Heroes Eclipse in Pixelmator

Heroes Eclipse in Pixelmator

In this tutorial we show you how to create a super cool eclipse effect inspired by the Heroes TV series. We will use only Pixelmator to do it, not even a stock photo, and the tutorial will take less than 20 minutes to complete. It’s a great technique for creating awesome wallpapers as well.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. The document size we used for this tutorial is 1440 x 900 pixels. With the Gradient Tool (G), fill the background layer with a Radial Gradient from dark gray in the center shading to black.


Step 2

With the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), select Ellipse type. Add a new layer, then create a circle. With the Paint Bucket Tool (N), fill the circle with black. That will be our planet.



Step 3

Add another layer, this time behind the planet. Go to Filter>Generator>Clouds. Use black for the Primary Color and white for the Secondary Color. Also change Blending to Color Dodge and Opacity to 60%.



Step 4

Go to Filter>Blur>Zoom Blur. Use 10 for the Amount and keep the controller in the center of the black planet.


Step 5

Duplicate the black planet layer twice. Select a copy and go to Filter>Free Transform. Rescale it, making it much bigger. Then, go to Edit>Stroke. Use white for Color, 40 for Width, select Outside, and press OK. Change Blending to Screen and fill the parts that aren’t black with black (1-4)


Step 6

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 60 for Radius.


Step 7

With the other copy, repeat step 5 for adding a stroke. Then, with this new layer, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. This time, use 40 for Radius, then change Blending to Color Dodge.


Step 8

Create a new layer behind the planet and change fill to black. Change Blending to Screen and go to Filter>Generator>Sunbeams. Use the image below for values.



Step 9

With the Sunbeams layer selected, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 35 for Radius.


Step 10

Add another layer behind the planet and fill it with black. Change Blending to Color Dodge and select the Brush Tool (B). With a very soft brush and white, increase the size until it’s the size of the black planet. Start painting some light behind the plane. Play with the opacity of the brush to make some areas darker. Use the image below for reference.


Step 11

Add another layer in front of the black planet layer. With the Brush Tool (B) and white, paint a small spot of light at the top right of the planet.


Step 12

Add another layer in front of the planet and repeat step 8 using the Sunbeams filter. The idea is to create rays of light reflecting off the planet.


Step 13

With the Eraser Tool (E), delete most of the layer with the ray of lights. Leave only a few parts, as in the image below (1):


Step 14

Add a layer on top of the others and fill with a Radial Gradient, with yellow in the middle going to orange. Keep Gradient Presets at default.


Step 15

Change Blending of the Gradient layer to Overlay and Opacity to 60%.


Step 16

Add another layer on top of the Gradient layer, then fill it with brown (#873e00). Change Blending to Soft Light and Opacity to 40%.


Conclusion

Delete a bit of the light behind the planet on the left side. After that, you can merge all layers and add some noise to give that film feel to the image. As you can see, almost the entire effect was done in black and white; we added colors at the end simply by playing with blendings—so you can try different colors to create different effects. You could also use this same technique to create an eye.