Creating fantasy art requires a rich imagination and professional knowledge The software that is used to create such amazing paintings.

Almost everything is possible; be it a fancy fairy, an old fantasy space city, or a treasure chest protected by a dragon. All of these tutorials are helpful and will surely give you the opportunity to improve your Photoshop skills.
Feel free to share with us any other fantasy art tutorials you find useful!

Fantasy Art Tutorials

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create fantasy serenity photo manipulations.

Here is a detailed description by which you will learn how to create a fantasy castle in the sky:

In this tutorial we will learn how to create a surreal composition with an angel:

In this tutorial, you will learn how to correct colors in a photo, change eye color, work with layers, apply ready-made brushes and designs, create your own design, and draw stars:

In this Photoshop tutorial, you'll learn how to use a variety of colors, brightness, and cut-and-paste techniques to create a surreal photo manipulation. Combining your imagination with these Photoshop techniques will create your own artwork from the processed photo:

Here are a lot of techniques that will help you add drama to your fantasy photo editing:

In this tutorial, the wizard shows you how to create a fantasy collage in Photoshop using a few available images and a brush. This tutorial is simple, but the final image looks great:

In this tutorial, you can learn how to create a fantasy landscape using a few simple and easy techniques. Anyone with basic Photoshop skills can successfully recreate this simple image using the most important thing in photo manipulation of this kind - the right source image:

This tutorial is about creating a fantasy scene called Mother Nature. We'll be using carefully selected images, brushes, and the best of our imagination, combined with Photoshop techniques to create the finished image:

In this tutorial, the artist shows you the steps he took to create this epic Lost in Memory fantasy artwork in Photoshop:

In this tutorial, the wizard explains the process to create this really cool fantasy style floating mountain scene in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial and some of the steps can be tricky, but why not try:

In this tutorial, we will try to learn how to turn a flawless blonde beauty into a sword-wielding hunter who strives to survive. To achieve this, we're going to make her skin sweaty and dirty, her dress stained and torn, we'll add blood stains to her sword, work on her hair, and create a post-apocalyptic background full of smoke and fire. Rate:

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create an awe-inspiring dark fantasy scene in Photoshop:

In this tutorial, the artist will explain the steps he took to create this artwork. We will take several objects from the real world and seamlessly combine them. We also use many Photoshop brushes to spice up the effects. Techniques used in this tutorial include blending layers, adjusting an image, using filters, custom brush tools, adding a layer mask, etc.:

In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the process of creating a fantasy scene, depicting water pouring out of a painting, depicting a specific absorbing effect, and finishing with a color that looks really good:

This tutorial will explain how to make a beautiful fairy from a single image. We will go through each step how to make feathers, hat, background, grass and mountains:

In this tutorial, the wizard will show you the process of creating a fantasy mountain river scene like this one, with Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial and some of the steps can be tricky, but why not try:

This tutorial shows how to make an old space city from a single source image in Photoshop.

In this tutorial, the wizard shows you the steps he takes to create this black and white, surreal artwork in Photoshop. Try:

This tutorial will show you how to create a fantasy scene with a book. Using various advanced Photoshop techniques, we can try to make the composition as realistic as possible:

In this tutorial, the artist demonstrates how he makes this masterpiece and what decisions he uses before and during the creation of the image. Step by step images and illustrating techniques. Rate:

This tutorial demonstrates, step by step, the process of turning an ordinary photo into a spectacular image using just imagination and a little technical skill:

In this lesson, you will learn how to turn regular photo of a woman walking in the park into a fantasy image of a sorceress standing in front of a monster tree. Some basic Photoshop skills are required to follow the tutorial's recommendations:

In this fantasy tutorial, we'll create a cool flower creation using Photoshop CS3. And this is exactly how it was done:

In this lesson we will try to make photo processing using various techniques. By tweaking each layer and element, we can create a coherent final image. We will also be using a few photos and a handful of effects to create this work. Let's get started:

