Feather Creation
 

1. Open a new image by clicking File => New and select 400 pixels by 400 pixels, RGB 72 ppi, white background.

2. Select the pen tool and click at about halfway across and just below the top edge . Hold your shift key down and click about halfway across and just above the bottom edge to make a straight line. Click back on first point.

3. Select the convert point tool. Double click the top point and stretch it out by holding left mouse button down and dragging it out to the sides to show the handles for the line bending. Do that to the bottom point also and stretch them out so we can see the four handles for bending the lines.

Grab the handles and move the top two downward and the bottom two upwards to bend the line to make a nice feather shape with the lines curved and the intersection of the lines a point.

4. Control click your shape layer by holding down the control key and clicking right on the shape mask on the shape layer so that a selection of the shape is formed. Add a new layer by clicking layer=>new=> layer. Hit your D key to set default colors. Click Edit=> fill and fill with foreground color 100% normal mode. Turn the shape layer eye off. Click select=> Deselect.

5. Select your smudge tool. Set the smudge tool to

• 39 pixel spatter brush.
• Pressure = 72

Using very short brush strokes of about 10-15 pixels, angled up and away from the center of the feather, stroke from the clear into the feather edge and back out. move your brush over and do another. Magnify if need be (image on right is magnified to 200%)

If you want more featheres appearence such as at the base of the feather where a downyu look appears on some feathers, drag our smudge tool out and away a little further, giving a slight wiggle as your draw your tool up and out from the feather.

6. Duplicate your layer. Click Image=>adjust=> Invert. Set this layer mode now to Difference. Click Layer => Merge down.

7. Click Filter Noise=> Add noise.

• Set to 12
• gausian
• monochromatic

8. Use the rectangular marque to select the right half of the feather. Click Filter=> Blur=> Motion Blur. Set the blur to

• 61 degrees
• 20 pixels

9. Click select=> inverse. Click Filter=> Blur=> Motion Blur. Set the blur to

• -61 degrees
• 20 pixels

Deselect all by clicking select=>deselect

10. Select the pen tool again and click just under the apex of the feather. Hold your shift key down and click down below the bottom point and then back again at the first point. Use the Convert point tool to double click the top point of this line  and draw out the handles to the left and right. Do the same to the bottom point of this line. Drag the handles up or down towards the middle to make a thin "spine".

11. Control Click on the spine layer to make the spine a selection. Turn the eye off the spine layer. Insert a new layer. Click edit=> Stroke.

• 1 px
• black
• outside
• normal
• opacity = 30%

12. Click on the gradient tool. Select the reflected gradient. Set the colors by clicking D followed by the X. Draw a reflected gradient from the center of your spine to the right, holding down your shift key while drawing.

13. Deselect all by clicking select=> deselect. Turn the eye off the background. Click Layer=> Merge Visible.

14. Click Filter=> Distort=> Shear.

Set the top of the image off to the left, and make a gentle S curve down to the center. and click ok. See diagram on right.

15. To color your feather, Click image=>adjust=>hue/saturation.

• Check Colorize.
• Hue=234
• Saturation=50
• Lightness= -8