In this lesson you will learn how using Photoshop to combine an animal and a car.
This lesson is pretty simple, but to get a good result you need to be patient and pay attention to details. Using a little imagination, you will get a unique “wild” car!
Let’s start!
Resources for the lesson:
Step 1
Translator’s Note: Create a new document with an aspect ratio of 3: 2 (for example, 1500 x 1000 pixels).
Create a new document in Photoshop. Open the image “Desert” in the created document, it will serve as a background for our work.
Place an image with a landscape on the right side of the canvas.
You can see that it does not completely fill the working canvas. Therefore, duplicate the “Desert” layer and move it to the left, so that you completely fill the workspace.
Create clipping mask (clipping mask) for the copy layer and erase the edges of the duplicated layer.
You have already noticed that now, some elements of yours are repeated (for example, a cloud and a bush). In order to fix this, activate the tool Stamp
(Clone Stamp Tool) and remove the excess from your landscape.
Step 2
Let’s get to work on the car.
In this step, you need to add a retro car to your work canvas and activate the tool. Pen (
RenTool), to separate the car from the background. Do not forget to remove excess reflection on the windows of the car.
Add to car layer layer mask 
at (layer mask). Activate the tool Brush 
(Brush Tool). In the settings, set a black, round brush and hide the front part of the machine on the layer mask. Next, we will replace this area on the body of a crocodile.
When deleting parts of the image, I recommend that you always use the layer mask, because thanks to this you can always go back and restore the image details.
Under the car layer, create a new layer. Activate the tool Brush (Brush Tool). In the settings, set a white round brush. Standing on a new layer, steal the window area, and then lower opacity (opacity) of this layer to 15% – 20%.
Step 3
Let’s draw the shadow of the car. Create a new layer.
Translator’s Note: under the layer with the car.
Use your imagination to imagine what the final shadow should look like.
Activate the tool Pen (RenTool) and draw a shadow contour under the car. Load the outline as a selected area and fill it with black.
Switch to Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur (Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blu), set the blur radius to 2.5 pixels. Now, reduce the opacity of the shadow layer to 45%.
It is also necessary to draw an extra small shadow from the bottom and wheels of the car. Below in the picture you can see how this shadow is drawn by me.
Step 4
In this step, we will deal with the color correction of the car, so that it would be better combined with the background-desert.
All adjustment layers we will add as clipping masks (clipping mask) to the car layer, which means that the changes you make will affect your retro car. In order to apply the overlying layer as a clipping mask, hold down the Alt key and hover the mouse between two layers, when the shape of the cursor changes, click the left mouse button between the layers.
The first adjustment layer (adjustment layer), which we will use – Levels (Levels). The settings for this layer are shown in the image below.
Second adjustment layer – Photo Filter (Photo Filter).
Third – Gradient map (Gradient map).
Step 5
Open the image “Crocodile 1”. Separate the tail from the background using a layer mask. Position the tail as shown in the image below.
The tail looks very light, in order to make it darker, use Curves Corrective Layer (Curves). Apply the adjustment layer as a clipping mask to the layer with the tail.
We need to add a shadow from the tail. Create a new layer under the crocodile tail. Activate the tool Pen ( RenTool) and draw a contour resembling the shape of the tail. Load the contour as a selected area and fill it with black. Then lower opacity (opacity) layer with shadow up to 70%.
Use the technique described in the previous step and modify the tail shadow to make it larger. Opacity (opacity) layer with additional shadow set to 28%.
Do not forget to draw a shadow from the inner part of the tail. The opacity for a layer with this shadow can be set to about 84%.
Step 6
Open the image “Crocodile 2”. Using this photo we will create a car hood and add a paw near the wheel.
Using a layer mask, hide the entire image of Crocodile 2, leaving only the animal’s foot visible, and place it in front of the rear wheel as shown in the figure below.
Please note that the fingers on the paw have clearly marked areas, but in our case this cannot be, as the paw is in the shadow of the car.
To add shadow on paw and fingers, use Curves Corrective Layer (Curves) (apply the adjustment layer as a clipping mask).
Step 7
Once again, open the photo “Crocodile 2” and place the animal in front of the machine. Taking advantage of layer mask delete all unnecessary parts of the image.
Now we will add three adjustment layers to the crocodile layer (like clipping masks).
