Photoshop Tutorial: Create a Surreal Turtle Image

This tutorial shows the creation of one of my images. It shows how I adjust lighting and colours in my images to create this surrealistic turtle. Hopefully, you'll be able to transfer these methods to your own work.
The full version of the result can be viewed here: Full size surreal turtle.

I'm using Photoshop CS5 running on a Macbook Pro, so some stages may differ for some people. Before photoshop CS3, a gradient map is known as "Gradient Fill".

These are the sources I used in the creation of the image, special thanks to Night Fate for providing the background:

Turtle - Night Fate - Desert - Sky - Elephants - Gazelle
Stream - Grass - Tree 1 - Tree 2 - Tree 3 - Tree 4 - Tree 5

End result:
Create a Surreal Turtle Image Final Image

Author:

Views: 279094

Score: 9.76 / 10

Author earned: $35

Practice tutorial

Tags:surrealturtle

Step 1

I rarely sketch out my ideas, because blending sources this way is not very complicated, but it is important to have a feel of what you want to create, as well as the atmosphere, before you actually start working.

Like with any image in which sources are being used, selections are the first stage. We want to isolate every source so that we can create our own composition.

Below you can see the background sources and the main object, in this case, the turtle.

Step 2

When an image is imported into photoshop, it's known as a Background Layer This means that there is no layer below that one. To be able to remove the sky from Night Fate's background, we need to make this a workable layer.

Step 3

The Pen Tool is my preferred tool for extracting an object, because it's a very versatile tool that once mastered can be used to accomplish almost anything. Draw a path by pointing and clicking around the area you want to delete. The selection doesn't have to be perfect, photoshop has an extensive range of Edge Refining tools that will make any mistakes easy to clear.

Step 4

Delete the original sky, like shown below, so that the new sky can be imported. An interesting sky is very important to most images, because it helps create an atmosphere. For images with a "Happy" mood, a clear or partly cloudy blue sky works well. However, for a dark and almost depressing image, a stormy sky conveys the right emotions. With this image i chose a sunset, because it shows a slow passage of time.

Step 5

Once the original sky has been removed, select the new sky and use Ctrl+C to copy it, then go back to the desert background image and press Ctrl+V

Once the new sky is in your image, press Ctrl+T and resize the sky to fit over the image. It's VERY important to hold the SHIFT key down while resizing, to maintain the original proportions of the image.

Step 6

Next, move the 'Sky' layer underneath the 'Desert Layer' and press Ctrl+J to duplicate the 'Sky' layer.

Then go to Filter - Blur - Average

The 'Sky Copy' layer is now the average colour of that sky, with no differing tones. We'll use this layer to match the hues between the Desert and the Sky.

Step 7

Move the 'Sky Copy' layer to the top, and hold the ALT key down. Next, click on the dividing line between the 'Sky Copy' and the 'Desert' layer. This creates a linked layer which acts like a layer mask.

I usually change the blend mode to 'Soft Light' or 'Colour' , but in this case the two blend modes were not strong enough. The blend mode 'Overlay' worked well, and that was the one that was chosen.

Step 8

My Pen Tool selection was quite rough, and some of the original sky could still be seen around the edges. This is the perfect time to use on one of Photoshop's most hidden features, the "Defringe" layer feature. The Defringe option almost perfectly removes any thing white halo around a selected objects.

It can be found under Layer - Matting - Defringe

A value of 1 pixel was chosen.

Step 9

Below you can see the image so far. As you can see, the hues between the sky and desert match together, and there is no white halo around the image.

The next stages show the slight editing of the background, as well as adding all the different sources.

Step 10

The perspective of the Desert layer is different to that of the turtle layer. This can be simply changed by pressing Ctrl+T , next right click and press "Perspective" and pull the bottom two corners as shown below.

Step 11

Using the Pen Tool, make a selection around the turtle, then press Ctrl+T and resize and move it into position.

The next step is to match the lighting of the turtle to the rest of the image. Create a new layer and call it "Lighting" next link the layer with a clipping mask like described in Step 7.

Step 12

Using a soft brush at about 70% opacity, begin to build up lighting and shadow layers, once you're done, change the blend mode to "Soft Light"

This creates a subtle change in lighting.

Step 13

Next create another linked layer above the "Lighting" layer and name it "Inner Shadows", then using a low opacity brush paint along the bottom of the turtle. This again helps to create a subtle change in lighting.

Step 14

Of course, no image would look at all realistic without a shadow. Paint a shadow along the bottom edge of the turtle on a new layer below the "Turtle" layer. Name this layer "Shadows".

