Hey, gang! Welcome to my last Deke’s Techniques video of 2011.

I know, some of you worried this kooky series (officially made a course at lynda.com) wouldn’t last the entire year. After all, witness the short-form stuff I’ve created. My passing fancy with dekePod (click the link and then the “last” button at bottom for evidence). My two-year stint with “Martini Hour.” And my eventual abandonment of the Photoshop Bible. (Altho that last one was not short-form, dammit; I devoted a dozen years of my tiny life to that ginormous title!)

If you only knew me. I’m a marathon guy. (Again, I cite the Photoshop Bible.) And, lo, Deke’s Techniques lives on.

This week, I make for you A Special Holiday Gift. As Christmas and Hanukkah converge, I yield forth a hummingbird rendered as a precious stained-glass ornament. It’s a small gift—not to mention, a digital (and so ephemeral) one—but what it lacks in stature in makes up for in pure training mass.

Here’s The Official Holiday Description from My Beloved Video Publisher, lynda.com:

It’s not often you hear Deke advocate the use of Photoshop’s artistic filters in his in-depth training. The effects of these filters—with creatively evocative names like Watercolor, Rough Pastel, and Fresco—rarely yield results that live up to the promise of their poetic names. But in this week’s free Deke’s Technique’s video, you’ll see how to combine the Stained Glass filter with a little bit of Deke-tweak and turn last week’s delicate hummingbird project into an even more fragile stained glass ornament, complete with the beveled “lead” and translucent color variations you’d find in the real thing. (Real stained glass, not real hummingbirds.)

Deke begins with the hummingbird and its companion mask that he showed you how to create in last week’s technique. For reference, here’s where the project left off:

Deke starts by temporarily moving the mask to another layer, applying the filter, then moving the mask back to create a strong outline around the subject. Along the way, he’ll explain why setting the Light Intensity slider to zero is the best way to go when you’re using the Stained Glass filter and how preserving the mask will allow you to refine the edges around your ornament. You’ll also see how leveraging the smart object (and holding your breath as you temporarily wipe out the poor helpless bird altogether) allows you to capture the outlines between your glass pieces, change them to an appropriate lead color, and apply a Bevel and Emboss effect that really sells the technique. Add a string, and you’ll have this delightful ornament hanging from your virtual window:

For lynda.com members, Deke offers an exclusive video in the Online Training Library in which he makes the glass hummingbird part of this larger Stained Glass project, complete with cracked glass, as pictured below:

With these techniques at your disposal, you’ll undoubtedly start “stained-glassifying” all kinds of festive objects in your holiday-themed creative compositions.

Note: After almost a year of weekly installments, Deke’s Techniques will be taking a well-deserved holiday next week. But we’ll be back in 2012 with more Deke’s Techniques.

Look for 51 free episodes in 2012. (Cuz, you know, I’ll have to take another week off.) As well as one very special episode! These are my Holiday Gifts to You.