In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a colorful rainy scene depicting a girl. You will learn how to add a colorful background using the overlay technique, we will retouch the model and work on the detail, create a rain effect using a standard brush, perform color correction and enhance the depth of field.
The final result:
Source materials:
- Model (charge)
- City (charge)
- Bokeh texture
1. We carry out retouching models
Step 1
Create a new 2000 x 1333 px document in Photoshop. Set the settings that are shown in the screenshot below.
Step 2
Open the original image with the model in Photoshop. Using tool Move 
(Move Tool (V)), move this image to our working paper.
Step 3
The girl has a sweet face, but, in my opinion, her facial expression does not sufficiently reflect the feeling we need in this lesson. The retouching process will muffle the “dead areas”, including areas with rich light, slightly change the details of the face, focusing on the look and feelings of the model, while maintaining the original light source (from right to left).
Being on the layer with the model using the tool Lasso 
(Lasso Tool (L)), create an active selection around the model’s face, and then go Filter – Plastic (Filter – Liquify), Next, select the tool Deformation (Forward Warp Tool (W)). Her eyebrows are too thin and slightly removed from the eyes, creating a “insensitive area.” With this tool, lower eyebrows a little, and also lift the corners of the lips slightly and pull the chin slightly.
The result after the application of plastics.
Step 4
After working with plastic, an undesirable fragment appeared above the right eyebrow. And also, I noticed an undesirable blurred line on a dark background, it can distract attention to the final result. Create a new layer, select the tool. Stamp 
(Clone Tool (S)). Using this tool, remove the specified parts:
Step 5
Create a new layer and using a hard round brush, brush color # 080508, add hairs to the model’s eyebrows.
Step 6
Create a new layer, change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay), opacity (Opacity) layer 100%, and then fill 50% gray (50% gray).
Using tool Clarifier 
/ Dimmer 
(Dodge and Burn Tool (O)), correct the facial features described above. The forehead of the girl is a little big, and the area between the left eye and eyebrow is too bright. Using tool Dimmer (Burn Tool), darken the forehead to make it visually smaller, and also hide the bright areas behind the model’s hair. Next, with the tool Clarifier (Dodge Tool), enhance the light flare along the contour of the right hand (we will add lighting effects to the background later, so this part should be brighter than on the original), and also add a small flare to the left shoulder. You can see my processing at mode. Normal (Normal) and result in mode Overlap (Overlay) in the screenshot below:
Step 7
Create a new layer using a brush of medium hardness and small size, the color of the brush is black, paint over the lower contour of the eyelids. This will help to accent eyes.
Step 8
Create a new layer and using a soft brush, brush color # bc7783, paint over the bottom left lip to darken it a little. Change the blending mode for this layer to Multiplication (Multiply) and also reduce opacity (Opacity) layer up to 30%:
We have completed the process of retouching the image of the model. You can see the “Before” and “After” results in the screenshot below. The retouching process requires patience and attention, but, without hesitation, take time for this part of the lesson – it is worth it!
2. Basic Correction
Step 1
After retouching the model, we slightly change the color, brightness, and the contrast of the dark background. Let’s go Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Hue / Saturation (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue / Saturation). Change the settings for Blue (Cyans) and Blue (Blues) tones. The main goal is to make the final effect more colorful (you will see this in the last steps).
Step 2
Add adjustment layer Curves (Curves) to enhance the brightness. Now go to the adjustment layer mask Curves (Curves) and with the help of a soft black brush, hide the correction curves over the main background area, as well as the model, keeping the lightening only in the contour of the right hand.
Step 3
Add another adjustment layer. Curves (Curves) to reduce the brightness. Now go to the adjustment layer mask Curves (Curves) and with the help of a soft black brush, hide the blackout effect in the lower left corner of the scene – this will create a feeling of smooth shading of the model image with the background.
3. Add a City Landscape
Step 1
Open the original cityscape image in Photoshop. We need to position the urban landscape behind the image of the model, while maintaining the appearance of raindrops. In addition, we have a translucent umbrella with a lot of small raindrops, so we will apply blending modes to convey this. First, move this image with the cityscape to our working paper, placing it on top of the model layer. Change the blending mode to Lightening basics (Color Dodge), opacity (Opacity) 100%:
Step 2
Turn off the visibility of the cityscape layer, as well as the adjustment layers we added in paragraph 2. Using the tool Magic wand 
(Magic Wand Tool (W)), highlight the model image, including raindrops.
Now turn on the visibility of the cityscape layer, and then click Add layer mask (Add layer mask) at the bottom of the layers panel to add a mask to this layer. The result should be as in the screenshot below:
Using a soft black brush with low opacity (about 30-35%), paint the hair on the mask to restore hidden hair, and paint the upper part of the city image in the background so that it is visible through a translucent umbrella.
Step 3
Next, go Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur (Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur). Install Radius (Radius) blur at 12 px, so that the urban landscape looked separate from the model image:
Step 4
Now apply the filter Motion blur (Motion blur), for this, go Filter – Blur – Motion Blur (Filter> Blur> Motion Blur). Set the settings that are shown in the screenshot below to make the effect more subtle.
Step 5
Duplicate the cityscape layer, and then change the blending mode to duplicate the layer to Lightening (Screen), Opacity 100%. And also turn on the visibility of the correction layers that we added in paragraph 2. Next, you need to once again correct the mask using a soft black brush.
