How to Create a Stunning Surreal Landscape

In this Photoshop tutorial you will learn in easy and simple steps how to create a surreal environment. We’ll cover techniques such as blending elements together with non-destructive techniques, using blur to create distance between the objects, and much more.

Preview of Final Results

Tutorial Resources

Note: A long time has past since this tutorial was first written. Because of this, some of the free images below may not be available anymore. Please use the Alternative link instead.

Model – TwilitesMuse
Image Base – Cat-in-the-stock (Alternative)
Mountains in the background – Lyfiar
Mountain in the right – Castock
Mountain in the left – Burtn
River – Faestock
Sky – Austriaangloalliance
Tower – Divsm-stock
Castle – Lilystox

Step 1 – New File

Open a new file, with 1311px of Width and 100px of Height

Step 2 – Gradient Background

Before you add any image, create a gradient to be the base of the image.

Step 3 – Place

To place a image go to the menu File in the option Place.

Step 4 – River

Resize the image of the river like this:

Step 5 – Less Opacity

Reduce the layer opacity to 80% and add a layer mask

Step 6 – Hiding

In the layer mask paint with a black brush to hide parts of the image in this case are the clouds the one’s you need to hide. Select the layer mask in the layer thumbs and with a black brush with 50% of opacity paint over the clouds.

Step 7

Like you did before Place the other image of the mountains and resize it. Pick ONE of the corners and press shift to change the the resolution of the image without distortions.

Step 8 – Changing color

Double click in the image thumb, then you will see this window, press ok.

You can also duplicate the layer to have the original.

Then press Ctrl + U and press the option colorize, and just reduce the saturation to 12. Now save the image Ctrl + S, now the color will change in your mountains.

Step 9 – Layer mask

Once again add a layer mask and with a soft round black brush paint to make the mountains look like they are part of the image. Reduce the opacity of the layer to 70% so you can see the background.

Step 10 – Layers

Change layer’s order, move the one with the river and set it over the one with the mountains like this:

Step 11 – Details

Now do the same with other details of the image like the castle, Place the image, then resize it and with a layer mask hide the undesired parts of the image, also you can use help from the Magic Wand tool or another selection tool of your choice.

In the image above you can see that using the Magic Wand tool the blue parts of the image are selected.

Pass the black brush over the selected area and the result will be this one:

After that change the size of the image.

Step 12 – layer opacity

Change the castle layer to 25% of opacity and hide some other parts

Step 13 – Tower

Repeat the process you made before with the tower. The opacity of the layer is 30%

Step 14 – Mountains

To add some more mountains to the image place a new layer.

Step 15 – Layer mask

You only need the big mountain, so select it with layer mask like before.

Step 16 – Size

Press Ctrl+T to change the size of the mountain to fit the image. Also you can use the black brush to fix some details

Do the same with the other mountain, but this time reduce the opacity of the layer to 80%

Step 17 – place Sky

Place the layer of the sky

Step 18 – Hard light

Use the layer in hard light mode, reduce the opacity to 75%. Also add a layer mask to the image and hide some parts.

Step 19 – orange

To give more intensity to the sunset paint with a soft round orange brush in the sky. Use the layer in soft light mode. You can set the opacity to the pressure of your tablet, or if you don’t have a tablet the opacity can be 30%.

Step 20 – The Model

Place the model and like you did before select her using a layer mask.

Step 21 – Hair

Select only the hair and press Ctrl + J to duplicate the layer.

Step 22 – Change color

Press Ctrl+U to change the color of the model’s hair. You have a menu, select the option Colorize and then use the option Hue in 9, the option Saturation at 25 and the option Lightness in -30.

Step 23 – The Hair

To paint the hair you will need a tablet to get better results, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it with you mouse. To star pick the same color of the hair with the eyedropper tool, after that paint some hairs not too big not too small. Use a soft round brush 2px.

Paint some more strands

Step 24 – White Strokes

Make some white strokes to give highlights to the hair.

Add some with a lighter tone of brown

Step 25 – Shadow

To make a shadow in the model’s hair paint with a soft round black brush in the hair like this:

Change layer to soft light

Step 26 – Lights and Shadows

Paint a new layer with a gray tone like this:

With the dodge and burn tool pass over that layer, to make shadows and light. Use the layer in soft light mode to do this.

Step 27 – Orange

In a new layer paint with a soft round orange brush to create light over the mountains, remember the direction of the light, where light is coming from.

Reduce the opacity of the layer to 40%

Step 28 – River

Go back to the background, and place the image of a river

Add a layer mask and hide all the parts leaving only the river, and reduce the opacity of the layer to 70%

Step 29 – Shadows

Pick a soft round brush a big one and paint over the rock to make the shadow of the model. Color black with 35% of opacity

Step 30 – Highlights

In a new layer with a small round brush 2 or 4px paint to make strokes in the mountains and objects, the color has to be orange.

Here they are white so you can see them

Step 31 – Blur

Make the background a little blurry to do this, hide all the layers and just leave the ones that belong to the background, press Ctrl + A, then Ctrl + Shift + C to select the current image, not the current layer, and finally press Ctrl + V and you will have a copy of the background.

Adding blur to the background will give the look that the mountains and all the other objects are far away from the model.