How to Create a Slice of Nature Photo Manipulation

- Today I'm going to show you how to put together a complex tree illustration. The idea for this tutorial is to show a workflow from concept to finish, not just so you can copy this illustration, but so that you can take the ideas behind it and use them for any design you have. It's not just the finished design but the process we are after.
- All of this was accomplished on a pretty standard system with Adobe Photoshop CS3 and a cheap Logitech mouse. No cinema display, no tablet (mine died and I haven't yet replaced it), and no fancy filters or add-ons. Anyways enough with the chit-chat—let's get down to business!