Flares effect in Photoshop

Step 1Open a new file ( Ctrl+N ) with transparent background of your desired size.

Step 2Select the radial gradient tool, as shown in the fig., with appropriate foreground and background color. I have used #802c04 as foreground and #000000 as background color. Apply the gradient. The intention of using these two particular foreground and background colors is to give the image a dull reddish brown centre that fades indistinctively into black.

Step 3To make the centre of the image more intense duplicate the selected layer (Ctrl+J) and choose the blending mode as ‘Color Dodge’. Among the different modes available on Photoshop, Color Dodge is a blending mode of the lightening one and brings about a distinct and intense centre with a reddish hue.

Step 4Even with this, there is no texture in the image. Therefore select #ffffff as foreground and #000000 as background color. Make a new layer(Shift+Ctrl+N). Then select Filter→Render→Clouds. Change the blending mode of this layer to ‘Overlay’ and set the ‘Opacity’ to 35%. Then selectFilter→Sketch→Chrome with its detail and smoothness kept to its original value of 4 and 7. This gives our image a textured background. It also diminishes the effect of a smooth phasing of the foreground to the background. Because of the cloudy texture, we see a lot of smoky wisps and tendrils gracefully trailing into the black of the surrounding.

Step 5Make a new layer. Select the Pen Tool (P) and start drawing the curves you want to make glow. Try to keep the curves smooth with few anchor points for better looks. As a word of caution to beginners, the pen tool makes curves naturally and it needs some tinkering around to get used to it.

tep 6Now select the ‘Brush Tool’ (B) and select a hard but thin brush, preferably of size 3-5. The choice of the brush is very important in the making of a perfect curve pattern. The hard brush is used to clearly define the line, while in the soft brush the outlines would have become smudged.

Step 7

Select any color in your foreground and background and again select the ‘Pen Tool’. Right Click on your canvas and select ‘Stroke Path’. In the Stroke Path window appearing choose ‘Brush’ in the tools from the drop-down menu and check the ‘Simulate Pressure’ option in order to achieve thin lines in the ends and thicker in the middle. This tapering effect lends more credibility to the design and gives it character.

Step 8Now in order to give the lines the glowing effect right, click on the layer and select ‘Blending Options’. Set the values of the ‘Drop shadow’, ‘Outer Glow’ & ‘Color Overlay’ as shown in the images below. You can also play around with the various values in these options to get varied results according to your taste. The Drop Shadow and Outer Glow options bring about a cool glow to the thin swish of a line. The Drop Shadow accentuates the glow effect. The Color Overlay option brings an intense glow from the centre of the line.

Step 9Now you can see the lines glowing. After this you can create more curves in different layers using the ‘Pen Tool’ and simply copy and paste the layer effects in those respective layers to get the desired glows. You can also add a few texts to your own taste with similar results. The image is finally beginning to take shape, with all the essential effects already in place. In the next two steps we give the finishing touches to the image.