In this tutorial, I will show you the process of creating a surrealistic painting “Dark Power” in Photoshop. We start with a simple cityscape and combine it with a cloud, a model, and a number of other objects to create this surreal effect. So let’s get started!
This is a mid-level lesson, so some steps may be difficult for you.
Final image
Source materials:
Step 1
Create a new document sized 1400px * 620px with a black background. Load the image of the city in Photoshop and using the tool Rectangular marquee
(Rectangular selection), select the following area of the city in the image:
Copy and paste the selection into the working document, resize and position as shown below:
Use Eraser 
(Eraser) with soft edges to hide the top of the city on a layer, as shown below:
Download the image with the cloud in Photoshop and select the top area containing the cloud, copy and paste it into our document, resize and position as shown below:
We need to get rid of the street lamp, so use Clone stamp tool 
(Stamp) with the following settings:
Hold the Alt key and click on the cloud area
Then using a brush, paint over the street lamp to remove it from our image:
Use Eraser (Eraser) with soft edges to hide cloudy edges, as shown below:
Add the following adjustment layers on top of all previous layers:
Black and white (Black and white)
Layer mask on this black and white layer:
Levels (Levels)
Curves (Curves)
Here is the effect we should get
Step 2
Upload a photo with the model in Photoshop and separate the model from the background:
Copy and paste the model into our document, resize and position it in the center:
Use a soft eraser to remove the bottom area of the model, as shown below:
Add the following adjustment layers as a clipping mask for the model layer:
Black and white (Black and white)
Levels (Levels)
Layer Mask for Adjustment Layer Levels (Levels)
Now add some hair for the image. To do this, use Pen tool(Pen) Draw hair as shown below:
Use 3px black brush:
and circle the outline as below:
You will get the following effect
We will repeat this process to add more hair, make sure you adjust the color and size of the hair for the best effect:
And that’s what we got
Step 3
Now let’s add fragments on the canvas around the model. Load the image from the rock surface into Photoshop and create a new layer on top of its background layer:
Use loaded brush wreckage
Draw fragments and particles on a new layer.
Hold down the Ctrl key and left-click on the layer thumbnail to select it.
Return to the background layer while maintaining the selection:
Copy and paste the selection into our document, resize and scatter the particles and debris around the model:
Also add some more debris on the left and right side of the image:
We can also add some subtle cloud effect to the bottom of the canvas using a cloud brush or a cloud filter:
Step 4
in this step we will add a lightning effect to our image. Load the lightning image in Photoshop and select the next part with Lasso Tool 
(Lasso) with 30px feathering:
Copy and paste the selection into our document, resize and rotate it as shown below:
Apply the next adjustment layer Black and White (Black and white)
Then apply the correction Levels (Levels)
Set the blending mode for this layer. Screen (Screen)
Here’s what effect you have
Repeat the previous step and add more zippers.
Step 5
In this step, we will add the image of a crow to our collage. Load the image into Photoshop and select it:
Copy and paste it into our document, set the blending mode for the layer Multiply (Multiplication):
Resize and position this layer in the location shown below:
Add a few more crows to the image, as shown below:
We can also use black lines from a crow image to create the effect shown on the model, as shown below:
Step 6
We are almost done! For final refinement, flatten the images, duplicate the background layer and apply a filter Accented edges (Accented Edges) to the duplicated layer:
Set the blending mode Pin light (Spotlight) for duplicate layer
Look, now the edges are highlighted:
Add the next adjustment layer Selective color (Selective color correction) to add some colors to the top of the image:
And here is our result!
