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Every year around this time everyone starts thinking about the one they love and how to best express that love. Sometimes it’s with flowers, jewelry, a card or all three. This year, go above and beyond by creating something you can give your loved one to place on their desktop at work or use as a wallpaper for their phone.

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make a beautiful, slightly graphic and a little grungy valentine for the one you love. You’ll need several Photoshop Brush Sets, a couple special fonts, a silhouette of cupid and the shaft of an arrow to create a valentine that pierces the heart. Why a grungy looking valentine you ask? Well, because, sometimes love can be a little messy!

Download PSD

Before we get started you’ll need to gather some materials below:

Photoshop Brushes:
• Dried Blood Splatter Brushes – download
• Rough and Grungy Brushes – download
• Crack Brushes – download
• 16 Splatter Brushes – download
• 15 Hard Concrete – download

Images:
• Cupid silhouette – download
• Arrow shaft – download

Fonts:
• Defused – download
• Officer Down – download

*Install required fonts before beginning tutorial

Step 1

Open a new document in Photoshop with a width of 1920 pixels and a height of 1200 pixels.

Step 2

Select the Custom Shape Tool. Within the shape fly out menu choose the “Shapes” folder and select the heart. With a foreground color of #940101 draw a heart in the center of the canvas. Change the name of the shape layer to “Heart bg”.

Step 3

With the “Heart bg” layer selected adjust the perspective by going to: Edit>Transform>Perspective.
Grab the upper right corner and pull it down slightly.

Step 4

To the same layer we now need to warp it a bit by going to: Edit>Transform>Warp.
Pull the bottom two corners down and out as shown below.

Step 5

Create a new layer above the “Heart bg” layer and name it “Heart shadow”. With the “Heart shadow” layer selected Ctrl+click on the “Heart bg” layer to create a selection.

With a foreground color of black select the Gradient Tool and draw a linear gradient from the bottom point about half way up the heart.

Press Ctrl+D to remove the selection and then “V” to select the Move Tool. With the arrow keys move the gradient up and to the right.

Apply a 20 pixel Gaussian blur by going to: Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

Step 6

Create a new layer above the “Heart shadow” layer and name it “Heart highlight”. With the “Heart highlight” layer selected Ctrl+click on the “Heart bg” layer to create a selection.

Change the foreground color to white and with the Gradient Tool draw a linear gradient from the top of the heart to about halfway down.

Press Ctrl+D to remove the selection and then “V” to select the Move Tool. With the arrow keys move the gradient down and to the right.

As before apply a 20 pixel Gaussian blur and then reduce the Opacity on the layer to 60%.

Step 7

Remove any gradient that fell outside the area of the heart for both the “Heart shadow” and the “Heart highlight” layers. With one of the two layers selected, Ctrl+click on the “Heart bg” layer to create a selection. Invert the selection by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I and then press delete. Repeat, for the other layer.

Step 8

Create a new layer above the “Hear highlight” layer and title it “Heart cracks”. Change the Blend Mode on the layer to Overlay. Load the Cracks Brush Set.

With the “Heart cracks” layer selected Ctrl+click on the “Heart bg” layer to create a selection. Choose a foreground color of black to spot paint with using the following brushes in the areas indicated below.
Crack brushes:

1.riss17

2.riss4

3.riss12

4.riss11

5.riss7

6.riss3

Create a folder, name it heart and place all the heart layers inside.

Step 9

Create a new layer above the “Background” layer and name it “concrete floor”.

Load the Concrete Brush Set and with a foreground color of #d09625 select the “hard crete cracks” brush. Click once to paint a single concrete image on the lower half of the canvas.

Now distort the image by going to: Edit>Transform>Distort. Drag the two bottom corners away from the center until you have something similar to below.

Step 10

Create a new layer above “concrete floor” and title it “concrete wall”.

With the same color select the “full concrete” brush, increase the size to fill the width of the canvas and paint a single image meeting with the top of the “concrete floor”.

