How to Create an Infernal Scene in Photoshop

How to Create an Infernal Scene in Photoshop
Learn how to create this dark photo manipulation with a burning figure in a mirror. This Photoshop tutorial will show you how stage a scene with multiple photos, add smoke and fire to a witch, and coloring techniques that you can use in other photo manipulations.


Preview of Final Results


Tutorial Resources
Fenestra – Deviantart
Model – Deviantart
Fire – Deviantart
Particle brushes and png – Wegraphics
Fireflies and sparks – Deviantart
Step 1

First off create a new blank document (Ctrl+N) with size of 2000 pixels wide and 2424 pixels high.



Take gradient tool in the tool panel and choose linear gradient. We will fill the blank document with gradient color. Make sure to set the foreground color to #151723 and the background to #423e43. Fill the document by hold-clicking and dragging the tool from the top to bottom of the document.


Step 2

Next place the fenestra image in the document.



Activate the free transform tool (Ctrl+T) to scale the image up. Position it in such way that the window of it becomes the main part of the background.




Step 3

Proceed to alter the color of the wall. We will do this by just simply duplicating the original image four times. Set the original image to multiply blending at 100% opacity, the first duplicate to screen blending at 20% opacity and the other three duplicates to soft light blending at 100% opacity. Finally select all the layers and hit Ctrl+G to put them in a folder. I named this folder wall.



Here is what we will have:



Select the original layer within the folder and give it a layer mask. Take a very soft round brush to mask the upper part of this image as indicated by the red color in the screenshot.



Proceed to select the first duplicate layer and give it a layer mask as well. With soft round brush, mask area around the lower part of the window.



Here is the result should be:


Step 4

Open the raven image and extract it from its background.



Add the raven to the main document. Scale its size and place it on the chair.



With the raven layer still selected, go to layer > new adjustment layers > hue/saturation. Make sure to give this hue/saturation layer a clipping mask by checking ‘Use The Previous Layer To Create A Clipping Mask’ in the new layer option box.



Here is the value of the hue/saturation should be set. Select the raven and hue/saturation layer and put them in a folder. I named this folder raven.


Step 5

Now we will set the color of the window background by giving color adjustment layer above the raven folder. Go to layer > new adjustment layer > vibrance. Set the value of this layer as below:




Step 6

Next extract the model image and add it to the main document above the vibrance layer. With free transform tool, scale its size and position it in the middle of the window. Put this model layer in a folder. I named this folder model.



Select the model layer and then go to layer > new adjustment layers > exposure. Give this exposure layer a clipping mask. Set the value as the one given in the screenshot.



Give another adjustment layer with a clipping mask: color balance.


Step 7

Proceed to give the model some highlight and shadow. To do this purpose, create a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N) above the color balance layer within the folder. Make sure to give this new layer a clipping mask and fill it with color of 50% gray and set its blending to overlay.



Take a very soft round brush set to 10-20% opacity. Stroke white color on the areas around the lower part of the model’s outfit to give some highlight. On contrary, stroke black color to areas where needed to give some shadow. In the screenshot shows us the normal and overlay blending of this layer I created.



Create another new layer with a clipping mask above the highlight and shadow layer within the model folder. On this new layer we will add some dusk particles on the model. Take the particle brush and paint some white particles around the model as indicated by red arrows.



Next, give this model folder a layer mask. Mask the lower part of the model.


Step 8

In this step we will add color to the scene. Create a new layer below the model folder in the layer panel. Take a very soft round brush. Set the color of the foreground to #feef08. Paint the color behind the model. Set this layer to overlay at 100%. I named this layer yellow.



Create two other layers above the yellow layer. With the same color (#feef08), paint more soft yellow color behind the model and on areas above the model head. Set this layer to overlay. Finally, to give more vivid color, paint more yellow on areas behind the model’s waist. Set this layer to pin light. Make sure to adjust the opacity of this layer to get desired glow.



