In this video tutorial, watch as Dean Samed shows you how to create an image of a surreal tentacle queen in Photoshop.
Samed is a photo manipulator from the United Kingdom who specializes in dark and conceptual work, while also creating book covers and running his own stock photo company.
In the video Samed, goes in deep with the Pen Tool. I have never seen the Pen Tool used so many times in one image, which is why it always interesting to watch other creative's videos. If you do not use the Pen Tool still, this video may change your mind. My favorite way Samed used it was on extracting the hair, first making a selection with the Pen Tool and then using Refine Edge to pull out the strands of hair. Samed loves Refine Edge and still uses an older version of Photoshop so he doesn't lose the old tool. And I think I agree, it did seem better before Select and Mask came along.
As the tutorial goes on, even more Pen Tool is used, but this time, for copious amounts of cutting out tentacles from Samed's own stock library. It is amazing to watch just how much can be done with one tool. Once all the cutting out is done, we get to see how the girl transforms into a surreal creature with some nice retouching to the model's face and some color adjustments.
This tutorial is great for anyone who wants to learn how to start using the Pen Tool. And it shows only one tool can be used in a multitude of different editing scenarios. People seem to think you need to know hundreds of techniques to create good art, when really, you just need to know the foundational tools.
Image used with permission of Dean Samed
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