Venice Style Carnival Mask in Photoshop

For this tutorial, we will use some a Portrait of the person you want to apply the Mask to and the image of a Carnival Mask (It’s better if it has a neutral or transparent background) and maybe the image of a Mask to be used as reference.

1 - In Photoshop, open the portrait you chose to work with.

2 - Select the “Pen Tool” (P), Zoom in (Command/Control +) to have a better view and draw the shape of the “Mask” around the subject’s face.

3 - Use the “Direct Selection Tool” (A) to select individual “Anchor Points” and fix the shape. You can use the “Delete Anchor Point Tool” too if needed.

4 - Save the “Path” in case you need it later by going to the “Paths Panel” and clicking on the small menu on the top right corner and selecting “Save Path”. Name it “Mask”.

5 Back in the “Layers Panel”, make sure the “Pen Tool” (P) is selected and click on “Make Selection” in the Top Menu” to turn the Path into a Selection. Keep the default settings in the Pop-Up window and click “OK”.

6 - Duplicate the Layer (Command/Control + J) with the selection still active so only it is filled with the image. Change its name to “Lips”. You can hide the “Background” Layer by clicking on the small eye icon on the left side of its Thumbnail. “Add a Vector Mask” to the duplicate by clicking on the small button at the bottom of the “Layers Panel”.

7 - Select the “Brush Tool” (B) and use a Brush with a “Size” of 450 px, “Roundness” of 45% and a “Hardness” of 100%. Make sure the Black is your “Foreground” color and that the “Layer Mask” thumbnail is selected. Position the “Brush” on top of one eye, adjust the values if needed and change the “Angle” to match the “Eye”. Once you “erase” one eye, change the “Angle” to a negative value to match the other one.

8 - If you need to fix the “Mask” edges, you can make the brush round by increasing the “Roundness” to 100% and reducing the size and “Clean” the edges. If you erase too much, you can always “Swap Foreground and Background” colors and use the brush to restore the image.

9 - Duplicate the Layer (Command/Control + J) again and “Hide” the bottom two. Select the “Image” Thumbnail and use the “Healing Brush Tool” (J) (Option/Alt-click on the image to sample it) to even out the face.

10 - Duplicate the Layer (Command/Control + J) again and “Hide” the bottom three. Use “Free transform” (Command/Control + T), making sure that “Maintain Aspect Ratio” is selected and make a 102% “Width” and “Height” increment. Click on the small “Check Mark” button on the Top Menu to “Commit” the changes. Right-click on top of its Thumbnail and choose “Convert to Smart Object”.

11 - Select the “Smart Object”, go to Filter > Blur > Surface Blur and use a “Radius” of 5 Pixels and a “Threshold” of 25 levels.

12 - Without deselecting, go to Filter > Filter Gallery > Brush Strokes > Accented Edges and use the following values (10, 20 and 13)*.

13 - (Without closing) Click, “New Layer Effect” on the bottom of the “Effects Gallery Panel” and choose Artistic > Plastic Wrap and use the following values (30, 3 and 8)*. Click “OK”.

Double-click on top of its thumbnail to apply the following “Layer Styles”:

Inner Shadow: (#a8a7a7, Contour: Cone).

14 - With the “Smart Object” still selected, head to the “Appearance Panel” and create a new “Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer”. Lower the “Saturation” all the way down and “Clip” the adjustment layer down by clicking on the small icon at the bottom of the “Properties panel” so it only affects the “Smart Object”.

15 - Head to the “Appearance Panel” again and create a new “Curves Adjustment Layer” on top of everything and “Clip” the adjustment layer down by clicking on the small icon at the bottom of the “Properties panel” so it only affects the “Smart Object”. Click on a spot in the “Curve” close to the middle and drag it to the left (Input: 53, Output: 119) to make the “Mask” white.

16 - Create a “New Layer” on top of everything by clicking on the small button at the bottom of the “Layers Panel”. Go to Edit > Fill and choose “50% Grey”. Change the “Blending Mode” of the layer to “Soft Light”.

17 - Without deselecting the top layer, Command/Control-Click on top of the “Mask” Layer to make a selection and click the “Add Layer Mask” button at the bottom of the Panel to mask it.

18 - Use the “Burn Tool” (O), choose “Midtones” and with a Large (200 px), Soft (0% “Hardness”) brush and a 35% “Exposure” to enhance the “Shadows” in the “Mask”. To work on the “Highlight” click “Option/Alt” to change the Tool.

19 - Double-click on top of the “Smart Object” thumbnail again to add the following “Layer Styles”:

Bevel & Emboss: (Gloss Contour: Rolling Slope - Descending)

Drop Shadow:

20 - Select the “Pen Tool” (P), Zoom in (Command/Control +) to have a better view and draw a “Diamond” shape on top of one of the eyes. Or use the image you chose as reference for the decorations. Make sure the “Pen Tool” (P) is selected and click on “Make Selection” in the Top Menu” to turn the Path into a Selection. Keep the default settings in the Pop-Up window and click “OK”. Use the “Paint Bucket Tool” (B) with Black as “Foreground” color to click inside your selection and fill it.

21 - Command/Control-Click on top of the “Mask” Layer to make a selection and click the “Add Layer Mask” button at the bottom of the Panel to mask it. Change the “Blending Mode” of the layer to “Soft Light”.

22 - Duplicate the Layer (Command/Control + J) and change the “Blending Mode” of the duplicate to “Multiply”. Double-click on top of its Thumbnail and in the “Blending Options” Tan, click on the “Underlying layer” levers while pressing the “Alt/Option” key to separate them. Move them to the center to “Hide” some of the black and bring out the “Shadows” and “Highlights” of the “Mask”.

23 - Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use a “Radius” of 3 Pixels.

24 - Check out your work!

* Your values may need to change depending on your image.

by @lornacane