Making Of Mont Saint Michel (Dark)

Tips about how I made the Mont Saint Michel (Dark) wallpaper

Mont Saint Michel (Dark) Making Of - Step 1

As always, start with new document and fill it with solid color.

Mont Saint Michel (Dark) Making Of - Step 2

Use very large brush, different colors (similar to main color) and gaussian blur (with large radius) to fill background with chaotic color variations.

Mont Saint Michel (Dark) Making Of - Step 3

Use the following filters:
- noise / add noise
- sketch / water paper
- artistic / sponge
- artistic / water color

For each filter, adjust settings carefully and experiment to achieve "natural" look, not too "filtered". After applying each filter,
 
hit Ctrl-Shift-F (Fade) to reduce filter effectiveness and make it semi-transparent (40-60%).

Mont Saint Michel (Dark) Making Of - Step 4

Here is the photo that I took in Mont Saint Michel. Copy it to the document...

Mont Saint Michel (Dark) Making Of - Step 5

select the layer containing the photo, change its blend mode to "Multiply" and opacity to 80%. Duplicate layer (Ctrl-J), set duplicated layer blend mode to overlay and opacity to 50% (you may want to change these settings so that your photo looks best way possible)

Mont Saint Michel (Dark) Making Of - Step 6

in default brush set, there is a brush called Rough Round Bristle. Select it, create new layer, and fill it with chaotic black and white strokes.