"Each atom of our body
was once a star.
Vincent Freeman

A week ago on our creative instagram @miftvorchestvo we launched a competition for the best assignment from the notebook "642 ideas of what to draw" . The task sounded simple - space. Many creative and creative works. You can see them all by the tag. We publish the best works and give step by step master class how to learn to draw space.

The best works for the contest #642 ideascosmos

"If you can't fly into space, make it fly to you." Photo by @al.ex_kv.

And when darkness sleeps beside you, And the morning is far away, I wanna hold your hand and guide you…” Parov Stelar ft. Lilja Bloom - Shine. Photo by @julia_owlie.

Are they really cool? 🙂

Step by step master class

If you did not participate in the competition, but also want to learn how to draw space, save yourself somewhere these step-by-step instructions on what and how to do to make it bright and beautiful.

1. In order to draw the Universe, only 3-4 colors are enough. At least that's how much you can start with. Important: watercolor sheet should be very dense so that it does not wrinkle from water and so that the paint spreads nicely and evenly.

2. The outline can be outlined with a solid with a simple pencil to indicate the space that you will wet with water. Wet some of the allocated space.

3. Apply paint to wetted area. Try to keep the outlines nice.

4. Wet the rest of the space with water and paint a different color. Selectively make bright inclusions throughout the pattern. The drawing must be wet so that the paint spreads beautifully.

5. After the drawing is completely dry, apply the stars. It can be white or yellow paint with an old toothbrush.

6. Some stars can be drawn more carefully.

Photo for the master class from kitty-ink.tumblr.com.

If you sprinkle salt on a wet drawing, then the structure of the cosmos will turn out to be even more interesting. Salt will absorb some of the paint, and shaking it off after it dries completely, in place of the salt there will be beautiful white dots and clouds.

On our creative Instagram @miftvorchestvo we will regularly hold competitions for notebooks "642 ideas what to draw", "642 ideas what to write about" and "642 ideas what else to write about" (new!). Subscribe to be aware of everything creatively interesting and creatively fun.

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While listening to a new composition by jazz singer MaryAnna "Purple spaceship", I wanted to create something cosmic in a glamorous style in Photoshop. Then I went to the Internet in search of photos of the performer. After reviewing many resources, I finally found what I needed - a photo provided by photographer Alina Magdalyuk. To complete the lesson, you can use your photo or take from the archive the one that I found.

Materials for the lesson:

Step 1. So, let's open our photo. In order to create a new background for it, let's first get rid of the existing one. I carved a girl with a tool pen (Feather ), hair using function colorRange(color range) and tool Background Eraser(Background eraser). You can do this in any other known and convenient way for you.

Step 2 Now we need to understand what gives us an idea of ​​​​the cosmos ... The first thing that comes to mind is the various planets, many stars ... Yes! The stars are exactly what we need! On the Internet, I found a photo provided for free by Skywalker79. Open the photo with the stars in Photoshop. Now, since our composition will be vertical, let's rotate the photo vertically. To do this, having selected the layer with the stars, go to the menu Image>RotateCanvas>90o(Image > Rotate Canvas >900) . Now let's drag this background into our main document and place it below the girl's layer (name it "Stars"), you should end up with this:

Step 3 So, now we have something cosmic in the background. But he looks somehow separate from the girl, and she is still in weightlessness with us, which, you see, does not look very pretty. Since our task is to create a glamorous background, let's change the color of the stars, for example, to magenta. Make sure the "Stars" layer is active, then press Ctrl+U to bring up the window Hue/Saturation(Hue / Saturation), check the box next to the parameter colorize(Toning) . Please note that the background color with stars has changed, which means that our function is ready to use, now it is enough to move the sliders to select the desired color, its saturation and brightness, and then click OK. For my work, I set the following values:
Hue(Color tone): 302
Saturation(Saturation): 44
lightness(Brightness): -41
Here's what happened:

Step 4 The color is beautiful, isn't it? Only thing I don’t like is that our dress seems to be transparent, and in some areas it shows through the old background:

