Alright today I am going to teach you how to make a nature vector similar to my nature vector piece:

Nature Vector by ~sglider12 on deviantART

You can download the PSD of this tutorial here. (3.45mb)
You can download a PDF version of this tutorial here. (2.92mb)
You can download the source files for this tutorial here. (45.67mb)

First, we are going to need a few things. Be sure to click the images to see them full size. Alternately, you can download the source files, a collection of all of the files used in this tutorial, above.

Stocks:

Oak Tree Stock (Courtesy sundstrom/Stock.xchng)


Mountain Stock (Courtesy gundolf/Stock.xchng)


Cliffside Stock (Courtesy grantr/Stock.xchng)


Grass Stock (Courtesy malkiev/Stock.xchng)


Freedom Stock (Courtesy Rissmu/Stock.xchng)


Family Stock (Courtesy simmbarb/Stock.xchng)

Brushes:


Urban Designs Vector Brushes (Courtesy Obsidian Dawn)


Splatter Brushes (Courtesy =ka05/DeviantART)


Branches & Foliage Brushes (Courtesy ladyvictoire/Brusheezy)


Vector Brushes (Courtesy solenero73/DeviantART)


Foliage Swirls Brushes (Courtesy Obsidian Dawn)


Galaxies Brushes (Courtesy Sunira/DeviantART)


Grunge Brushes (r3iz0/DeviantART)

A lot of downloading isn't it? Oh well. Get used to it.


1) Create a new 800x600 image on a white background in Photoshop.

2) Now we need to create the radial shape in the background. Click the custom shape tool with paths selected instead of shape layers. In the shape drop down menu, pick the registration target shape 2.







Click and drag the shape like so. You may need to zoom out.


Click the paths tab next to the layers dialog. Select the "work path." Click the path to selection button near the bottom. You should now have a selection.




Press CTRL-Shift-I, or go to Select > Inverse. Your selection should now inverse.

3) Click the gradient tool.


Use #FFFFFF for your foreground color, and #009CFF for your background color. Use these gradient settings:




Apply the gradient to the selection by clicking in the center and dragging to the top edge.




4) Inverse your selection and click the paintbucket tool.



Use #0085D9 as your foreground color. Fill the selection. CTRL-D to deselect, or Select > Deselect.



5) Now we need to make the island. Get out your grass image and render it. Normally we would do this with the pen tool, but in this case, since we are going to apply a complete threshold anyway, we'll just use the magic wand tool. The pen tool is useful for getting really detailed renders, but our images will be blacked out, so there's really no need. You can also use the lasso tool to get rid of the rocks at the bottom.





6) Copy/paste the grass onto a new layer called "grass" into your image. Resize and place somewhat like mine. Go to Image > Adjustments > Threshold. Apply a threshold of 225. Click
ok.



7) Get out the mountains and render them too. Copy/paste into image into a new layer named "mountains." Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical. Apply a threshold of 255 and place underneath the grass. You can fill in spaces between the grass and the mountains with the black brush tool.



8) Now we'll add our cliffs. Open up your cliff stock and render it.



Copy/Paste into your piece. Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Image > Adjustments > Threshold. Apply a threshold of 255.




9) Open up your oak tree and render it. Copy/Paste into your vector. Place it somewhat like mine and apply a threshold of 255. I noticed the trunk of the tree was a bit too short, so I used another image of a tree trunk to lengthen the trunk. It can be found here.



10) Let's add our people. Open up your freedom image. Render it.



The reason I left out part of her hair is because, when the threshold is applied, it will appear that she will have an overly large head. Copy/Paste this image into your vector. Apply a threshold of 255 and place somewhat like mine. You may notice a couple of white spots left over on the girl after you have applied the threshold. Just use the brush tool to black them out.



11) Now we'll add the family. Open that image and render them.



Copy/Paste into your vector. Apply a threshold of 255. Place somewhat like mine.



