Welcome to Day Three of my first-ever totally-free, cradle-to-grave, real-world project demonstration, in which I—like the Martha Stewart of digital imaging that I am—show you how to make a wicked-awesome, Halloween-appropriate, large-format pirate flag. Today’s video hails from my upcoming video series Illustrator CS5 One-on-One: Advanced (lynda.com) and yet, as with yesterday’s installment, it happens entirely in Photoshop.

Here’s the official description:

In this exclusive preview of his upcoming Illustrator CS5 One-on-One: Advanced,  Deke McClelland shares six phases in the creation of an authentic five-by-three-foot pirate flag. In today’s episode, Deke uses Photoshop to distill the base line art into three colors: rich black, blood red, and page white, with no dust or scratch in between. Look for the full course to be released in its entirety later this year.

Topics include:

• Enhancing a drawing’s contrast with Levels
• Separating line art to an independent layer
• Precisely coloring inside line art

I also show you how to generate a density mask as well as a great way to fill in gaps with a Stroke effect. I’ll post sample files for dekeOnline members on Wednesday!