With a tool pen(Pen) select the desired areas, right-click inside any created path, and select from the menu that appears MakeSelection(Create Selection) , Featherradius(Feather Radius) set to 1. Now press Ctrl+X to cut out the selected areas, and then Ctrl+V to paste them on a separate layer (note that the layer with the cut details is best placed above the layer with the girl). If the pieces have moved after insertion, return them to their original position using the tool move(Move). Now let's change Opacity(transparency) layer with pieces of fabric up to about 50%. This is how we should be:

Step 5 Well, what kind of star can we have without a stage! To make it, let's go back to the "Stars" layer, activate it and press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + J to create a duplicate. You should have two layers star background, we work with the top one, for convenience, name it "Scene". Then we will reflect the "Scene" layer vertically, for which we go to the menu Edit>Transform>FlipVertical(Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical) and, using the tool move(Move), move it down halfway. Then go to the menu Edit>Transform>Perspective(Edit>Transform>Perspective) and transform it as shown in the image below (I removed the main background so that you can better see how to apply perspective).

Step 6 It seems to me that if the stage is oval, it will look better. In order for our scene to take an oval shape, we will use the tool. Let's apply it like this:

Now press Ctrl+Shift+I to invert the selection and use the Erase Tool Eraser(Eraser) excess (it is better to take an eraser with soft edges). Here's how it should look like:

To prevent the scene from looking harsh, apply a little Gaussian blur to it ( Filter>Blur>GaussianBlur(Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur)) . A value of 0.4 was enough for me.

Step 7 For realism, let's add some shadows and reflections to the scene. To create a reflection, we need to make the girl's layer active and duplicate it (Ctrl + J) (I had to reduce the size of the girl a little before duplicating to put the reflection at the bottom and leave a place for the inscription on top). Now we are working with the layer that will be located below (that is, with the original). Make it active and go to the menu Edit>Transform>FlipVertical(Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical). Place the resulting image as shown in the picture.

As you can see, the reflection is not very realistic. Go to menu Edit>Transform>Warp(Edit>Transform>Deform) and warp our future reflection so that it is in contact with the entire foot. Then, when everything is ready and you are happy with the result, install Opacity(Transparency) layer about 55% and erase with the tool Eraser(eraser) with soft edges unnecessary details. You should end up with something like this:

Step 8 Look at the original photo, the shadow is barely visible and radiates away from the girl. We will try to depict the same in our work. To do this, create a new layer above the scene layer and name it "Shadow". When creating the shadow for my image, I used a 50px black soft-edged brush, then set Opacity(transparency) of the "Shadow" layer by 39%. Here's what it should look like:

Step 9 It seems to me that the composition lacks a bit of dynamics. Let's do this: go back to the "Stars" layer and duplicate it once (Ctrl + J), name this layer (top) "Shine". Now let's go to the menu Filter>Blur>RadialBlur(Filter > Blur > Radial Blur) and set the settings as in the image below:

We will get the following:

Now apply a mask to the "Shine" layer:

Choose a black brush with soft edges and erase the area behind the girl and a little around her. This is what my mask looks like:

And here's what we have with the image:

Step 10
Now let's move on to the layer with the girl. Double click on it to open the window layerstyle(Layer styles). Activate the option OuterGlow(Outer Glow) and set the following settings:
blendmode(blend mode):Screen(Lightening)
Opacity(Transparency): 46%
color(Color): 4e174e
size(Size): 46

And here is the glow we get:

Step 11 Pretty good, in my opinion, but a bit boring. Let's dilute this composition with an interesting lighting effect. To do this, we need to use the tool Rectangle(rectangle), set it to mode shapeLayers(contour layer). It doesn't matter what color you draw the rectangle, then we will change the color for it anyway.