Photo filter (Photo Filter):
Color balance (Color Balance):
Color tone \ Saturation (Hue / Saturation):
Step 8
In this step, we will add crocodile skin texture to the car.
For these purposes, we use the area of the skin from the back of a crocodile. Activate the tool Pen (RenTool) and create the necessary contour.
Copy the selected skin sample to a new layer. Place this area in the area of the front door of the car and hide the excess using layer mask. Use the texture layer as a clipping mask on the car layer.
The wheel, which is located near the door, will cast a shadow. This shadow can be added using the tool Dimmer
(Вurn Тоол).
Add skin texture to the roof of the car. To do this, create another copy of the texture layer and place it in the roof area of the car. Apply the new texture layer as a clipping mask to the car layer.
Using a layer mask, remove excess skin, leaving the texture only on the roof itself. Then change the blending mode (blending mode) of this layer to Soft light (Soft light).
Now you need to cover the skin texture with metal frames around the windows of the car. To do this, copy the texture layer again and apply it as a clipping mask to the car layer. Using a layer mask, apply a texture only to the metal frame. Set the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay).
Using the same steps, add texture to the back door of the car.
We will also make the rear door a little darker than the front one. The correction layer will help us in this. Curves (Сurves) (settings for the adjustment layer are shown in the figure below).
At the moment, only a small part of the car near the windshield was not covered with skin texture. Select a crocodile skin texture sample. Copy it to a new layer and apply to the unfilled area of the car. Hide extra areas of the texture using a layer mask.
Go back to the crocodile layer to select a texture sample. This time you need to choose a part with two rows of spikes. We will use this pattern for laying on the roof of the car.
When the texture is set, use the tool Dimmer (Вurn Тool) and add some shadow (as shown in the picture below).
Duplicate the spiked texture layer and place it so that it completely fills the roof of the car (as shown in the image below).
Step 9
We have done a lot of work, but there are still areas of metal not covered with crocodile skin. In this step, we will pay attention to these small details.
Go to the crocodile layer and use the selection tools to select the area so that you can grab 6-7 spikes. Copy the selected area to a new layer.
Place a texture sample near the spare wheel. Switch to Editing – Transform – Warp (Warp) and give the texture a more curved shape.
If you are unable to completely cover the required area, duplicate the layer with the deformed texture and place a copy next to the original texture.
We got a good intermediate result, which we will correct in the next steps.
Only one car detail remained uncovered. Use the skills you learned in the previous steps and skin the desired area. Use the image below as a guide.
Step 10
Let’s start to work on the crocodile’s muzzle. Open the image “Crocodile 3”. Separate the animal from the background and move it to the working paper. Place the third crocodile layer over the Crocodile 2 layer. Hide excess using a layer mask.
Draw a small shadow (as we did for the car and the tail). Opacity (opacity) layer with a shadow set to 15%.
The head is noticeably different from the whole body. You can fix this by applying adjustment layers. Next you can see the layers that I apply. Note that all adjustment layers will be applied as clipping masks to the head layer.
Gradient map (Gradient map):
Curves (Curves):
Photo filter (Photo Filter):
Step 11
Open the image with a bird. Place the bird layer above all previous layers. Separate the bird from the background in a convenient way.
Step 12
At this stage we will make small additions that will give a more holistic look to the whole work.
Select a spiked skin area. Copy them to a new layer and place the spikes in the bottom of the car door.
Now you need to add a little light. To do this, activate the tool Brush (Brush Tool), in the settings, set a round brush of white color with opacity 40% – 50%. Create a new layer under the bird layer and draw metal parts of the machine on it.
Create a merged copy of all layers, to do this, stand on the top active layer and press the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E.
We will make adjustments to the shape of the car, using Filter – Plastic (Filter – Liquify). In the figure below you can see the areas that need changing, as well as how the car changed after using the filter.
Translator’s Note: if you are not familiar with the plastic filter, use this lesson.
Step 13
Apply general adjustments to our collage.
Below you see the adjustment layers that were used, as well as the templates of their settings:
Gradient map (Gradient map):
Photo filter (Photo Filter):
Color tone \ Saturation (Hue / Saturation):
Step 14
In this step we will add dust from the sandy soil. Create a new layer. Activate the tool Brush (Brush Tool). In the settings, set a round soft brush. The color palette that was used to paint the dust is shown in the figure. When painting, constantly change the size, color and opacity of the brush.
