After the Battle - Part 2 • Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

In this lesson, we will continue to create an epic scene of an ancient battle, complete with a lesson are brushes and source images to create the weather, as well as light flashes.

Here’s what we get:

Here, take a look at the photos with the help of which we will create our masterpiece:

Resourcesthe lesson:

First part the lesson you will find here.

We continue to work!

Step 22

Open the original image (Rider) and move it to our main document, then transform (Ctrl + T) as shown in the screenshot below:

Bleach Shift + Ctrl + U. Add adjustment layer
“Brightness / Contrast » (Brightness / Contrast)
Brightness: -9 (Brightness)
Contrast: -17 (Contrast)

Add Curves Correction Layer (Curves)

Once again “Curves” (Curves)

Step 23

In this step we will adjust the shadow and illumination of the rider, use the same technology as the big head in step 18.

You should have something like this:

Also deal with the shadow (Step 19).

Add a layer mask to the layer with a shadow select tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, black color and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

And here is the result of our work:

Step 24

Open the original image (Broken hand) Copy the selected area (Ctrl + C).

You can use the tool: “Pen” (Pen Tool), “Quick selection” (Quick Selection Tool). Go to our main document and paste the copied area (Ctrl + V). The layer with the hand must be above all layers. Transform the image (Ctrl + T) as shown in the screenshot below:

Bleach your hand (Shift + Ctrl + U). Create a new layer under the layer with the hand and create a shadow on it as we did in (Step 19 with the Giant head).

Add a layer mask To the layer with the shadow, select the tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, black color and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

Here is the result:

Step 25

Apply two adjustment layers to the layer with the hand:
Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast)
Brightness: -8 (Brightness)
Contrast: 73 (Contrast)

Curves (Curves)

This is what we get:

Do not forget to apply these corrective layers. “Clipping Mask” (Create Clipping Mask) to do this, move the mouse between the adjustment layer and the layer below it, hold down the Alt key and click the left mouse button.

Step 26

Open the original image with swords (Swords) and select the sword, copy it (Ctrl + C) which is shown in the screenshot below:

You can use the tool: “Pen” (Pen Tool), “Quick selection” (Quick Selection Tool). Go to our main document and paste the copied area (Ctrl + V). Layer with a sword should be located above all layers. Transform the image (Ctrl + T) as shown in the screenshot below:

Add the following adjustment layers to the sword layer:
Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation)
Saturation: -61 (Saturation)
Brightness: -10 (Lightness)

Brightness/Contrast (Brightness / Contrast)
Brightness: -2 (Brightness)
Contrast: -45 (Contrast)

Levels: (Levels)
Left slider: 0
Medium: 0.82
Right: 255

Step 27

Create a new layer under the sword layer and create a drop shadow from the sword, as we did before:

Add a layer mask to the shadow layer from the sword, select the tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, black color and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

Duplicate the layer with the sword and shadow, move the copies of the layers as shown in the screenshot below:

Transform these duplicated layers (Ctrl + T) right-click on the transformed area and select “Flip Horizontal” (Horizontal).

Step 28

Open the original image (Angel Statue), copy the selected area (Ctrl + C)

Go to our main document, paste the copied area (Ctrl + V) transform (Ctrl + T) as shown in the screenshot below:

Bleach the image (Shift + Ctrl + U). Layer with a statue should be located above all layers. Rename the statue layer to (Angel Statue). Add the following adjustment layers to this layer:

Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast)
Brightness: -70 (Brightness)
Contrast: -13 (Contrast)

Curves (Curves)

To layer (Angel Statue) add layer mask , select instrument “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, color black and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

Step 29

Create a new layer by layer (Angel Statue) and name it (Shadow from the statue) repeat what we did in (Step 19.)

Add a layer mask to the shadow layer and select the tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, black color and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

Change level Opacity: 50% (Opacity) and Fill Level 80% (Fill) for a layer with a shadow.

Here’s what we got:

Step 30

Open the original image (Stone Arch) copy the selected area (Ctrl + C) as shown in the screenshot below:

The layer with the Arch should be located above all layers. Discolor the image (Shift + Ctrl + U) then transform (Ctrl + T) as shown in the screenshot below:

Add the following adjustment layer to this arch:

Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast)
Brightness: -52 (Brightness)
Contrast: 38 (Contrast)

Don’t forget to apply this correction layer. ”Clipping mask ” (Create Clipping Mask) to do this, move the mouse between the adjustment layer and the layer below it, hold down the Alt key and click the left mouse button.