12) Let's add the tree roots that go underneath the island. Create a new layer named "roots." Get out your tree root brushes and add the roots under the tree. I used the 1498 sized root brush. Once applied, I rotated the roots and placed them under the tree.



13) Now it's time for the rainbow. Create a new layer named "red" underneath everything except the background. Get out the pen tool with these settings:




Begin to draw the shape I have below. The points are outlined in red.



When you've done that, click on the paths tab in the layer dialog and click the path to selection button near the bottom. Your path should turn into a selection.



Select the gradient tool. Use #ff6262 for your foreground color, and #ff0000 for your background color. Use these settings and apply from the center to the edge of the selection. Select > Deselect.





Create another layer and name it "orange." Place it underneath the red layer. Use the pen tool and draw another shape like mine. The blue dots outline where the points should go.



Again, make the path a selection. Pick the gradient tool and use #ff9c00 for your foreground color and #ff6c00 for your background color. Apply the gradient. Select > Deselect.



Create a new layer named "yellow" and place it underneath the orange layer. Use the path tool again and convert it to a selection. Use #fff582 as your foreground color and #ffe400 as your background color.



Create a new layer named "green" and place it underneath the yellow layer. Use the path tool again and convert it to a selection. Use #65ff65 as your foreground color and #06ff00 as your background color.




Create a new layer named "light blue" and place it underneath the green layer. Use the path tool again and convert it to a selection. Use #59bfff as your foreground color and #0078ff as your background color.



Create a new layer named "dark blue" and place it underneath the green layer. Use the path tool again and convert it to a selection. Use #007fd0 as your foreground color and #004796 as your background color.



Now you can merge your rainbow pieces into one, or just group them. We're done with it for now.

14) Now we'll make the red swirly thing in the background. Create a new layer named "red swirly thing" (creative isn't it?) and place it under all the layers except the background. Get out your Vector Pack Volume 2 Brushes. Select one of the round brushes that looks like this:



Use #ff0000 as your foreground color. Apply the brush in the center like mine, with the family in the middle of it.



Now go to Filter > Liquify. Take the brush size down to about 55. Every thing else you can leave the same. Try and manipulate like so:



When done, click ok and give it a minute to return the result. Filter > Distort > Ripple. Use these settings:



Click ok. CTRL-F to apply the filter again. Lower the opacity of the layer to about 53%.



15) Now let's add the splatter that goes underneath the island. Create a new layer named "splatter" and place it between the "mountains" layer and the "red" layer. Get out your splatter brushes and go to town. Just don't get too crazy.



16) Now we'll add the urban designs under the island. Create a new layer between the "red swirly thing" layer and the "background" layer and name it "urban." Get out the SS Designs Urban Vectors brushes and, using bright colors, such as lime green and bright yellow, apply them. You can also apply a few brushes above the island as well, but don't use too many.



17) Ok now we'll add the floral effects on the rainbow. Create a new layer above the rainbow pieces named "foliage swirls." Get out your foliage swirls brushes and apply using black. You can also apply some grunge brushes to it as well, but make sure that they aren't as opaque. Lower the opacity of the layer when done.



18) Now it's time for some grunge awesomeness in the background. Create a new layer above the background named "grunge." Get out your grunge brushes and apply them mainly to the left edge. If you need to, you can download other grunge brushes off the net and use them as well. DeviantART is a good place to go for those. Set the layer mode to Overlay when done.



19) We should have done this next step already, but oh well. Create a new layer named "urban 2" between the red swirly thing and the urban layer. Use some black round brushes from the vector brush packs and try to recreate what I have done.



20) Last but not least, we will now add the galaxies. Create a new layer between the grunge layer and the red swirly thing layer. Get out your galaxies brushes and, using a white color, add them to the layer. Set the layer mode to overlay. Duplicate the layer. Place the new layer on top and set it's mode to normal, lowering it's opacity to about 76%.



And you're done!! Go eat a muffin.



You can download the PSD of this tutorial here. (3.45mb)
You can download a PDF version of this tutorial here. (2.92mb)
You can download the source files for this tutorial here. (45.67mb)