Create a Dark and Mysterious Landscape Matte Painting with Photoshop
In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a dark and mysterious landscape using a range of photo manipulation techniques. You’ll learn how to combine different stock photos into a cohesive scene, create a misty atmosphere, adjust color, work with lighting and more.
Table of Contents
What you’ll be creating
We’ll start this tutorial by creating a rocky scene using a landscape and some rock images. We’ll also vary the rocks opacity to create a depth of field. Later we’ll add the statue and knight and blend them together using adjustment layers, masking and brush. Then we’ll create the misty atmosphere using a color fill layer. Finally we’ll adjust color, refine the contrast and enhance the lighting effect. You’ll need Photoshop CS2 or newer to follow this tutorial.
Tutorial Resources
Step 1
Create a new document in Photoshop with the following settings:
Step 2
Open the landscape image. Use the Move Tool (V) to drag it into our white canvas and place it as shown below:
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 to erase the sky and the rock and leave only the ground visible:
Step 3
I used an adjustment layer with Clipping Mask to reduce the ground saturation. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation:
Step 4
I used Color Balance to add some red to the ground:
Step 5
I used a Curves adjustment layer to darken the ground:
Step 6
Move the rock 1 image to the right side of the scene using the Move Tool.
Remove its background using a layer mask:
Duplicate this layer and flip it horizontally using Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Move it to the left:
Step 7
Make all the rock layers selected and press Cmd/Ctrl+G to create a group for them. Change this group mode from Pass Through to Normal 100%. Make a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer on the top of the rock ones to desaturate them:
Step 8
I used Curves to darken the rocks:
Step 9
Place the rocks 2 image behind the rock 1 ones and lower its opacity to 50%. Set this layer under the rocks 1 group.
Use a layer mask to remove the hard edges and the rock at the right side:
Step 10
Duplicate this layer and move it to the right a little. Use a layer mask to remove the rock at the left and lower the opacity to 40%:
Step 11
Add the rocks 2 image to our working document again and flip it horizontally. Move it to the top right of the image and lower the opacity to 20%.
The various opacities of the rock layers will add depth to the scene.
Step 12
To make the left rock (rock 1 ones) look a bit different from the right one, I used a rock part from the rocks 2 image. Place it onto the top of the rock:
Step 13
Open the rocks 3 image. Place it in the middle of the scene, between the existing rocks and lower the opacity to 20%. Set this layer under the rock 2 group.
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Source: Photoshop Tutorials