Once you're done, blur this layer as shown below. This helps to create a nice, soft shadow.

Step 15

Most of my shadows consist of two or three layers. Add a new layer named "Shadows 2" above the original shadow layer, then paint a shadow that covers a larger area around the turtle, like shown below. This layer needs to be blurred almost twice as much as the first shadow was.

Once you've done that, change the blend mode to "Soft Light"

Step 16

This step shows how the image looks so far. As you can see the lighting on the turtle closely matches that of the background and a convincing shadow is in place.

Step 17

The next few steps are very similar to ones shown above, with layers being linked and blended together with the layer mask.

Select the sand roughly and copy and paste it into the main composition, then move this new layer underneath the lighting layers on the turtle.

Step 18

Resize the "Sand" layer to fit the turtle and add a layer mask. Use this layer mask to delete the areas where there is no shell.

Do the same with the "Grass" layer.

Step 19

Use the Layer Masks to make a transition between the grass and sand layers.

Step 20

Import the pre-masked tree files into your composition and resize them to fit around the shell. The trees were added to show the difference in dimensions. This shows that either the turtle is huge, or the trees are tiny.

Step 21

Remove the lower parts of the trees and in a similar way to the shadows on the turtle, add the shadow for each tree.

Step 22

Use a soft brush to pain the new lighting on the trees, add each of these on a new linked layer with a Clipping Mask. Again, i'll spare you the details because they've already been described.

Step 23

Below you can see the image so far.

Step 24

Roughly select the Stream and import it into the composition, then resize it on the turtle's shell. Add a layer mask to this layer so that it can be blended better with the rest of the image.

Step 25

Erase the unnecessary parts using the layer mask, I also changed the lighting of the stream.

Step 26

In this step, using the same steps as above, i added the gazelles and the elephants, I also grouped each object separately for a more organised layers palette.

Step 27

The next few layers are used to match the colours of the scene, as well as to create a mood for the image. As mentioned below, i've created custom gradients that I use most of the time in my images, but i also use some default ones.

Add a new Gradient Map adjustment layer, and click on the default black and white gradient to enter the Gradient Editor.

Step 28

Add two adjustment layers, one going from Black to Brown to White and another going from Black to Blue to White.

Change the Brown layer to "Colour" and place it below the Blue one, and change the Blue gradient map to "Soft Light"

Step 29

Now, select both those gradient maps and group them by pressing Ctrl+G
Change the opacity to 37%

Next add another custom gradient like the one shown below, this gradient can vary, as long as it goes from a dark colour to a light colour. Change the blend mode to Colour and lower the Opacity to 38%

Step 30

Now add two default gradient maps. The Black and White gradient map should be below the Violet and Orange gradient map. Change the blend mode to the Violet and Orange gradient map to "Soft Light" , then group both layers and lower the opacity to 26%

Step 31

Now add a Colour Balance adjustment layer to give it a different overall hue, change the blend mode to Darken and slightly lower the opacity.

Step 32

Add a Black and White adjustment layer and change the options as shown below, and lower the opacity. Next, add a Photo Filter adjustment level, keep it at the default values.

Step 33

Using a low opacity brush on a new layer, paint the overall lighting adjustments like shown below. Once you're done, the blend mode should be changed to "Soft Light" and the Opacity slightly lowered.

Step 34

On a new layer paint a simple vignette with a large soft brush, lower the opacity to 78%

Step 35

Next, give the image a "Soft Glow" effect by merging all the layers onto a single layer above the others. Do this by simultaneously pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E

Next apply a Gaussian Blur to this layer.

Change the blend mode to "Soft Light" and lower the Opacity to around 50%

Step 36

Below you can see the difference before and after applying the colour and lighting adjustments.

Step 37

That's it! The image is complete.

I hope this tutorial helped you understand the way i match colours and blend images. Thank you to everyone on this site who has taught me so much. :)

Howdie Guest!

We have 20+ awesome contests running every single week, with great prizes!
Photoshop Contests, Photography Contests, Drawing Contests and 3D Contests!

Feel free to join our free community and show of your talents to others, it's big fun!

LOGIN HERE / REGISTER FOR FREE or stay in touch

118 Comments:

Alan2641 says:

As Always a very well explained tutorial -=- like the detail on your lighting techniques

(4 years and 220 days ago)

ponti55 says:

Thanks Alan!

For anyone interested in seeing the final product on deviant art, follow this link:
http://Ponti55.deviantart.com/art/Life-on-the-Back-of-a-Shell-169199054

Thanks!

(4 years and 217 days ago)

Lamantine says:

Wow ! Very clearly written and awesome finish ! I learn so much from you !

