Lunaria, Money plant, Silver Dollars.

© Louise G

Are you out of money? Well, here is a  flower for you, called Money plant.
I will show you how to make the dried, silvery seed pods.

What could be more appropriate than using a photo of the moon itself.

Get it here and zip it up in your PSP-image folder.

Start with a New Image, 250 x 350, transp, 16 mill. Call the layer Background.
New Layer. Call it Stalk1. Color #8C6429 on Foreground. Background closed.
Draw 2, Bezier Curve.

Make a Vertical line 0 x 260. with your left mouse button.
Go to the right side of the line and make one click.

Make click number two at the left side of the line.

Now you will have a slightly bent stalk.

New Layer. Call it Stalk2. Draw 1, the same color. Bezier Curve.
 Background still closed. Make a line 0 x 50. Click two times on the right site of the line.

This will be the hanger for the seed pod. Make lots of those hangers.
Make them on separate layers, some smaller and some larger, and place them like this.

New Layer. Draw 1. Background still closed.
Make small knobs on the stalks like this.

New layer. Call it Leaves. Airbrush 2. Now you have to draw
on freehand, three dry leaves. Place them like I did.

Close Layer Background. Layers, Merge, Merge Visible. Call it Stalk.

Get the moon image. New Image, 75 x 75, transp, 16 mill. Now you will have two images to work with.
Copy and Paste the moon as a New Layer on this empty Image. Call it Pod.
Deformation Tool. Keep Ctrl down while you push the upper left node to your right.

Now the pod is ellipse shaped.
Image, Resize as below.

Make sure "Resize all layers" is not checked.

Colors, Adjust, Highlight/Midtone/Shadow.
Shadow 100, Midtone 80, Highlight 100.

Colors, Adjust, Hue/Saturation/Lightness.
Hue 75, Saturation 7, Lightness 35. Check Colorize.

Colors, Adjust, Brightness/Contrast.
Brightness set to 12, contrast 16. Effects, Sharpen once.

This is what you will have now.

Selections, Select all. Selections, Float. Selections, Invert.
New Layer. Call it Edge. Flood Fill with color  #8C6429. Selections Modify, Contract by 1. Delete.
You still have a brown "frame" to get rid of. Use Selection Tool, Rectangle and
mark the edges and delete them.

This is how it looks now.

On the same layer, use Draw, Single line 1, the same brown color.
Make four lines like I did.

Now your first pod is done.

Duplicate the Pod Layer 9 times. You will have ten pods now.
 You have to make some small differences on all the pods. They shall not look quite the same.
Take Colors, Colorize. Hue 44, Saturation 13 on some. Make other settings
for the other ones. Experiment a little. When you have done that you can also take
Colors, Brightness 5, Contrast 15 on some pods.

Now it is time to Copy and Paste the pods to the stem.
Make sure Layer Edge is on top in your Layer Palette.

Close all layers except Layers Edges and Pod.
Layers, Merge, Merge Visible. Copy and Paste it on the stalk.

Go back to the pod image and take Undo. Close Layer Pod and open Copy of layer pod.
Layers, Merge Merge Visible. Copy and Paste it on the stem.
You have to do these steps with all the pods. Start pasting them like I did.
Turn the pods with Deformation Tool. Remember to Sharpen after.

Notice some of the pods layers is under the stalk layer.
Drag them down in your Layer Palette.
Keep on pasting until it looks like this.

Go through your picture now. Do you want to change anything, do so now.
You might want to change Brightness, Contrast or Color.

When you are satisfied, Delete your Background Layer.
Layers, Merge, Merge Visible.

Now you can make some nice graphics using the flower pod.

Tutorials