Create an Intensely Grungy Wallpaper

Final Image

This is the final image that we’ll be creating:

Step 1

Open up a new document (1024X768px) and paste in a photo of a skateboarder.

You can find the original photo here: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/143913

Step 2

Now use your lasso tool to cut around the skateboarder, and then copy/paste him onto a new layer. Then do the same for his board, and copy/paste this onto a new layer also. Then merge the layer’s together. The image below shows the data on the merged layer, with the original photo hidden:

Step 3

Now return to your original photo layer, and apply a linear gradient overlay ranging from FDBE37 to D47300. Set the blend mode of the gradient to ‘hard light’, and the angle to 50 degrees. The image below shows the original photo layer, with the isolated skateboard layer hidden.

Step 4

Now find an old paper texture image. I used this one: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1088062. Apply the paper texture over your photo, and then change the texture layer’s blend mode to ‘overlay’ and it’s opacity to 70%.

Step 5

Now make your isolated skateboarder layer visible again and apply a gradient overlay (gradient ranging from: 012544 to 010D16). Make sure that your blend mode for the overlay is ‘multiply’.

Step 6

Now duplicate your skateboarder layer and change your gradient overlay to a black color overlay (settings shown below). Then erase away parts of this layer using a large, soft eraser brush. Don’t erase all of the black overlay layer, but just enough to allow some of the dark blue layer show through.

Step 7

Now paste in one of the images from our Free Sunburst Set. Make sure that you paste the image onto a new layer above your original photo layer, but below your old-paper texture layer as you want the texture to be applied to this shape. Once you’ve done this, apply a red color overlay, and reduce the layer’s opacity to 20%.

Step 8

If you noticed in the last step, the sunrays overlapped the building and edge of the skate ramp in our photo. I want to create the effect that these objects are in front of the sun rays. To do this I select my sunburst layer and go to layer>apply layer mask>reveal all. Then I select around my building/skate-ramp and fill my selection with black. This will mean that any data within these areas becomes hidden. You can see the result of this in the image below:

Step 9

Now create a new layer below your isolated skateboarder layers and above your texture/photo layers called ‘splatter’. Grab a free splatter brush. and set it’s color to black. Then apply it to the edge of your skateboarder. Keep applying different brushes, trying to achieve a melting kind of look.

Step 10

Now find a retro looking pattern online, I picked mine up from SquidFingers.com, a great resource for patterns and other freebies. Open the pattern image in a new Photoshop document and then go to edit>define pattern and choose a name for your pattern. Then return to your original document and duplicate your sunburst layer. Go to blending options for your duplicate and remove the red color overlay and apply a pattern overlay instead, using your newly created pattern. Be sure to make your pattern overlay’s blend mode ‘hard light’. Then reduce this duplicate layer’s opacity to 10%.

Step 11

Now find a photo of some clouds. I used this image: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1099805. Paste it over your image, making sure to place the clouds over your sunburst layers, but below your texture layer. Then change the layer’s blend mode to ‘linear burn’. Finally to fade the photo gradually into the main background, apply a layer mask (reveal all) and then drag a black (100% opacity) to white (0% opacity) linear gradient upwards to mask off the bottom of your cloud image.

Step 12

Now find an image of some smoke and paste it into your document. I used this image: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1073897. Rotate the image to fit over the chimneys on the roof of the house in your photo, (to rotate to go edit>transform>rotate and then manually rotate it). Then duplicate this smoke layer and fit the duplicate over the other chimney on your house.

Step 13

Now change both layer’s blend mode to ‘screen’ and you’re left with just some white smoke, minus the original black background. Then use a large, soft eraser brush at around 25% opacity to erase the parts of smoke that cover up the chimney tops, and also erase the edges of the smoke so that it appears more natural.

Step 14

Now paste in an image of some tape onto a new top layer (I got an image from the Grunge Essentials Freebie Pack right here at PSDFAN). Then to make it darker apply the hue/saturation/lightness settings shown below:

Step 15

Now type some text over the tape, and rotate it using edit>transform>rotate.

Step 16

Now select each of your letters using the magic wand tool. Then with your selection still in place delete your text layer. Select your tape layer, and then apply a layer mask (reveal all). Then fill your selection with black to hide the areas of tape that follow the shape of your text.

And We’re Done!

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial, and would love to hear your thoughts on it. If you appreciated the techniques that I’d love a Digg or Stumble . Just click on the image below to view the full sized wallpaper.