I wanted to give a quick glimpse into how I created my April 2012 Calendar wallpaper and how I used stock photos and various textures to bring it to life . . .

To start, you’ll need some stock photos that you’ll want to use and a blank canvas

To kick things off, I added some light texture to the background and cut out the mountain from the stock photo then duplicated and adjusted to extend it to the right.

I then did a quick roto of the statue figure and made a few color adjustments to it. Also added a slight drop shadow to the mountains for more depth.

I then did some various image wide color adjustments and overlays to bring the two components together.

I then start to introduce more texture elements to the image (in the background, around the statue and mountains)

Continue with more texture and watercolor elements around the statue figure.

Finished off the image by adding in the calendar/date element.
I decided to use the font “Rougfhouse” from House Industries to give it an ink’d caligraphy look and feel.

And there it is, the finished creation!

I wrote this originally to share on Behance.