it (Ctrl-T) to stretch it horizontally.


create new layer above it, and draw a grey circle like shown here: bigger and
aligned to bottom of water drop.

Overlay, then open layer effects and add Gradient overlay. Set gradient blend
mode to overlay too, opacity to about 70%, style = radial, reverse. But we will
need to modify the gradient itself, and here is how…

black-to-white gradient (3rd in default set), then find the black slider on
bottom-left of gradient, grad it a bit to the right, then click on empty space
where black slider just was: new slider will appear. Change its color to
grey.

previous layer (Ctrl-Shift-G). Boom! 🙂

brush (B), add a dot, then transform it (Ctrl-T) as shown here,…

opacity to 30-40%, and again, Ctrl-Shift-G (Create clipping mask)



document (square, about 200×200 px), with transparent background, switch to
Shape tool (U), choose Polygon, set sides=4, then open Options, check Star, and
set Indent sizes to about 85%. With these options, add a star near top-left edge
of image.

then go to Filters – Distort – Spherize – apply about 50-60% effect. Repeat if
needed.

down and rotate), then set its blend mode to overlay.

layer with water drop, duplicate it (Ctrl-J), bring copied layer forward in
layers palette (make sure that all clipped layers remain clipped). Then change
its color to white and scale down a bit (Ctrl-T).

it (Ctl-C, Ctrl-V), move new path a bit to top-right, scale up (Ctrl-T) and
click Substract button (2nd fo the 4 buttons on top bar)

to 40-60%. The water drop is ready!


spider in the water drop. Make all layers invisible, except the layers belonging
to falling spider. Select bottom half of it, copy merged (Ctrl-Shift-C).

Vertically (from Edit menu – Transform)

filter. Adjust % to your liking (60-70 may be enough).

bottom part of image.

paste into our artwork document, and set blend mode to Overlay!


You can view original wallpaper here:
Thanks! I hope you found it useful.
Author: Vlad Gerasimov
URL: http://www.vladstudio.com
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