Hi,Thanks to everyone who took part in our previous 'Gavel' challenge. There were some great ideas and very clever interpretations of the gavel.This week, in the run up to Christmas, I thought we should have a Christmas based theme. Instead of a Christmas tree, which we have used before, I chose a Christmas plant. So we have a 3D render of a Poinsettia. The plant itself is a model from the XFrog plant library, the two gift-wrapped presents are from Adobe Substance 3D Assets. The table, vase and wall, I modelled in Blender. All textures are from Adobe Substance 3D assets and were applied in Adobe Substance Painter. I lit the scene in Blender and rendered it, before taking it into Photoshop for finishing.Now that we have our Christmas scene, what will you make with it? The “rules”: Use the starter image as at least part of your own image entry. Anything goes, as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright, etc. Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to have a go, whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert. This is not just for our forum “regulars”. The challenge is not limited to Photoshop. Any Adobe software can be used. There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off your skills, or bring a bit of humor and fun. Don't be shy, join in and have a go! The starter image is made available for you to use in this forum challenge only. To download the starter image, hover over the image and click on the circle with the arrows at the top right. Then, when the image opens in its own window, right click and choose “Save Image As/Save Target As” (or similar depending on your browser).SFTW256_Poinsettia.jpg When posting back your image — please use the blue reply button in this first post and use the 'Insert Photos' icon at the top of the reply box. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry, then please use the grey reply button next to their image post. Have fun! Dave.

Community Expert

Question

Something for the Weekend - Part 256 - Merry Christmas!

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
December 19, 2025
37 replies
7167 views

Hi,
Thanks to everyone who took part in our previous 'Gavel' challenge. There were some great ideas and very clever interpretations of the gavel.

This week, in the run up to Christmas, I thought we should have a Christmas based theme. Instead of a Christmas tree, which we have used before, I chose a Christmas plant. So we have a 3D render of a Poinsettia. The plant itself is a model from the XFrog plant library, the two gift-wrapped presents are from Adobe Substance 3D Assets. The table, vase and wall, I modelled in Blender. All textures are from Adobe Substance 3D assets and were applied in Adobe Substance Painter. I lit the scene in Blender and rendered it, before taking it into Photoshop for finishing.

Now that we have our Christmas scene, what will you make with it?

The “rules”:

Use the starter image as at least part of your own image entry.
Anything goes, as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright, etc.
Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to have a go, whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert. This is not just for our forum “regulars”.
The challenge is not limited to Photoshop. Any Adobe software can be used.
There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off your skills, or bring a bit of humor and fun. Don't be shy, join in and have a go!
The starter image is made available for you to use in this forum challenge only.

To download the starter image, hover over the image and click on the circle with the arrows at the top right. Then, when the image opens in its own window, right click and choose “Save Image As/Save Target As” (or similar depending on your browser).

SFTW256_Poinsettia.jpg

When posting back your image — please use the blue reply button in this first post and use the 'Insert Photos' icon at the top of the reply box. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry, then please use the grey reply button next to their image post.

Have fun!

Dave.

davescm

Author

Community Expert

The new challenge is now up and running here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/something-for-the-weekend-part-257-a-lucky-new-year/td-p/15649523

Dave

OussK

Community Expert

SFTW256_Poinsettia.jpg

davescm

Author

Community Expert

An interpretation full of Christmas magic, nicely done Oussk.
Dave

Christelle RD

Community Expert

Happy New Year Dave and everyone!

The adorable and lovely kitten was not generated by Firefly, nor was this little Christmas tree, which was perfect for limiting the damage that this lively little cat could have caused haha

SFTW256_Poinsettia.png

davescm

Author

Community Expert

I like it, Christelle. If one can cause havoc, imagine what all five (or is it six?) can do!
Dave

Christelle RD

Community Expert

I placed 5 Yuna in the picture. Oh my goodness, 5 kittens reaching their peak activity at the same time indoors must be a nightmare. I have to say that since December 24, she has been allowed to explore the garden (an early Christmas present) and she is having a blast, so indoors, she is calmer now...

IMG_1809.jpeg

F

Francesco Della Peruta

Community Expert

Evviva Tchaikovsky!
Tchaikovsky.png

davescm

Author

Community Expert

It looks like the nutcracker has been doing his job, Franceso. 🙂
Dave

Anna Natter

Participating Frequently

SFTW256_Poinsettia copy.jpg

I don't have much explanation, I was just curious what else is in the room. 😄

3D Designer / Multidisciplinary Creative / Creative Technologist

davescm

Author

Community Expert

Much more than we asked for, Anna, and now we know what was outside of the frame 🙂
Dave

War Unicorn

Community Expert

SFTW256_Poinsettia-WarUnicorn.jpg

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

I immediately recognised this as your work James, but with a longer look, I am not so sure why. It's much brighter than your usual uploads and AFAICT does not have your signature Demon Eyes. How did you do the kaleidoscope effect btw? At a guess I am thinking Remove Background, Step & Repeat. Hey, I see there are twelve segments, so you could make it into a very cool Christmas clockface. I might steal it for my watch face. 🙂

Sorry, the forum is blocking Likes again. If you think back on all the years we have been posting to the Adobe forums, they do seem to have had a particularly troubled history. Are we coming up to the third or forth change of forum software?

War Unicorn

Community Expert

I was trying to be more upbeat, here, so no creepy, demonic eyes. This time. 😄

I used Repeat Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Alt/Opt + T, after the initial transform) once I had the original poinsettia where I wanted it. Think I anchored the rotation to one of the sides of the poinsettia. (It's always a division of 360 degrees, so the first transform is 30 degrees and I eventually end up with a perfect circle of 12 copies.)

I kept the original image in the background, stretched it and blurred it, then layered one of my original textures on top. I was thinking of crinkled wrapping paper for some reason. (lol)

Chris 486

Community Expert

remix.gif

Took inspiration from @Trevor.Dennis and wanted to try something with video. Way too much fun this time! You can still see the cracks in some of the AI, respacing the objects as the camera moves, etc. but really neat non-the-less!