Use photoshop to create fluffy and beautiful clouds (1)

Originally published in: abduzeedo Author: fabio sasso Translation: Gao Xiaobai

I watched a movie a few days ago. In the movie, there was a very young child sitting on the moon fishing. This kind of picture made me feel an incredible beauty, so I wanted to use photoshop to create such an effect. For this tutorial, I Will show you how to make fluffy clouds.

Final effect preview :

Step 1

Create a new document. The default setting is international standard paper and the size is set to A4. Then apply the Pattern Overlay layer style on the background layer. Select linen fabric as the pattern, which is the default mode in photoshop.

Step 2

Add a new layer and use the Rectangle Tool (U) to create a rectangle that is slightly smaller than the background, as the image needs some edges. Then apply a Gradient Overlay in the layer style. Set the Style to Linear, the Angle to 90 degrees, and the Color to #12141c, #3e221a, #341f1b.

Step 3

I created a brush to create the clouds. It's really simple and I learned it from another tutorial online. You can watch the footage here. But I decided to explain it to you with screenshots because it is relatively simple. Here are the settings for creating a brush:

1. Brush tip shape:
   Circle with a diameter of 500 pixels, a hardness of 0%, and a spacing of 25%.
2. Shape dynamics:
   Size jitter is set to 100%, minimum diameter to 20%, angle jitter to 20%, and roundness jitter to 0%.
3. spread:
   Walk both axes and set them to 120%, Amount to 5, and Amount Jitter to 100%.
4. Texture:
   Pattern is set to Clouds, Scale is set to 400% (but if you want the clouds to be fluffier you can set a larger value, or if you want a smaller brush you can reduce its size), Mode is set to Color deepen.

Step 4

Now add a new layer and set the color to white. Select the cloud brush to draw the clouds. The secret here is to draw slowly. Draw again and again until you get the shape you want.

Step 5

In the previous steps we created the first part of the clouds, but in order to give the clouds more volume and realism, you need to create some dark areas. Create a new layer and go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask. Now set the color to black and change the brush's opacity to 50%. Then paint the dark areas. If you've ever seen real clouds, you'll notice that the dark areas are always at the bottom of the clouds, so draw them that way as well.

Step 6

Draw a cloud and move it to the right side of the image as shown below.

Step 7

Draw another cloud and place it on the other side.

Now create a large cloud, remember if you increase the brush size you must increase the size of the pattern in the brush preset. The same goes for creating smaller ones, so you can create different clouds based on this approach. Large clouds should be placed in the front of the document, and small clouds should be placed in the back.

Create a new layer, cover it with gradient, and set the color of the clouds to #291907, #dad6d2. Change the blending mode to Overlay.

Here I decided to choose a picture of the moon instead of a drawn one, so that it would be easier to complete. The image I used you can download here.