(4 years and 216 days ago)

Guest says:

great

(4 years and 213 days ago)

Guest says:

really great tutorial, thanks!

(4 years and 213 days ago)

Guest says:

Wonderfull, thank you!

(4 years and 212 days ago)

Guest says:

สุดยอด

(4 years and 212 days ago)

Guest says:

Interesting.

(4 years and 212 days ago)

Guest says:

yeah..thats true Alan
u explained very nicely...
love ur work

(4 years and 211 days ago)

Guest says:

فلللللللللللله تصدق اعجبني لكن صعب شوي

(4 years and 211 days ago)

Guest says:

wooaah!!!! great!!! your great!!!! i learn so much!!! intersting!!!

(4 years and 210 days ago)

Guest says:

Thanks

(4 years and 210 days ago)

Guest says:

ขยันมาก

(4 years and 210 days ago)

ponti55 says:

Thank you all for your comments! (i used google translate for a couple...) =D

(4 years and 210 days ago)

Guest says:

this is fantabulous...!

(4 years and 210 days ago)

Guest says:

Thanks a bunch! Def. a beginner and your tutorial helped me out a lot! Thanks for the lesson!

(4 years and 209 days ago)

Guest says:

我说这的句话没有意义，不要看我。

(4 years and 209 days ago)

Guest says:

Thank's a lot sir ! :')

(4 years and 209 days ago)

Guest says:

very nice tutorial and excellent end results, thanks for share

(4 years and 208 days ago)

EmiK says:

Yes thank you, this was very helpful = )

(4 years and 206 days ago)

Guest says:

reallyy good tutorial, i've learned so much with this.

(4 years and 205 days ago)

Clinge says:

Very nicely done, THX

(4 years and 205 days ago)

Guest says:

Very very helpful tutorial , thanks !!

(4 years and 202 days ago)

solkee says:

Excellent tutorial Matteo, thanks for sharing your technique.

(4 years and 200 days ago)

Guest says:

you are great my friend. thank you for bearing writing all the details. so nice of u

(4 years and 197 days ago)

jcooke426 says:

Thank you SOO much for this tutorial!!! I've been up for hours messing around and you have no idea how many questions you answered for me w/ this one tutorial... all i can say is THANKS!!

(4 years and 197 days ago)

ponti55 says:

Thank you all so much! I'm happy it helped

(4 years and 197 days ago)

Guest says:

hi i just wanted to know how to creat a mask in the 18th step
thank you and the final photo is awsome

(4 years and 196 days ago)

Guest says:

hi i just wanted to know how to creat a mask in the 18th step
thank you and the final photo is awsome

(4 years and 196 days ago)

Guest says:

amazings.......

(4 years and 196 days ago)

Guest says:

just one word : W O W
tq!!!

(4 years and 196 days ago)

ponti55 says:

To create a mask click on the button on the layers palatte that looks like a white circle on a rectangle Thank you for your comments!

(4 years and 196 days ago)

Guest says:

i've just trieed this and it's wonderful thanks............:d

(4 years and 195 days ago)

Guest says:

Wow, just Wow !!!!!!

(4 years and 194 days ago)

Guest says:

hi i have another Q plz
what is the transition that you was talking about?
and how to make it
you know to combine between the sand and grass
thank you very much

(4 years and 194 days ago)

Guest says:

hi i have another Q plz
what is the transition that you was talking about?
and how to make it
you know to combine between the sand and grass
thank you very much

(4 years and 194 days ago)

Guest says:

i followed this tutorial and my image looks like yours!
so cool, thank you very much
love it

(4 years and 194 days ago)

ponti55 says:

By transition i mean a layer mask on one layer to help the two blend together. I was in essence revealing the layer underneath.

And thanks for your comments

(4 years and 194 days ago)

Guest says:

good job. i like it

(4 years and 192 days ago)

shomyshomy says:

nice tutorial, thanks

(4 years and 192 days ago)

Guest says:

i dont understand how to do a transition with the grass and the sand

(4 years and 192 days ago)

Guest says:

i dont understand how to do a transition with the grass and the sand

(4 years and 192 days ago)

Guest says:

can u explain how to do the transition thing because when you just tried to explain it i didnt understand it so can you please tell me exactly what to do thx. and btw good tut

(4 years and 192 days ago)

Guest says:

One of the best tutorials I've ever seen! Great! Thank you!

(4 years and 191 days ago)

Guest says:

great tutorial..

(4 years and 189 days ago)

Guest says:

something so simple yet it looks so professional, your a genius man!

(4 years and 187 days ago)

Guest says:

很好，很强大的说

(4 years and 187 days ago)

Guest says:

BRAVO!!!