Step 11

Select the “concrete wall” layer and with the Rectangle Marquee Tool create a selection that meets with the top corner of the concrete floor.

Press Ctrl+J to duplicate the selection to a new layer. Name the layer “concrete wall left”.

Select the “concrete wall” layer and Ctrl+click on the “concrete wall left” layer to create a selection. Press delete to remove the selected area. Press Ctrl+D to remove the selection.

Step 12

Select the “concrete wall left” layer and skew the bottom by going to: Edit>Transform>Skew. Drag the outer point down until the bottom lines up with the “concrete floor” layer.

Select the “concrete wall” layer, choose the Erase Tool with a soft brush and erase any artifacts along the bottom that intersect the “concrete wall left” layer.

Step 13

Repeat Steps 11 and 12 for the opposite side except name the new layer “concrete wall right”.

Step 14

Create a new folder and name it “Concrete”. Place all the concrete layers inside the folder.

Step 15

Above the “concrete wall” layer create a new layer and name it “concrete effects”.

With a color of #96621e select a couple different concrete effects you like and spot paint along the upper half of the canvas around either side of the heart.

Step 16

Open the cupid image in Photoshop. Create a new layer above the “Concrete” folder and name it “cupid”. Copy the image of cupid into this layer.

Press Ctrl+T to select the Transform Tool. Holding “Shift” to constrain the proportions drag out one of the corners until Cupid is the approximate size as seen below.

Apply a Gaussian blur with a 9 pixel radius by going to: Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

Then reduce the Fill of the layer to 45%. With the “cupid” layer selected use the Rectangle Marquee Tool and create a selection around the bottom of Cupid starting from the top of the “concrete floor” layer down.

Press Ctrl+J to copy the selection to a new layer, name it “cupids feet” and reduce the Fill to 40%. Draw another selection, exactly like the previous one, select the “cupid” layer and press delete.

Select the “cupids feet” layer and skew it slightly to the right by going to: Edit> Transform>Skew. With the middle bottom point click and drag to the right.

Step 17

Above the “Heart” folder create a new layer and name it “arrow shaft”. Open the arrow shaft image and copy it into this layer. Press Ctrl+T to select the Transform Tool and while holding “Shift” drag a corner inward to scale the image down to about the size you see below.

Now distort the “arrow shaft” by going to Edit>Transform>Distort. Adjust the corners as seen below.

After getting the distortion were you like it press Ctrl+T again, rotate and scale if needed to get something that looks like  the image below.

Step 18

With the Polygonal Lasso Tool create a selection around the arrow shaft from the major crack in the center of the heart to the hearts edge.

Press Ctrl+Shift+I to invert the selection and apply a layer mask.

Step 19

Create a new layer just below the “arrow shaft” layer and name it “arrowhead”. With a foreground color of #999999 select the Rectangle Tool and draw a square at the end of the arrow shaft.

Now distort the square by going to: Edit>Transform>Distort. Adjust the points as shown below.

Create a new layer above the “arrowhead” layer and name it “arrowhead base”. With the Polygonal Lasso Tool create a diamond shaped selection for the bottom of the arrowhead and fill it with the color #595959.

With the selection still in place select the Gradient Tool with a foreground color of black and draw a linear gradient from the bottom point to the top.

Create a new layer above the “arrowhead base” layer and name it “arrowhead shadow”. Select the Lasso Tool again and draw a selection around the bottom part of the arrow. Choose the Gradient Tool with a black foreground color and draw a linear gradient from the bottom of the selection to the top.

Create another layer above the “arrowhead shadow” layer and name it “arrowhead highlight”. Select the Lasso Tool again and draw a selection around the  top part of the arrow. Choose the Gradient Tool and with white as the foreground color draw a linear gradient from the center of the arrow out towards the edge.

With the “arrowhead highlight” layer selected Shift+click on the “arrowhead” layer to select all four layers. Press Ctrl+E to merge the layers.

