In this tutorial I'll show you how to create a fantasy deer with a fire effect. You'll work with blending and adjustment layers to combine different stock images into a cohesive scene. You'll also learn how to work with fire, create a lighting effect and enhance the depth of field.
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:
1. Creating the Background
Step 1
Create a new 2000 x 1734 px document in Photoshop with the settings below:
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Step 2
Open the landscape 1 image. Drag it into the white canvas using the Move Tool (V) and convert it to a Smart Object.
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Step 3
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the radius to 8 px:
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Step 4
Open the landscape 2 image. Add it to our working document using the Move Tool:
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Click the second icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a mask to this layer. Use a basic, soft brush with black color (soft black brush) to erase the sides of the landscape and reveal landscape 1 as shown below:
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Step 5
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change the radius to 8 px. This step is to match the softness of landscape 2 with that of landscape 1.
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Step 6
Use an adjustment layer and set it as Clipping Mask to darken landscape 2. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and decrease the lightness:
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Step 7
Make a Color Balance adjustment layer (set as Clipping Mask) to change the color of landscape 2. Set the Cyan value of Midtones to -17:
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2. Adding the Rock
Step 1
Open the rock image. Select the rock only using the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L):
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Place the rock in the foreground and flip it horizontally by choosing Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Remember to convert this layer to a Smart Object.
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Step 2
To make a better look for the rock, add a mask to this layer and use a hard black brush to remove some upper rock areas. Remember to follow the rock structure:
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Step 3
On the rock layer, select an upper rock area. Right click it, and choose Layer via Copy:
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We now get this selected rock part on a new layer. Set this layer under the big rock one and use the Free Transform Tool (Control-T) to make it smaller:
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Step 4
On the big rock layer, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change the radius to 8 px:
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On this filter mask, use a soft black brush to erase the middle of the rock to make it look separated from the rest, and it will help to create a depth of field. You can see the results on the filter mask and on the picture:
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Step 5
Create a new layer and activate the Clone Tool (S). Use this tool to remove some unwanted white details on the rock:
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Step 6
Select all the rock layers and the clone one, and then press Control-G to make a group for them. Change the mode of this group from Pass Through (default group mode) to Normal 100%. Create a Curves adjustment layer within this group to darken the rocks.
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On this layer mask, use a soft black brush to erase the upper part of the rock and some other details as we've aimed to add light there.
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3. Darken the Scene
Make a Curves adjustment layer on the top of the layers to darken the whole scene.
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4. Adding the Deer
Step 1
Open the deer image. Isolate him from the background and place him onto the rock:
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Add a mask to this layer and remove the two small horns on the middle top of the deer's head:
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Step 2
To make some changes for the horns, go to Edit > Puppet Warp. Add the points to hold the body and head areas, and then move the points on the horns to make them higher and nearer to each other.
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Step 3
Create a new layer (set as Clipping Mask), change the mode to Overlay 100% and fill with 50% gray:
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Activate the Dodge and Burn Tool (O) with Midtones Range, Exposure varied from 10–50% to correct the light and shade on the deer. You can see how I did it with Normal mode and the result with Overlay mode:
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Step 4
Create a Color Balance adjustment layer (set as Clipping Mask) and change the Midtones settings:
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Step 5
Add a Curves adjustment layer to darken the deer.
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On this layer mask, use a soft black brush to erase the following parts, as they're dark already or will be illuminated by the firelight.
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Step 6
Create another Curves adjustment layer to reduce the deer contrast, especially on the lower body part.
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On this layer mask, use a soft black brush to erase the rest of the deer, especially the horns:
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5. Changing the Color and the Look of the Eyes
Step 1
Create a Gradient Map adjustment layer to change the color and lightness of the whole scene, pick the colors #061947
and #5fb1f7
. Change this layer mode to Soft Light 100%:
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Step 2
Make a new layer and change the foreground to #fd802d
. Use a small, soft brush with this color to paint inside the deer eyes to create a fiery look.
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Double click this layer, choose Outer Glow and pick the color #fd802d
to add a glowing effect to the eyes.
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6. Adding the Fire Effect
Step 1
Open the fire images pack. We'll use image 8 and image 30 to add to the deer horns. Select a fire part in image 30 using the Lasso Tool.
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Place this fire part onto one of the horns and change the mode to Screen 100%:
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Add a mask to this layer and use a soft black brush to erase the white hard edges:
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Step 2
Take other parts from the fire image and add them to the horns using the same method. You can duplicate, transform, and rotate these layers using Control-T if needed.
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Don't worry about the white hard edges, because we'll fix them later.
Step 3
Open image 8. Use the same techniques to take different fire parts to add to the horns to make the fire there thicker and more intense.
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Step 4
Make a group for all the fire layers and change this group mode to Screen 100%. Create a Levels adjustment layer above all the fire layers and increase the Shadow value of Input to 48 to remove the white hard edges completely.
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7. Adding the Lighting Effect
Step 1
We'll add some fire light absorbed on the deer and the rock. Make a new layer under the fire group and use a soft brush with the color #ea6842
to paint along the deer horns, body and head, and on the rock. Change this layer mode to Overlay 100%:
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Step 2
Create a new layer and change the brush color to #f6d778
. Use this brush to paint on the deer horns, body and the rocks to add some highlights there. Change this layer mode to Overlay 100%:
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Step 3
On a new layer, use a soft brush with the color #fc994b
to make the light on the deer and rock stronger. Set this layer mode to Overlay 100%:
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Step 4
Make a new layer and use a hard brush with the color #fc994b
to paint some small glowing furs along the deer's body, legs and head. Also lower the brush Opacity to 10–15% to paint a subtle light effect on the blurred rocks in the foreground:
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Step 5
Create a new layer and use a soft brush with the color #fc994b
to paint a more glowing effect for the fire on the head. Change this layer mode to Hard Light 100%:
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Step 6
Make a new layer and change the brush color to #ea6842
. Press F5 to change the settings for this brush:
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Paint some glowing, scattering dots around the fire area:
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8. The Final Adjustment
Step 1
Make a Vibrance adjustment layer on the top of the layers. On this layer mask, use a soft black brush to erase the fire area to keep its glow.
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Step 2
Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and increase the Saturation value to 52. On this layer mask, use a soft black brush to erase the upper half and the blurred rocks to make sure they're not affected by this adjustment layer.
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Congratulations, You're Done!
Here is the result you should get with this tutorial. Feel free to share your opinions and feedback in the comment box below—I'd love to see them. Enjoy photoshopping!
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