Draw a rectangle like this (don't forget to place it above all layers):

Click in the layers palette on the icon of the resulting rectangle with the right mouse button and select ConverttoSmartObject(Convert to Smart Object) . Name this layer "Strip". Install Fill(Fill) for this layer at 0%. Double click on it to open the window layerstyle(layer styles) . Choose an option Gradientoverlay(Gradient Overlay) and set the following settings:

Here's what your rectangle should look like with these settings:

Convert the rectangle to a Smart Object again. Well, here already give free rein to your fantasies! You can duplicate this rectangle several times, change the size, opacity, blending modes of some of the copies, and position them however you like. Finally, rasterize the layers with rectangles (right-click on the layer > Rasterize(Rasterize)) and erase their edges with a soft eraser so that they are not so rough. This is how it turned out for me:

Step 12Attention, if you are working with a different photo and a different scale, then these settings must be set individually, otherwise, a similar effect will not work.
Now let's add an inscription at the top. I chose the font EkaterinaVelikayaOne . The font is very pretty, but to fit our composition, let's give it some style. To do this, double click on the layer to open the window layerstyles(Layer styles). Set the following settings:

Here is what should be the result:

Step 13 In conclusion, you can add a few more stars on the letters, on the girl and around her. Create a new layer above all layers. Select the standard Star 70 brush, set its size to 50 and randomly arrange some stars. Then create another layer, also place some stars, but set the transparency of this layer to about 60%. After I applied all these effects, it seemed to me that the edges of the scene were still harsh against the general background, I chose the tool EllipticalMarquee(Oval selection area), set in its settings Feather value(Feather) at 30, and then repeat in step 6.

That's all! Thank you for your attention. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I would be glad to see your options in the comments to the lesson!

In this tutorial we will create a space scene in Photoshop.

In this tutorial we will learn how to create a sci-fi scene with planets, spaceships and nebulae in Adobe Photoshop. You will learn how to create space background from scratch like in a simple way make a planet, and arrange space elements using blending techniques. You will also learn how to adjust contrast and color, create glow effects, and increase depth of field.

Step 1.

Create a new document in Photoshop 3000 x 2000 pixels with the following settings:

The background color must be black.

Step 2

Press keyboard shortcut Control + Shift + N to create a new layer. Select Brush - Brush Tool (B) with soft edges and choose the main color #8c92ae. Draw something like this in the middle of the document.

Change the blend mode of this layer to Hard Light).

Step 3

Create a new layer and using a soft brush paint some colorful spots on the canvas. You can use colors of your choice, but don't forget. that we are creating a bright background, so try to choose bright colors. I chose these colors: #378c6c, #c20707, #cf53c8.

Try not to fill the entire canvas with splashes of color - leave some space to emphasize the shadows and depth.

Step 4

Create a new layer, change the foreground color to #44595b and use a soft brush to paint a little around the edges and corners of the canvas.

Change the blending mode of this layer to Hard light (Hard Light).

Step 5

Create a new layer and press D to set the default fore/background color (black and white). Use the Lasso Tool (L) to make a selection on the canvas and set the Feather option to 60 px:

Go to the menu Filter> Rendering> Clouds (Filter> Render> Clouds)

Changing the blending mode of this layer to Lightening basics (Color Dodge)

Step 6

Create an Adjustment Layer (Adjustment Layer) and use it like Clipping Mask to make the effect softer. Click on the menu Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Levels (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Levels):

On the mask of this layer, use a black soft brush to bring back the brightness to some areas, as shown below:

Step 7

Duplicate the cloud layer and place this layer above the first cloud layer and adjustment layer. Levels. Go to Filter> Rendering> Overlay Clouds (Filter> Render> Different Clouds):

Step 8

Create an adjustment layer Color balance - Color Balance (Ctrl + B) to slightly change the resulting color.

Step 9

Next, let's start creating stars. Create a new layer and change the foreground color to #72c6fd. Using a hard brush, paint stars all over the canvas, don't forget to change the size of the brush:

Double click on layer, select effect Outer Glow and set the glow color to white:

Step 10

Create an Adjustment Layer Curves (Adjustment Layer - Curves), place it above all layers to change the color of the effect.

Step 11

Open the picture with the nebula. Drag the picture onto our main canvas using Move Tool (V) and enlarge the image using Free Transform Tool (Control + T):

Change the layer's blend mode to Linear clarifier (Linear Dodge):

Step 12

Add a mask to this layer and use soft black brush to soften the effect and make it less pronounced:

Step 13

Color balance - Color Balance (Ctrl + B) in mode(to do this, when creating a layer, check the box Use the previous layer to create clipping mask (Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask) to slightly change the color of the nebula.

Save the result in the format JPG for further usage.

