Harry Potter Theme (Exclusive Tutorial)

Probably the most popular book nowadays is 'Harry Potter' by J.K. Rowling. Recently the last book from the series and the fifth movie - "Harry Potter and Order of Phoenix" were released. So I decided to draw the Harry Potter theme.

The idea is rather simple - to create a bluish background with fog and lightning, to insert the image of Harry Potter himself and then add the well-known lettering. So let's start.

First, create a new document in Photoshop. The size depends on the way you want to use the image - as avatar, desktop wallpaper, etc. I will work with a 400x400 image.

Set the Foreground to color #5d7f97 and the background to white. Render clouds.

Create a new layer, select a grunge brush and draw a pattern.

To achieve a better effect you can create another layer and paint there a little with some other grunge brush.

Now darken the upper and lower parts of the picture a little. Drop the colors. Now create a new layer and paint it black. Add a vector mask. Select the Reflected Gradient tool and draw the gradient from the center to the bottom of the picture.

Now let's create some lightning. Create a new layer and paint a diagonal with the help of the Linear Gradient. Apply the Difference Clouds filter. Invert the colors, go into the Levels menu and move the left slidebar to the right.

You should get something like this.

Set the Blending Mode Screen and play with the Opacity until you get what you want. I've set it at 20%.

Now move the superfluous elements using the Free Transform and remove them using the Eraser tool.

You can also create a new adjustment color balance layer. Create a clipping mask for the layer with lightning. In options you can play with the setting of Cyan color for shadows, midtones and highlights.

Create some other lightning the same way.

The background is ready. Now insert any image of Harry Potter (or another hero, or yourself ). I've cut mine from one of the posters.

Add a Vector Mask and hide the bottom with the help of the gradient. Then set the Opacity at 65%.

I've also added a little luminescence - just add Outer Glow.

You also can add Color Balance and touch the colors up. In Shadows move the Cyan slidebar a little to the right. After that create a clipping mask. You can touch the face up using the Color Balance. Create a new Adjustment color balance layer, paint the mask black, and the face white. Set the following Color Balance settings:

Now you only need to add your lettering. Download the Harry Potter font. Add the lettering to the left top side of the picture. The size is about 60px.

Add the following Blending Options:

Reduce the opacity and enjoy the results.