I’m doing a step by step example on how I do my Photo to Sketch art. I think this one will be easy to follow. I am going to post it tomorrow.

I am going to post the photo next.

This is the original photo I shot on Monday.

Camera Model Name
Canon EOS D30
Shooting Date/Time
10/14/2002 12:15:00 PM
Shooting Mode
Aperture-Priority AE
Tv (Shutter Speed)
1/750
Av (Aperture Value)
5.6
Metering Mode
Evaluative
Exposure Compensation
+1/2
ISO Speed
100
Lens
100.0 - 400.0 mm
Focal Length
400.0 mm
Image Size
2160 x 1440
Image Quality
RAW
Flash
Off
White Balance
Auto
AF Mode
AI Servo AF
Parameters
Contrast Normal
Sharpness Normal
Color Saturation Normal
File Size
2689 KB
Serial Number
258-5864
Drive Mode
Continuous shooting

Both are beautiful but I like the colored one best. Boy they are so beautiful in flight. Excellent photo.
DJ

Wow, really outstanding, can't make a choice over which is better.

The sketches are gorgeous... I like the b/w one better but both are great. I am looking forward (drool...) to reading your technique!!!

What REALLY impressed me though was the PHOTO you took! Wow!

Phyllis

I love the black and white sketch. Both are excellent rendition. More amazing is how you captured the image of the bird in mid flight.

Just as Phyllis and the rest of the group, I am waiting for the tutorial.

Tony

You have created many beautiful photos as shown on your website, and this is especially wonderfu -- the extension of one wing and the curve of the other -- and the feathers! Your rendering of the photos into sketches is wonderful, but your initial capture of the subject is awesome!

SKETCHING
By Steve LeQuier AKA Trimoon and Danny Raphael

These are the steps I used to generate the "pencil sketch" effect in first image of the hawk posted in this thread.

IMPORTANT: The attachment in at the bottom of this post is the Lighting Effects Action file to be used in step #12.

Note: larger images do best 100-200 dpi

STEPS: (Note: If applicable the layer on which the step applies is the first "word" in the step. The various setting values are guidelines. Make your own choices to suit your personal preferences.)

1. IMAGE > Document > Duplicate. It's always a good idea to make modifications to a copy of the original file.

2. If your image has multiple layers, now would be a good time to flatten it (IMAGE > Flatten Image).

3. "Background": LAYER > Duplicate. New layer name: "Monochrome"

4. "Background": Click 'eyeball' to turn this layer off.

5. "Monochrome": Click to select; IMAGE > Adjust > Channel Mixer. Click "monochrome" box. Adjust sliders to suit. I generally prefer lighter images to darker ones; it just depends on the image.

6. "Monochrome": LAYER > Duplicate. New layer name: "BC" (for Brightness / Contrast)

7. "BC": Set blend mode to Overlay

8. "BC": IMAGE > Adjust > Brightness / Contrast. Set Brightness to +25; Contrast to +35.

9. Create a new layer on top of the layer stack. New layer name: "Base".

10. LAYER > Merge Visible. This will populate layer "Base" by combining layers Monochrome" and "BC".

11. "Base": LAYER > Duplicate. New layer name: "Lighting Effects"

12. "Lighting Effects": apply the Action “LightingEffects” you downloaded earlier.

13. "Lighting Effects": Set blend mode to Overlay and adjust Opacity to suit.

14. Create a new layer on top of the layer stack. New layer name: "Mask 1"

15. "Mask 1": EDIT > Fill. Contents: White.

16. "Mask 1:" Create a Layer Mask by clicking the "Add Layer Mask" icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

17. Press the D key, followed by the X key to reset the default foreground / background colors to white / black and exchange them so black is the foreground color.

18. Photoshop 7: Select "Brush heavy flow scattered" from the brush menu. If this brush is not available, select "wet media brushes" from the dropdown menu. PS6 and below: Select one of the natural media brushes.

19. Set the brush size to about 20 pixels and opacity in the range of 10%-20%. Adjust the opacity setting as needed as you proceed with the next step.

20. Start painting on the Layer Mask. As you paint the image below will gradually be revealed. In other industries this is called "glazing" or "wiping," where color is applied and then removed gradually in stages.

21. This is where your artistic judgment and abilities are put to the test. Continue painting on the Layer Mask until the image "looks right" to you. Note: If you remove too much white, exchange the foreground / background colors (hit "X" key) and paint-back the mask, hiding the image below.

22. As a final touch create another layer at the top of the layer stack. Name it "Texture."

23. "Texture": EDIT > Fill. Content: 50% gray.

24. "Texture": Set blend mode to Overlay.

25. "Texture": FILTERS > Texture > Texturizer. Select a texture from the dropdown menu. A texture I frequently choose is "Sandstone" with these settings: Scaling, 100%; Relief, 2; Light Direction: Bottom Right.

26. Once you are satisfied with the image, you may flatten it if desired.

I would like to thank Danny Raphael for his hard work, without which this tutorial would not have been possible.

