How to Turn Yourself Into A TERMINATOR

 This week’s post may not be as “deep” as some of the others…but it was FUN!

It actually is an example of what we’ve taught some time ago about doing something creative every day in order to keep your skills sharp. Christian art in graphic novels and even movies is reputed as being second rate. That means the artists must practice as well as pray.

 So, this was a practice exercise for me using Adobe Photoshop:

I love the Terminator movies and thought it would be cool to create an image depicting myself AS a Terminator:

 Step 1:

I took a headshot of myself to work with. I wanted to get as basic of a frontal view of myself to serve as the initial “drawingboard”.

 Step 2:

Next was to find a usable image of a Terminator to also serve as the basic image of the cyborg side of myself for this project. Sifting through a few searches on the web was simple to do. The key was to get a frontal view that matched the angle of my headshot as much as possible.

 Step 3:

Using Photoshop, I trace and cut the image of my own face away from the original picture to an new layer  with a transparent background. I want the final image to be about 800 x 600 pixels. My face now has it’s own layer against a transparent background so any other layered work can be seen in relationship to it. I begin trimming any rough areas around the outline, etc.

 Step 4:

Having created a separate layer for the Terminator face, I place the layer with my face on top and temporarily reduce it’s opacity so that I can see the Terminator’s face below it. This allows me to align the two faces, adjusting the “bone structure” of the cyborg’s face to match my own. Returning the opacity of my face (top layer) back to 100%, I can now begin erasing away skin to reveal the metal beneath.

 Step 5:

I must remember that the revealing of the metal beneath the skin are actually wounds, so that means that they should include some bruising around the edges for added realism. I used the airbrush tool to lay down the darker color and went behind each with the blending tool to blend the bruising into the skin. Once the face is complete, I merged both layers so that it becomes one element, easier to move around as needed.

 Step 6:

Once the face is completed, it’s time for wardrobe! Thankfully I have a leather jacket that would work perfectly for this project. Since I needed to have my arms down for this shot, I asked my daughter to take the pic. As with the face, I then traced, cut and moved the body to the final work area.

 Step 7:

I came across this cooool Terminator wallpaper, and since this was not commercial piece, I borrowed the background for it. Cutting sections of the background, pasting them on the workspace, then filling in the gaps with cloning tool in Photoshop brought it all together.

Step 8:

Once the character and the background are together on the workspace, some final touches are added. I broadened the shoulders slightly to maintain the ominous feeling a Terminator should deliver. I added bullet holes to the jacket to complete the battle-worn look.

Thanks to the tips from ALFG subscribers John Clement and Devin Smith, other touches like adding fog in front of the figure and adding more contrast between the damaged skin and the metal helped to bring it all together.

Share your feedback, questions or thoughts about how you keep your skills sharp!

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