Create a Spooky Forest Setting

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HALLOWEEN

Create a Spooky ForestSetting in AdobePhotoshopby Kirk Nelson 13 Oct 2014

22 Comments

188 181 24


What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial, you'll be creating a spooky cottage in the woods using Adobe

Photoshop. You'll learn about a range of photo manipulation tools, and will see how

you can add visual effects to convey a Halloween mood. So get ready to add an

atmosphere of terror and dread to this quaint little cottage in the woods!

Tutorial Assets

You will need to download the following images to follow along with this tutorial.


They are free from www.pixabay.com but do require a user registration.

Misty Forest Setting

Abandoned House

Skull Image

Creepy-Eyed Cat

1. Prepare the House

Before we can just drop any old house into a forest, we need to do a bit of

remodeling. Of course, the house needs to look dilapidated and abandoned. But it

also needs to fit the environment we aim to set it in.

Step 1 Open the abandoned house image called abandones-house-177105.jpg in

Photoshop. Craft a selection around the main portion of the house, ignoring the

additions to the structure on the far left and right.


Step 2Copy the house selection to a new layer with Layer > New > Layer Via Copy

(Control-J), and then delete the original background layer. This is so that the

resulting smart object isn't carrying additional pixels.


Step 3Create a selection around the door and copy it to new layer. Then go to Edit >

Transform > Flip Horizontally and reposition the door to cover the first window on

the left side of the house.


Step 4The bright shine on the rest of the windows will not work for our dark forest setting.

Momentarily hide the door layer and create a selection around the top portion of the

first window (the one without a bright shine on the glass). Copy that to a new layer

and reposition over the top portion of the second window. Use Edit > Transform >

Distort to fit the window into the new position. Copy the layer twice more and

position over the other windows too.


Step 5We are done with the basic house preparations. Now we can place our creepy

house into a spooky forest setting. Reveal the door layer again and save this file as

House.psd and close the file.

2. Enter the Forest

Forests are a beautiful slice of nature! Perfect for a quaint little cottage. Except, of


course, on a dark and foggy night! Then they are truly terrifying.

Step 1Open the misty forest scene file, pine-273828.jpg. Then deposit the house as a

smart object by going to File > Place > Place Embedded and choose the

House.psd file. Position and scale the house so that the path appears to lead up to

the doorway.

Step 2Duplicate the background layer with Layer > Duplicate Layer and place the copy

over the top of the house layer so that it hides the house completely. This will serve


as the foreground forest area.

Step 3To create the semi-transparent areas of the fog, set the image Luminosity by going

to the Channels panel. Control-Click on the composite RGB channel to load the

bright areas as a selection. Then return to the Layers panel and hold down the Alt

key while pressing the New Layer Mask icon. This will turn the selection into a

layer mask, but invert it too!


Step 4The foreground trees need to be completely opaque, and right now they are semi-

transparent. Make sure the layer mask is still selected and go to Image >

Adjustments > Levels (Control-L). Pull the right-most handle towards the center

to increase the contrast until the house is not visible through the tree trunks.


Step 5Some of the tree trunks that should be behind the house appear faintly in front of it.

Correcting this requires manually brushing the mask with a soft-edged brush. Set

the paint color to black and the brush Opacity to 10% and slowly build up the effect,

using multiple strokes, until the wayward tree disappears behind the house.


Step 6Enhance the effect by creating a duplicate forest layer. Set the blending mode to

Multiply and reduce the Opacity to 66%. Then use a large, soft-edged, black brush

on the mask to make the doorway area of the house slightly more visible.


Step 7To start creating the atmospheric effects, add a Photo Filter Adjustment Layer

and set the filter to Deep Blue and the Density to 33%

Step 8Duplicate the Photo Filter and set the blending mode to Soft Light and reduce the


Opacity to 36%. Then use a Radial Gradient on the mask going from Black to

Transparent, to remove the effect from the foreground path area.

Step 9The house is slightly off color from the rest of the forest scene. So add a

Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and clip it to the House layer. Leave the Hue at

0, and set the Saturation to -27 and Lightness to -21.


Step 10Even in this heavy fog, the house appears a little too washed out. Increase the

contrast by adding a Curves Adjustment Layer clipped to the top of the house

layer as well. Then adjust the curves to create a gentle S-shape. Be careful not to

brighten the house, instead keeping the curve points below their original position so

the overall effect is darker.


3. The Fog Creeps In...

The mist obscuring visual elements is part of what makes the scene so spooky. The

very idea that there are things out there that we can't see. We always assume they

can see us through the same fog though. Maybe ghouls have "fog-vision"?

Step 1


Add a new layer over the house adjustment layers called Gradient Fog. Use a

Linear Gradient set to Foreground to Transparent. Set the foreground color to

756860 and create a gradient rising up from the bottom of the scene. Because this

layer is still behind the foreground tree layers, it won't be as visible along the path,

but mostly seen at the base of the house.


