Quebec Farmhouse
The curved roof is a popular feature of the old Quebec houses. One of the pleasures of the Quebec winter is being beaned by ice sliding off the roof, and these roofs tend to block it or have it shoot away.This tutorial was written with PSP 7. You will need the pqhouse.zip file with selections and other images and Mura'sMeister Cloud filter. The terms of use are here
NOTE: Each step that calls for a layer means to make a new layer of that name, and then go to Selections - Load from Disk, and get the selection named.
1. Make a new image, 500 x 350 pixels.
Foundation layer - 01foundation.sel. This is the most complicated part of the tutorial, although easy!
Flood-fill
the selection with black, and then go to:
Use the default numbers, but change the colour, BG to #9B9595, as shown below:
Now go to
and apply the Cracked Cement Texture, using the default values.
Now, that's much too light for under the porch, so we can darken it by going to
Brightness minus 40 Contrast 0
2. Porch Front layer - 02porchfront.sel. Flood-fill with gray or the colour of your choice.
3. Porch Supports layer - 02porchsupports.sel. Flood-fill with white, and go to
4. Porch layer - 03porch.sel. Flood-fill with gray.
5. Front layer - 04front.sel. Flood-fill with the colour you want (I used #C30303). Then go to
Width 8 - Opacity 30 - Horizontal checked - Colour Black
(If you use a lighter colour, you might want to reduce the Opacity.)
Insides of windows. Select the insides of the windows by using the Magic Wand
while holding down the shift key.
Make a new layer - Window fill and flood-fill with a colour you'd like for Venetian blinds or drapes.
Go to Effects - Texture Effects - Blinds, again, and use the same settings, except change Width to 5, for the effect of Venetian Blinds--uncheck Horizontal for a drape effect. You could also use a gradient, or curtains, or whatever you like.
6. Bottom Windows layer. Open the windows.psp file by clicking on it, press CTRL-A, CTRL-C to copy, and then open your Quebec house image, press CTRL-E, and put the first window in place. Press CTRL-E and put each window in place.
Shutters. Open the shutter.psp file, and using the same technique, put the shutters in place.
7. Porch Posts layer - 06porchposts.sel. Flood-fill with white and use this inner bevel:
8. Chimney layer - 07chimney.sel. For a brick chimney, flood-fill with the Brick pattern provided by PSP, with the Scale(%) set around 30.
Add the following Inner Bevel:
Then, on the same layer, get 08chimneytop.sel and flood-fill with dark gray (#404040).
9. Door Frame layer - 09doorframe.sel. Flood-fill with white.
10. Door layer - 10door.sel. Open the door.psp image, copy (CTRL-A, CTRL-C). Then open the Quebec house image, and paste into selection (SHIFT-CTRL-L). For the inside of the door window, use the Magic Wand to select the window space, and flood-fill with a gradient, or the Venetian Blind effect like you used for the windows.
11. Roof layer - 11roof.sel. Flood fill with black or dark gray (#202020). If you use black, there's nothing more to do. If you use the dark gray, you can give the roof some texture by going to:
Just change the Size(%) to 40.
If you want to add a drop shadow, click on any empty space with the Magic Wand, then go to Selections - Invert, and then Selections - Modify - Contract 1 pixel. Then you can add a Drop Shadow, V & H 5, Opacity around 50, Blur 7.
Inside of Windows. Using you Magic Wand again, select the inside of the window, make another layer, and flood-fill any way you wish (I used #808080).
12. Dormers layer - 12.dormers.sel. Flood-fill with white. Now, to give them some depth, go to Selections - Invert, and then add this Drop Shadow:
13. Dormer Windows layer. Open the dormerwindow.psp file, copy (CTRL-A, CTRL-C), go back to the Quebec house, press CTRL-E, and put the window in place. Press CTRL-E again and put the next window in place, and then CTRL-E again, and put the last window in place.
14. Dormer Roofs layer - 13dormerroofs.sel. I chose to flood-fill with Colour #292929. If you wish to have the roofs show up better, a lighter colour would help.
15. Steps layer. Just open the steps.psp file and copy and paste.
You're all done!! Congratulations! I hope you enjoy your house.
The Mura Filter is good for making clouds, too! :-)
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9/11 tribute | I believe | Canada Geese