In this tutorial, the artist will show you the steps he took to design this formidable fantasy castle scene with an icy background texture, space, and debris brushes:

In this awesome tutorial, we'll learn how to create a stunning magic scene:

In this tutorial, we'll learn the basics of how to create these effects with Photoshop:

In this tutorial you can learn how to make a forest magic scene:

In this tutorial you can learn how to make a fantasy scene with mysterious lightning:

This tutorial uses various Photoshop tools, such as combining existing photos, using brushes and a transform tool, and color correction, to create a wonderful fantasy spring scene:

In this tutorial, you can learn how to create a magical scene in the clouds:

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a fantasy fall photo manipulation using the stock images and a few digital painting techniques. You will also learn how to select, prepare and update flowing hair and learn how to handle a wiggly vine:

In this fantasy photo manipulation tutorial, you'll learn how to start with just a few existing images and quickly build an artwork about an incredible story. You'll see how you can manipulate images, add effects, and create brilliant artwork with this tutorial:

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create Photoshop impressive fire effects. This is a simple lesson that even novice users of a graphic editor can handle. With the help of overlay effects and their combination, you can create a completely new fantasy-style painting. By the end of the lesson, you will learn how to correctly add the fire element to the image.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create simple images fantastic landscapes, as well as adding additional elements to them to enhance the effect. You will learn how to turn an ordinary glass bottle into a container for a scene from a fantasy world. The lesson shows how to work with chiaroscuro, compositional technique, combining images, separating elements from background and work with them and much more.

In the lesson, you will learn how to create a surreal picture based on the background image with elements floating in the air. The lesson details all the steps, as well as everything you need to create a fantasy-style image. In the process, you will work with correct cropping and blending of image elements, chiaroscuro, object distortion effects, and much more.

Adults are not averse to immersing themselves in a fairy tale, why not send your own photo into it? Photoshop will help you with this. Create a new file with the size 1000*1000 pixels.

On the toolbar, set the color #fbf6e9 in the top square and #e3d3ba in the bottom one.

Using the Gradient tool, type Foreground to Background, fill the layer.

Paste the texture on top (example), erase the borders of the image with the Eraser. Change the Blend Mode to Darker and lower the Opacity to 25%.

Insert an image of clouds (example). Add a layer mask to the layer and use a black brush in the layer mask to hide the edges. Change the Blending Mode to Hard Light.

Create a triangle with the shape tool.

Duplicate the triangle layer and scale it down.

Change the color of the triangle by clicking on the layer thumbnail as shown by the arrow.

For the first triangle, which is larger, change the layer blending mode to Multiply and lower the opacity to 50%.

In the "Layers" tab, select "Layer Style" - "Overlay Options".

In the window that opens, check the box next to the "Stroke" and "Shadow" options.

Check the box next to Inner Shadow.

For the second triangle, change the Blend Mode to Screen and lower the Opacity to 50%.

In the Blend Options, set the Inner Shadow option.

Open the texture with strokes of paint (example) and go to the "Channels" window. Holding down Ctrl key click on the RGB channel thumbnail.

Copy the selected area and paste it into the working file.

Change the layer blending mode to Multiply and lower the opacity to 50%.

Open the image with the girl (example) and copy the girl, for this you need to select the girl with the tool "Quick Selection" or "Lasso" or "Pen".

Paste the image of the girl into the working file.

Add a layer mask to the girl's layer and hide the edges where the background remains. Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and lower the saturation. Make this layer a clipping mask: holding down the Alt key, click on the border of the layers.

Create a Color Balance Adjustment Layer.

In the layer with the girl, merge the layer with the mask: right-click on the layer mask and in context menu Select "Apply Layer Mask".

Under the layer with the girl, create a new layer and “Rectangular area” select the strip and fill it with one of the colors that were used in the gradient.

Go to the "Filter" tab, select "Distortion" - "Curvature".

Rotate the strip: tab "Editing" - "Transform" - "Rotate".

