Have you ever wanted to use your mind to move an object? Use the Force to fling things out of your way? Unfortunately, we all know those types of abilities are impossible but using the power of Photoshop anything can be accomplished. In today’s tutorial we will demonstrate how to create a powerful mental wave effect using Photoshop. Let’s get started!

This tutorial was original published in April 2008

Step 1

Open a new document. I used 800x600px. Look for a road photo on the Internet. The one I used can be downloaded here. After downloading, place the photo in your document.

Step 2

Now we need a photo of a person. The one I used can be found here. Once you have your photo, it’s time to extract the guy from the background. Using the Pen Tool(P) create a path like in the image below. After that go to the Paths Palette and create a selection from that path. Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection. Lastly, I named this layer “dude.”

Step 3

Go to Edit > Transform > Scale and reduce the size of the guy. Then go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. We do that to match the light direction.

Step 4

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves. The idea here is to darken the guy a little bit so he will fit better with the background. Use the image below as a reference.

Step 5

Holding Cmd/Ctrl click on the mask thumb of the “dude” layer. That will create a marquee selection of the guy. After that create a new layer. Rename it to “shadow” and fill it with black. Then go to Edit > Transform > Distort and move the vertices to make the shadow in perspective. The last thing here is go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

Step 6

Grab the Ellipse Tool(U). Select Paths instead of Shape Layer. Create a Circle, like the image below. After that grab the Direct Selection Tool(A) and adjust the bottom of the circle.

Step 7

Create a new layer. Rename it to “clouds.” Then go to Filter > Render > Clouds. While holding Alt, click on Clouds. After that go to the Path’s Palette and create a selection from the path and mask the layer.

Tip: As you will be using the Render > Clouds, you will probably need to apply the filter several times until you got the clouds just right. Keep working with it until the light and dark areas are in a good position.

Step 8

Go to Filter > Liquefy. In the Liquefy Dialog Box select the Bloat Tool (B). Then for the settings use: Brush Size 550, Brush Density 100, Brush Pressure 100, Brush Rate 60, and Turbulent Jitter 75.

Then select the Show Backdrop Option. That will allow you to see the clouds and the background. It will be necessary to use the Bloat Tool in the right place. Click a few times and deselect the Show Backdrop. Then you will see the effect and will be able to repeat it more times in the correct place.

Step 9

Change the Blend Mode of the cloud layer to Soft Light. Then create another layer and rename it to “Clouds 2″ and repeat Steps 7 and 8. We will need another cloud to make it more turbulent. This time, however, use Multiply for the Blend Mode. (editor：admin)