Graphic Media Knowledge

STEP TWO: Choose the Dodge tool (O). In the Options Bar, set the Range to Midtones and the Exposure to 30%. Using a soft-edged brush, lighten some of the highlight areas in the image, especially around the eyes, nose, chin, and the outer portions of the mane. Now, choose the Burn tool (nested under the Dodge tool). With the Range set to Midtones, use a soft-edged brush to burn (or darken) the areas under the chin, around the lion's left cheek, and along the mane.

STEP THREE: Drag the Background layer onto the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to create a duplicate (Background copy). Bring up the Hue/Saturation dialog again. Check the Colorize box, enter 204 for Hue, 55 for Saturation, 10 for Lightness, and did< OK. Click the Add Layer Mask icon (the gray square with the white circle in it) at the bottom of the Layers panel. Choose the Brush tool (B), lower the Opacity to about 30% in the Options Bar, and presses D then X to set the Foreground color to black. Use a soft-edged brush to paint away the areas around the eyes, nose, and muzzle. Focus on the highlight areas of the image (the left side in our example). Note: Make sure you completely reveal the eyes and tip of the nose of the original layer beneath the masked layer (Background copy).

STEP FOUR: Click the Create a New Layer icon to create a new layer (Layer 1). Press D then X to set the Foreground color to white. Choose the Brush tool and select a small, soft-edged brush (we're using a 9-pixel brush). Go to the Brush panel (Window>Brush) and turn off Shape Dynamic on the left below the Brush lip Shape section. Next, click on the word Scattering below, check Both Axes, and enter 1000% for Scatter and 100% for Count Jitter. Now, click on the words Dual Brush and make sure Both Axes is checked, Scatter is 1000%, and Size is 30 px. Finally, click on the word Transfer and paint in some small, random snowflakes.

 Note: if you're using a mouse, the Control setting in the Brush panel will default to Off. If you're using a tablet, as we are, the default is Pen Pressure.

STEP FIVE: Create another new layer (Layer 2). Increase your Brush size to about 25 pixels (press the Right Bracket key to increase the Brush size by 5 pixels at a time). Click on the words Wet Edges in the Brush panel, and paint in some larger snow-flakes on Layer 2. 

STEP SIX:  You'll want to slightly blur the snowflakes you created on Layer 2, so choose Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 2 pixels, and click OK.

STEP SEVEN: Create another layer (Layer 3) and paint in more snowflakes using the same Brush size and settings. Press Command-F (PC: Ctrl-F) to apply the previous filter (Gaussian Blur), then change the layer blend mode to Overlay.

        Note: Repeat Steps Five through Seven as many times as you wish (we added five more layers), varying the size of the brush and the amounts of blur to create depth. Remember, keep some of the layers in focus and completely blur out some of the other snowflake layers to add more depth and realism.

STEP EIGHT: Click on the Background copy layer (the one with the blue tint we created in Step Three) in the Layers panel to make it the active layer. Click the Add a Layer Style icon (fx) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Inner Glow from the list. Click on the yellow color swatch, choose white as the color, and dick OK. Choose Overlay for the Blend Mode and dick OK to apply the style and complete the effect.