Copy the strip.

One of the bands (located on the left) change the blending mode to "Overlay". In the other strip (located on the right), change the blend mode to Screen.

Duplicate the layers with triangles and place them above the layers with stripes.

Select the layers with duplicate triangles in the layers window and merge them: Ctrl+E. Turn the triangle upside down.

Move it down and resize it with Scale. Add a layer mask to the triangle layer and hide the edge adjacent to the girl layer.

Lower the opacity of the triangle layer to 45%.

Create a new layer on top of all layers and paint a spot in it with grunge brushes (example) of bright color (orange, yellow).

"Eraser" erase the extra sections.

Create a new layer and draw dots in it with a soft brush of small diameter. Go to the "Filter" tab, select "Blur" and then "Gaussian Blur".

Add a layer mask to the layer with the girl again and hide the parts of the body that fall above the strip, achieving the effect as if the girl is in a triangle.

Add collage elements. The unicorn (example) is inserted under the “paint” layer. Add a layer mask to the unicorn layer and hide the unicorn fragments that are located under the stripes and under the girl.

Insert a clipart with a bird (example) and do the same.

Getting on top of all layers: in the layers window, click on the thumbnail of the top layer.

Add a "Shape" type "Registration Purpose 2" - this is how it is called in the list of shapes.

One of the figures will be larger, the other smaller.

Change the blend mode of the larger circle to "Lighter" and the smaller circle to "Soft Light". In Blending Options, add a Stroke to the circles.

Create a new layer and use a light grunge brush to close the image.

Change the Blend Mode to Soft Light and lower the Opacity to 75%.

Under the layer with the girl, create a new layer and draw small grunge spots of light and slightly darker tones in it.

Change the blending mode to Multiply.

On top of all layers create a new layer and draw a large circle in it, which we fill with a light color.

Doing Gaussian Blur.

Being on the top layer "Rectangular area" and select the entire image. We go to the "Editing" tab and perform the following actions: "Copy combined data" - "Paste". "Insert" press twice. One of the layers with combined data is called 1 and the other 2. Layer #1 is under layer #2.

For layer number 1, go to the tab "Filter" - "Sharpness" - "Smart Sharpen".

For layer number 2, go to the "Filter" - "Imitation" - "Mural" tab.

For layer #2, change the Blending Mode to Overlay and lower the Opacity to 80%.

Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and set Toning.

Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer again and set the Toning to a different color.

For the second adjustment layer, reduce the opacity to 75% and in the layer mask hide part of the layer with a black brush.

Add a frame, words and the collage is ready.

Photoshop lessons. Fantasy photo editing.

We should get something like this in the final:

For work we need:
1. Two third-party plugins for Photoshop: Imagenomic Portraiture and Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0. Finding them online is very easy. Naturally, you can do without them, using Photoshop itself, but in my opinion they make life very easy.
2. Original photo, preferably not telephone quality and not the size of a matchbox

3. Photo to create a background. It can be an image of a forest, a flower garden, nettle thickets, etc. In general, something vegetable, with enough large quantity details and tone transitions. It doesn't even have to be high quality. I used the following stock image:

4. Pair of clipart: grass in png format and a snail to create horns:

So:
1. Open the original photo. It is clear that in order to substitute a new background, you first need to remove the old one. This will take care of the most convenient way for us. Usually I prefer to just simply remove the background around the object with a hard eraser at high zoom, but this time I used the Magnetic Lasso tool , selected the shape and transferred it to a new layer using Layer via Copy:

Let's hide the background layer, most likely we won't need it anymore.