Moon...this is terrific!! Can't wait to try it out!

As always, GORGEOUS photo! :D

Thanks, moon

I really appreciate the tutorial! Going to print it out pronto...

Anne.

I use a PC, and found that the 'Lighting effect' file did have a suffix attached which had to be removed before I could get PShop to use it as a lighting effect filter. (file saved as Pencil02.txt but worked when I renamed it as Pencil02. )

Thanks, Trimoon! Thanks Danny, for translating the steps into a web tutorial.

Trimoon
Beautiful hawk photo and artwork..I am partial to the pencil sketch and can't wait to get home to try your technique. Thankyou for sharing your knowledge. It really helps people trying to learn these techniques.

Thanks
Jerry

Danny
Thanks for taking the time to help create this tutorial and for running this really informative and fun forum..I know you spend tons of time and effort to keep us happy..

Thanks
Jerry

STEVE:

RE: "I would like to thank Danny Raphael for his hard work, without which this tutorial would not have been possible."

You're very welcome. It was a pleasure collaborating with you. (Let's do it again sometime - anytime!)

Fact is without your generous sharing spirit and having crafted version 1.0, I would have had nothing to contribute. I truly appreciate you taking the initiative, and having confidence in me to do a little fine tuning.

RE: CJ's comment about the preset downloading as "pencil02.txt"
She's right. If you could rename the file without the suffix(just "pencil02"), that will fix this minor bug. Good catch, CJ, and thx for posting the "gotcha."

JERRY:

It's a privilege to be associated with this site and in particular the wonderful and talented folks who participate in this forum. Believe me, I enjoy every single moment.

Thanks for the kind words. They are sincerely appreciated.

~Danny~

Attached is the "Pencil2" Lighting Effects filter w/o the pesky .txt suffix!

Fortunately there's more than one way to skin a cat! (LOL)

To install Pencil02 so it can be used with the method described above, download this file. Unzip it to the appropriate folder below:

* PS7: Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Plug-Ins\Filters\Lighting Styles
* PS5.x: Adobe\Photoshop 5.5\Plug-Ins\Adobe Photoshop Only\Filters\Lighting Styles

One fast unzip! Think you Danny.

Trimoon
I have been experimenting with your tutorial..I tried your hawk and had nice success. Your tutorial is right on.. Thought I would try a picture of a mansion I took on vacation this summer..Attached are the results.

Thanks again for the help
Jerry :D

Very good Jerry! A keeper.

Jerry, you did a wonderful job on that house...wow! I too tried Steve's directions on a picture and found it a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it sure does work! It's not an "instant" action type of thing. And that's good! Makes it more fun.

Steve and Danny, thanks for putting the tutorial here. It's very much appreciated. And Steve, if you could just tell us now how to get your TALENT for photography...

Wouldn't that be nice to have, eh?

Phyllis :)

WOW!!! What a wonderful effect. Thank you Steve and Danny. You have done a great job with the images and the tutorial. Here is my try.

Lynda

Very nice effect. This is a really useful technique. I really like the picture of the farm.. Is that a photo that you took?? You and Trimoon really produce some great photo's and art from them..

Jerry :D

Thanks, Jerry.

I found this farm house on a country road in Kansas this summer while on vacation. Old farm houses and barns are some of my favorite subjects. I always wonder what life was like when they were new.

i emerge from the woodwork to ask, what do i lack if, when i try to download this action, i get an icon of a fleeing blue gingerbread boy with a red line through him (a la ghostbusters).

i thought it meant i needed flash or shockwave, dl'ed, still have blue boy. i already have quicktime. i'm using a mac g4, ps5.5, browser is ie5. tried trimoon's original version as well, and tho i could dl, it didn't work. put it in plug-ins/psonly/filters and removed extension.

if it's in the plug-ins folder will it still act like a regular action?

thanks so much for this new part of the forum, so instructive. thanks trimoon, danny

kc

Hello Kathleen:

Welcome in from the woodwork!

The .atn download was not part of the original tutorial which Steve posted, and I'm not familiar with it.

That said I believe Steve is running PS6 (or 7) and if so, I don't believe the action will run under PS 5.5 even if you could download it successfully. How's that for not great news? :(

Take a look at the post I made about 10 up from this one. You should be able to download the Lighting Effects preset and place it in the applicable Mac directory. That would enable you to apply that texture to the image in step 12.

I, too, am a 5.5 user; I'll have access to PS7 later today (after my wife gets home). I'll see what I can find out when I can open the .atn under PS7.

~Danny~

thanks for speedy reply Danny

steve's version was the one that downloaded but didn't do anything; yours is the one that yields little blue guy; so couldn't try putting it where you said put it.

don't know if it's ps7 vs ps5.5, mac vs pc, or general chowder-headedness of operator that accounts.

enjoy 7.

kc

tried trimoon's original version as well, and tho i could dl, it didn't work. put it in plug-ins/psonly/filters and removed extension. - Kathleen

Kathleen, I'm hoping that it's just a matter of moving it one step further down into the next subdirectory -- you mention putting it into the "filters" directory, and it needs to be in the .../Filters/Lighting Styles directory.

