Step 1
Create a new document of 1680x1050 px at 72 dpi in RGB color mode.
Step 2
Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G), press D to set Foreground to black (#000000) and fill the "background" layer with it.
Step 3
Open the "woman" picture. Grab the Crop Tool (C) and crop the image to eliminate the white frame.
Step 4
Double-click the layer lock in the Layers palette and click OK to make the layer editable.
Step 5
Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J), then go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set it to 1.2 px and hit OK.
In the Layers palette (Window > Layers or F7) set Blending mode to Overlay.
Step 6
Go to the Channels window (Window > Channels), select the "Blue" channel and click-drag it on the "New Channel" button.
Step 7
With the "Blue copy" channel selected, go to Image > Adjustments > Invert (CTRL+I).
Step 8
Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels and use similar settings to mine.
Note: There are three triangles on the graph: black, gray and white. They control the shadows, midtones and highlights. The idea behind what we are doing is to reduce the midtones to a minimum, to have a high contrast between shadows and highlights.
Step 9
Our goal is mainly the hair, since it has complex edges. Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves and set it like mine or similar. Repeat this step until the hair is darkened.
Step 10
Grab the Brush Tool (B), press D to set Foreground color to pure black and paint the interior of the girl.
Step 11
With the brush tool still selected, press X to switch pure white color to Foreground and paint over the pants areas.
Step 12
Grab the Burn Tool (O), set it to Shadows and 100% Exposure and darken the loose hair strands. Switch to Dodge Tool, set it on Highlights with 45% Exposure and lighten the background. Try to obtain something similar to my result.
Step 13
In the Channels palette (Window > Channels), CTRL+click the "Blue copy" channel to make a selection. Turn on visibility of "RGB" channel and off for the "Blue copy" one and switch to Layers palette (Window > Layers or F7). Hit Delete, then go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D).
Step 14
Go to Window > Arrange > Cascade and click-drag the layer into our created document. Feel free to clean up the ruined hair strands with the Eraser Tool (E).
Step 15
Grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Paths and trace the girl's face. Make sure you make a closed contour. Hold SHIFT key and start a new path to trace the neck, chest and left shoulder. Do the same for the other skin areas.