2. When using the Lasso Tool, most often some extra details remain, pieces of the old background, dark unnecessary contours, and therefore we take a hard eraser and carefully pass it along the edges of the figure, cleaning up this disgrace:

3. In some places, closer to the edge, the figure is still a little dark, for example, hair, but we need it to fit better into the future, rather light background, so we take the Dodge Tool with Exposure equal to 15-20% and brighten the edges:

4. Now you can substitute the background. We transfer it to our picture, put it as the bottom layer and blur the Gaussian Blur quite strongly to an almost uniform state:

5. Let's leave the background for now and start retouching the face (in general, this is always the most painstaking part of the work). First, let's remove all the defects (just the defects, not the whole texture out of the blue) using the Clone Stamp Tool and the Healing Brush Tool:

Now you can soften the texture of the face a little, here the Imagenomic Portraiture plugin will come in very handy. Duplicate the layer with the shape (now there should be three of them, except for the hidden background layer). The plugin is applicable to the top layer, but it is advisable not to overdo it with the settings, so as not to get a completely plastic skin:

And then we lower the opacity of the top layer to 60-70 percent (but in general this is all done by eye and depending on the size of the source) and with a soft eraser erase the areas around the eyes, mouth and other strategically important details persons who should not acquire blurryness. They will come through from the bottom layer:

6. Let's give the eyes some shine and color saturation. To do this, copy the irises onto a new layer, usually I roughly select them with the Rectangular Marquee Tool, put them on a new layer using Layer via Copy and apply the Color Dodge blending mode to the layer. Unnecessary parts are simply removed with a soft eraser of small diameter:

Saturate the eyes a little with color (or we can change it altogether). Go to Hue/Saturation (the layer with the irises should be selected) and move the sliders to taste. When the result suits us, click ok and we can reduce the top two layers. To give even more shine and some glow effect, you can lightly walk along the lower arc of the iris of the eyes Dodge Tool:

7. Now let's do the painting work) Let's paint the parts of the face. To do this, select a flesh-pink color with a soft brush with a low intensity (5-7%) and on a new layer with the Overlay blending mode, go over the forehead, cheeks, nose and chin, especially intensively on the cheekbones:

Do the same with the lips.

8. I wedged a little into the make-up process by using the Clone Stamp Tool with a soft brush and Opacity = 25-30% to slightly soften the wrinkles under the eyes, uneven spots above the lips and the areas of the chin and tray (a tray is not a tray on which bring, but what is under the nose):

9. We continue coloring Personally, I wanted to add shadows for the eyelids and always some fresh spring-summer colors, and light green here comes in handy. The same principle as in point number 7:

10. What I thought it appropriate to add here is freckles. I really love freckles, but I don’t have enough of my own. Here a brush helped me, which is very easy to make, but you can also find it on the net. In the form of a scattering of dots of irregular shape. I chose black for the brush and applied the freckles on a new layer, still using the same Overlay blend mode:

11. Now let's pay attention to the fact that the contours of the figure contrast strongly with the background, because it is blurry, and the contours are very clear and generally look somehow unhealthy. Therefore, we will take the Blur Tool and blur them, stronger on the shoulders and hair and not too zealous - on hands:

12. It's time for third-party details. Open the grass file, drag it as the top layer onto our document, place it as we like and simulate defocus by blurring it with Gaussian Blur. To match the grass in tone, because the original one is a bit dark, as it seems to me, I used the Photo Filter, adding yellowness:

You can not be limited to grass, add leaves, flowers, whatever your heart desires, the main thing is not to turn the foreground into a smeared vinaigrette completely

13. Finally, I decided to turn myself into a complete snail-type sheep using the shell of that very snail. /planetaphotoshop.ru/images/smilies/swoon.gif" title="(!LANG:swoon" />) и часть основания раковины так, чтобы она по возможности плавно переходила в виски (надо признать, что этот момент у меня несколько прихрамывает). Чуть размываем улиточки, ибо они должны быть не сильно четкими:!}

The snail is too dark, so I needed to brighten it up a bit and exacerbate the whole thing with the Dodge Tool with range - Highlights:

14. I tried to combine whiskey (TEMPLE - m. side of the head ... (c) Dal) and horns with some kind of hair, it turned out, however, not very well, maybe you can do better. Select the Smudge Tool, and a soft brush with a very small with a diameter of 2-3 pixels (if the photo is very small, then generally 1 pixel) we connect the horns with the hair and vice versa:

You can flatten layers.