Proceed to paint some smoke around the model. I painted the smoke on a new layer. Select all the yellow layers and the smoke layer. Hit Ctrl+G to group them in a folder. I named this folder yellow.


Step 9

I decided to hide the effect of the vibrance adjustment layer (created in step 5) by masking on area around the window.


Step 10

Next, we will give another color to the scene is that red. Set the foreground color to #ff0607. Create a new layer below the wall folder. Take a very soft round brush set to size of about 1900 pixels. On this new layer, click the brush on the area circled in red as shown in the screenshot. Set this layer to overlay blending at 100% opacity. I named this layer red.



Create a new layer in which we will paint more red (#ff0607) on the lower part of the model. Set this layer to overlay at 100% opacity.



Here is the result I created after adding more soft red on areas behind the shoulder and window. I created it in a new layer set to overlay blending.


Step 11

In this step we will add burning effect to the model. Firstly create a new layer above the model folder. Take one of particle brushes and paint some particles on the shoulder of the model. Use color #fc6703 for the particle. I named this layer right shoulder.



Next open the fire image above the right shoulder layer. Scale the size of the fire and give this image a clipping mask.





Do the same to the left shoulder to give burning effect on it.



Create another new layer and paint more particles on areas around both shoulder. Use color #fc6703 for the color of the particles. Set this layer to screen at about 77% opacity. Select all the layers and group them in a folder. I named this folder fire on shoulder.


Step 12

Proceed to add fire to the head of the model. Create a new layer above the fire on shoulder folder. On this new layer, paint white particles and fire around the model’s head.



Duplicate (Ctrl+J) the fire and place it above the new layer. Scale its size and give it a clipping mask:





Finally, duplicate the BG layer and place the duplicate above the fire layer. I named this layer gradient. Give this layer a clipping mask and set this layer to overlay at 40% opacity. Select all the layers and group them in a folder. I named this folder fire on head.


Step 13

Add the fireflies image above the fire on head folder. Scale its size and take warp to alter its shape a bit. Set this fireflies layer to color dodge blending at 100% opacity.




Step 14

Create a new layer above the fireflies layer. Fill this layer with black. Set its blending to color dodge. Take a very soft round brush set to opacity of about 5%. On this new layer, paint some color which is white, orange and yellow to give some highlight on the model.



Here is the result so far…..


Step 15

Next add the particles image to the scene. Place it around the model. Set the particles image to normal at 25% opacity.


Step 16

Create a new layer on which we will paint some highlight on the model’s face. Take red color (#fc6703) and a soft round brush. Stroke the brush on areas around the face as indicated by selection in the screenshot. Then, set this layer to soft light:





Create another new layer to paint soft yellow on areas around the face as indicated by selection in the screenshot. Set this layer to soft light at 100% opacity. This will give more vivid highlight on the face. Finally, group all these layers in a folder. I named this folder highlight on face.




Step 17

Proceed to create light on the fingertip of the model. We will apply almost similar ways as we did in previous step when creating or adding color to the scene. Go to layer > new > group to create a folder for the light layers. I named this folder light. Open the folder and create a new layer within this folder. Take a very soft round brush set to about 40 pixels size. On this new layer, create soft yellow light on the fingertip by clicking the brush on it. Then, set this layer to overlay at 100% opacity. I named this layer yellow.





Create another new layer above the yellow layer within the folder. Create soft white light on this new layer. Use smaller brush than the one used in creating the yellow light.


Step 18

Duplicate the light folder several times as needed. We will use the duplicates to add light on the candles. Move the duplicates to every candle. This will give more light to them. To determine the brightness of the light on the candles, we can place two duplicates on them. Select all the duplicated folders and regroup them in one folder. I named this new folder light on the candles.




Step 19

Next, we will make darker mood for the overall scene and let the reddish tone be more vivid. To do this, we will just simply duplicate the gradient layer (step 12) two times and place the duplicates on the topmost position in the layer panel. Set the first duplicate to overlay blending at 100% opacity and the second duplicate to overlay blending at 25% opacity. Mask on certain parts to the duplicates. Select the two duplicates and group them in one folder. I named this folder gradient.


