In this lesson, we will create a dark fantasy landscape with the Ripper riding an old wagon. In this lesson, you will also learn how to create a mood picture, how to apply lighting and sharpness to an image.
Final result
Source materials:
Step 1
First, open the stock image. Press the “P” key to activate the tool. Pen 
(pen tool). Zoom in and then start creating the outline.
Select the entire picture until you close the contour, which is indicated by a thin line around the selected object.
Once you have closed the contour, right-click on the document so that the context menu appears. Select an option To form a selected area (make path selection) to convert the contour to active selection. Next, press Shift + Ctrl + I to invert the selected area, and then press the Del key to remove the original background.
Step 2
The object that we cut will be a vehicle. We need to slightly modify the original form. Press Ctrl + T to activate the free transform tool. Next, right-click on the document and in the window that appears, select the option Perspective (perspective) and begin to shift the reference points in the direction of the red arrows, as shown in the screenshot below:
Step 3
In this step, we will create a front overlap for the wagon. Cut out the left side of the wagon. For this purpose, you can use the tool Lasso 
(lasso tool) or Pen (pen tool).
So, the next steps we must take: First, select the left side of the cut out plate. Secondly, press Ctrl + J to duplicate the selected area on the new layer. Next, go to the duplicate layer, press Ctrl + T to activate the free transform tool. Pull the anchor points to the right until you completely close the holes. Finally, remove the extra plots until you get a result, as in the screenshot below. Merge layers.
Step 4
Next, select the free transformation tool again. Apply option Deformation (Warp) to deform the plate by moving the anchor points in the right directions, as shown in the screenshot below, and then position it on the front of the wagon. Using a layer mask, hide the bottom of the wagon.
Step 5
In this step, we will add the wheels to the cart. Open the “Disc” image in png format. Apply perspective to the image with the disk.
Next, duplicate the image with the disk. Reduce the size of the duplicate layer image and position it below the original layer in the layers palette. Position both wheels in the front right side of the wagon.
Duplicate the disc layer a few times to get extra wheels for the wagon. Select all layers, and then press Ctrl + E to merge layers with wheels into one layer.
Step 6
In this step, we will create a shape (the Ripper). Open the stock image of the model. Cut out the model image.
Next, cut out the bottom of the model’s outfit.
Next, press ctrl + T again to activate the free transform tool. Select an option Deformation (warp). With the help of deformation, modify the shape of the selected part of the cape. In the screenshot below, you can see the result.
Create other shapes as shown in the screenshot below. Note: it is not necessary to adhere to the form that I created. These figures are given simply for clarity. You can modify the form, through trial and error, to get the desired result with the help of deformation.
Add and position the created shapes to the model image. Merge layers with shapes, if you are satisfied with their location. See the result in the screenshot below:
Step 7
Now, create our working paper. Press Ctrl + N to create a new document. Install the following sizes 1550 px in width and 1024 px in height. Fill (Shift + F5) document 50% gray (gray).
Open the desert stock image; move this image to our working paper. Apply scaling according to the size of the document. Hide some parts of the desert with the help of a layer mask, in the screenshot these areas are marked in red. Using a soft round black brush, paint the areas to hide them.
Duplicate the desert layer and for the duplicate layer, change the blending mode to Multiplication (multiply), layer opacity 60%.
Open the stock image of the winter river, then move this image to our working paper. Change the blending mode for the layer with the winter river to Multiplication (multiply), layer opacity is 100%. Finally, come on, Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Color Balance (layer> new adjusment layer> color balance). This adjustment layer will be used as a clipping mask.
Step 8
Let’s go back to the cart we made. Move the wagon image to our working paper. Apply scaling, and then place where necessary.
Next, add an image of the Ripper.
Step 9
This composition that we have created at the moment. Before proceeding with the completion of our work, let’s decide where the light source will be located. For this composition, I believe that the light will fall on the right side, the white arrows indicate the direction of the light:
Create a new layer (Shift + Ctrl + N) on top of the wagon layer. Change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (overlay). On this layer, draw white light on the right side. It must be a source of light.
Step 10
In this step, we will add a creature using this image:
Open the image in Photoshop. Separate the creature’s skeleton from the background. Please see the previous step for object selection. Next, using the free transform tool, change the perspective of the image. Just use the perspective of the wagon as a reference.
Step 11
Move the image with the skeleton to our working paper. Position the skeleton in front of the wagon. By design, the creature must pull the cart.
To the skeleton layer of the animal, add an adjustment layer. Hue / Saturation (hue / saturation). Do not forget that this adjustment layer will be used as a clipping mask.
Step 12
Create a new layer on top of the layer with the skeleton of the animal. Using 50% gray (gray), draw a ring in shape, as on the neck of the animal’s skeleton. Choose a tool Clarifier 
(dodge tool). Set the value in the top settings panel Range (range) to Mid tones (midtones), and the value Exposure (exposure) 20-26. Using a soft round brush, stroke the edges of the ring to create a highlight.