15. In my opinion, some kind of hodgepodge is missing, as one comrade put it - pseudo-fabulous highlights
Glare I create as follows: on a new document with transparent background in a mess we put blurry spots of white color, of various sizes. It turns out a sort of peculiar falling snow out of focus:

We place this snow on top of our work and set the blending mode to overlay (again this overlay " src="http://planetaphotoshop.ru/images/smilies/nea.gif" title="(!LANG:No" />). Снег превращается в желтые блики, но очень яркие, поэтому немного снижаем непрозрачность слоя и мягким полупрозрачным ластиком стираем блики с области лица, чтобы они не создавали впечатление какой-то экзотической кожной болезни :!}

16. The picture is almost ready, but some final processing generalizing all the elements would not hurt it. This moment is my favorite. For this I use the Nik Color Efex Pro plugin. I can fiddle with it for an hour, choosing the settings and effects to my liking:

Create a 1000x1100 px document and fill it with black. Click Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new layer. Activate the tool brush tool (B) with color #4e1502 and size 1200 px. Draw in the center of the black canvas:

Step 2

Create a new layer, change the brush color to #f6bc2f. Paint inside the dark red area and change the mode to color dodge 100%:

Step 3

Use the same brush to paint again on a new layer and change the mode to overlay 70%:

Step 4

Open the Nebula image. We use the tool MoveTool (V) to drag it onto our canvas:

Step 5

Click on the second button at the bottom of the Layer Set to add a mask to this layer. Use a soft black brush with opacity around 40-45% to reduce the hazy effect on some parts. You can see how we did it in the layer mask and the result is in the image:

Step 6

Duplicate this layer and erase some parts with a layer mask to get the result as shown below:

Go to filter Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur and choose a radius of 2 px:

Step 7

Open the image of the girl. First we use the tool Polygonal Lasso Tool to create a selection around the girl (no need to be too careful with the hair):

Double click on the background layer to unlock it.

Click on the layer mask button to hide the background part:

Step 8

Right click on Layer 0, select Refine mask:

We use the tool Refine Radius Tool with a size of about 100 px to draw around the head and show more hair.

Here is our result after cleaning (we used a red background to show you this more clearly):

Step 9

We place the girl after extraction on our main canvas, above all layers:

Step 10

I want to reduce the brightness on the bright parts of the model, so create a new layer above the model with clipping mask:

Use the brush with color #e6e2e9 to paint over the bright hair, face and parts of the arms and change the mode to Multiply 100%:

Step 11

We continue to reduce the brightness of the model's face, hands, using a new layer ( clipping mask) and the same brush. We have changed the mode to Multiply 50%:

Step 12

We would like to add more detail to the model's hair, so on a new layer we used a brush with color #5a595b and a size of about 20 px. Here is the result we got:

Step 13

To add some red to the model, we used an adjustment layer with clipping mask. Go to Layer-New Adjustment Layer-Hue/Saturation:

Step 14

Step 15

Create a layer Curves to darken the model:

In a layer mask Curves we used a soft brush to remove and reduce the intensity of the darkening.

Step 16

Create a new layer and use the #f66e2b brush to paint over the hair and hands. Change the mode to color 100%:

Step 17

On a new layer, use the brush to add more bright red color to the hair and body outline. Set the mode to overlay 100%:

Step 18

We used the #f5c25f brush to paint over the outlines of the model again and add some orange tint. Change the mode to hard light 100%:

Step 19

Create a new layer and use the same brush to paint over some ends of the hair and change the mode to overlay 100%:

Step 20

Create a new layer, we used the color #f66e2b to paint inside the eyes and then change the mode to dodge mode 100%:

Step 21

Click on the brush menu, select Reset Brushes to activate the default brush settings. Now on a new layer change the foreground color to #f66e2b and click on the brushes Fuzzball:

Reduce the brush size to 80 px and create spots inside the eyes. We changed the mode to Linear Dodge 100%:

Step 22

To refine some of the facial features, we created a new layer, changed the mode to overlay 100% and filled with 50% gray:

We use the tool Dodge and Burn Tool (O) with setting Midtones Range, exposure about 20-25% to brighten the effect on the eyes, the edges of the face and nose, darken the eyebrows, bridge of the nose. You can see how we did it in the mode Normal and result in mode overlay:

Step 23

Create a new layer on the top, use a soft brush with color #bd5733 to paint over the bottom part of the image:

Step 24

To get a stronger effect here, we used a soft brush with the color #f6bc2f and changed the mode to overlay 100%:

Step 25

On a new layer, use the #f6bc2f brush to paint on the two arms. We have changed the mode to hard light 100%:

Step 26

Move the fireworks image to our canvas and set the mode to color dodge 100%:

We named the layer "sparks 1".

Step 27

Add a mask to this layer. Use the brush to remove and reduce the intensity of the fireworks on some of the parts shown below:

Step 28

On layer sparks 1 go to filter Filter-Distort-Twirl:

Apply Gaussian Blur by 2px:

Step 29

Duplicate this layer, use Cmd/Ctrl+T to rotate it and get the result shown below. You can use a layer mask to remove unwanted parts:

Step 30

We open the images of the flame. We chose the first two images to work with:

We use the tool Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to create a selection for the part of the fire in image1:

We place it in the lower part of the girl's body, change the mode to Screen 100%:

Step 31

To remove the white edges left after changing the blend mode, double-click on this layer, select Blending Options. We hold Alt/Option and move the black slider This Layer until the white edges disappear:

Step 32

Take the other parts of the flame and place them around the model's hair and body. We applied the same settings Blending Options to all these layers and used a layer mask to remove unwanted parts.

We used 14 layers for the effect.

Step 33

Select all flame layers, then press Cmd/Ctrl+G to group them. Change the group mode from Pass Through(default mode for groups) on Screen one hundred%. On layer 14 go to the menu Layer-New Adjustment Layer-Curves:

In a layer mask Curves use the brush to erase in the arms, hair and bottom area, since we don't need to make these parts too light:

Step 34

Final step: click Cmd/Ctrl+Option/Alt+Shift+E to merge all visible layers. Go to filter

The photo of the balcony that I used in this tutorial has been removed from the file sharing site. Therefore, look at my screenshots and do similar operations.

Open the photo of the balcony in Photoshop. With the Pen Tool (P) set to Paths mode, draw a path along the railing and grab the top part of the image. As a result, an outline should be drawn around the background of the balcony. Right-click on the path and select Make Selection (or use Ctrl + Enter). Then click Delete to remove the background.

Go to Image > Canvas size and resize the canvas to 2000x1500 pixels. Open the background image provided at the beginning of the tutorial in Photoshop and use the Move Tool (V) to drag it into the first document. Position this layer below the balcony layer, keeping the original size.

Step 2

Open the photo of the girl in Photoshop and use the Pen Tool (P) to extract it from the background. You can also use the method of selecting a girl through the channels or the Magic Wand Tool (W). Paste the girl into the main document above the balcony layer. Use the Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + T) to resize the girl layer to 43% (this can be set in the tool options at the top of the program).

Step 3

Before continuing, let's color correct the balcony and the sky. Color Corrections All colors are needed to match the color of the sky. It is necessary to increase the amount of blue on the balcony. I always recommend using adjustment layers as they don't harm the main layer.

Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above the balcony layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation) and increase the Saturation to +25. Then create a Levels adjustment layer (Layer ? New Adjustment Layer ? Levels) and enter the value of the left slider 176. Finally, create a Color Balance adjustment layer (Layer ? New Adjustment Layer ? Color Balance) and adjust as shown in the screenshot below.

