To do this tutorial, I assme that you have a basic understanding of PSP and its tools. The tutorial uses preset shapes and it involves a bit of shading, but don't let that scare you off! I provide screenshots to guide you along the way, and if you run into trouble I'll be glad to help you out. Ok, ready? Take a deep breath and let's go!
My preset shapes. Place these in your PSP preset shapes folder. You may download them here.
Step 1. Open a new image 350 x 450, white background. Step 2. Add a new layer. Set your foreground and background colors to #E6D5F7. Choose your preset shapes tool, and navigate the the shape you downloaded ("pracken_petal4"). Draw a shape approximately 60 x 95 (watch the numbers in the lower left of your screen.
![]() Step 3. Next you'll add some color for shading. If you float the selection, you'll be able to do this without the color going outside. I'll give you two ways to float a selection:
Step 4. Now, you'll do the shading. Add a new layer (I always do shading on a separate layer). Set your foreground color to #D2359F and your background color to #F6EEFC (that way you can shift back back and forth when you color). Choose your airbrush with the settings in the screenshot, and spray some color on your flower. Spray the darker color at the bottom and the lighter color just around the edges, similar to mine.
Step 5. Now you'll smudge the color around a bit to soften it. Choose your retouch tool, smudge brush, with the settings in the screenshot.
![]() Smudging is not an exact science, so your results will be different than mine. I'm providing screenshots to show you my progress along the way. First, smudge the darker color upwards, similar to mine. Then change your brush size down to about 5 and pull the bits up a bit further.
![]() Spray a little more of the lighter color on, like mine. Finally, change your size back to 10, and change the opacity to about 40. Smudge the colors out to soften, similar to this.
![]() This takes a bit of practice, so be patient with yourself! When you're satisfied with your creation, hide your background layer and merge the visible layers. Turn the background layer back on. Step 6. Now you'll assemble your flower. You'll duplicate the petal and rotate it into shape. Place each layer underneath the one previous to it, i.e., the last petal will be on the bottom and the first petal will be on the top. Place the first petal into position. Duplicate it 4 times. Here are the rotations for each of the 4 petals:
Move the petals into position as you like. When done, I had some lighter color in the center, and while that's a nice effect, I really wanted the center to be more solid. So I used my airbrush and just sprayed some of the darker purple color into the center.
Step 7. Add a new layer. Set your foreground color to #FFE981. Choose your airbrush and spray a little color in the center of your flower.
![]() Hide your background layer and merge visible layers. Now hide the merged flower layer and make your background layer visible again. Step 8. Now you'll make the little flower bud. Add a new layer. Set your foreground and background colors to #DEC8AC. Choose your preset shapes tool and navigate the to "pracken_bud1" shape you downloaded. Draw a shape approximately 20 x 60. Step 9. Now you'll a little shading of this bit. Add a new layer. Float the bud. Set your foreground color to #826C52, and your background color to #F7F1EB. Choose your airbrush (same settings as before - size is 5-10) and spray color similar to mine.
![]() Then choose your smudge brush (same settings as before), and smudge the color. When done, you should have something similar to this. Hide your background layer and merge visible layers. Hide this layer and turn your background layer back on.
Step 10. Now you'll do the pink part of the bud. Add a new layer. Set your foreground and background colors to #CD8BB9. Choose your preset shapes tool and navigate to the "pracken_bud2" shape that you downloaded. Draw a shape approximately 20 x 40. Now you'll shade this just like you did in the last step. Add a new layer. Use these two colors: #A7538E and #F4E4EF. Spray on color with airbrush. Then smudge as before.
Place the pink layer underneath the brown layer. Hide the background and merge all visible layers. Hide the bud and make background visible again.
Step 11. Now to make the leaf. Add a new layer. Set your foreground and background colors to #0F5A14. Choose your preset shapes tool and navigate to the leaf shape you downloaded ("pracken_leaf"). Draw a shape approximately 90 x 200. Now to add some definition to the leaf. Add a new layer. Set your foreground color to #88AC8A and your background color to #213122. With your airbrush (size 20, hardness 0, opacity 40, step 25, density 40), spray some color, similar to mine. Choose your retouch tool, smudge brush (size 30, hardness 40, opacity 40, step 25, density 100). Smudge the colors similar to mine.
Add a new layer. Choose your draw tool, freehand line, size 1. Draw some lines on your leaf similar to mine (leave your foreground and background colors set the same as in the last step).
Apply an inner bevel (go to effects>3d effects> inner bevel), using the "round" preset. Lower the opacity of this layer to 15-20%. Hide the background layer and merge visible.
Step 12. Still with me? Ok, all the pieces are made, now time to assemble your flower. Make your leaf layer visible. You'll arrange the leaves on the bottom. Duplicate your leaf as many times as you wish. Rotate, resize as you wish. Here's how mine looked when done.
Step 13. Place your flower on top of the leaves.
Step 14. Copy your little flower bud twice. Arrange the buds in a position you like. Then, add a new layer and place it underneath the leaves. Set your foreground color to #A68E73 and background color to null. Choose your draw tool, freehand line, size 1-2 and draw some stems for your flower buds.
And believe it or not, that's all! Whew! If you've made it this far, good for you!!! I hope you've enjoyed the tutorial!
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This tutorial was created on March 22, 2004.
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