{that shiny blurry look
A while ago someone asked me how I got that blurry/watercoulorish effect in my Willow evolution wallpaper, so I decided to make a tutorial on how to do this. I don't have the psd, but I kinda remember what I did for the wallpaper, so I'll try to make the same effect with this Kristen Bell pic that I got from Kristen Bell.net.1. First I'll duplicate (layer>duplicate layer) and then I'll go to filter>noise>median and I set the radius to 5 pixels, but this is a big picture, so you're radius will probably be smaller. You can just play around with the settings to find what you like. This is what my image looks like now.
2. Now this is really blurred, so for the blending options I'll keep it at normal, but set the opacity to 50%.
3. I now use the mask tool, to keep the eyes sharp. At the bottom of the layers pannel press the button that's a rectangular shape and has a circle in it, if you hover over it will say add a mask. Or you could go to Layer>add layer mask>reveal all. Then get a small rounded paint brush, set the colour to black (#000000) and brush over the eyes, or if there's any other parts you want to keep sharp. Make sure you're brushing on the mask. Now flatten the image (layer>flatten image), this is what my image looks like now.
4. I'll now duplicate the flattened image again, and I'll go to filter>blur>gaussian blur. I set it to 3.5, again since this is a big image, you'll probably set the blur to a lower setting. Then, I play with blending options, and I'll set it to soft light at keep the opacity at 100%. I will now flatten the image again. This is what my image looks like now.
5. Now I will go to filter>artistic>paint daubs. I set it to a simple brush, with a brush size of 3 and sharpness set to 3. I usually use a setting of 1 for both the brush size and the sharpness, but I used a larger setting since this image is really big. This is what my picture now looks like.
6. Now I'll use my blur tool. I set the opaciaty to normal with a opacity of 80% and choose a soft circular brush. Then I'll just brush over Kristen's forehead and cheeks.
7. I'm done! Now, this is what my final image looks like.
