[Excruciating]

As a part of my space scene tutorials I will show you how to make your own sun.
Previous space tutorials:
1. Link
2. Link
Remember always to save your image as psp. as you progress, so if you screw up you can just load. (just like a pc-game actually )

1. Make a new image. (or better yet, open up your previous starfield background)
(If you actually did take your time to follow my starfield tutorial, skip this)
2. Fill your background layer with black (press d, then alt + backspace)

3. Create a new layer, call i sun, make a perfect cirle (hold down shift while drawing) fill the circle (press alt + backspace).
- Press filter -> render -> different clouds.
- Press CTRL+F (reapplies the filter) untill you like the effect, try to imagine how it would look with colors. WHen your done:
- Go to Image->Adjustments->Levels (ctrl + l) move the sliders so the will give a result something like this:
Click on the image to view it at its original size

4. Press Filter->Sharpen->Unsharp Mask
(Watch out, this is where it might go wrong. Keep in mind that theese setting where for my sun, not in particular your sun, therefore try and use your own settings)
-Amount: 479%
-Radius: 1,8
-Threshold: 15

Now go to Filter->Distort->Spherize:
-Amount: 100%
- Do it again with 35%

COLOR

5. Then go to Image->Adjustments->Color Balance
Either set your own colors, or use mine:
Shadows: +100 , 0 , -100
Midtones: +100 , -35 , -100
Highlights: +50, 0 , -29

(More yellow/orange will make it look more like a sun at a distance I believe.)

Press Filter -> Texture -> Grain
Intensity: 15
Contras: 0
Grain type: speckle
(If you have a background with stars or something press slecect -> modify -> contract -> 3. Press ctrl + shift + i and then delete. This will remove the black line around the sun, the grain texture adds.)

6. Dublicate your sun layer. Choose two (different) colors on the sun by using the eye drop tool (I) (as foreground and background.
Press blending options on the sun copy layer, and set what ever effects you want on. use the colors from the eyedrop tool for shadows, glows, what ever.

FINAL!

Take out the smudge tool (R) if you want some effect on your sun.
- Put theese settings on, in the brush menu:

Select your top layer, and start smudgeing around, make the fire go out from your sun. Change the strenght if you feel it's needed or the hardness. It's up to you! Just remember to smudgeon your top layer!

Still not happy?...

If your not happy with your texture on the sun:
- Make a new layer, call this layer texture
- Reset your colors (D)
- Slelect the sun (ctrl click sun or sun copy)
- press Filter -> Render -> Clouds (or different clouds, remember to fill your circle with black, and Ctrl +F - as before)
- change the blending mode to lighten or color dodge (or something third), change the opacity, untill you like the outcome.
And again, you can go back and add a grain texture or unsharpen the mask once more (Nr. 4 - 5)
There's also the Dodge and Burn tool (O).
Final result should be something like this:




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Theese tutorials are killing me.

[webmaster]

That's a very nice tutorial Excruciating.

[Excruciating]

Thanks! To bad it's looking more like a fiery planet than sun. Anyways, I think the next tutorial will be making an asteroid. My head is kind off empty. Got any space ideas?

And btw, please report if there's any flaws, I kinda made the sun and this topic at the same time, had to go back and change things a couple of times. So don't get confused and start to cry if there's something you can't understand, blame me

[Phate]

very very nice! I think that you should add in an alien flying saucer or something...

[ReFredzRate]

OMG... That sun really looks incredibly hot. Looks quite real somehow as well!

[Excruciating]

Wow, thanks a lot for the comments!

Flying saucer you say ..

[miss_prominent]

Wow, that hot *laughes at the stupid joke*. Ilike it. Now I know where to turn if I'm ever gonna make a space-graphic

[Legends]

wow i come back and see really well made tut's awseom guys

[NickTemt]

I followed the instructions verbatim, but for some odd reason everytime I get to this part:

[Excruciating]

Sorry for the late response.. Never seen it..
Erm, I have no idea why. As I said, it may be faulty, because I did the tutorial as I did the image and may have gotten a bit confused.. I'll try and look into it.

Also, I think the fiery halo is made by the outer glow?.. Really can't remember. I'll go trough it myself when I have time.

[Excruciating]

(sorry for the double post)
Okay, it should work now. I went through it and located the problem. It's rather simple, the qhole thing can screw up pretty good when you use the "unsharpen mask" filter. Since it's rather random how your sun is looking after you've applied the levels and different clouds, it's rather random what settings you should use for the unsharpen mask filter.
I cam up with this now (Hehe, I know it's not a masterpiece.. it's not even circular.. anyways):

How to get the glow around is "described" in the 6th.
I know it's not very well described.. but all we're talking about is adding some "outer glow and inner shadow" in the blending options. I'll change it and make it easier to understand if anyone feels it needs to.