How to Create an Electrifyingly Patriotic Manipulation in Photoshop

Learn how to create this intense photo manipulation of a guy shooting lightning from his hands. In this tutorial you will learn various blending and lightning techniques.

You will create an intense photo manipulation depicting a guy who has the power of lightning at his fingertips.You will need Photoshop CS5 or newer in order to follow this tutorial.

Tutorial Resources

• Sky – freeimages.com
• Birds Brush – redheadstock
• Glitter Effect – acheronnights
• Flag – freeimages.com
• Guy – vishstudio
• Statue of Liberty –  regisztralt
• Lens Flare – darkoozz
• Clouds Brush – ryoku15
• Smoke Brush – falln-brushes
• Broken Glass – freeimages.com
• Snow Texture – emilyemilybeth
• Rain Brush – amorphiss
• Lightning Brush – elestrial
• Lens Flare2 – saphiredesign

Step 1

Create a new file 1823×100 pixels. Open the resource “Clouds”. Select all (Ctrl + A) and copy (Ctrl + C). Paste into the newly created file (Ctrl + V). Convert the pasted clouds to a smart object by choosing Layer > Smart Objects > Convert To Smart Objects. Resize and place the clouds layer by applying a Free Transform (Ctrl + T).

Step 2

Duplicate the clouds layer (Ctrl + J) and move it to the left. Change the blending mode of the clouds layer to Overlay.

Step 3

Import the clouds brush (Edit > Presets > Import/Export Presets). Create a new layer (Ctrl + Alt + N) and paint some white clouds on top of our existing clouds.

Step 4

Import the birds brush. On a new layer paint some black birds.

Step 5

Open the resource “Glitter”. Select all, copy and paste into our working document. Change the blending mode to Screen.

Step 6

Add a layer mask to the “Glitter” layer. You can do that by choosing Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select the gradient tool (G) and press D to automatically switch to the default colors (black and white). Now click on the layer mask and with the gradient tool drag from the indicated areas while holding shift. By doing this we will hide the lower area of the glitter effect but because we are using the gradient tool there will be no hard edges. Also, painting with black in a layer mask will hide that portion of the layer.

Step 7

Open the resource “Flag”. Make a selection of the flag using whatever selection tools you’re comfortable with (I mainly use Quick Selection Tool for fast selections). Copy the selection and paste it into our working document. After you’ve converted it to a smart object place is as indicated below.

Step 8

In order to make the flag look shredded add a layer mask and with the standard Chalk Brush paint with black on the right side of the flag. You can see my result indicated below.

Step 9

Create a new layer and Alt-click between the new layer and the flag layer. This will clip the new layer to the flag layer. This means that whatever we paint on the new layer will only be visible through the flag layer (the clipped layer). Change the blending mode of the new layer to Overlay and paint with a round soft brush at 40% Opacity with black over the black areas and with white over the already white areas. This step will boost the contrast of the flag and it will make it look better.

Step 10

Open the resource “Male”. Make a selection of the person using the Quick Selection tool or if the results are not good you can use the Pen Tool to create a path around the person and then convert the path into a selection (Ctrl + Enter – create a selection from path, Ctrl + Shift + Enter – convert path to selection and add to existing selection, Ctrl + Alt + Enter – convert path to selection and substract from existing selection). Copy and paste the male person into our working document. Convert the pasted layer into a smart object and place it in the middle of the screen as indicated below.