(4 years and 186 days ago)

Guest says:

fuck you all spammers

(4 years and 186 days ago)

Guest says:

Hello ,,in step 6 i think that there a mistake or because I do not know English well and use the translation of google ... I could not to understand. You to become more clearly?
But I do not mind thank you very much.

(4 years and 185 days ago)

Guest says:

amazing work!

(4 years and 184 days ago)

gabs44 says:

awesome tutorial - very clear.

(4 years and 184 days ago)

Guest says:

beatiful tutorial man!
jah bles =)

(4 years and 183 days ago)

Guest says:

great tutorial, i really learned a lot

(4 years and 178 days ago)

skeletor says:

Great Tut!.... very detailed.... good job!

(4 years and 176 days ago)

hereisanoop says:

fantastic

(4 years and 176 days ago)

retnodwimp says:

excellent!! great tutorial

(4 years and 175 days ago)

Guest says:

very helpful .... an amazing step by step tutorial .. thanx ponti55

(4 years and 174 days ago)

Guest says:

can u help me with step 19?
Use the Layer Masks to make a transition between the grass and sand layers.

I dont' know what to do here

(4 years and 173 days ago)

Guest says:

very usefull

(4 years and 173 days ago)

Guest says:

really GREAT work

(4 years and 166 days ago)

Guest says:

hi its excellent. thanks for sharing. Hats to you.

(4 years and 164 days ago)

Guest says:

.You are very skilled.

(4 years and 162 days ago)

Guest says:

De verdad muchas gracias por tu aporte es un excelente tutorial!

(4 years and 158 days ago)

Guest says:

Зашибись!!! Автор то кто?

(4 years and 158 days ago)

Guest says:

Зашибись!!! Автор то кто?

(4 years and 158 days ago)

Guest says:

Excellent and well explain. thank´s for sharing.

(4 years and 157 days ago)

Guest says:

BEST........

(4 years and 156 days ago)

Guest says:

way to complicated.... I am a professional Graphic designer and the this isn't that difficult to make but you made it very complicated when all you had to do was use burn and dodge tools and some hue and saturation effects. most of the steps were not necessary in the end.

I guess for beginners its ok, but still, using adjustment layers for everything isn't very useful.

Good end picture... too many steps...

(4 years and 151 days ago)

mary [banned] says:

Wonderful tutorial - best one I've found so far and it was great to follow and taught me a great deal! Thank you so much for doing this - I know it took a lot of your time

(4 years and 150 days ago)

Guest says:

we like this assignment very much. Add more like this.

(4 years and 147 days ago)

snehal [banned] says:

nice one

(4 years and 147 days ago)

[banned] says:

Even though i've been banned from this site, i still like reading all your great comments. I'm glad this tutorial has reached and helped so many people Thank you all very much!

(4 years and 146 days ago)

mikey [banned] says:

"way to complicated.... I am a professional Graphic designer and the this isn't that difficult to make but you made it very complicated when all you had to do was use burn and dodge tools and some hue and saturation effects. most of the steps were not necessary in the end.

I guess for beginners its ok, but still, using adjustment layers for everything isn't very useful.

Good end picture... too many steps..."

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
If you are a "Graphic Designer" then why are you looking at tutorials?!

(4 years and 146 days ago)

Guest says:

THANKS FOR THE TUTORIAL... IS AMAZING

(4 years and 140 days ago)

laura [banned] says:

Fantastic!!!

(4 years and 113 days ago)

Guest says:

wooooow

(4 years and 111 days ago)

[banned] says:

I like ur technique! Great Tut ! Thank u sir ! ^_^. U help me learn clearly a lot of things.One more, thanks.

(4 years and 107 days ago)

[banned] says:

thanks for the great step by step tutorial, I completed it as best I could.. (I'm new to photoshop)
Mine looks very similar, the only problem I had was merging the layers towards the end.
great tutorial, great art!
thanks again

(4 years and 107 days ago)

shiva says:

Excellent tut

(4 years and 107 days ago)

dillerver says:

great i try .......it

(4 years and 106 days ago)

[banned] says:

Wao!!!!

you really make very extraordinary picture

best.......

(4 years and 98 days ago)

SlimMarley says:

Amazing tutorial man, thank you very much!

(4 years and 95 days ago)

ahmad says:

wooooow great i try .......it
you really make very extraordinary picture

(4 years and 47 days ago)

[banned] says:

i love the coloring very nice and i love graphic designing love this

(4 years and 46 days ago)

AdhirAnimator says:

Superb tutorial mate... thanks a ton for sharing with us it will surely improve my work!