Then when you open Filters/Render/Lighting Styles -- look in the list of "Styles" for "Pencil02".

If it's in the right place, then hopefully Danny will have news for you soon. :)

Hey Kathleen!!!!
We missed you. Glad to see you back!! Can't help you much with your problem but I had to jump in to say Hi and welcome back! :)
DJ

whoops, double posted.

thanks cj, i will try that with steve's version. (icon with fingers crossed)

dj, :D

k

cj,

it definitely wasn't where it belonged, but after putting it where it did, it still didn't show up in the lighting effects. (steve's version, still just get the little blue guy when i try to dl pencil02).

thanks for setting me straight tho.

k

Trimoon & Danny - thanks both of you for the great tutorial, can't wait to try it out!

I especially like the B&W version of your hawk sketch, looks awesome.

- David :)

Kathleen:

The .atn Steve posted executes the Filter > Render > Lighting Effects filter using the same parameters as the ones specified in the Pencil2 preset.

In other words had you been able to install the Pencil2 download, see it in the dropdown list and apply it AND install and run the action Steve posted, the results would have been the same. Unfortunately what we have here is two ways for you to not get to where you want to go. How frustrating and inconvenient. :(

RE: The icon you posted.
Never seen that one before. But it is cute!

The good news (and there is some...):
* The step to which all this applies is optional!
* Potential workaround: You can experiment with existing Lighting Effects filter presets. The key is to assign a texture channel of "blue" and set the texture height fairly high (80-100). The options are limitless. Remember: If you discover a parameter combination that generates pleasing results, be sure to save it as a custom preset before clicking OK, which will enable you to use it again (via dropdown menu choice).

Sorry 'bout the corn-fusion here. Hope this is a doable workaround.

~Danny~

danny,

i hoped for some "this is how you do it if you can't do it automatically" type explanation, but didn't want to bog you down; thanks for reading my mind :)

it is such a beautiful effect, am anxious to try it, and do thank you both for building it.

k

WOW...how cool is that?
Great tutorial!!

Is that action just for the PC or can I use it on the MAC too?

Anyway I tried it without the lightening effects action...tried the additional tip using the texture on the blue channel and got a desirable effect. Although I'd like to see what the action will do...will try that at home on pc.

Thanks again for such a GREAT learning experience. Amazing all the new things one can learn and all the possibilities in photoshop!

trimoon, loved your 2 sketches and the photo itself...wondering how you colored it though?

Silly me, well I guess I figured out how to give it color...however while I was playing with the basket image, I didn't get what what I had hoped for and wondered if the difference could be that action. Like i said, when i go home i will download it on my pc and try and see.

Okay, a dumb blonde question... What action? I downloaded the Pencil2 lighting effect. Is there an action also? Can someone link me to it? Please???

Thanks...

Maybe the lighting effects action and the pencil2 thing are the same thing??

but the lighting effects action is on page 1 of this thread in the tutorial post.

Lynda: A very good question, in fact.

The action in question is a one-step action that when executed applies the equivalent of the Pencil2 lighting effects preset... as though you manually set the parameters in a Lighting Effects filter run.

The Pencil2 file I posted below Steves tutorial enables you to permanently save the Pencil2 preset for future use.

For what it's worth initially folks were having difficulty installing the preset at the end of the link Steve posted originally. As a workaround I uploaded (a few posts later) a zipped version which overcame that problem. Steve subsequently modified his tutorial post by replacing the link to the (stubborn) preset with one to afore mentioned 1-step action.

How's that? Clear as mud? I thought so! :)

Thanks for asking...
Danny

hello, this is my picture:

creativo

Your picture is GR-eat (magnifico)! Thank your sharing it.

~DannyR~

I love your pencil sketching method but even more the hawk shot. That is a splendid shot. I use a D30 and 300mmIS with teleconverter for birds.

I think this tutorial deserves to be in the Tutorial area and not lost in the middle of all sort of threads.

Your point is well taken. I meant to include it in the "Best of" Forum. I just added it - DannyR

As it is described in so much detail, it is asking for an action, and as I have not found any, I did one myself.

Thank you for doing this. Many people will benefit from your creativity. - DannyR

This action set, called Hawk sketch is composed by the following actions:
1- Lighting pencil : this is the action given on the tutorial
2- Hawk sketch : this one is following the tutorial
3- Hawk sketch w/adj layers : this one uses adjustment layers, to turn the photo into black and white.
4- " Hawk Redo effects : this one is suposed to be run after action 3.

After running Action 3 you do not have allways a perfect result,
so you might want to reajust, your convertion to B&W, which is all inside one 'Set' called Base. After changing it, you must turn only this image as visible, then
run the 4 action and it will create another 'Lighting effects 2' layer.

On this example I run the action, then copied the Base Set
changed the B&W conversion and then run the redo effects on it
then made a mask for the bailarina on the top Set, and made
the Bailarina in color.

The layers for the bailarina image