Step 14

Create a new document 2200 x 1600 pixels and set the background color to black. Open the space background you created earlier and drag it to the new canvas using the Move - Move Tool (V).

Add a mask to this layer and use a soft black brush to erase around the edges of the layer. You should get something like this:

Step 15

To make the middle part more pronounced, create a new layer and use a soft white brush, paint over the layer in this area. Change the blend mode of this layer to Soft light - (Soft Light):

Step 16

Open the planet texture. Use the tool Stamp - Clone Tool (S) to remove the four black lines on the image.

Step 17

Choose a tool Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) and draw a circle. Click Filter> Distort> Spherization (Filter> Distort> Spherize).

Step 18

Right-click on the highlighted area and select Copy to a new layer (Layer via Copy). We will get the base for the planet on a new transparent layer (if you turn off the visibility of the background layer, you will see the result).

Step 19

Drag the planet into our main document and adjust the size using transform (Control + T). Place the planet in the center of the document.

Step 20

Next create an adjustment layer Hue / Saturation (Adjustment layer > Hue / Saturation) in mode Clipping Mask and set the parameter Saturation on - 87:

Step 21

Use an adjustment layer Curves (Adjustment layer > Curves) and darken the image.

Create a mask for this layer and use a soft black brush to erase a bit around the edges of the planet to brighten up the edges.

Step 22

Create an adjustment layer Color balance (Adjustment layer > Color Balance) and change settings Midtones as below:

Step 23

Create a new layer in mode Clipping Mask. Pick the color #b68fa4 and use a soft brush to paint some parts of the planet. Change the blend mode of this layer to Soft light (Soft Light).

Step 24

Create another layer the same way as described above and paint the planet with #b6eadd color. Also change the blend mode of this layer to Soft light (Soft Light).

Step 25

Add two more planets on the sides of the central one and make them much smaller.

Step 26

Select the layers with these planets and click Control+G to group them. Install group blend mode Normal (Normal).
Make a new layer above the little planets layer. Using soft black brush with opacity (Opacity) 70-80% to draw a shadow at the bottom of the planets.

Step 27

Create an adjustment layer Hue / Saturation (Adjustment layer > Hue / Saturation) and reduce Saturation (Saturation) to -86.

Step 28

Use an adjustment layer Color balance (Adjustment layer > Color Balance) to change the color of the planets.

Step 29

Now we will add color and light to our scene.
Create a new layer above the planets group and using soft brush with color #b6eadd, paint a spot of color in the top center of the scene. Change the blend mode of this layer to Soft Light (Soft Light).

Step 30

On a new layer, paint another color spot on top of big planet by choosing another color #b68fa4. Also change the blend mode of this layer to Soft Light (Soft Light).

Step 31

Create a New Adjustment Layer Curves (Adjustment layer > Curves) on top of the layers and increase the highlights.

On the mask of this layer, use a soft black brush to reduce the brightness in the lower parts of the planets and the scene.

Step 32

Open the spaceship image. Select three ships from similar angles and add them to the scene. Duplicate and rotate them towards the big planet. Do not forget: the closer the ship is to us, the larger it should be.

Step 33

Group the ship layers and set the group's blend mode to Normal (Normal) with opacity (Opacity) 100%. Use an adjustment layer for this group. Hue / Saturation (Adjustment layer > Hue / Saturation) to discolor the ships.

Step 34

Create an adjustment layer Color balance (Adjustment layer > Color Balance) and move the slider closer to blue (cyan) and blue (blue) colors as below:

Step 35

Use an adjustment layer Curves (Adjustment layer > Curves) to darken the ships.

On this layer mask use soft black brush to lighten the top of the ships, as she must be brighter than the bottom.

Step 36

Add another adjustment layer Curves (Adjustment layer > Curves) to brighten the highlights at the top of the ships.

On the mask of this layer, use a soft black brush to bring out the shadow on the bottom of the ships.

Step 37

Create a new layer and use a white soft brush to add more highlights to some of the ships. Change the blend mode of this layer to Overlay).

Step 38

Open images with asteroids. Select different asteroids and place them around the big planet, copying and resizing them so that they are fewer planets. Expand the light parts of the asteroids towards the light.

