In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a fantasy scene featuring a little girl riding a snail. You’ll learn how to combine different stock photos and textures using a range of photo manipulation techniques. You’ll learn also how to work with group, enhance lighting, create depth of field and more.

What you’ll be creating

We’ll start this tutorial by adding a blurry background and cleaning it using some basic Photoshop tools. Then we’ll add a snail and make its grassy shell using a meadow image. Later we’ll add a child, flowers, butterflies, grass blades and blend them using adjustment layers, masking and brush. After that we’ll use a light and bokeh texture to enhance the atmosphere. Finally we’ll use some adjustment layers to finish this tutorial. I recommend you to use Photoshop CS5 or newer to follow this tutorial properly.

snail40-final

Tutorial Resources

Step 1

Create a new document in Photoshop with the given settings:

snail1

Step 2

Open the background image. We need to remove the plant on the rock so I made a new layer and actived the Clone Tool (S). Use this tool to clone over the plant:

snail2

snail2a

Press Cmd/Ctrl+Option/Alt+Shift+E to merge the background and clone layers into a new one. Drag the merged layer into our white canvas using the Move Tool (V):

snail2b

Step 3

I used an adjustment layer with Clipping Mask to change the background color. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance:

snail3

snail3a

Step 4

I used a Curves adjustment layer to darken the background:

snail4

On this Curves layer mask, active the Brush Tool (B). Use a basic, soft brush with black color to erase the bokeh part to leave the dark effect only visible on the rock:

snail4a

Step 5

Add the snail image to our main document and remove its white background using a layer mask:

snail5

Step 6

Make a new layer under the snail one and use a soft black brush with the opacity about 40% to paint his shadow under the body:

snail6

Call this layer “shadow 1″.

I aim to make the light source from the left and above of the snail so he should have a shadow behind. To do it make a new layer under the shadow 1 one. Hold down the Cmd/Ctrl and click the mask thumbnail of the snail layer to load its selection:

snail6a

Fill this layer with black (Shift+F5) and convert it to a Smart Object. Flip this shadow vertically (Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical), then lower the opacity to 60%:

snail6b

To soften the shadow, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the radius to 6 px:

snail6c

Step 7

I used Color Balance to match the snail color with the background:

snail7

snail7a

Step 8

I used Curves to darken the snail:

snail8

On this layer mask use a soft black brush to erase the upper part and make the dark effect visible on the back, the lower part of the snail:

snail8a

On this layer mask use a soft black brush to erase the upper part and make the dark effect visible on the back, the lower part of the snail:

snail8b

On this layer mask use a soft black brush to erase the back of the snail and create a nice contrast on his body:

snail8c

Step 9

Make a new layer, change the mode to Overlay 100% and fill with 50% gray:

snail9

Active the Burn Tool (O) with Midtone Ranges, Exposure about 10-15% to darken the lowest edge of the snail body. You can see how I did it with Normal mode and the result with Overlay mode:

snail9a

Step 10

Open the meadow image. Use the Retangular Marquee Tool (M) to select a grass part then place it over the snail shell, use the Free Transform Tool (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to tweak it a little:

snail10

snail10a

Add a mask to this layer and use a black brush to erase the grass following the shape of the shell. To make the edge of the grass, I used a hard brush and the size about 3-4 px to trim (it’s better if you use a tablet pen):

snail10b

Step 11

I used Color Balance to change the grass color:

snail11

snail11a

Step 12

I used Curves to darken the grassy shell:

snail12

On this Curves layer mask I used a soft black brush to erase the upper of the grass to keep it brighter than the lower (it’s illuminated by the light):

snail12a

Step 13

I created a new layer with the same settings like in the step 9. Use the Dodge and Burn Tool to define the light and shade of the grassy shell:

snail13

snail13a

Step 14

Isolate the child from the background and place her onto the top of the grassy shell:

snail14

To change the form of her dress to fit the shell , go to Edit > Puppet Warp:

snail14a



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