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Step
1 – Prepare
the background
Create
a new document with this size: 500/570 pixels.
Let’s
start by preparing the background. Because this island is on the air,
our background will be the sky. Set the Foreground Color #58b4cf and
the Background Color white.
Create
a new layer and call it Sky
Layer.
Go to Filter – Render – Clouds. Now we have a nice
background sky .
Step
2 – Draw
the Island
I’ve
noticed that other people use photos for the island and make
photomontage. I’ve decided to draw my own island…I will
use photos for ground and grass texture. Maybe in another tutorial I
will try the other method also.
With
the Pen Tool draw a shape like in the picture below. This shape must
cover half of the image, bottom area. Call this layer Island
Layer.
Change
the color of this shape to #976e3b. Now go to Filter – Noise –
Add Noise and do the following settings.
Now
I will use the Burn Tool to give shape to my island. Be careful not
to set a high exposure because you will obtain a darker color to
soon. The range for this tool is Midtones.
The
tehnique is relatively simple. As you can see in the picture below
I’ve burned vertical lines that are the darkest in this image.
You obtain this by burning repeatedly the same line (point1).
After
this step you have to burn horizontal lines near the vertical lines;
you have to obtain a round shape shadow – darken on the
exterior and lighten in the center (point 2).
Than
you can also darken parts of the island (point 3). This is where we
will place some tree roots.
For
a bigger effect I have used also the Dodge Tool to lighten some
areas.
You
can obtain the same effect using Brush Tool with low opacity and
different color tones.
Step
3 – Dry
mud texture
This
is practically our island. I have found a nice texture of dry
mud.
Thanks for this texture to mayang.com.
It
is obvious that this photo it is a detail of dry mud…we need
to zoom out this image. So download the image and copy it to your
psd. Go to Edit – Transform – Scale W: 10 % H:10%.
Now
the detail in right but the photo is too small for our island
surface. So duplicate this layer and go to Edit – Transform –
Flip Horizontal. Merge this two layers and call it Mud 1.
Duplicate
Mud 1 and go to Edit – Transform – Flip Vertical. Call
this layer Mud 2.
Duplicate
Mud 1 , call it Mud 3 and place it on top of all layers. I put the
image below to understand better the steps.
Now
you can merge all those three mud layers. Call this new layer Mud
Texture Layer.
Go
to Edit – Transform - Warp and change the shape of Mud Texture
to obtain a spherical look.
Press
CTRL and click the Thumbnail of the Island Layer. Go to Mud
Texture Layer and
press CTRL+C and CTRL+V. You call this new layer Mud
Texture Layer and
delete the old Mud Texture Layer. Change the Blending Mode of this
layer from Normal to Overlay opacity 100%.
Step
4 – Adding
Grass to the Island
Set
the Foreground Color to #455609. With Ellipse Tool draw an ellipse.
Call this layer Grass Layer and place it under the Island and Mud
Texture Layers.
It
is now time to add some grass texture to this ellipse. Copy this
grass
photo
from Flickr
.
Press
CTRL and click the Thumbnail of the Grass Layer. Go to Grass Texture
Layer and click CTRL+C and CTRL+V. You can see that a selection of
grass texture was copied in another layer. Call this layer Grass
Texture Layer and delete the photo from Flickr.
Place
the Grass Texture Layer on top ogf Grass Layer and change the
Blending Mode from Normal to Overlay , opacity 100%. We will return
to this layer later to burn some areas.
Your
image should look something like this:
Step
5 – Adding
the Castle
I
have found this beautiful castle on Flickr.
Copy it in your psd file.
Set
the Foreground Color to # ff7f29.
Now take the Pen Tool and draw the shape of the castle. Call this
layer Castle Shape Layer. Press CTRL and click the Thumbnail of the
Castle Shape Layer and go to Castle image; press CTRL+C and than
CTRL+V. You now have the castle extracted from the background. Delete
the initial flickr image.
Call
the new layer Castle Layer . Lets change a little the color of the
castle. For that simply change the blending mode of Castle Shape
Layer from Normal to Color 100%.
The
Castle Shape Layer must be on top of Castle Layer. Merge the two
layers.
With
Burn Tool I have decided to accentuate the shadows and with the Dodge
Tool to accentuate the Highlights.
Step
6 – Adding
details to the Castle
I
want to make a difference between the walls and the roof of the
castle. So create a new layer on top of all the castle layers. With
Brush Tool, color # fae5b9,
opacity 100% paint the walls of the castle. Change the Blending Mode
of this layer from Normal to Color opacity 100%.
Now
we have to deal with the Castle Shadow. Create a new layer and call
it Castle Shadow Layer. Set the Foreground Color to #
142c01.
With Brush Tool draw a castle shadow.
Go
to Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur (radius 1,8 pixels).
Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light opacity 100%.
With Burn Tool burn parts of the shadow.
Step
7 – Drawing
Tree Roots
I
want to make some nice roots coming out of the ground. Set the
Foreground Color to # 654725
.I will use Pen Tool to draw a simple root shape. Right click and
choose Rasterize Layer. Now with the Burn Tool I will give shape to
the root…it is something similar to Step 2 – Draw the
Island. Use also the Dodge Tool to give highlights to the root.
Now
use the Smudge Tool to create smaller roots. Choose size 2 for the
brush, mode normal and strenght 90%.
Duplicate
this root two times, flip it horizontally and place it on the other
side of the island. With the same tehnique draw other roots.
Step
8 – Add
Trees to the scene
I
have found this really nice Brush
Tree Set
. Download this set and import it into Brush Tool.
Create
a new layer and place three trees. I’ve used Ded2.jpg tree,
size 130 px, 120 px and different tones of braun color for the
Foreground Color.
Step
9 – Play
with Shadow and Light
Create
a new layer on top of all the others . Go to Image – Apply
Image.
This
step is optional. I like to play with shadow and light with Burn and
Dodge Tools. In the image below you have some of the areas that need
this treatment.
Step
10 – Add
the Sky and the Clouds
The
sky is to flat, the image needs some clouds. I have used this
beautiful
sky photo
from Flickr. Copy this photo and erase the buildings area, keep only
the sky. Use Rectangular Marquee Tool to select the city and delete.
To blend the bottom sky area with our sky you only have to use Smudge
Tool and than Blur Tool.
Call
this layer Clouds Layer. Duplicate this layer and call it Bottom
Clouds Layer.
You
can see that the layer covers the castle and the trees; not a good
thing. Return to Castle Shape Layer press CTRL and click the layer
Thumbnail and return to Clouds Layer and simply press delete. Do the
same for the trees.
Draw
a rectangle on the bottom of the image, color #88c6d9. Go to Filter –
Blur – Gaussian Blur . Change the opacity of this layer to 70 %
Place
Bottom Clouds Layer on the bottom of the image. I will now use
Smudge Tool to make the top edge of this layer, blend with the rest
of the sky. Use the Tool up and down, right and left with circular
moves to make the result image look realistic.
Change
the opacity of this layer to 70 %.
Step
11 – Add
Final Touch
No
image manipulation without birds! I have found a nice Free
Birds Set.
Place birds with color #52696d on the sky as you like.
The
nest step is to draw a rectangle, color #b1aa9e on top of all the
layers. The rectangle must cover the entire image. Change the
Blending Mode of this layer to Hue and the opacity to 40 %.
This
is my final image! Hope you like it!
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