To save time, you can draw dust in one area, and then copy a layer of dust and place it in another area of the image. You can also apply various types of transformations to dust on copy layers.
Step 15
Add an interesting effect to the work.
To speed up the process, I use the “Lucis Art” plugin. Create a merged copy of all layers (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E) and apply the plaid 3 template to it. Other settings you see below in the picture. Then set the opacity of this layer to 16%. And using the layer mask, erase the area with enhanced sharpness where the hills and sky are in the background.
If you do not have this plugin, do not be sad, I will show you how to create a similar effect using the basic Photoshop filters.
Step 16
This step will replace the previous one if you are not using the Lucis Art plugin. Create a merged copy of all layers (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E). Go to Filter – Other – Color Contrast (Filters – High Pass). Set the filter radius to about 24 pixels.
Set the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay) and lower the opacity if necessary. Use layer mask and hide part of the image with hills and sky in the background.
Step 17
Add a road sign in the background.
Open the “Boards” image, select the one you like and transfer it to the working document. Place the layer with the board under the layer with the car. To correct the board, use layer curves (Curves). Then activate the tool Text 
(Horizontal Type Tool) and write something on the index, for example “Nowhere”.
Open the original Pointer image. Separate the pointer post from the background and move it to the main working canvas. Place the pillar under the label. Create a shared copy of the two layers – with a tablet and a pillar. Flip this copy vertically. Switch to Editing – Transform – Warp (Warp) and modify the copy of the pointer, as shown in the image below. Lower opacity (opacity) layer up to 10%. So we created a shadow from the pointer.
Step 18
Add a general correction to the collage. For this we use adjustment layer Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation). Place this layer above all the previous ones and work with a black brush on the layer mask of the adjustment layer to hide some areas.
Step 19
I’ll take advantage again plug-in “Lucis Art”. I remind you that you can replace it with a filter Colour contrast (High Pass).
In the image below you can see that this correction is applied only to the sky and the crocodile (white areas on the layer mask). Also, I lowered the opacity of the layer with enhanced sharpness to 39%.
Step 20
In this step, we will add shadows in the corners of the image (create a vignette).
Add another adjustment layer on top of all the previous ones – Curves (Curves). The settings for this layer are shown in the image below. Then fill the mask of the Curves layer with black. Activate the tool Brush (Brush Tool), in the settings of the brush set: shape – round, color – white. Edge layer layer masks Curves (Curves).
To enhance the effect, add another adjustment layer – Hue \ Saturation (Hue / Saturation). The layer mask of this layer should look exactly the same as for the previous layer Curves.
Step 21
Over all previous layers, add adjustment layer – Levels (Levels), opacity (opacity) – 30%.
Step 22
Switch to Filter – Plastic (Filter – Liquify) and adjust the shape of the roof of the car.
Step 23
In this step, let’s work on the wheels – create a torsion effect.
Activate the tool Pen (RenTool), separate the wheel and copy it to a new layer. Switch to Filter – Blur – Radial Blur (Filters-Blur-Radial blur). Do the same with the rear wheel.
Step 24
Create a merged copy of all layers (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E). Switch to Filter – Blur – Motion Blur (Filters – Blur – Motion blur). Set in the settings: angle (angle) – 10, offset (amount) – 50 pix.
Add a layer mask to the layer with blur, hide everything except the back of the machine.
Step 25
Add one more general correction – Gradient map (Gradient map). Blend mode of this layer is set to Multiplication (Multiply), and opacity (opacity) – 25%.
Step 26
Add blur to the mountains in the background. To do this, go to Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur (Filters-Gaussian blur). Or, you can use the tool Blur 
(Blur Tool).
Step 27
Create a merged copy of all layers (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E). Then go to Filter – Imitation – Dry Brush (Filter – Filter Gallery – Dry Brush). Set the settings to your own taste. Then lower opacity (opacity) of this layer to 18%.
Step 28
We come to the final step of the lesson. It remains to make a few general adjustments.
Curves Correction Layer (Curves):
Correction layer Hue \ Saturation (Hue / Saturation):
Our croco mobile is ready!
According to reference You can get a lesson PSD file.
