My latest creation “Eat with caution” was created using Photoshop CS4. It is possible to create this image in Photoshop Elements as well, you will just have to use the alternative masking method which you can learn on the layers and their masks tutorial on this website.

Other tutorials that may help you are cloning and healing, Texture blending, The liquify filter (contained within the tutorial linked) and adjustment layers (contained within the tutorial linked).
If you already have an understanding of these tools / techniques then carry on reading.
I have seen images created using food and giving then mouths before but I wanted a slight twist. I wanted to have someone actually holding the food. This would make it more of a challenge to find the right starting image but would give the image more impact. The final image has 2 ravenous cherries being held a safe distance at arms length. You wouldn’t want to get to close to these guys after all.


This was created using 3 different stock images which I downloaded from the free stock library stock.xchng.



Using these 3 images and Photoshop techniques I will walk you though the steps I took to create the final image.
First up, as always, is to load the base image into Photoshop.

The image needs a slight contrast kick. I did this using the Curves adjustment layer and giving it a slight S curve. Elements users can just use a Brightness / Contrast adjustment layer as an alternative.

Add the teeth image to the file. Shrink it down, twist it and move it till its correctly positioned over the cherry.

Add a layer mask to the teeth layer and make it only show the teeth and the outside of the mouth. Use a soft brush so that it blends the lips into the cherry smoothly. The inside of the mouth is black so you can quickly select this using the magic wand tool. Then feather it by 1 or 2 pixels before filling it in black on the mask. You may need to zoom in and touch up the mask using the brush tool.

Add a levels adjustment layer above the teeth layer and link them together (ALT + Click between the 2 layers so the adjustment layer indents). Select the Levels adjustment layer and set the mid-tones to 1.39. This will lighten the teeth and make them match the lighting of the base image more accurately.

Duplicate the teeth layer and place it above the levels adjustment layer. Sometimes this can unlink the levels adjustment from the first teeth layer. If this happens make sure you re-link them. Select the duplicate layer and set the layer blend mode to Soft Light. Next you will need to alter the mask so that only the inside of the mouth is showing. You will need to hide the teeth and lips. This will darken the inside of the mouth and give it some depth.

Place a second duplicate of the first teeth layer (with the same mask attached) at the top of the layers stack. This time alter the mask so that it only shows the lips and not the teeth or inside of the mouth. Set the blend mode to Soft Light and set its Opacity to 76%. This will give a bit more definition around the mouth.

To create the second mouth just select all 3 copies of the teeth layer as well as the levels adjustment layer and duplicate them (right click > duplicate). Then, with the layers still selected, move them over the second cherry and rotate till its in position.

Just a few alterations are needed to correct this mouth for the second cherry. Select the duplicate of the Levels adjustment layer. Change its mid-tones to 0.73.

You will also need to slightly alter the mask of the first mouth layer for this cherry. All that is needed is to hide some of the lips / mouth area on the outside. It is a bit to light for the second cherry so hiding it will blend it more naturally.

Create a new layer at the top of the stack. The inside of the mouth on cherry 2 is a bit light. To darken it select the brush tool, choose black as your brush colour and set its opacity to 50%. Now brush over the light slide of the mouth. When done set the layers blend mode to Soft Light and apply a mask. Use the mask to hide any black that may have got onto the teeth area.

There is a distracting black gap between the front 2 teeth on both mouths. To remove this create a stamp visible layer  (Select top layer and press Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E). Add a blank layer above this. Zoom right in and carefully use the clone tool to hide the black marks.
With the mouths complete the next step is to stretch them a bit to look more like they are opening. Stamp visible again (select top layer and press Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E).  The stretching can be done using the liquify tool which is found in the filters menu. The image will load up in a new window. Select the forward warp tool, adjust the settings on the right till its at a strength your comfortable with and then use it to stretch the lower part of the mouth downwards. I used Brush size 80, Brush Density 32, Brush Pressure 27, Brush Rate 10 and Turbulent Jitter 50.

Do this for both mouths and click OK.

To add the juice falling from the mouths I used the egg smashing image. Load it onto the page, shrink it and then twist it into place.

Add a layer mask and adjust it so that only the splatter / drips below the mouth are visible.

Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and link it to the egg splatter layer (Alt + Click between the 2 layers). Select the adjustment layer and in the adjustments window set the Hue to -40.

Select both the egg layer and the linked adjustment layer and duplicate them. Select the duplicated egg layer and change the blend mode to Multiply and its Opacity to 68%.

Duplicate the egg layer and its linked adjustment layer again and place them at the top of the stack. Set its blend mode to Linear Burn and its Opacity to 70%. Now alter the mask so that the new egg layer is only showing on the lower inside of the mouth and the lower lip. Make sure it doesn’t show any of this layer on the outside. This should add some egg texture to the inside and around the bottom lip of the mouth

Select all 3 egg layers that have been created along with their linked adjustment layers. Duplicate them and move them over to the second mouth. Now twist and move it into position.

To stop this looking to much like an obvious duplicate you will need to flip it horizontal (Edit > Transform > Flip horizontal). Also a little bit of cloning to add in extra drips can help make it look more unique. For example I cloned the main drip onto a new layer, flipped it, moved it to the left side of the mouth and used the liquify filter to squash and twist it a little so it didn’t look like a clone.

To finish off a little colour correction is needed. Here I used a series of Photo filter adjustment layers to tweak all the colours in the image.
Add a Photo Filter adjustment layer and alter its mask so that the hand wont be effected. On the adjustments window set the Filter to Sepia and its density to 53%.

Duplicate the adjustment layer. Set the new adjustment layers Filter to a red and a Density of 19%.

Duplicate the adjustment layer again. This time set the Filter to Deep Blue with a Density of 19%.

The cherries now have a darker, almost bloody red look about them. The hand is looking a little bright and colourful in comparison so a final Photo Filter adjustment layer needs to be applied to change this. Change its mask so that the cherries wont be effected. Set the Filter to Cooling Filter (82) and its Density to 17%.

The last step is to look at the image and make any tiny fixes that you might have missed along the way. As the image was made with masks its easy to fix any small flaws you may have caused. Once this is done the image is complete.