Ice Explosion Effect

To start, open up Photoshop and create a 400x400 pixel image. Fill the background with black by hitting D and followed byCtrl+Backspace (Mac: Command+Delete). Now we need to choose some ice-like colors for the foreground and background colors. I chose foreground: #e5eff9 , background: #255a95.

Start working on a new layer by hitting Shift+Ctrl+N(Shift+Command+N). Create an ellipse using the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Then, hit G to pick the Gradient Tool. Make sure the Radial Gradient is selected on the top toolbar. Click and drag inside a freshly selected ellipse to fill it in with a radial gradient. Repeat this step several times to create a few ellipses. I created another layer above the first new one and put some lighter colored ellipses in it using foreground: #f4f8fc, background: #99bee9.

For both layers of ellipses, go Filter>Blur>Box Blur, Radius: 8 (if you are using a version older than CS2, a Gaussian Blur of approximately Radius: 5 will work just fine). Then grab the Smudge Tool and select a grungy brush. Click and drag from the middle to the outer areas. I used various brushes that come with Photoshop.

On the layer with the smudged darker ellipses, goFilter>Blur>Radial Blur choose Amount: 100, Blur Method: Zoom. Hold Ctrl (Command) and click on the picture of the layer in the Layers Palette to load it as a selection. Make the foreground a dark blue (I used #0957af and the background a light gray (I used#e5eff9). Go Filter>Render>Clouds. On the Layers Palette, set the layer mode to Linear Light.

To make the center a little more interesting, I next created a new layer and put an ellipse in the middle that I filled with a slightly dark set of blue / light gray radial gradient (see image). Then, hitCtrl+D (Command+D) to deselect and go Filter>Distort>Waveplay around with the settings until you like the shape. Next, goFilter>Render>Fibers (I chose Variance: 29, Strength: 5. Follow that with Filter>Blue>Radial Blur Amount: 100, Blur Method: Zoom. Change the layer mode to Linear Light. I repeated this step with a second center ellipse.

Here is the step that separates the men from the boys. First make sure all the natural and special effect brushes that come with Photoshop are loaded. Create some new layers and use a mixture of these and any other grungy brushes you have on hand to turn your boring explosion into something really icy. This can take some time, but keep at it. You really can do no wrong. I made some layers of lighter opacity and set the mode on some of the layers to Pin Lightand Overlay to accomplish some different effects. The sparkles are really key, make sure to put some light colored ones around the outside and well as something that resembles frost. Use some blue frost-like brushes in the blue areas on the outside.

Last, we need to liven up the middle more by creating some burn layers. Create a new layer on top over everything so far and set the mode in the Layers Palette to Linear Burn. Select a middle of the range blue around #346fb2 (can always change the opacity later if it is too strong). Choose a sparkle brush and go to the Brushes Palette turn on Shape Dynamics and Scattering. Adjust the settings until you like what you see in the preview and click and drag around the center of your explosion. Now create another layer just like this and do the same with the oak leaf brush (turn the Master Diameter down a bit so that it produces somewhat of an icy texture). Adjust the opacity and experiment until you have a result you like. To see my final image, you can click the image to the left. In addition, you can apply the same techniques explained in this tutorial with red and yellow colors to create a typical fiery explosion. Hope you had a blast.