In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a surreal underwater scene with a cute cat sitting in a shoe. You will learn how to create an underwater scene using several source images, as well as how to arrange a lovely kitten in a shoe and create the atmosphere of his first adventure! In this lesson you will also learn how to work with groups, with lighting, how to use Bubble brushes to create an underwater atmosphere and enhance the depth of field and more.
Final result
1. Add an underwater scene
Step 1
Create a new 1500 x 1263 px document in Photoshop with the following settings:
Step 2
Open the source image with the Underwater scene. Using tool Move (Move Tool (V)), move this image to our working paper, placing it in the lower half of the canvas, as shown in the screenshot below:
Step 3
To the layer with the Underwater scene, add an adjustment layer. Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation) as a clipping mask to reduce the saturation of the image of the underwater scene. Let’s go Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Hue / Saturation (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue / Saturation). Reduce value Saturation (Saturation) to – 79:
Step 4
Add adjustment layer Color Balance (Color Balance). Change the settings for Medium tones (Midtones) to add a bit of vibration to the underwater scene.
Step 5
Next, add a fill layer to reduce the visibility of the underwater scene and add some depth. For this we go Layer – New Fill Layer – Color (Layer> New Fill Layer> Solid Color). Choose a mid-blue tint (I chose # 2e595c). Decrease Opacity (Opacity) of this layer up to 50%.
Step 6
Add adjustment layer Curves (Curves) to darken the underwater scene. Set the curve as shown in the screenshot below. The main light we will have is located in the upper left of the scene. Therefore, go to the mask of this adjustment layer and use the soft black brush to hide the curves effect in the upper left part so that this part of the image remains lighter than the whole scene. Thus, we will also increase the depth of the underwater part.
2. Add the sea surface
Step 1
Open the original image with the sea. Using tool Rectangular area 
(Rectangular Marquee Tool (M)), select the middle part of the sea image:
Move the selected part of the sea to our working paper, placing in the middle part of the image over the underwater scene:
Step 2
To the layer with the sea surface, add a layer mask and with a soft black brush soften the hard edges to combine the sea surface with the underwater scene and the horizon, observing the movement of the sea waves.
Step 3
To the sea surface layer, add an adjustment layer. Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation) as a clipping mask so that the color shades of the sea surface match the color shades of the underwater scene:
Step 4
Next, add an adjustment layer. Curves (Curves) to enhance the brightness.
Switch to the mask for this adjustment layer. Curves (Curves) and with the help of a soft black brush hide the effect of the curves in the bottom and also in the right part of the sea surface, since these areas should be darker than on the left side of the scene:
3. Add the sky
Step 1
Open the original image with the sky. Select the top of the image with the tool Rectangular area (Rectangular Marquee Tool):
Move the selected image to our working paper, placing the sky at the top of the working scene. Flip the sky horizontally, for this we go Editing – Transformation – Flip Horizontal (Edit> Transform> Flip Horizontal). Do not forget to place the layer with the sky below the layer with the underwater scene.
Step 2
Add a correction layer to the sky layer. Color Balance (Color Balance) so that the color shades of the sky and the sea match each other:
4. Add a shoe
Step 1
Open the original image with the boot, separate the image of the boot from the background with the tool Magic wand 
(Magic Wand Tool (W)):
Step 2
Move the selected boot image to our working paper, placing it in the middle of our scene, and then flip horizontally:
To the boot layer, add a layer mask and use a black brush of medium hardness to hide the middle portion of the shoe, creating the feeling that the shoe is submerged in water.
Step 3
Next, add a correction layer to the boot layer. Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation) as a clipping mask. Reduce value Saturation (Saturation) to – 88:
Step 4
Next, add an adjustment layer. Photo Filter (Photo Filter). Choose a mid-blue tint (# 607a85) to match the colors of the boot and background to each other:
Step 5
Add adjustment layer Curves (Curves) to reduce image brightness.
Switch to the adjustment layer mask Curves (Curves) and using a soft black brush, hide the effect of curves in the upper part of the boot, which is located above the sea surface:
Step 6
Add another adjustment layer. Curves (Curves) to brighten up
Now, go to the adjustment layer mask. Curves (Curves) and using a soft black brush to hide the effect of curves in the bottom of the boot, as well as in areas of shading.
Step 7
To best combine the bottom of the boot with seawater, add a fill layer. Set a dark blue tint (# 2d4b54). Decrease Opacity (Opacity) of this layer up to 50%.
Now, go to the mask of this layer and use the soft black brush to hide the fill effect at the top of the boot image.
Step 8
Create a new layer as a clipping mask, change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay), opacity (Opacity) layer 100%, and then fill 50% gray (50% gray):
Choose a tool Clarifier 
(Dodge Tool (O)) and in the settings of this tool set Range (Range) on Mid tones (Midtones), and the value Exposure (Exposure) approximately 10%. Add more light to the front of the boot, which is directed towards the light source. You can see my brush processing under blending mode. Normal (Normal), as well as the result when the overlay mode Overlap (Overlay) in the screenshots below:
Step 9
Create a new layer and using a soft brush, brush color # 9ed5da, add a light shade to the bottom of the sole of the boot to better combine this part with the underwater part. Change the blending mode for this layer to Soft light (Soft Light), opacity (Opacity) layer 100%:
5. Add a kitten
Step 1
Open the original image with a kitten. First, remove the background using your object selection technique:
Step 2
Create a new layer between the layer with the selected image of the kitten and the layer with the background, fill this layer with the color shade # 80604e. Next, go to the mask of the layer with the selected image of a kitten and use a hard brush, brush size 3–6 px, make a hair correction, removing the remaining dark areas:
Step 3
Create a new layer and using a hard brush, brush color # eff3f6, paint the coat along the contour of the body and head of the kitten.
