Now we have to create the mask that will allow the guitar to shine through. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the layer window. It's the one that looks like a piece of paper with a hole in the middle of it.
You'll notice the white box that appears next to the layer picture in the window. That is now the active portion of the layer. Click on the little picture next to it and back. You'll see what I mean.
If a layer mask is active, like it should be now, all of your painting tools work a little differently in that they will only paint black or white. This may seem like something you don't want, but you'll see the magic in a moment! I usually only use the brush tool to paint the layer mask, but the bucket, gradient, smudge tools etc. will work too.
So before we continue, lets take inventory. Your background layer is nice and sharp. Your top layer is blurry as can be. You are ready to remove the blur from the guitar body, but leave the furry case and the other background elements alone.
You do this by painting black over the guitar body in the layer mask. Black became the default color when you created the layer mask, so all you have to do is select the brush size, and softness that you are comfortable working with.
(The circular thing in the middle of the guitar is my brush. Also, you can see I was painting with 100% white when I took this screenshot.)
So paint away! When I got to the neck of the guitar I changed the opacity of the brush to 25% -You'll find that setting at the top pf the Photoshop window. This way I can carefully control the look of how the blur fades-in as you look down the neck of the Les Paul. What's cool about using an opacity like this is that you can keep painting and the "paint" builds-up getting darker . . . the darker it is the more it blocks the effect!
If you make any mistakes you can Undo, or better yet, clean up with white or an opposite opacity . . . .