Step 6
Once again duplicate the layer with the cityscape, and then change the blending mode to duplicate the layer to Hard light (Hard Light), opacity 100%. It will help enhance the contrast, as well as accentuate the image of the model and the effect of rain on a dark background. You can see the mask correction, as well as the result after this step in the screenshots below.
Step 7
Add adjustment layer Color Balance (Color Balance) to this layer with the urban landscape as a clipping mask to enhance the colorful effect:
4. Add a Bokeh Texture
Step 1
Open the Bokeh texture in Photoshop, and then move this texture to our working document, placing it on top of all other layers, closing the top half of the scene. Change the blending mode for the Bokeh texture layer to Lightening (Screen), opacity is 100%.
Step 2
Using a layer mask, hide the bokeh effect on top of the model’s body and face, keeping the bokeh texture on the hair and also in the background. This will help us best combine the image of the model with the background.
Step 3
To the Bokeh texture layer, apply filters. Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur) and Motion blur (Motion Blur) just like we did for the cityscape layer.
5. Create Rain Drops and Add Rain Effect.
Step 1
First we will create raindrops. There are many ways to create rain, or you can look at my Dark and Surreal lesson on this topic. If you decide to try a different way, then I present you another way. Create a new document in Photoshop with the following dimensions: 100 x 600 px, background color is white. Select a hard black brush, and then press the key (F5) to change the brush settings:
Change the foreground color to black. Hold down the (Shift) key and draw a straight line from top to bottom on a white background. Convert this layer with the drawn figure into a smart object, and then activate the tool Free transformation (Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + T)) to make the shape thinner, narrower and longer.
Step 2
To the layer with the created shape, apply the filter Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur). Set the blur radius to 1 px:
Next, apply the filter Motion blur (Motion blur). Set the settings that are shown in the screenshot below:
Now turn off the visibility of the white background, and then go Editing – Define a brush (Edit> Define Brush Preset). Give the name of the brush at its discretion.
Step 3
Go back to our main document and create a new layer on top of all other layers, change the foreground color to white. Select the Rain Drop brush that we just created in the previous step, and then set the following settings, which are shown in the screenshot below:
Using a customized brush, add a rain effect to our scene. By pressing the [or] key, you can change the size of the brush while creating the rain effect, giving it a more realistic look.
Step 4
Apply filter Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur). Set a blur radius of 1.5 px to soften the effect of rain.
Step 5
Create two new layers, change the angle of the brush, as shown in the screenshot below. Draw raindrops flowing down the umbrella to the right and left in accordance with the perspective of the umbrella.
Step 6
Create a new layer, select a medium hard brush, the brush color is white, the brush size is about 2-4 px. Draw raindrops on the umbrella, as well as drops from the umbrella. Decrease Opacity (opacity) brushes up to 50-70%, for best results.
Step 7
Rain, like other objects, is exposed to light coming from the background. Create a new layer, turn off the visibility of all layers except for the model layer. Using tool Magic wand (Magic Wand Tool), select the dark background, including the raindrops (we already used this technique in paragraph 3), and then press the keys (Ctrl + I) to invert the selected area.
Using a soft brush, brush color # f94a24, paint over the raindrops, especially the falling drops that catch the light coming from the background. Change the blending mode for this layer to Soft light (Soft Light), opacity (Opacity) 100%.
Step 8
To add color to the rain we created in this paragraph, create a new layer. Hold down the keys (Ctrl + Shift) and click on the thumbnails of the layers with rain and raindrops to load the active selection. Using the same brush, paint over the dripping drops, and then change the blending mode for this layer to Soft light (Soft Light), opacity 100%.
6. Add Light Effects
Step 1
Create a new layer and using a soft brush, brush color # fec036, opacity (opacity) brush about 30-40%, brush strokes paint over his right hand to add reflective light from the background. Change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay), opacity 100%:
Step 2
Create a new layer with overlay mode. Overlap (Overlay) and using a soft brush, the color of the brush is # e68e4d, add a luminous edge along the contour of your left hand. The luminous edge should be thin and subtle.
Step 3
Using a hard brush, brush color # bad6ff, paint over the hair curls in the area where the blue light from the background falls.
Step 4
Change the brush color to # fde3ba. Paint over the areas in the area where the yellow color is from the background.
7. Final correction
Step 1
Add adjustment layer Color Balance (Color Balance). Change the settings for Medium tones (Midtones) and Sveta (Highlights).
Step 2
Add adjustment layer Color search (Color Lookup). Select the option Fallcolors.look. Decrease Opacity (Opacity) of this adjustment layer up to 50%:
Step 3
Add adjustment layer Photo filter (Photo Filter). Set the next hue for this filter # 1b9c85.
Step 4
Add adjustment layer Curves (Curves) to slightly change color and contrast:
Step 5
Add adjustment layer Levels (Levels) to darken the scene. Now go to the adjustment layer mask Levels (Levels) and using a soft black brush, paint the hair on both sides to restore detail on them.
Step 6
Add adjustment layer Vibration (Vibrance) to enhance the final effect:
Step 7
The final step: using a soft black brush, paint over the top corners of the scene to enhance the shadows. Change the blending mode to Soft light (Soft Light), opacity (Opacity) 100%.
Congratulations! We have completed the lesson!
I hope that you liked this lesson, and you learned something new for yourself. Thank you for attending the lesson, and I wish you a good time at this lesson.
The final result:
