Use Photoshop to create light and non-mainstream effects

This tutorial introduces how to make non-mainstream characters. Idea: There is not much color adjustment during production. The main purpose is to make the characters simple and clean. The colors are also very light, so that the whole picture looks simple and comfortable!

Original picture


final effect


1. Open the original image and press Ctrl + J to copy a layer, then change the layer blending mode to "Soft Light"
2. Create a new layer and press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E to stamp the layer. Select the blur tool to smear out the spots on the character’s face. The approximate effect is as shown in Figure 1. The smearing must be even. This step is very important.


<Figure 1>

3. Create a new layer and press Ctrl + Alt + ~ to bring up the highlight selection, then fill it with white, press Ctrl + J to copy a layer, the effect is as shown in Figure 2


<Figure 2>

4. Create a hue/saturation adjustment layer and adjust the yellow. The parameter settings are as shown in Figure 3, and the effect is as shown in Figure 4.


<Figure 3>

<Figure 4>

5. Create a new layer and paint the lips red, then change the layer blending mode to "Color Dodge", the effect is as shown in Figure 5

<Figure 5>

6. Create a new layer and use the feathering brush to randomly click some small dots. In order to highlight the effect, the background is temporarily filled with black. The effect is as shown in Figure 6.

<Figure 6>

7. Execute the menu: Filter > Blur > Motion Blur, the angle is 90 degrees, and the blur value is: 233. After confirming, press Ctrl + J to copy a few layers. When the light looks clearer, merge the copied layers and press Ctrl + T deforms as shown in Figure 8. After deformation, move the light to the upper left corner and change the angle appropriately. The effect is as shown in Figure 9

<Figure 7>

<Figure 8>

<Figure 9>

8. Create a new layer and use the Elliptical Marquee Tool to draw an ellipse. Press Ctrl + Shift + D to feather the value to 45. After confirming, fill it with white and move it to the upper left. The effect is as shown in Figure 11.

<Figure 10>

<Figure 11>

9. Create a new layer with fill color: #7FAB9A, and then change the layer blending mode to "Soft Light". The effect is as shown in Figure 12

<Figure 12>

10. Merge all the layers and modify them as a whole to complete the final effect.

<Figure 13>