Remove “highlight” from the layer named “arrowhead highlight”. Now warp the layer titled “arrowhead”. Go to: Edit>Transform>Warp. Drag the handles as shown below.

Step 20

Above the “arrow shaft” layer create a new layer and name it “arrow fin”. With a foreground color of #bababa select the Rectangle Tool and draw a rectangle horizontally.

Skew the rectangle to the right by going to: Edit>Transform>Skew. Drag the top middle point to the right.

Press Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer. Flip the “arrow fin copy” layer vertically by going to: Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical. Move it below the arrow shaft.

Distort the “arrow fin copy” by going to: Edit>Transform>Distort. Adjust the corners so they look like the image below. Make sure it runs parallel with the bottom of the arrow shaft.

Create a new layer above the “arrow fin copy” layer and name it “arrow fin back”. With the Lasso Tool draw a triangle selection on the right side of the fin and fill it with white.

Select and distort “arrow fin” layer. Drag the layer below the “arrow shaft” layer. Create a new layer above the “arrow fin” layer and name it “arrow fin back” again.

Just as before select the Lasso Tool and draw a triangle selection on the right side of the fin and fill it with white.

Step 21

Create a new layer above the “arrow shaft” layer and name it “arrow shaft gradient shadow”. Ctrl+click on the “arrow shaft” layer to create a selection. With a foreground color of black draw a linear gradient across the width of the selection.

Create a new layer above the “arrow shaft gradient background” layer and name it “arrow shaft highlight”. With the Lasso Tool create a rectangular selection with slightly curved ends which goes from the circle at the back of the arrow to the heart. With a white foreground color select the Gradient Tool and draw a gradient from the end of the arrow towards the heart.

Apply a Gaussian blur with a Radius of 2 pixels and reduce the Opacity of the layer to 35%.

Create a new layer above the previous layer and name it “arrow end highlight”. With the Ellipse Marquee Tool draw an oval selection about as wide as the end of the arrow. Draw a white gradient from the top to the bottom of the selection. Press Ctrl+D to remove the selection and then Ctrl+T to activate the Transform Tool. Rotate the gradient slightly counter-clockwise until it lines up nicely with the end of the arrow.

Apply a Gaussian blur with a Radius of 12px. Reduce the Opacity to 40%. Select the “arrow shaft gradient shadow” layer and reduce the Fill to 80%.

Step 22

Create a new layer at the very top and name it “arrow fin bottom”. Shift+click on the “arrow fin copy” layer and then press Ctrl+E to merge all three layers.

With the Lasso Tool draw several triangles, one at a time, along the bottom of the fin and delete the selections.

Create another new layer just below the “arrow shaft” layer and name it “arrow fin top”. Shift+click on the “arrow fin” layer and then press Ctrl+E to merge all three layers.

As before use the Lasso Tool to draw and remove several triangles, this time along the top, of the fin.

Create a new folder, name it “Arrow” and place all the arrow layers inside.

Step 23

Above the “Heart” folder create a new layer and name it “blood drip”.

With the Pen Tool draw a blood drip from the arrow to the bottom of the heart. Fill it with the color #580000.

Apply a Layer Style of Bevel and Emboss. Adjust the Depth to 52% and change the Shading Angle to about 72 degrees with an Altitude of 21 degrees.

Step 24

Create a new layer just below the “Heart” folder and name it “blood puddle”. Select the Pen Tool again with a color of #580000, draw a squiggly blob looking shape around the base of the heart and the tip of the arrow.

Create a new layer above the “blood puddle” layer and name it “blood puddle shadow”. With the “blood puddle shadow” layer selected Ctrl+click on the “blood puddle” layer to create a selection.
Choose the Brush Tool, with a foreground color of black, a soft brush, Opacity set to 40%, Flow set to 50% and paint along the areas marked below.

Create another layer above the “blood puddle shadow” layer and name it blood puddle highlight”.With the “blood puddle highlight” layer selected Ctrl+click on the “blood puddle” layer to create a selection. Select the Brush Tool again, change the foreground color to white, reduce the Flow to 7% and paint in the areas indicated below.