(4 years and 46 days ago)

Guest says:

Great job man. Even me being a noob at using Photoshop my final result is amazing, thats becouz u explained very well each step Thx so much man

(4 years and 33 days ago)

Danny says:

Just.. WOW awesome man.

(4 years and 30 days ago)

ponti55 says:

Thank you all very much! Glad you found my tutorial useful I've seen some of your results on around the web and i've been very impressed

(4 years and 14 days ago)

Guest says:

the best. i was crazy to know how to make those dreamy efects and images. you explaned a bunch. i'll go through this tutorial many times till i'm good at it! i apreciate it so much that you took your time to reveal some of your techniques

(4 years and 13 days ago)

[banned] says:

i love ur work

(4 years and 6 days ago)

dimeserver says:

inceiblemente pero cierto!!!

(3 years and 347 days ago)

Guest says:

thankyou for sharing dude.. your a geneius

(3 years and 297 days ago)

Guest says:

the link to the "night Fate" gives an error on devian art. can you PLEASE email it to me rnllbrrdxn333@gmail.com
thank you

(3 years and 275 days ago)

Guest says:

hi, the link to the "night fate" is not working. Can you please be so kind and upload a new link of maybe mail the pick to me? the tut looks amazing, but I cant do it without the photo )-:

(3 years and 275 days ago)

Guest says:

Thanks so much, I`ve used this in one of my works, and of course gave you full credit

http://shopjob.deviantart.com/#/d3fz7rm

(3 years and 268 days ago)

[banned] says:

Congratulations

(3 years and 241 days ago)

alex says:

Definately one of the best Tutorials I've seen so far! Thanks for the good ideas on Layers and the Defringeing

(3 years and 223 days ago)

Guest says:

Hey, I found the link to Night Fate's background on deviantArt.
http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=landscape#/d2s6y4c
Hope this helps!

(3 years and 204 days ago)

[banned] says:

O wow, this is sick!What a great idea. I love it

(3 years and 192 days ago)

[banned] says:

One of the best tutorials ... thanks!

(3 years and 187 days ago)

Guest says:

Got it! Thanks a lot again for hepling me out!

(3 years and 163 days ago)

Guest says:

super!

It also helped me in school; in the art class i used this tutorial when we had photoshop, thanks a lot!

I got the highest grade on in, btw .. =D

(3 years and 147 days ago)

ponti55 says:

Thank you all very much for the comments! And thank you to the guest that reposted the broken link, if anyone has trouble finding it it can be found here:

http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=landscape#/d2s6y4c

(3 years and 146 days ago)

kariedaway says:

Excellent tutorial, ponti55! I learned so much about lighting layers and how to use gradients to change the mood of the piece. Thank you! My end result can be seen here http://kariedaway.deviantart.com/art/Passage-264206580

(3 years and 106 days ago)

irish [banned] says:

Seriously, this tutorials is a big help... it shows even the tiniest details. job well done sir.
I am impressed.

(3 years and 22 days ago)

Guest says:

thank you sooo much,.
i love your tutorial - it helps me to create my own photoshop composing

(2 years and 363 days ago)

[banned] says:

Really Cool!!!
I think its easy enough to follow so I think I will try it out.
Such a cool concept

(2 years and 333 days ago)

[banned] says:

Awesome man, Really great stuff...

(2 years and 316 days ago)

Guest says:

this tutorial sucks. it wasn't very well explained and why are you using a turtle

(2 years and 304 days ago)

Guest says:

please need help the sky picture is deleted and btw nice tutorial

(2 years and 205 days ago)

[banned] says:

NIce TuToRiAl

(2 years and 159 days ago)

Guest says:

what's the picture named?

(2 years and 155 days ago)

Guest says:

Made my day!!!!
Thnx heaps

(2 years and 148 days ago)

Guest says:

Nice work, however I'm a bit confused at step 18 and using layer masks to blend the 2 landscapes together.... I think it may need more explaining there and if anyone could help me out that would be great!

(2 years and 69 days ago)

[banned] says:

My outcome; http://kuys.deviantart.com/#/d5nzj4c

(2 years and 50 days ago)

[banned] says:

Frankly good the design and a great idea

(2 years and 12 days ago)

Guest says:

Brilliant Chap Just Brilliant
incredibly easy even for me and im only twelve

(2 years and 4 days ago)

Pxleyes

Photography and photoshop contests

We are a community of people with a passion for photography, graphics and art in general.

Every day new photoshop and photography contests are posted to compete in. We also have one weekly drawing contest and one weekly 3D contest!

Participation is 100% free!
Just register and get started!

Good luck!