See part 1 of this tutorial here.
With the same process as before, trace the leaves via the Pen tool, give it a green radiant look to complement our flowers. Apply a layer mask to create those smooth gradient transitions. Since we’re going to apply some free transforming in the subsequent procedures, giving the shape such layer properties will make it immune to pixelation, making our elements stay sharp whatever distortion we apply. Finally group the layers and label them accordingly to avoid confusion since we’re going to work and duplicate so many layers in the composition process.
The good thing about working with line-art is it can stand out by itself but you can also use it as additional patterns for added depth in your artwork. Duplicate each branch and have them ready in another area of your workspace or house them in your Custom Shapes, as demonstrated in Step 9. You can add more details in your outline if you want, just be free and creative and remember that we are aiming for that abstract feel, so there’s no need for perfect lines.
Flowers add so much depth in an artwork and they’re instant eye catchers – they can easily make a dull piece more intriguing. Now repeat the same process as previously and trace via the Pen tool. Have flower layers grouped in a folder and label it Flowers. Create different variations of flowers by duplicating the group and changing the colour of the petals. It helps if you have image references and stock photos. Try to give it more detail than the rest of the elements.
This time we’re going to have pattern loops ready using our current set of elements. This is one of the fun parts because it enables you to create infinite variations depending on your imagination. Just duplicate the grouped elements, Rotate and Free Transform. Be free in choosing angles and distort them in any position to create different results. With everything set save your pattern loops and every element we created in one PSD file and name it Organic Elements for easy access.
Temporarily hide your vexel portrait so that we can work on the background, aiming to merge two contrasting colours as our layout. These tones can be whatever you like, but we’ve decided to begin with a maroon tone, filling the whole canvas with this colour shape. Next, we pick a golden colour or any lighter tone on our colour picker and apply through the Shape tool once more. Apply a Layer Mask to this Colour Shape layer and brush away the edges to create a vignette effect similar to that seen in photo styles.
Here we will use the Pen tool to create white droplet elements, making sure they have a directional curve motion. Now to create additional form, use the Ellipse tool to add more particles around them and make sure they’re as tiny as possible. Go to Layer>Layer style>Outer Glow and adjust your Glow size to 50+ or higher creating radiant lighting with a yellow tone. Like with the flowers and branches, spread out your glowing elements in your working area.
The final step is for you to add additional light sources by creating a new layer on top of everything and set the blending mode to Lighten.
Set Photoshop’s default Brush Opacity to 50% and then pick out lighter colours such as yellows and magentas, subtly brushing the areas you want to be lightened up like our glowing elements and highlighted areas. Remember that you can adjust the pressure of your brush and layers any time, so play around and try to see what setting best suit your effects.