Step 20

Now we will give color adjustment layer for the entire scene. Go to layer > new adjustment layers > photo filter. Set this layer to normal at 100% opacity. Make sure this layer is above all the other layers or folders in the layer panel. Here is the value and result of the image so far:





Then, duplicate the photo filter layer one time. Set the duplicate to color blending at 100%. Finally, group these photo filter layers in one folder. I named this folder photo filter. Give this folder a layer mask and mask on areas around the model and window to reveal the reddish tone on them.


Step 21

Go again to layer > new adjustment layers to give another color adjustment layer above all the other layers or folders. This time we will give channel mixer layer. Here is the value of the channel mixer and the result:





Finally, mask on areas around the model, lower part of window and light on the candles.


Step 22

From this step on, we will do some overall adjustment for the scene. Firstly, we will add highlight on the wall around the candles and lampposts. Create a new folder below the light folder previously made (step 17). I named this folder highlight on the wall and lamppost. Create a new layer within this folder. Take a very soft round brush and, on this new layer, paint soft yellow (#fecb04) on the wall around the candles. Set this layer to soft light at 100% opacity.



Create a new layer above the previous layer within this folder. Fill (shift+F5) this layer with black. Set this layer to color dodge at 100% opacity. On this new layer, paint some more soft yellow. This will give brighter highlight on the wall.



Finally, create another new layer above the two previous layers within the folder. Take a very soft round brush set to 20-25% opacity and paint red highlight on the lampposts.


Step 23

Proceed to repair the look of the chair. The wood of the chair still looks very dark. We will repair it. To do this, we will just simply duplicate the fenestra image and place the duplicate above the wall folder (step 2-3). Set this duplicate to normal at 100% opacity. Give it a layer mask and all parts of the image except the wood of the chair.


Step 24

Next we will give highlight on the raven. Go to select the raven folder (step 4). Open the folder and create a new layer with a clipping mask above the hue/saturation layer within the folder. Set this new layer to overlay. Take a very soft round brush set to 20-25% opacity. On this new layer, paint soft red color around the raven to give it some highlight. We can adjust the opacity of this layer to determine the brightness of the highlight. For the amount of red color I painted as the one seen in normal mode in the screenshot, I set the opacity for this layer to about 65%.



Create another new layer with a clipping above the previous layer within this folder. On this new layer paint some more soft red color on the raven. Set this layer to soft light. For the amount of red color I painted as the one seen in normal mode in the screenshot, I set the opacity for this layer to about 70%.


Step 25

Finally, we will do some adjustment to the window by giving it more highlight. Basically we will still use the same technique done in previous steps. Go to select the wall folder again. Open the folder. Within this folder, create a new layer with a clipping mask above the topmost fenestra. Fill this new layer with black and set its blending to color dodge. On his new layer, paint soft red and yellow color to the areas around the upper and left part of the window. For the amount of colors I painted as the one seen in normal mode in the screenshot, I set the opacity for this layer to about 70%.





Create another new layer with a clipping mask above the previous layer within this folder. Set this new layer to overlay. Take a very soft round brush set to about 20%. Paint more soft red around the window as indicated by the red arrows. To give more vivid highlight, I duplicate the layer.



Here is the order of the layers will look in the layer panel.



And here is the result:


Step 26

Here is the final steps we should make: make sure we are active on the topmost layer (layer channel mixer). Hit Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E to merge all the visible layers into a single new layer. When we are active on this new layer, go to layer > Smart Object > convert to smart object. This will change the new layer into a smart object. Now go to filter > others > high pass. This will give the smart object layer filter high pass. Set the value as following:



Change the smart filter blending option to multiply at about 60% opacity



Here is the result:



Now be active on the filter mask thumbnail. Take a very soft round brush to mask areas on the scene. The areas highlighted in red are where we should mask.



That’s the end of this tutorial:


Final Results

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