Step 39

Add some asteroids to the lower left corner of the scene and make them bigger than the rest. Apply to all of them Gaussian blur with a radius of 8 pixels to add depth to the scene.

Step 40

Group all layers with asteroids. Then use a Color Balance Adjustment Layer. (Adjustment layer > Color Balance) to make their hue close to the hue of the rest of the elements in the scene.

Step 41

Create an adjustment layer Curves (Adjustment layer > Curves) to darken the group.

On the mask of this layer, with a black soft brush, return the glow to some parts of the asteroids.

Step 42

Create another adjustment layer Curves (Adjustment layer > Curves) to brighten the asteroids even more.

On the mask of this layer with a black soft brush, bring back the shadows of the asteroids, especially in the parts hidden from the light.

Step 43

Create a new layer and use a hard brush with the color #eebde2. Add little dots to make lights spaceships. Don't forget: the bigger the ship, the bigger the dots should be.

Step 44

To make a glowing trail for the ships, create a new layer and use a soft brush with color #7b3e51 to paint a dot on the canvas. Reduce brush size and put another dot of color #d69e96 in the center of the previous one. You should end up with something like this:

Convert this layer to Smart Object, click Control+T and right click select Perspective. Make the object look like a footprint. Place it at the bottom of the spaceship.

Step 45

Duplicate the trail several times and add to other ships.

Step 46

Create a new layer and change its blend mode to Lightening the base (Color Dodge). Next, use a soft brush with color #eebde2 to paint a highlight of the light trail at the very bottom of the ships.

Step 47

Create an adjustment layer Curves (Adjustment layer > Curves) and brighten the scene of the rears, especially in the central upper part.

On this layer's mask, use a soft black brush to paint around the edges and bottom of the large planet to give a nice contrast to the scene.

There is no doubt that any person, thinking, so to speak, about the eternal, imagines the depths of space with its unexplored expanses and tries to express his feelings in the form of a picture or drawing. Let's see how to draw space, using various tools and techniques.

What do we associate outer space with?

Primarily, the association of outer space, even at a subconscious level, for any person is reduced to infinity, although not everyone imagines what it is.

If you approach the question of how to draw space in stages, you should pay attention to some of the elements that are depicted in the paintings most often. First, a spatial structure is created. These can be galaxies or nebulae with rarefied gas, then stars visible to the naked eye or through modern telescopes fit in here.

Only then can one assume planetary system, although in most cases the question of how to draw space comes down to depicting objects known to us in the solar system, because we do not know how the surfaces of the planets of other star systems look like (the closest distance is 4 light years - Proxima of the constellation Centaurus).

And, of course, to depict his view of what might be there, even a novice artist uses completely different tools that best suit his imagination.

If you look at all the drawings and paintings, you will notice that most often they depict stars (constellations), nebulae, galaxies and planetary systems.

In the first, second and third cases, the question of how to draw space is solved quite simply. On any dark background (even black or gray), blotches are applied in the form of stars that differ in size and light activity. This is the easiest way.

As for nebulae, they often look colored not only in the ultraviolet or infrared spectrum, but also in the visible human eye range. It is from this perspective that it is worth considering the question of how to draw space in watercolor. It is best suited for this due to the fact that when mixed with water, you can get smooth shades and transitions that are not available, say, gouache or oil paints. But more on that later.

How to get inspiration?

If you are already thinking about how to draw space, or rather, to get a certain charge that can give impetus to a surge of emotions, for starters, you should just look at the night sky in clear weather.

Alas, in our hemisphere the sky looks only like darkness interspersed with stars. Another thing - Southern Hemisphere, Where Milky Way(this is the name of our galaxy) looks in all its glory.

On the other hand, music is quite a powerful tool for activating thoughts. If so-called space music used to be associated with bands like Space or Zodiac, today it's enough to listen to compositions in the style of Ambient, Chillout or Downtempo, which use complex sound effects.

How to draw space with paints?

Now about paints. Based on the foregoing, the most solved question will be how to draw space in watercolor.

Here it is worth paying attention to the colors themselves. First you need to apply a dark background to the sheet, let the paint and paper dry a little, and then dilute the depth by simply adding water. You understand that outer space cannot be equally dark.

