RP-119

This is a picture I did of a barren, rusty planet similar to mars. I used layers on this picture quite a bit so that I wouldn't end up overlapping smudges and objects. The stars were made very simply...with a very small brush. Some of the stars (the ones that appear to be different colors) were actually a custom brush I made of a separate image I created by zooming in and creating a white circle with blue or orange pixels on the inside. The planet itself I did by creating a red circle, selecting it, adding HSV noise, blurring (both options are found on the filters menu), and then adding various details (like faded circles and the little dried rivers) and then smudging it all thouroughly. The edges are smudged as well to create a more 3-d look. The dark side is created with the use of the airbrush tool and the "Fuzzy circle." That really transforms the image by creating an extended shadow and three dimentional fade. On a layer between the stars and the planet I sprayed in some dust clouds that can be faintly seen around the planet, especially on the dark side (smudge tool used gratuitously). Finally, I added a lighting effect to the layer containing the planet. This option is really fun and really easy; it can be found in the filters menu under Light and shadow--->lighting effects.