Step 31

Add to the arch layer layer mask , select instrument “Brush” ( Brush Tool) brush round soft, color black and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

Here is the result of applying the layer mask:

That’s it, now we are done with adding objects to our scene, we have to add a few weather effects and work with the lighting:

Step 32

Load a rain brush into Adobe Photoshop (Rain brush) then select the tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) right click on the canvas and from the list of brushes select the one you need:

Create a new layer above all layers and name this layer Rain, and start brushing rain as shown in the screenshot below:

Color in the color palette should be white. Next, go to Filter-Blur-Blur in Motion (Filter -> Blur -> Motion Blur). And set the following values:

Angle: 76 (Angle)
Offset: 35 (Distance)

“Blur in motion” will make the rain more realistic.

Apply layer mask to the rain layer. Choose a tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, black color and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

You can see how the contrast of the rain decreases:

Step 33

Now we will add a little fog effect, to do this, create a new layer above all layers and name it Fog. Select the “Lasso Tool” while standing on the “Fog” layer and make a selection as shown in the screenshot below:

Set the default colors in the color palette, the foreground color is white, and the background color is black. Go to Filter-Rendering-Clouds. (Filter -> Render -> Cloud).

You should be able to:

Apply a layer mask to the fog layer. Select a tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, black color and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

Change the blending mode of the “Fog” layer to the “Screen” screen. Reduce the level Opacity (Opacity) up to 40%, this will give a slight effect of fog on the ground:

Step 34

Add a little fog effect to the mountains, this step is completely similar to the previous one, so it is not necessary to paint it. Create a new layer above all layers and name it “Fog in the mountains”

Set the blending mode for the “Fog in the mountains” layer to “Multiplication” (Multiply) change level Opacity (Opacity) up to 30% and Fill level (Fill) up to 65%.

Step 35

In this step, we will increase the presence of rain. To do this, select the tool. “Brush” ( Brush Toll) right click on the canvas and select from the list the brush that we previously used in the 10th Step (brush number 28).

Create a new layer on top of all layers and name it “Rain Drops”. Start painting on the edges of all objects on the ground, set the blending mode for this layer to “Overlap” (Overlay), foreground color is white.

This is what you should get:

Step 36

Add a little contrast to our fog, to do this, create a new layer and place it above all layers, fill it with black using the tool “Fill” go to Filter-Noise-Add Noise (Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise) and apply the following parameters:

Effect: 91.84 (Amount)
Check the box for “Monochrome” (Monochromatic)

We will have a layer full of noise.

Reduce the size of the image of the noise by half, for this, activate the Free Transformation (Ctrl + T) then right-click on the transformed area and select the item “Perspective” (Perspective) distort the area as shown in the screenshot below:

Step 37

Set the blending mode for the noise layer to “Screen”. Add layer mask select tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, black color and paint over the area shown in the screenshot below:

Add to this layer adjustment layer Levels (Levels)
Levels: (Levels)
Left slider: 22
Medium: 0.45
Right: 255

You can see how we subtly increased the fog contrast with the “Noise” filter.

Step 38

Here we are done with the work on fog and rain, now it’s time to go to the color balance. Add adjustment layers on top of all layers:

Color balance (Color Balance)
Red: -15 (Red)
Green: -2 (Green)
Yellow: +4 (Yellow)

Curves (Curves)

Create a new layer above all layers. Select a tool. “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, color black and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot below:

Set the blending mode for this layer. “Soft light” (Soft Light) change level Opacity: 70% (Opacity)

Step 39

Create another layer and place it above the rest. Select a tool. “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, color black and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot below:

Change the blending mode of this layer to “Soft light” (Soft Light) Opacity: 20% (Opacity). Apply the following adjustment layers for the overall scene:

Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast)
Brightness: -8 (Brightness)
Contrast: 20 (Contrast)

Selective color correction (Selective color)
Colors: Neutrals
Blue: + 5% (Cyan)
Purple: + 2% (Magenta)
Yellow: + 1% (Yellow)
Black: +2 (Black)

Gradient Map (Gradient Map)
Left: # 4c5358
Right: # fff6cd

Set the blending mode for the Gradient Map to “Overlap” (Overlay). Opacity: 60% (Opacity) Fill: 60% (Fill).

