No elephant ever complained about the weight of its trunk

-Anonymous

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Hey friends! This is my third time to feature an animal for my Soft Pastel Art Series. Ever wondered how I made this elephant sketch with my real hand and a soft pastel pencil on it?

Unlike my first Soft Pastel artworks, Steemcat and Owlsome, wherein I shared some traditional art techniques, I want to focus on the digital side this time. Yep, I Photoshopped this one. I admit I am still an amateur in using this software, that is why I am giving 7 simple steps for you to follow easily.

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I took a photo of my finished elephant sketch (image 1) and a photo of my hand and soft pastel pencil over it (image 2).

image 1

image 2

The main concept for this is to weave the soft pastel pencil under the elephant’s trunk. You ready? Lez start!

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Step 1: Open Images

Using Adobe Photoshop, open the two saved images (image 1 & 2). Click file, select open, then select the two images

Step 2: Copy finished elephant sketch

Copy image 1 and paste it over image 2. Simply select image 1 (Ctrl + A), copy it (Ctrl + C), and paste it over image 2 (Ctrl + V). Be sure that the image 1 is above the image 2’s layer.

Step 3: Change the Opacity

Change the opacity of the image 1. This will help you see a glimpse of image 2. Here, I changed image 1’s opacity from 100% to 50%.

Step 4: Transform image

Transform (Ctrl + T) image 1. Drag it until it perfectly fits the elephant figure on the image 2

Step 5: Erase backgorund

Using the eraser tool, slowly erase the background (brown portion & pencil pointing to elephant’s mouth) of image 1, leaving the elephant’s image behind. It’s as if you are weaving the soft pastel pencil under the elephant’s trunk.

Step 6: Return the opacity back

Turn the opacity of image 1 back to 100%.

Step 7: Include some shadows

In order to make it more realistic, add some shadows using the brush tool.

Here it is!

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Trivia

Did you know that there are some elephants in Thailand who know how to paint? Probably some of you have already seen this, but for the benefit of those who did not, I will share a video of an elephant named Suda while painting an elephant on a canvass:

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I hope you enjoyably learned something from this art tutorial.

For more tips about Arts and Finance, don't hesitate to follow me .

@smaeunabs

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You might want to check out my previous works

Soft Pastel Art #1 : SteemCat
Soft Pastel Art #2: Owlsome
Simple hack to design a dress like a Pro