Step 2The fog is too smooth and perfect; it needs some variation to appear more realistic.

Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Set the Amount to 10%.


Step 3Target the House layer and create a selection just around the top window. Go to

Layer > New > Layer Via Copy (Control-J) to copy the window onto a new layer.

Move that layer up over the Gradient Fog layer.


Step 4Give the window an unearthly yellow glow by clipping a Hue/Saturation

Adjustment Layer to the Window layer. Check the Colorize box and set the Hue to

55, Saturation to 100 and Lightness to -21.


Step 5The yellow window needs a spooky glow. Add an new layer to the very top of the

stack called WindowGlow. Create a rough selection around the window frame and

fill it with the bright yellow ebe47a . Cancel the selection with Select > Deselect

(Control-D) then set the Blend Mode to Screen. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian

Blur and use a Radius of 20 pixels.


Step 6A light of that brightness would cast a visible area glow in the heavy fog. Add a new

layer, AreaGlow, then use the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) to create a selection in

the shape of a light beam shining out from the window. Use a Radial Gradient from

the same yellow color, ebe47a to transparent. Start the gradient up in the window

and stretch it out to the end of the beam selection.


Step 7Set the Blend Mode to Soft Light and reduce the Opacity to 60%. Then go to

Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use a Radius of 5 pixels.


Step 8The light beam should have more impact on the appearance of the house behind it.

Control-click the AreaGlow layer to create a selection and then add a

Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer. The selection automatically becomes the

Layer Mask on the adjustment layer. Set the Brightness to 33 and the Contrast

to -50.


Step 9The fog could use some variation to break up the solid appearance. So let's create

a swirling, undulating fog texture of our own! First create a new layer,

FogSwirlTexture. Then tap the D key to set the colors to Default black and white.

Go to Filter > Render > Clouds to fill the canvas with the cloud texture.


Next go to Filter > Filter Gallery and choose the Chrome filter from the Sketch

folder. Set the Detail to 0 and Smoothness to 10.


Then finish off the texture with Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur using a Radius of

10 pixels.


Step 10Create a rectangular selection over the fog texture and copy it to a new layer with

Layer > New > Layer Via Copy and name it AreaGlowTexture. Hide the original

texture layer and transform the AreaGlowTexture layer to roughly fit over the

window area glow. Brighten the texture with Image > Adjustments > Levels

(Control-L) by sliding the right-most handle towards the left.


Step 11Set the Blend Mode to Overlay and reduce the Opacity to 80%. Then Control-

click on the AreaGlow layer to create a selection to use as a Layer Mask.


Here's how your project should look at this point. Things are starting to get seriously

creepy! But they are about to get even worse!

4. Create Spooky Lighting Effects

The fog plays with light and shadows in interesting ways. creating another subtle

nod towards spookiness, because the way the light dissipates in fog feels unfamiliar

to us.


Step 1Create a new layer called DarkerMist and set the Blend Mode to Hard Light and

the Opacity to 62%. Control-click the House layer to create a selection and go to

Select > Inverse to select the area other than the house. Grab a large, soft-edged

brush and keep the Brush Opacity at around 15%. Hold down the Alt key and

sample a dark color from the fog. Then gently paint in darker areas surrounding the

roof of the house.


Step 2Cancel the selection with Select > Deselect (Control-D). Add a new layer just

under the WindowGlow layer and name it HouseShadows. Set the Blend Mode to

Multiply and the foreground color to default black. Still using the soft brush, paint in

darker shadows on the house. Focus on creating shadows under the eaves and

inside the doorway. If the shadows develops too quickly, reduce the layer opacity.


Step 3Create another layer over the HouseShadows layer and name it YellowGlow. Set

the Blend Mode to Color Dodge. Go to the Channel panel to select the image

Luminosity again by Control-clicking on the RGB thumbnail. Then use this

selection as a Layer Mask on the new YellowGlow layer.


Step 4Make sure the YellowGlow layer is the active layer, not the mask. Use the brush

now to paint in spills of yellow light (paint color bbb84e ) along the pathway and the

inside edge of the trees. The luminosity mask makes sure the paint is only applied

to the highlight areas, which makes this step considerably easier!


5. What Lurks in the Dark?

To make the scene truly terrifying, it needs a few hidden surprises. The bright

window always draws the eyes, but once the viewer begins to explore the scene,

let's reward them with a few spine tingles!

Step 1Add a new layer named Silhouette over the YellowGlow layer. Hold down the Alt

key to sample a darker grey color from one of the tree trunks. To the far right, near

one of the trees, use a soft-edged brush to sketch in a vague human shape.


Step 2Let's turn the shadow into a ghoul. Go to Edit > Place Linked and choose the skull

image named skull-219795_1280.jpg. Set the Blend Mode to Color Dodge and

the Opacity to 20%. Scale and position the skull layer so that it fits inside the hood

area of the shadow. Then add a Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with a Radius of

1.0 pixels.