After that, you can start drawing images of galaxies or planets. By the way, it is with the help of watercolor that it is best to depict colored gas nebulae. But you can specify some elements with the help of additional funds in the form of gouache or oil.

How to draw space with a pencil?

With pencils, the situation is somewhat worse. The fact is that it will not be possible to achieve the blurring inherent in space.

Here it is better to use vertical, horizontal or oblique hatching with a long stylus. In addition, even drawing some global elements requires knowledge of additional effects.

Additional effects

In the case of paints, everything is clear. The usual dilution with water gives a fairly powerful effect. But few people know what else Soviet times a method was invented to obtain smooth transitions when drawing with a pencil.

You just need to grind off the stylus a little on a separate piece of paper, then take the powder and smear it over the image on the paper. The effect is simply amazing. By the way, this applies not only to simple, but also to colored pencils. This is called retouching.

Separately, it is worth noting that in the question of how to draw space, some authors of paintings are not limited to using standard tools. So, for example, the addition of sparkles, symbolizing the stars, is a fairly hot topic.

What is better to use?

Now a few words about which is better: a computer program or hand drawing? Both. Of course, applications for creating and processing graphics have their own quite powerful capabilities, but many people first fix the flight of thought on paper, after which they scan the picture and translate it into the desired format.

Nevertheless, programs like Adobe Photoshop or the same Corel Draw package offer to use complex gradient fills as templates, which are simply not possible to obtain with ordinary drawing.

Based on this, you can simply advise, initially make a sketch of the future drawing or painting, and only then decide whether it is worth processing it in computer program or leave it unchanged. In principle, both options are acceptable. Although the solution to the question of how to draw space with paints in the usual way seems to be more preferable.

Another thing is if the artist does not want to digitize the picture. This is understandable, because a sheet of paper or canvas looks natural. Unlike computer images, when viewing, you can touch the picture and see the paint application technique used by the author of this or that masterpiece.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to create an incredible space-themed composition using elements taken from images released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Skillfully using many techniques, such as giving depth to an image through the use of many layers, applying transparency, as well as deftly manipulating tools such as: Twisting e (Twirl), Spherization(Spherize) and filters Plastic(Liquify filters), we'll show you what to achieve desired result much easier than you thought. As the workflow progresses, we'll also show you how to create a custom "star brush" using a method that you can then adapt to create your other custom brushes.

This tutorial uses stunning images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. This is a great image resource, even for non-space art. Always choose to upload the highest quality images and use TIFF images.

Note: Some images are missing from the tutorial source. In the archive you will find an alternative version of the materials for the lesson.

Step 1

Let's start our work by creating a new document of size Width(Width) 1500 pixels and Height(Height) 2000 pixels. Fill our base layer with black: Editing - Fill(Edit > Fill) or Shift + F5 and select black in the dialog box. Now let's use the tool Ellipse(Ellipse Tool (U)) to draw a circle roughly in the center of our document. Doesn't have special significance what color it will be, since this circle will only serve as a guide for us in the first steps of our work, in the future it will need to be deleted, so you can make it the same as in the screenshot.

Step 2

Download an image of the Carina Nebula ‘Mystic Mountain’. Next, use the selection tool oval area(Elliptical Marquee tool), set it to feather radius(feather radius (shift+f6)) 100px to soften the edges. Click on the image and drag to select a portion of the image similar to the one shown in the screenshot. Copy (Ctrl + C) and paste (Ctrl + V) this fragment into your main document on top of the created circle.

Step 3

Transform the inserted image fragment using the tool free transform(Free Transform tool (Ctrl + T)), compressing the width of this fragment by about three times. Then place what you got to the left of our reference circle. Next, use the command Filter - Distort - Spherize(Filter - Distort - Spherize), followed by the command Filter - Distort - Twist(Filter - Distort - Twirl) to create a ripple effect. Experiment with these filters until you get something like a curved flash at the edge of your reference circle, as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 4

Download images of other nebulae from http://hubblesite.org. On these images, repeat steps 2 and 3, using several selections of different sizes from the two images. The main idea is to use these curved flares to form a kind of ring-like shape. Once you are able to form this ring-shaped structure, you no longer need the reference circle layer, and you can delete it accordingly.

