Carousel Horse Tutorial by Wool Sweater Street

Carousel Horse Crousel Horse Tutorial

NOTE: This tutorial was written for Photoshop 7. It will work in later versions as well.

Terms of use: this tutorial and all supplies are for personal use only, unless you purchase a commercial license.

FOR THIS TUTORIAL YOU WILL NEED TO DOWNLOAD A ZIP FILE WHICH INCLUDES ALL THE PRESETS AND CAROUSEL HORSE BLANK. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FILE.

1. Open the file named "carousel horse blank.psd" or carousel horse blank.psp". Create a layer below the layer named "horse". Fill it with black, and name it "Background". Make 3 copies of the layer named "horse" in between the top and bottom layers. Name them "horse 2", "horse 3" and "horse 4". Make sure the "horse" layer is the top layer, if it isn't move it to the top. Turn on the eye icon to make the "horse" layer active, and turn off the eye icon for all the other layers except "Background". Use the magic wand with tolerance set to 1 to select one of the mane or tail sections, then fill with preset ks_gold 022. Move the texture bitmap around until you get a realistic hair look. Repeat this process with each of the other mane and tail sections until they are all filled. Go to Select, Deselect.

2. On the same layer, use the magic wand with a tolerance set to 1 to select all 4 hooves, holding down the SHIFT button while you select them. Fill the selections with preset ks_gold hooves. Go to Select, Deselect. Again holding down the SHIFT button, use the magic wand with tolerance set to 1 to select all the medallions on the horse's harness. Apply the same preset, changing the shape to the third from the top. Go to Select, Deselect. Using the same procedure again on the same layer, select all the parts of the horse's body--head, ear, torso, and legs--and apply preset ks_white reflections to them. Go to Select, Deselect. Finally, on the same layer select the horse's blanket and apply preset ks_cord 3 emerald, with the radius changed to 5. Go to Select, Deselect. With the eraser set at a 5 pixel solid brush tip, opacity and flow 100%, erase all the unfilled sections left on this layer--the eye, the round jewel on the head, and the saddle. You may want to zoom in to do this step.

3. Turn off the eye icon on the "horse" layer, and turn it on on the "horse 2" layer. Rename it "saddle". Use Control + left mouse button to select all the parts of the horse. Go to Select, Inverse. With a 9-pixel plain round paintbrush set at mode Normal, 100% opacity and 100% flow, paint the empty section just below the saddle with white, filling the space completely. Go to Select, then Inverse again, and use the eraser, set at a 5 pixel solid brush tip, opacity and flow 100%, to erase the horse's blanket completely. Go to Select, Deselect. Zoom in and completely erase all the other parts of the horse EXCEPT for the upper saddle and the part just below it that you painted in. You should have something that looks like this:

saddle

Use the paintbrush again with the same settings as before to paint in the small space remaining between the top and bottom sections of the saddle with white, and smooth out any bumps. Your saddle should look something like this:

saddle

Use Control + left mouse button to select the saddle and apply preset ks_filigree gold 3 to it. Then go to Edit, Stroke, and use the following settings:

stroke settings

Go to Select, Deselect. Move the "saddle" layer to the top. Turn the eye icon off for the "saddle" layer.

4. Turn the eye icon on for the "horse 3" layer, and rename it "harness". Erase the medallions on the horse's harness, using the same eraser settings as before. Then use Control + left mouse button to select all the horse parts, and go to Select, Inverse. Using a 9-pixel plain round paintbrush set at mode Normal, 100% opacity and 100% flowround size nine paintbrust, paint in all the horse's harness with white, on both the head and body. Go to Select, Inverse again, and hit the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the rest of the horse--you may want to zoom in to do this. Go to Select, Deselect. Use the eraser with the same settings as before to get rid of any faint lines left. You should have something that looks like this:

harness

Use Control + left mouse button to select all the harness parts and apply preset ks_lame royal blue to them. With the harness still selected go to Edit, Stroke and use the same settings as before. Go to Select, Deselect. Move the "harness" layer to the top, and turn off the eye icon for the layer.

5. Turn on the eye icon for the "horse 4" layer. Rename it "eye, jewel". Zoom in closely and erase everything except the horse's eye and the jewel, using the same eraser settings as before. With the magic wand at the same settings as before, select the horse's eye and apply preset ks_gemstone emerald to it. Use the magic wand with the same settings to select the jewel and apply preset ks_gemstone ruby to it. Go to Select, Deselect. Move the "eye, jewel" layer to the top. Turn on the eye icons for all layrs. Go to Layer, Merge Visible. Your finished horse should look like this:

If you want a border around your horse as shown at the top of the page, you can use a mask and apply a preset to it.

Have any questions? Email me at karen@woolsweaterstreet.com.