Step 4
Turn off the visibility of the background layer and the fill layer. Press the keys (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E) to merge all visible layers into one. Move the merged layer to our working paper with the tool Move 
(Move Tool). Add the kitten directly to the boot, and then flip the image horizontally.
To the kitten layer, add a layer mask to hide the lower parts of the paws, creating the feeling that the kitten is sitting inside the boot:
Step 5
Next, add the adjustment layer to the kitten layer. Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation) as a clipping mask to discolor the kitten’s image a little:
Step 6
Add adjustment layer Color Balance (Color Balance). Change the settings for Medium tones (Midtones):
Step 7
Now add an adjustment layer. Curves (Curves) to reduce image brightness. Switch to the mask of this adjustment layer and use the soft black brush to hide the effect of the curves on the tops of the ears, as well as along the right side of the body and the head of the kitten.
Step 8
Create a new layer, change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay), fill 50% gray (50% gray). Using tool Clarifier (Dodge Tool), add light highlights to the upper parts of the ears, head and paws, and using the tool Dimmer 
(Burn Tool), add shading, reducing light highlights in the neck.
Step 9
To add a shadow from the paws of the kitten on the shoe, create a new layer below the layer with the kitten and using a soft black brush c opacity (Opacity) approximately 20–25%, draw the shadows under the paws of the kitten:
6. Adding birds
Step 1
Open the original image with the birds 1. Separate the birds from the background with the tool Magic wand (Magic Wand Tool).
Move the selected image of birds to our working paper, placing them in the sky behind the kitten. Do not forget to vary the size of the birds to create a depth of field:
Step 2
Add two birds to the farthest plan, they should be smaller than those closer to the observer. For each layer with a bird in the farthest, apply a filter Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur), for this we go Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur (Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur). Install Radius (Radius) Blur 2 px:
Step 3
Add a large bird to our scene, placing it in the lower right corner of the image above the water surface. Apply filter Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur). Set the blur radius to 4 px:
Step 4
Select all the layers with birds, and then press the keys (Ctrl + G) to group them into one group. Change the blending mode for this layer with the group from the mode Skip (Pass Through) (default group mode) on Normal (Normal), layer opacity is 100%. Add adjustment layer Hue / Saturation (Hue / Saturation). Reduce value Saturation (Saturation) to -64:
Step 5
Next, add an adjustment layer. Curves (Curves) to enhance the brightness.
Switch to the adjustment layer mask Curves (Curves) and with the help of a soft black brush, hide the effect of the curves, reducing the brightness in some areas of the birds, in particular in the right and also in the lower part of the images of birds.
Step 6
Open the original image with a seabird 2, select the image of the bird with the tool Magic wand (Magic Wand Tool). Move the selected bird image to our working paper, placing it in the left upper part of our scene, zoom in to make the bird larger than the ones we added earlier (because it is closer to the observer). The main thing is that the bird should be in the same direction as the kitten’s look:
Step 7
To this layer with bird 2, apply a filter Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur). Increase Radius (Radius) blur up to 8 px to increase the depth of field:
Step 8
Next, add the adjustment layer to the same bird layer. Color Balance (Color Balance) as a clipping mask to add slightly reddish yellow shades:
7. Add bubbles
Change the brush to the Bubbles brush, brush color # c2cfd5. Select the brush that you like and then press the (F5) key to change the settings for this brush:
Randomly draw bubbles along the bottom of the shoe; do not forget to reduce the opacity and size of the brush so that the bubbles do not catch the eye and do not look too obvious.
8. We carry out the final correction
Step 1
Create a new adjustment layer. Gradient Map (Gradient Map) on top of all other layers. Set the gradient colors to # 1b243f and # f8b884. Change the blending mode for this adjustment layer to Soft light (Soft Light), opacity (Opacity) 100%.
Step 2
Next, add an adjustment layer. Color Balance (Color Balance). Change the settings for Medium tones (Midtones) and Light glare (Highlights):
Step 3
Add adjustment layer Photo filter (Photo Filter). Set the shade to # c5ae5d:
Step 4
It’s time to add a light source to our scene. Create a new layer. Using a soft brush, brush color # 1f0b01, paint over the left side of the image:
Change the blending mode for this layer to Linear Dodge (Linear Dodge), opacity (Opacity) 100%. Next, add a layer mask to the created layer and use a soft black brush to hide the lighting effect on the largest bird, on the right side of the kitten’s head, on the shoe and in the underwater part of the scene, where the light falls the least.
Step 5
Create a new layer, change the brush color to # efa67e. Paint over the left corner to create a highlight. Change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (Overlay), opacity (Opacity) 100%:
Step 6
Add adjustment layer Curves (Curves) to lighten the top left of the scene. Switch to the mask of this adjustment layer and use a soft black brush to hide the curves effect in the lower left part, as well as in the right part of the scene, to keep the shading there:
Step 7
Finally, add an adjustment layer. Vibration (Vibrance) to enhance the overall effect:
Congratulations! We have completed the lesson!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and you learned something new today. Thank you and good luck in future projects!
Final result
