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9. You should now have what I have, below left. Now comes the 'fun' part ;-) Select the Burn brush from the toolbox (as shown at below, right) with these settings: Brush: default; Shape: round; Size: 20; Hardness: 50; Step: 25; Density: 100; Thickness: 100; Rotation: 0; Opacity: 75. Stroke should NOT be selected, and Limit should be set to None.
10. With the burn brush, carefully go over parts of the edges at random, to give it the burnt-edge look. This is where a Wacom pen comes in handy if you have one, but a mouse will do just fine as well. Just to prove this point, I did the right-hand side of the image (right) with the mouse, and the left-hand side with my Wacom pen. Try and go with the natural indentations that the mesh warp tool created to give it a more realistic look. |
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11. Well it looks kind of interesting, and definitely burnt, but there's one more thing we can do to give it that realistic edge (pun intended ;-). Choose the eraser tool and go with these settings: Eraser set to Default; Shape: Round; Size: 6; Hardness: 50; Step: 25; Density: 100; Thickness: 100; Rotation: 0 and Opacity 100. This is where that Wacom pen really comes in handy, but again, don't worry if you don't have one because a mouse will still do a pretty good job. Carefully go over the parts that you 'burnt' with the eraser, making sure you eliminate any edges you can still see under the burn marks, and any spare pixels that may get left behind. It's important to be really picky about this here because with the brush being set to such a small size, some pixels may be missed and we wouldn't want them showing up on the final image eh? Yuck! |
12. When you've finished tidying up those burn marks, if you're happy with what you've got, go to the bottom layer and flood-fill with a colour of your choice. If all you're after is a blank, burnt parchment, voila, you've finished! But, if you'd like to make a treasure-map similar to what I have below, create a new layer on top of the burnt paper layer, and get as creative as you like - let your imagination run wild. I used the Vivaldi font to give the writing an old fashioned look, rotated the words when necessary, and drew in the rest by hand with the pen (you know the drill by now.....a mouse will also do the job just fine...yada yada yada ;-).
It doesn't matter how simple your drawing is, because let's face it, pirates were never known for their artistic abilities! When you've come up with something you like, go to the bottom layer, flood fill with whatever colour you like (I used a wood-grain pattern for mine on the first page, which you'll find on the patterns list on the materials palette - I changed the angle to 90 degrees to make the woodgrain run vertically). Now, merge all layers and you're done! I get to keep the treasure though eh?!
© Graphic Allusions 2003-2005. |
