In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Chained Arm with Blood Stain Effect in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial so some steps can be a little tricky, but why not have a try :)
We will be combining several images together and use custom brushes to render the blood effect. We will be using some image adjustments as well as tools such as the background eraser tool and the quick selection tool.
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Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)
Step 1
Create a new document sized 800px * 900px with black background. Create a new layer, use either a cracked or a grunge brush, paint some texture over the background layer, set the layer opacity to be around 30% for a subtle effect:
Load the arm image into Photoshop, select the arm with the magic wand tool:
Copy and paste the selection into Photoshop, resize and position it as shown below:
Step 2
Add the following 2 adjustment layers as clipping mask to this arm layer:
Black and White
Levels
On the Level adjustment layer mask, use a big soft eraser to erase the top left part of the fist, and you will have the following effect:
Step 3
Now let's add the chain into the composition. Load the Chain stock image into Photoshop - Now we want to cut of the chain from the rest of the image: grab the background eraser tool from the toolbox:
Apply the following setting for the background eraser tool:
Unlock the background layer of this chain image, erase the textures around chain with the background eraser tool - this creates some dusty effect around the chain:
Once you've done than, use the quick selection tool to select a portion of the chain and its surroundings:
Copy and paste the selection onto our canvas, resize and rotate it with the free transform tool, attach it to the right side of the arm:
Step 4
Add the following 3 adjustment layer as clipping mask to this chain layer:
Black and White
Levels
Curves
Use a soft erase to remove the edges around the chain to fade it into the background:
and here is the effect so far:
Use the cloud filter and a cloud brush, add a new layer of cloud over the chain for some dramatic effect: (set layer blending mode to around 20%)
Make a new folder and put those adjustment layers and the chain layers into the new folder, then duplicate the folder and flip it horizontally, move it the left:
Use the crack brush as an eraser, apply a layer mask on the arm layer, and use this crack eraser to add some cracking texture on the arm:
Step 5
Now let's add some blood and stain to the arm. Select a dark red colour, grab the water splash brush we downloaded, and paint over a new layer (set layer blending mode to "Color Burn"):
and you will have some dark black spot over the arm and fist area:
Duplicate this layer and change the layer blending mode of the duplicated layer to "Color", and you will have some red colour over the black spots, creating a stained effect:
Add some more blood splash around the arm with the dark red brush:
You can add some motion to the image by adding a new layer, paint or render some cloud on it, and apply some motion blur to this new layer:
Set layer opacity to be around 30%, attach the motion blur layer to the fist - this adds a air flowing effect to the image:
Step 6
OK we're almost done! We can add some final touches to the image. Go back to the arm layer and apply the following unsharp mask settings:
This will bring out more details from the arm:
Add some soft highlight around the chain with a soft white brush with 20% flow and opacity setting:
Also I added some lens flare effect over the figure:
And here is the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)
That's it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful :) Till next time, have a great day!
