FORTUNE TELLER

It may not seem like it, but this design was one of the most in depth that I have done and it is my absolute favorite!

My original vision was to name it "Oracle" and have myself in it with cracked skin and clouded eyes. However, I get tired of using myself all the time so the plan changed. Honestly, the only reason I use myself at all (besides the fact I find it hilarious at times) is because it's easier to take a photo of myself in the exact position I need, rather than going through hundreds or even a thousand stock images to find the perfect one. I went through over a thousand male and female photos for this image to find exactly what I had envisioned, and these two were the only ones that worked.

And I think they're perfect! That's not to say that there aren't absolutely fantastic stock photos out there. In my search, I noted quite a few for future use, but for this photo manipulation, these were the only ones I liked.

Now that I've sufficiently covered the models in the photo, shall we continue? Indeed! As you may have noticed, I'm creating a lot a spheres again. I apologize for that, but you have to admit the quality in these ones is far superior to my early designs. And I love creating orbs, so now that I'm able to make them well I can't help myself =) I think this one made it all worthwhile, in my humble opinion. I'm pretty much the most humble person I know. It's one of my best qualties.

When I decided to change the model from a picture of myself, the entire vision changed. Much to my chagrin, might I add, because I changed the menu on all of my webpages to link to Oracle before I had even begun the design..

As a proceeded, she became a fortune teller. I attempted to give her cracked skin and change her eyes, but it didn't look right in the scene, so I dismissed that idea and decided to make it more subtle magic with a surreal feel.

I placed the crystal ball on the pedestal, blended the girl inside of it. Added an old book and made the writing glow. Gave it some candles and mood lighting, and voilà! (I've said before I'm no good at tutorials, so I don't bother trying)

I really hope you like it as much as I do. Let me know what you think in the comments below. I would like to thank everyone above for the wonderful stock photos. As always, I could never do this without you.

I included behind the scenes photos below. As usual, I didn't think about taking screenshots as I was making it and got the photos by removing more and more layers. But you do still get an idea of the changes that take place in the design by looking at them.

Have a great day!