horror scene in Photoshop

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Step 1

Let’s start creating a new A3 document in Photoshop.

Step 2

We want to create a dark grunge background. The best way is to combine a uni-color layer with an overlayed texture. Let’s start setting background color to a dark grey. Right-click on the background layer and select “blending options”. Here add a color overlay (#3d3d3d).

Step 3

To create the grunge effect I’ve decided to use one of our Old Dirty Paper Textures. Open one of the textures in Photoshop and desaturate it by pressing shift+Ctrl+U. Set the layer blending mode to overlay. Select both the background and the texture layer and group them by pressing ctrl+G. Title this group “background”.

Step 4

To create the floor we will use another of our textures. Download the Bleached Paper texture set and choose one of the texture. Paste it into the main Photoshop canvas. Desaturate it (Image>Adjustments>Desaturate) and invert image colors by pressing ctrl+I.

Step 5

To create the idea of perspective, press ctrl+T to activate the free transform tool, and squash the texture by dragging the top-center anchor point lower down.

Step 6

Move the floor down. Remember that we don’t want to create an obtrusive element, but a soft floor where to put on the “magic book”.

Step 7

Download the image of an open book. I’ve used the pen tool to extract it, but you can use the extraction method you prefer. Anyway after removed the background paste the book into the main canvas.
Note: if you want to learn more about Photoshop extraction techniques, take a look at this article: 6 techniques to extract anything from its background.

Step 8

The book needs a grunge look. The first thing to do is to grab the burn tool (O) and start painting over the book to darken it in some points. Secondly press ctrl+M to open curves window. Here create an anchor point an move it to the bottom-right side to darken more the book and increase its color contrasts. Finally duplicate the book layer and set the duplicated layer blending mode on “multiply” with opacity 50%.

Step 9

Create a new blank layer below all the book layers and title it “shadow”. To create book shadows effects select a black soft (hardness 0%) brush and gentle paint at the bottom of the book. Instead of create shadows on a single layer, I suggest you to create several spots on different layers playing with their opacity levels. In this way you’ll have more control on the final result.

Step 10

As we made with the book, use the burn tool and curves to darken a little bit the floor:

Step 11

At this point we can introduce the main character of our composition. I downloaded the image of a child from Shutterstock. If you don’t want to download a premium image, you can easily find free images of kids on sites like stock.xchng or morgueFile. In alternative you can use one of your photos.

Step 12

Let’s start modifying the kid image. Apply curves (ctrl+M) to darken it. Duplicate the image, then got o filter>other>high pass and enter a value of 8 pixels. Set this layer blend mode to overlay. High pass filter is often used to give a sort of HDR look to your photos.

Step 13

Select all the child layers and press alt+ctrl+E to merge them into a new layer. We will work on this layer and, in case you won’t be satisfied after played with some filters, you can delete the layer at any moment and merge again child layers. Let’s modify the face, starting from the brows. We will eliminate them. Grab the patch tool (J) and select them. Drag the selection up to the forehead. The patch tool basically replaces selected pixels with the ones of the area where you move the selection.

Step 14

My favorite way to transform people lineaments is by using the liquify filter. Go to Filter>Liquify. In the new window we have some tools that can be used to distort the face. You only have to decide where to apply the filters. For example my first idea is to enlarge child eyes. If you want to do the same, grab the Bloat tool, set a brush size great enough to cover the entire eye and click a couple of time on it.

Step 15

Another thing I want to modify is the mouth. Practically  I want to transform child mood from peaceful to sad :-(. It’s possible using the Forward warp tool. Decrease the brush size and move the ends of the lips lower down.

Step 16

Child face is almost complete. The last refinements can be added using burn and dodge tool. Use the burn tool to darken the areas around the eyes, so that the child looks like she hadn’t slept for weeks. Use the dodge tool to lighten the other parts of the face. Here is the child face before and after transformation with the liquify filter:

Step 17

Another change: we can now lighten child eyes so that they will stand out from the dark grunge scene. To do it let’s use the dodge tool to paint over child eyes:

Step 18

Let’s switch again to the liquify filter (Filter>Liquify). This time use the pucker tool to decrease pupil size.

Step 19

Here is the result after worked around the eyes. I’ve applied a second time the dodge tool to darken eyes edges.

Step 20

Duplicate the child layer and apply the high pass filter (Filter>Other>High pass). Create a mask and and use a soft black brush to erase over the areas you want to enhance. For example the face, the upper side of the arms etc. This step will give a dirty look to the child. Here is my result:

Step 21

The last touch to the child: download our Old Paper Textures Vol2 set. For this tutorial I’ve used one of the textures available in the free sample, while if you want the entire set plus hundreds of premium design resources, you can register and get access to all our premium areas without restrictions. Grab the texture and paste it above the child:

Step 22

Set the layer blending mode to overlay and reduce opacity to around 40%.

Step 23

With the texture layer still selected, ctrl+click on the child layer thumbnail in the layers window (window>layers)to select child pixels. Then press the “add layer mask” button at the bottom of the layers window to create a layer mask and remove all parts of the texture that exceed child silhouette.

Step 24

Create a new group above all the other layers and title it “light 1″. Create a blank layer inside the group. Then grab a soft rounded white brush and paint some spots. Take in mind that we are going to create light effects so create these spots in the areas you want to enhance (in the center). As I suggested before, create these light effects on several layers, using different brush sizes and setting different opacity values (from 15% to 30%).

Step 25

Make sure to have black and white as foreground and background colors (press D). create a new layer and go to Filter>Render>Clouds. Press alt+ctrl+F to increase filter strength.

Step 26

Set the layer to screen to eliminate black areas. Reduce the layer opacity to 40%. Grab the eraser tool (or create a mask if you prefer) and erase exceeding parts of the clouds, in particular along the edges of the canvas. Eliminate them using a large soft brush until you have a soft cloud effect around the child:

Step 27

Create a new group, switch group blend mode to “Color Dodge” and title it “light 2″. Here we will create abstract light effects. How to create them? We will use a useful Photoshop filter. Let’s start creating a new layer inside the group. Fill it with black. Grab a large white soft brush and create a spot in a casual point.

You may notice 2 things: how strong the light effects is, and that black areas don’t appear. Both effects are caused by “color dodge” blending mode. To turn this light spot into an abstract, more complex light effect go to filter>distort>wave. Basically the wave generator allow you to create abstract forms or distort existing ones, depending by a series of values that you can set up in the wave window.

The trick is: after applied the filter the first time, press ctrl+F to apply the same filter again. You can notice that light form changes. Press ctrl+F to apply the filter again and again until you obtain nice abstract swirls:

Step 28

Now that we have the light effect, we can collocate it wherever we prefer. For example I’ve put the first one at the top of child right arm. Remember that you can modify these abstract forms eliminating parts in excess with the erase tool (or creating a mask and using a black brush).

Step 29

Using the same technique, create several light effects and put them around the child as shown in the screenshot below:

Step 30

The tutorial is almost complete. It’s time for final adjustments. Adjustments layer shall be collocated on top of all other layers. Start adding a hue/saturation layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation) and reduce saturation to -50.

Step 31

Add a gradient map layer with a gradient going from purple (#050342) to orange (#ff7c00) and set the layer blending mode to overlay with opacity 60%.

Step 32

Finished! The last (I promise!) touch could be to create a blank layer at the top of the background group, and use a black soft brush to cover some parts of the grunge texture we’ve used for the background. In this way we can eliminate all those distracting elements of the texture. Here is the final result! Hope you love this dark little witch;-)