Step 40

Open the original image (Light flashes) with the tool “Rectangular area”(Rectangular Marquee Tool) select the part shown in the screenshot below:

Create a new layer above all the layers and place the selected image area there. (Light flashes)

Add a layer mask to the highlight layer. Select a tool. “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, color black and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot below:

Set the blending mode “Linear clarifier add” (Linear Dodge add) Fill level: 75% (Fill). This is what you should get:

Apply the following adjustment layers for the overall scene:

Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast)
Brightness: -2 (Brightness)
Contrast: -43 (Contrast)

We will have a good lightning effect thanks to the highlight!

Step 41

Go back to heaven again, create a new layer on top of all layers with the sky (or groups, if you have grouped the layers). Select the tool “Brush” ( Brush Tool) round brush is soft, color is black and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot below:

Change the blending mode of the layer we just worked with on “Soft light” (Soft Light) Opacity: 70% (Opacity). Then create another layer above the layer we just worked with. Select a tool. “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot below:

Right side color: # 85bfe0. Color on the left: # 3d8dc9. Change the blending mode of the layer we just worked with on “Soft light” (Soft Light) Fill: 75% (Fill).

Create another new layer and place it above all layers of our work, select the tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft color: # 3969bb and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot

Change the blending mode for this layer to “Color” (Color) Set the level Opacity: 30% (Opacity) and Fill: 45% (Fill).

Step 42

Let’s go back to the objects that we added to our scene, double-click on the desired layer with the left mouse button and apply the following parameters:

Tower (Tower) (Ancient Ruins) – Inner shadow (Inner Shadow)
Blend Mode: Overlay Color: 92bad8
Opacity: 90% (Opacity)
Angle: 50 degrees (Angle)
Offset: 8 pixels. (Distance)
Size: 46 pixels. (Size)

Giant Head Statue – Inner shadow (Inner Shadow)
Blend Mode: Overlay Color: 92bad8
Opacity: 100% (Opacity)
Angle: 50 degrees (Angle)
Offset: 8 pixels. (Distance)
Size: 46 pixels. (Size)

Horseman Statue – Inner shadow (Inner Shadow)
Blend Mode: Overlay Color: 92bad8
Opacity: 100% (Opacity)
Angle: 50 degrees (Angle)
Offset: 8 pixels. (Distance)
Size: 54 pixels. (Size)

Broken Arm (Broken Arm) – Inner shadow (Inner Shadow)
Blend Mode: Overlay Color: 92bad8
Opacity: 100% (Opacity)
Angle: 50 degrees (Angle)
Offset: 8 pixels. (Distance)
Size: 46 pixels. (Size)

St.Angelo Statue (Angel Statue) – Internalshadow (Inner Shadow)
Blend Mode: Overlay Color: 92bad8
Opacity: 100% (Opacity)
Angle: 19 degrees (Angle)
Offset: 8 pixels. (Distance)
Size: 38 pixels. (Size)

Here we added a slight glow on the edges of the objects:

Step 43

We are almost done! Before proceeding, please save the current Photoshop file, then merge all layers, to do this, hold down the combination (Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E).

Duplicate the glued layer (Ctrl + J). Go to Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur (Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur). Radius: 1.5 (Radius)

Add a layer mask to this layer, select the tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, color black and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot below:

Here is the result:

Step 44

Next, I’ll show you a great way to sharpen an image without damaging it. To do this, duplicate the layer on which we just worked (Ctrl + J) go to Filter-Other-Color Contrast (Filter -> Other -> High Pass)
Set the radius: 1.0 (Radius)

Change the blending mode for this layer to “Overlap” (Overlay)
Add a layer mask to this layer, select the Brush Tool and use a round soft brush, black color and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot below:

As you can see the whole image gradually merge into our scene:

Step 45

This is the last step. Open the snow texture and place it on our stage on top of all layers, if necessary, transform it (Ctrl + T).

Change its blending mode to “Light replacement“ (Lighten.)

Add a layer mask to this layer, select the tool “Brush” (Brush Tool) brush round soft, color black and paint over the areas shown in the screenshot below:

Congratulations! You completed this lesson, it was simple, but long. Now you can brag to your friends and colleagues and get feedback.