The Professional Photoshop Book - Volume 7 2015

Photo manipulation

88 The Professional Photoshop Book

03

BEGIN ADDING FIERY ELEMENTS

Next we’ll start adding fiery elements to the scenario using the parts of image: 184079207 from

shutterstock.com. Every image with a black background can be easily cut with just one click. All you

have to do is change the blend mode from Normal to Screen. Knowing the functions of the blend modes

is fundamental to the construction of any image. Having this knowledge in mind you can invent new

combinations that will make your art more real. Add the fire elements that go behind the main image.

You can add a mask to repair some details.

04

CONSIDER THE DETAILS

Details are key to making a complex

scene. You must go deep down into your

imagination to think about everything that could

make your scene more realistic. So we add some

explosions on the sides of the picture. Use images:

79509298, 223794127,149427977 and 289427945

from shutterstock.com. The procedure to cut out

the fire image is the same as in Step 3 – change

the blend mode from Normal to Screen. The

construction of a good scene is very important to

the success of your composition. With the

backdrop finished you will be able to be more

precise with the superhero’s lighting later.

02

INSERT A DARK SKY

Now we will add the sky using the cloudy

elements of image: 184079207 from shutterstock.

com. Always remember that the scenario should

be dark, because it will help with the fire effects that

we’ll be adding later. To avoid losing any colour

information, make adjustments using the settings

menu. To give the sky the desired tone you should

use the Brightness and Saturation tool to take out

all the saturation. Then after that add red into the

composition with the Color Balance tool.

01

START WITH THE FLOOR

Create a new file, 21 x 13.5 cm, with a 100% black

background. To build the floor we used one image (Image: 196635242

from shutterstock.com) that we duplicated and flipped to create a

whole image. At this point it is essential to keep in mind that we want

to build a dark scene, so black should be a prominent colour. We only

want to use the bottom half of this image so create a mask and erase

the lava in the top half with a smooth brush.

THE STRIKE OF A SUPERHERO

WORK IN

PROGRESS

Progress 2: A dd

superhero lighting

Progress 3: Attention to details

Progress 1: Create a hot floor

You must go deep down

into your imagination to

think about everything that could

make your scene more realistic

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