There is nothing you can't do

As I mentioned, last time we spoke, Photoshop is a huge program. Imagine a swimming pool that begins, I don't know, about a foot deep and stretches out and downward as far as the eye can see. Except it's not a swimming pool, it's the Pacific Ocean. Photoshop really is, figuratively, that big. So we'll be waiting for a while and splashing about before we take the ultimate plunge. I don't want you to drown, after all. I want you to have a fun time and remain inspired from one pixel-based novelty to the next.

Here's a parrotfish. There is an eel. Watch out, great white shark. It's the Ocean. So at times, our progress is going to seem? not slow, but incremental. Reasonably cautious. We need to get your mask on, put on your wetsuit, get you in the shark-proof cage. Which is why I want to cheer you on, early and often, starting with a mesmerizing project that I hope gets and keeps your creative juices flowing, which is what chapter 1 is all about. Before your very eyes, I will use Photoshop to transform a photograph of an actual person into an absolutely amazing, fantastical, otherworldly creature.

And the results are impeccable. This is one of those things that you hope Photoshop can do that it absolutely can do. I mean, it can do anything. And this is proof. I've set this project up, so you can follow along with me. Even if you've never used Photoshop before, assuming you have access to the sample files, you can do everything I'm doing. Or just sit back and watch me work. Believe me, that's going to be enough. My hope is that by the time you finish this series, what you see me doing now is what you'll be able to do later without my help.

Note that this is part one of a three- part project that culminates in a mastery portion of this series. So join me, won't you? As we descend deep, deep, deep into the vast undersea world of what Photoshop can do.