Step 5

Now, we will add even more of the same flashes, so that we already have something more like a kind of nebula. We'll do it the same way, just repeating steps 2 and 3, but this time stylizing our new flares in such a way that it looks like they're breaking out of the ring and crossing it.

Step 6

To add depth effect, work with each flash layer individually and try adjusting the opacity level for each layer. Lowering the opacity will create the effect of flash fragments falling into our black background. Next, try blending the intersections between flares with the tool Eraser(Eraser tool (E)) and a soft brush for each layer to make it all look more natural. The main goal here is to create an organic feeling of movement.

Step 7

Now, we'll move on to processing our background layer by adding what I call "cosmic particles" to it. Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) on top of black background layer(background), then take soft brush(soft brush (B)) and select Blue colour as shown in the screenshot below by setting it as main(foreground color). Using alternately high and low values opacity(opacity), paint over the entire document, but mainly focus on the top right and bottom left corners.

Step 8

Add another layer above this, set as background colors(background color) black. Then we use the command Filter - Rendering - Clouds(Filter - Render - Clouds). Next, adjust the Levels (Ctrl + L) in such a way as to make the effect easier. Then add an adjustment layer Layers - New Adjustment Layer - Hue/Saturation(Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Hue/Saturation). Saturation(Saturation) set +6, Brightness(Lightness) -15.

Step 9

We reduce opacity(opacity) of the layer you created in step 7 to 10%, thus creating a very light effect for the background layer. Now let's create a kind of vapor trail in the lower left by duplicating one of the darkest and most transparent of the flare fragments you created earlier and moving it away from our created ring nebula. Move this layer down below all layers, but so that it is directly above the "cosmic particles" layers.

Step 10

Select plastic filter(Liquify filter (Shift + Ctrl + X)). Apply the settings below:

• Brush Size(Brush size) 300
• Brush Density(Brush Density) 0
• brush pressure(Brush pressure) 100
• Brush Rate(Brush speed) 0
• Turbulent jitter(fluctuation) 50
• Reconstruct Mode(Reconstruction mode): Revert(recovery)

Next, work with the tools PuckerTool(Crinkle / "S" key), Blow Tool(Bloating / "B" key) and Turbulence(Turbulence / "T" Key) along our created vapor trail until you reach your satisfaction. Graphics tablet would make this task much easier for you, as it gives you much more control over the brushes you are working with.

Step 11

To seamlessly blend the vapor trail with our background and cosmic particles, desaturate it by pressing Ctrl + Shift + U, then set blending mode(blending mode) for this layer Screen(Screen) and level opacity(opacity) lower it to 20%. Repeat steps 9 to 11 a few times to create many of these vapor trails around our composition.

Step 12

For this composition, since it's space themed, we need to add some stars using the "star brush". Upload an image and edit it height(height) up to 2500 pixels (Ctrl + Alt + I). Next, invert the image (Ctrl + I) and desaturate it (Ctrl + Shift + U).

Step 13

Adjust the Levels (Ctrl + L) as shown in the screenshot. Select the entire image and apply the command Editing - Define brush(Edit - Define Brush). Name your custom brush ‘Star Brush’. It should now appear at the very bottom of the brushes palette.

Step 14

Returning to our composition, select our newly created brush, after setting it as foreground colors(foreground color) white. Now, add a new layer on top of all the others. To quickly change the size of your brush while working, use the keys with square brackets, in the Russian layout these are the letters X and b. Then click once on different places to place our stars. Also, if suddenly you didn’t like the location of the stars somewhere, you can use the tool Eraser(Erase tool (E)) with a soft brush to remove these unwanted fragments.

Step 15

Our nebula still looks a bit muted, so let's add a new adjustment layer. Layers - New Adjustment Layer - Brightness/Contrast(Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Brightness/Contrast). Brightness(Brightness) +60, Contrast(Contrast) +10. Create another new layer and paint it with different colors all over the document using a soft brush as shown below. Install opacity(opacity) of this layer 70% and blend mode(blend mode) overlap(Overlay). This will improve the overall color of the image. All is ready. Congratulations!