Alright, so I finally got around to tackling something I’ve been wanting to try for ages: a “burned in effigy” effect. Sounds kinda morbid, I know, but the visual results are usually pretty awesome. Let me walk you through my attempts.
First off, I started by grabbing a high-res photo. I chose a portrait because I wanted to see how the effect played out on facial features. I figured that’d be the most challenging and rewarding.
Next up, diving into Photoshop. I duplicated the base layer – always a good idea to work non-destructively. Then, I went to town on the duplicated layer with the “Threshold” adjustment. I cranked that sucker up and down until I got a stark black and white image with a nice balance of detail and silhouette. Think of it like creating a super harsh contrast.
After the threshold, the real fun began. I grabbed the dodge and burn tools. Now, I’m no pro with these, so it was a lot of trial and error. I started gently dodging (lightening) areas that would naturally catch the light and burning (darkening) the shadows. This is where the “sculpting” of the effigy really happens. You’re essentially carving out the highlights and lowlights as if the face was being consumed by fire.
I messed around with the brush size and exposure settings on the dodge and burn tools quite a bit. Smaller brushes for fine details around the eyes and mouth, bigger ones for broader areas like the cheeks and forehead. I also played with different blending modes on the layer. “Overlay” and “Soft Light” gave some interesting results, adding a bit more depth and texture.
To add some heat, I created a new layer and filled it with a gradient ranging from deep red to orange to yellow. Then, I set that layer to “Color” blend mode and reduced the opacity. This gave the image that fiery, incandescent glow. I duplicated the fire layer and set the blend mode to “Screen” for the second duplicate. This really made the highlights pop.
To complete the effect, I tried adding a few textures. I found a free stock image of smoke and another of cracked earth. I placed the smoke around the edges of the face, using layer masks to blend it in seamlessly. The cracked earth I put on top of the face, set to “Overlay” blend mode, and again, used a mask to control where it appeared.
The end result? Pretty cool, if I do say so myself! It definitely took some tweaking and experimenting, but that’s half the fun, right? It’s not perfect, but I learned a ton, and I’m already thinking about ways to refine the process next time. Maybe I’ll try incorporating some actual fire elements or experimenting with different color palettes. Stay tuned!