To improve the edges of the brick railing, make a copy of the balcony layer (Ctrl + J) and go to the menu Filter ? style? Glowing Edges. Set the Balcony copy's Blending Mode to Screen and its Opacity to 50%.

Step 4

For the girl, you also need to make some color and light corrections. All this must be done with the help of adjustment layers. Make two copies of the girl layer, right-click on them (in turn) and select Create Clipping Mask. One copy is for sharpening and the other is for softening the skin.

Apply the Unsharp Mask filter to one of the copies of the girl layer (Filter ? Sharpen ? Unsharp Mask): Radius - 0.3 pixels, Amount - 215%, Threshold - 3 levels. On the second copy, apply a Surface Blur filter (Filter ? Blur ? Surface Blur) with a Radius value of 2 pixels. Then apply a layer mask to the second copy to hide everything. To do this, go to the menu Layer ? layermask? hide all. Select the Brush Tool (B) with soft edges and white color and paint over the girl's skin only.

Above the layers with the girls, you need to create several adjustment layers, and apply a Clipping Mask (Ctrl + Alt + G) to each. Create the following adjustment layers (by clicking on the black and white circle icon at the bottom of the layers palette, you will see a list of adjustment layers):

• Levels
• Photo Filter
• color balance

Adjustment layer settings are shown below:

Step 5

Extract the crow, owl and rose into the main document. Use a Color Balance Adjustment Layer to change their colors to match our painting.

Step 6

The main element of all photo manipulations is shadows. The right shadows can make an ordinary painting look spectacular. There are several ways to create shadows.

In our case, we will create a soft shadow, since it does not have a specific light source, and there are no other shadows in the picture that would tell us the direction of the light. Select the Brush Tool (B) with soft edges and low opacity. Draw a shadow under the girl, the owl and the rose.

You can see the detailed drawing process in this video.

Step 7

It's time to use the Dodge and Dodge tools to highlight every detail of the objects. Create a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + N) on top of all layers and go to menu Edit > Fill, choose color 50% Gray. Set the layer's Blending Mode to Overlay.

Use the Dodge Tool (O) and Burn Tool (O) to paint over the light and dark areas. Use a low Exposure value for both tools (10%).

This is what the layer should look like with the Blending Mode set to Normal.

And this is the result before and after using the Dodge and Dodge tools.

Step 8

Merge all layers into one separate (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E) and name it “Final”. Right click on it in the layers palette and select Convert to Smart Object. Now all the filters that we apply to this layer will not damage the pixels of the layer itself. Make this layer (Ctrl + J) and name it “Final Adjustments”. Set the Opacity of this layer to 70%.

Step 9

Select the "Final" layer and go to the Image ? adjustments? Shadows/Highlights. Enter the values ​​shown below.

Then go to the Filter menu? Render? Lighting Effects and set up as shown below.

Since we have converted the layer into a smart object, it is possible to change the filter settings at any time.

Step 10

Select the "Final Adjustments" layer and go to the Image ? adjustments? Variations: Select More Cyan and press OK.

Being on the same layer, go to the menu Filter ? Distort? Diffuse Glow. Use these settings:

Step 11

Finally, create a Gradient Map adjustment layer (Layer ? New Adjustment Layer ? Gradient Map): adjust the colors of the gradient as shown below. Blending Mode of this layer - Overlay and Opacity - 15%.

Conclusion

When doing photo manipulations like this, I advise you to do a few things:

• Use the Dodge Tool (O) and Burn Tool (O) to soften the skin and improve the highlights and shadows on the body parts. Shadows are very important, don't forget about them.
• Use methods that do not harm the main pixels of the image (adjustment layers, smart objects, etc.).
• Use the Lighting Effects filter. It improves the picture by 99% in most cases.
• Feel free to organize your layers palette. Group layers and give meaningful names. At in large numbers layers, it will be easier for you to figure out where and what is.

Final result:

Share a lesson

legal information

Translated from the site www.psdbox.com, the author of the translation is indicated at the beginning of the lesson.