Next, open the image with the chain. Select the image of the chain and remove the background. For this purpose, use the tool Magic wand 
(magic wand tool), because This is a simple way to highlight, given the solid background. Set the settings as shown in the screenshot below. Just click on the background to create a selection. Next, apply an inversion to the selection. Finally, press Ctrl + J to copy the selected image of the chain to a new layer.
Choose one of the chains and move it to our working paper. Modify the shape of the chain with the free transformation tool. See screenshot below:
Step 13
Next, open the Spit image in png format. Move this image to our working paper, placing the rider in front. If necessary, apply scaling according to the size of the document, and then set the braid in such a way as if the rider is holding it in his hands. Next, create a new layer on top of the skew layer. Convert this layer to a clipping mask. On this layer, using a soft white brush, paint over the edges of the blade and the braid handle.
Step 14
Well, this composition that we have created at the moment.
Next, create a new layer on top of all other layers. Select the brush tool. Set a soft round brush of white color with an opacity of 30-40%, add more light to the image on the right side of the document.
Step 15
Next, let’s go back to the layer with the winter river (Step 7). Duplicate this layer and place a duplicate of the layer right below the layer with light (Step 15). Change the blending mode for duplicate layer to Multiplication (multiply), layer opacity 75%. Using a layer mask, process some areas of the image. See screenshot below:
Step 16
What we need to do now is add a correction layer to the scene. Let’s go Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Gradient Map (layer> new adjustment layers> gradient map). Change the blending mode for the gradient map layer to Soft light (soft light), opacity of a layer of 58%:
Create another layer with a gradient map. Set the blending mode for the gradient map layer to Normal (normal), layer opacity 58%.
Next, create a new layer on top of all other layers, and then fill this layer with the color shade # 030d22. Change the blending mode for this layer to Soft light (soft light). Using a layer mask, process some parts of this layer. Duplicate this layer once. Reduce the opacity of the duplicate to 20%.
Step 17
In this step, we will add a small touch to our scene, by creating lights of light. Create a new layer. Set the foreground color to # fdaf06. Using a soft round brush, click on the tops of the supports to create lights of light. Vary the size of the brush in accordance with the size of the supports. Then, using a small white brush, click in the center of the created lights of light.
Create another new layer. Fill this layer with black. Change the blending mode for this layer to Lightening basics (color dodge). Set the foreground color to # fdaf06. Make sure the brush is active. Set a soft round brush with opacity 5-8. Brush along the ground under the nearest supports where the light falls. Also create a reflection of light on the support near the tree and on the tree trunk, for this purpose, I used separate layers to avoid losing the picture when editing.
Step 18
I decided to add another creature to our scene. Open the skeletal images of the marsupial rat. Select the image of the skeleton, and then remove the background.
Add the image of the marsupial skeleton on our working paper.
Step 19
So let’s go back to the Ripper layer. We will retouch this image. First, duplicate the layer, then, being on the duplicate layer, go, Filter – Other – Color Contrast (filter> others> high pass). Use this layer as a clipping mask. Choose a tool Clarifier (dodge tool). Install option Sveta (highlight), and the value Exposure (exposure) by 20-30%. Using a soft round brush, handle the rider. Finally, change the blending mode for this layer to Overlap (overlay), opacity 100%.
Move to the original Ripper layer. For this layer, apply layer styles: Inner shadow (inner shadow). Once you have entered values, click OK. Next, right-click on the eye next to the inscription Inner shadow (inner shadow). When the context menu appears, select the option Form a layer (create layer) to convert layer effects to a separate new layer. Finally, place this layer with the inner shadow on top of the layer with Color contrast (high pass) in the layers palette.
Create another new layer, convert this layer to a clipping mask. Set the foreground color to white and then using a soft round brush with an opacity of 20-30%, process the back and head of the Ripper:
Step 20
In this step, we will create the shadow of the wagon. For this purpose, duplicate the wagon layer. Go to the layer with the duplicate layer, then, fill the duplicate layer with the cart with black color. Move this duplicate layer below the original layer. Modify the shape by distorting slightly to the left:
Step 21
Press Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E to merge all visible layers into one merged layer. A merged layer will appear on top of all layers. Being on the combined layer, we go Filter – Blur – Blur at shallow depth of field (filter> blur> lens blur).
Reduce the opacity of the layer with blur to 20%. Finally, duplicate this layer again. Change the blending mode for duplicate layer to Lightening (screen) with the same opacity as the original layer. Result at the moment:
Step 22
Once again, press Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E to create a merged layer. This time, to the merged layer, we will apply the filter Colour contrast (high pass filter):
Next, change the blending mode to Overlap (overlay). While still on the combined layer, let’s go, Image – External Channel (image> apply image):
Finally, go to the layers palette. Change the blending mode for this merged layer to Soft light (soft light), layer opacity is 100%. Duplicate this layer once. Blend mode and opacity value save as the original layer.
You can see the final result in the screenshot below. I hope you enjoyed the lesson, I will be glad to hear your comments on the technique of execution and the result.
Final result
