Vintage Pop Art Design Tutorial

I tried to make a vintage pop art design using this tutorial (link). I did this on two different PC/laptop. For some steps, I used Control+Click (Windows) or Command+Click (MAC).

Here's my first attempt. 

1) First I searched for a vintage kind of paper (link) and use it as my background

2) Then, I created a new layer and name it "clouds" above the "paper" layer. I did this by selecting the foreground and background colors (pressing D) and then to go Filter > Render > Clouds. I used the eraser tool (with 0% Hardness) and deleted some of the area of the clouds randomly. Then, I changed the "clouds" layer blending mode to ColoR Burn and Opacity to 75% 

3) Using lasso tool, I removed the white background from this man (link) and paste the image into somewhere at the bottom right corner.

4) I used a soft black brush and brush it across the man's head so I can't see it now. I added a layer mask (Layer Mask > Reveal All) to the reading man layer. Then, I added the head of a dog (link) on the man. Using the Magic Wand, I deleted all the white background of the picture and user a eraser tool to round the neck area a little bit. I find this the hardest to do. 

5) I placed the dog's head over the neck of the reading man, and hide the dog head layer for a while. Using the lasso tool, as the tutorial taught, I selected and copy some parts of the man's suit and shirt and even the hair and paste the selection over the "Dog Head" layer. I als o erased some tiny areas of the dog's neck to make it fit right into the shirt.  I took some time to complete this step as I was trying to find the right angle.

6) I erased the dog's neck to make the join softer, and then pressed Control + U to adjust Hue/Saturation to match the man's hair colors.

7) Then, I put "Reading Man", "Dog Head", and the tiny shirt selection layers into a new folder. Then I converted the folder into a new Smart Object and named it "Man-Dog".

8) Using some guides, I selected the Man-Dog smart object and placed the book in the middle of the design. Then, I duplicated the Smart Object. Also, apply a Motion Blur angle of 0º, a Distance of 50px, and place the layer below the original.

I also changed the "Man-Dog copy" Blending Mode to "Color Burn" and set the layer’s Opacity to 25%. Next, I set the "Man-Dog" layer Blending Mode to Hard Light. Finally, I moved the "Clouds" layer above all the layers in layer’s palette.

9) This part is VERY tricky. I downloaded the sunburst custom shape (link) and kept the book area clear. In order to use the sunburst shape, I need to load it first. Then, I rasterized the shape by clicking on Layer > Rasterize > Shape. Then, I changed the layer Blending mode to Overlay and set the Opacity to 75%.

10) I Control-Click the "Man-Dog" layer’s miniature to make a selection. Then, selected the "Sunburst" layer and delete the selection. Then, I applied a new Layer Mask > Reveal All to the "Sunburst" layer. Then, using some splatter brushes (with Opacity at 80%, Flow at 80%, and Color of black), draw a few random black splatters in the layer mask.

11) So, I gave the "Man-Dog" layer a Drop Shadow Spread of 0% and a Distance of 15px.

12) This step is to add patterns to the design. I created a new document with a size of 50 px by 50 px and paste this image (link) after downloading. Then go to Edit > Define Pattern and save it with a name like 'Pattern 101' or anything you like.

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Back to our main document, I drew a Rectangle (shape or selection) into a new layer above the "Clouds layer" and name it "Texture 1". Then, I filled it with red color(you can put any color) and go to Effects > Pattern overlay. I find the pattern that I just saved and press OK.

Then I rasterized the pattern by creating a new blank layer above the "Texture 1" layer, then merge both layers by selecting both and pressing Command + E. Finally, using the Sponge Tool, Desaturate some areas of the rasterized pattern.

13) Now, I apply a Layer Mask > Hide All to the "Texture 1" layer. Then using a 50px white Brush with a Hardness of 100%, draw a shape to make some areas of the pattern visible.

14) Now, I Control-Click the "Man-dog" layer miniature to make a selection of the man’s shape. Then I clicked the "Texture 1" Layer Mask miniature. Select the Fill Tool, set the foreground color as black, and fill the selection. Finally, I changed the "Texture 1" Blending mode to Multiply.

15) I added another pattern to the design, found over here. To convert them into a repeating pattern, I just crop a 50px by 50px square from the original picture, then just repeat Step 12 of this tutorial (apply the Pattern Overlay to a rectangle, Merge the image, and Desaturate some areas using the Sponge Tool).

16) Apply a Layer Mask > Hide all to "Texture 2" layer, then using the same 50px white brush, paint some random zones of the layer mask.

17) Control-Click the "Man-Dog" layer and make a selection. Then fill that selection into the "Texture 2" Layer Mask just as I did in Step 14.

18) I changed the "Texture 2" layer Blending mode to Multiply. I Control-Click the "Texture 2" Layer Mask on the Layers Palette to make a selection of the mask shape. Then click the "Texture 1" Layer Mask, and using the Fill Tool (Black foreground), fill the selection. To finish this step, select the "Texture 2" layer and apply a Color Overlay effect using the values at bottom of the following image. 

19) The hard work is almost done! I found some images and paste them anywhere in the document. Then I Free Transform each one to place them into a nice position. I applied a Drop Shadow effect to each work using the values shown below. Also, adjust the Hue/Saturation of each word using the following values as well.

20) I used these three pieces: one, two, three to add text on it later on. I used an irregular Eraser Tool to delete some areas of the paper sheets to give them a torn effect, apply a Drop Shadow style to each paper layer using the values shown below. Finally, burn some areas of the paper pieces using the Burn Tool.

21) I added some letters above the paper pieces, use any random font, but set every text layer Blending mode to Vivid Light.

22) Now add some text over the background paper, I used a font named Gigi, set the text layer’s Blending mode to Overlay, and duplicate it to make a strong Overlay.

23) ANDDD. It's done!

Not too bad for the first try eh?