Step 25

Open the “Heart” folder, create a new layer below the “Heart bg” layer and name it “Hear drop shadow”. Ctrl+click on the “Heart bg” layer to create a selection and fill it with black. Press Ctrl+D to remove the selection.

Distort the shadow by going to: Edit>Transform>Distort. Drag the corners until you have something which resembles the picture below.

Apply a Gaussian blur with a Radius of 19 pixels by going to: Filter>Blur>Gaussian blur. Reduce the Opacity for the layer to 70%.

Step 26

Create a new layer above the “Concrete” folder and name it “Valentine”. With the font “Officer Down” and a font size of 300pt type the word “Valentine” below the heart. Rasterize the type by going to: Layer>Rasterize>Type.

Distort the type by going to: Edit>Transform>Distort. Drag the top two corners in slightly so the image appears to line up with the angle of the floor.

Apply the following Layer Styles and adjust each according to the settings you see below:

1.Drop Shadow – Opacity: 44%, Distance: 0px, Size: 5px

2.Inner Shadow – Opacity: 66%, Distance: 1px, Size: 10px

3.Bevel and Emboss – Depth: 32%, Size 16px, Soften: 3px

Step 27

Select the “blood puddle” layer and press Ctrl+J to duplicate it. Change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge and reduce the Opacity to 33%.

Next select the “Valentine” layer and duplicate it the same way. Change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge, but only reduce the Opacity to 50% this time.

Step 28

Open the “Arrow” folder, select the “arrow shaft gradient shadow” layer and change the Blend Mode to Overlay.

Create a new layer “arrow shaft gradient shadow” layer and name it “arrow shaft gradient shadow2”. With the new layer selected Ctrl+click on the “arrow shaft layer to create a selection. With a black gradient draw a gradient across the arrow shaft just above the arrowhead.

Press Ctrl+D to remove the selection then while holding “Alt” drag the mask from the “arrow shaft” layer to the “arrow shaft gradient layer2”.

Step 29

With the Lasso Tool create a selection along the bottom of the arrow shaft like the one you see below.

Drag the “blood drip” layer above the “Arrow” folder. Press Ctrl+Shift+I to invert the selection. Apply a mask.

Step 30

Above the “Valentine copy” layer create two new seperate text layers. Select “Defused” for the type with a color of #580000. On one layer type “Be” at a size of 187pts and on the other layer type “Mine” at a size of 157pts. With each layer, one at a timer, press Ctrl+T to select the Transform Tool and rotate them slightly counter-clockwise as shown below.

Step 31

Load the SG Rough Grungy Brush Set. Create a new layer above the “Mine” text layer and name it “smear”. Select a SG Brush you like with a color of #580000 and paint a single stroke which will almost completely cove the “Mine” text.

With the “smear” layer still selected Ctrl+click on the “Mine” layer to create a selection. Turn the visibility off for the “Mine” layer. Invert the selection by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I and then apply a mask.

Step 32

Load the Dried Blood Brushes and the Splatter Brushes.

Above the “smear” layer create a new layer and name it “dried blood”. With a color of #580000 choose several different Dried Blood Brushes and paint on the wall.

Create another new layer above the previous one and name it “splatter”. Again with a color of #580000 choose several different Splatter Brushes and paint on the wall.

Step 33

Open the “Concrete” folder and create a new layer above the “concrete floor” layer. With the new layer selected Ctrl+click on the on the “concrete floor” layer to create a selection. With the color #580000 select the Gradient Tool and draw a linear gradient from the top to the bottom of the selection. Reduce the Opacity on the layer to 50%.

Repeat the same process for the “concrete wall”, “concrete wall right” and “concrete wall left” layers.

Step 34

Congratulations on completing another tutorial…Now save it, send it to your loved one and reap the reward of your effort. Enjoy!

Download PSD

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