Tutorial 11 Creating Realistic Water 

Requirements: Adobe Photoshop 6.0
The Project: Create a water based logo

When creating the new look of Digital Tropic I came acrossed a new way to make realistic water. This may be old hat to some, but I thought it was a very cool trick.

I start with an image using the width of 300 pixels by 200 pixels in height with a black background.

First step is to have an idea of what shape you want the water to be. I use the rectangle shape tool by clicking "U" key.

11-1

Then I go to Edit>Transform>Perspective and form a shape similar to 11-2.

Now the fun stuff begins. Create a new layer. This layer will be used for our brushed in water. Hit "B" for the brush tool. Then find the brush Splatter 59 pixels in the brush selections. Paint around the edges like 11-3.

Lets give that shape a little blur to help our effect. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur with the setting of 8. That should blend your shape in good with the white brush strokes we have right now.

Create another layer to create the same effect using a light blueish color I chose #0099ff. Choose a light blue foreground color and add the brush strokes redoing the same instructions. Once complete, turn the transparency down on this layer to 25. You should have an image similar to 11-4.

Now click the Blending Options on the Layers Palette and turn on Drop Shadow using the default settings and Bevel Emboss using the settings in 11-5.

You are finished! Does yours look like image 11-6? You can continue to add layers of different colors to give the water even more depth. Try it!

Once you have the shape done you can put to use in an image similar to the one in 11-7. I added a few brush strokes over top the logo and finished it off.