How to airbrush a photo in Photoshop

Step1: If your source photo isn't of a particularly high quality, start by smudging it with the Smudge Tool, using circular movements on the skin rather than strokes, as that can sometimes leave a nasty stripe effect. Use a strength around 15-18.

Step 2: Make a new layer and call it something like "skin base". With the EyeDropper Tool, pick up a skintone from an area that is neither in the shadow or a highlight. You know... sort of a medium tone! ;). Choose a soft round tip for the Airbrush, set the opacity to around 30%, and paint the face (not the eye and mouth area ;)). Don't worry about painting over bits of hair.

Step 3: Make another layer and call it "shadows". Pick up the colors of the shadowy areas of the face and paint (still using opacity around 30%). It doesn't need to look perfect at this stage as we will make a touch-up layer at the end of this tutorial and paint in more details (including minor corrections). These base layers can be a little rough looking.

Step 4: And now, as you can guess, its time to make a layer and name it "highlights". Again, with the EyeDropper Tool, pick up the lightest skintones where the light hits the face and paint them on your new layer. The face is now starting to take form and doesn't look quite as '2D' anymore! :)

Step 5: Make a new layer called "eyes". Now it's time to paint the eyes. As before, pick up the colors from the original photo. It's important to remember that eyes are round, so keep that in kind as you paint in shadows and highlights. For this particular picture I only need to use one layer, but use more if you feel that you need it. I learned this the hard way. ;)

Step 6: Make a "mouth" layer and do as before. Be sure to follow the shape of the lips and make the line around the mouth soft or else he will look as if he is wearing lip liner. :D

Step 7: Again it's important to remember to think 'form' when you paint in shadows and highlights as the forehead isn't as flat as a pancake! :) The left side of the face has a shadow and I needed to paint in one here on the photo as well. A little highlight goes where the light hits the forehead. I wanted to give it a little texture too and painted in a stripy effect, as seen on the picture to the right. At this time I felt a burning need to sharpen the picture the picture somewhat and gave it slightly more contrast as I thought it looked a little dull (Brightness: -5; Contrast: +5). The lips turned out a bit too sharp but

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