Step 3Open the image of the cat named cat-174526.jpg. (That's the file name, I highly

doubt that's the cat's name). Use the Quick Selection Tool to select the cat's eyes

and go to Edit > Copy (Control-C).


Step 4Back in the main project file, go to Edit > Paste (Control-V) to deposit the eyes as

a new layer. Change the Blend Mode to Screen, so that only the bright yellowish-

green is visible. Scale the eyes down to an appropriate size and hide them in the

shadow area. A quick touch of Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with a 1.0 Pixel

Radius will help the eyes blend in more seamlessly.


Step 5Duplicate the eyes layer to put in other shadows around the woods. The idea is to

give a sense that the viewer might be surrounded by unseen creatures of the night!


Step 6Add some swirling mist to the walkway by duplicating the FogSwirlTexture layer.

Use the Edit > Transform > Perspective tool to make the texture generally match

up with the walkway's perspective. Set the Blend Mode to Overlay and the Opacity

to 29%. If hard edges are visible, use the Eraser (E) tool with a soft-edged brush tip

to remove them.


Step 7


Reveal the original FogSwirlTexture layer again. Set the Blend Mode to Overlay

and the Opacity to 27%. Add a Layer Mask and use a Linear Gradient going from

Black to White on the mask to fade the texture away as it moves further up from

the ground.


6. Finishing Effects

To cap off the piece, let's use a technique that makes the scene feel as if even the

trees are reaching in to get us!

Step 1Hold down the Alt key and go to Layer > Merge Visible to create a merged layer

at the top of the layer stack. Then go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter. In the Basic

tab set the Clarity slider to 100 and the Vibrance to 5.


After applying the Camera Raw settings, your scene should now look similar to this.


Step 2Add a layer named Burn above the Merge layer. Go to Edit > Fill and choose 50%

Gray from the Content options and hit OK. Change the layer's Blend Mode to

Overlay so the gray fill is rendered completely invisible. Then using the soft-edged

brush, loaded with black paint, gently start darkening the main shadow areas.


Here you can see the areas we chose to darken with this technique.

Step 3Add a new layer named Dodge. Fill it with 50% Gray the same way the Burn layer

was filled. Again, set the Blend Mode to Overlay. This time, use white paint on the

layer to accentuate the highlights of the glowing window and the reflection of light

along the path.


Here's a clear look at the Dodge layer to see the painted highlight areas.


Step 4Create another merged layer by holding down the Alt key while going to Layer >

Merge Visible.


Step 5Go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter. In the Basic tab, set the Contrast to +42 and

the Clarity to +39.


Switch to the Lens Corrections tab and set the Distortion to -25 and the Vertical

to +10. This adds a subtle distortion effect that makes the trees appear to be

bending inwards, which adds to the disconcerting appearance of the scene.


In the Effects tab, set the Grain Amount to 30 with a Size of 25 and Roughness

of 50. This adds a film grain effect, which is another subtle nudge towards the

overall creepiness of the scene.


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Step 6The final effect to add is a lens blur vignette that will blur the outside edges of the

scene, and help to keep the focus on the center. Go to Filter > Blur Gallery > Iris

Blur. Keep the Blur set to 15 px, and draw out the blur ellipse to fit just inside the

bounds of the canvas area.


Conclusion

So here's our final Spooky Forest scene.

I hope this has been as fun and exciting a project for you as it was for me. I love

finding new ways to communicate mood and expression visually. The wide range of

photo manipulation tools in Photoshop can be used greatly for this effect. At several

points in this project we used subtle visual effects to communicate the desired

mood. Usually, the goal in a project like this isn't to make something look realistic,


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mood. Usually, the goal in a project like this isn't to make something look realistic,

but rather idealistic. So we end up with sharper details, more vivid colors, and

ultimately a more interesting scene.

If you'd like to see more examples of fun photo manipulation projects, be sure to

check out my profile here at Tuts+.

Difficulty:

Intermediate

Length:

Medium

Categories:

Halloween Adobe Photoshop

Photo Effects Photo Manipulation

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About Kirk Nelson

I have been working as an all aroundgraphics geek or Visual InformationSpecialist for the past 17 years around the

Washington DC Metro area. With my careerspanning across almost every aspect of the designindustry, I have worked from web design, to 3danimation, to logo design, to photo retouching.

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Front-End WordPress Developerat ThemeIsle in Bucharest, Romania

Technical Project Manager (Remote)at WebDevStudios in Philadelphia, PA,

USA


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22 Comments Tuts+ Hub

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Guest 7 months ago

Here I finished the project and this is what I got... thanks for the tutorial

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Daniel May 7 months ago

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Thanks, great tutorial! Didn't quite make It to the end but here is my result:

9

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Kirk Nelson 7 months ago> Daniel MayVery cool Daniel! Great work! Thanks for sharing. I hope you picked up a few useful techniques from theproject.

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Guest 7 months ago

Thank you very much for this tutorial, here is my final product!

3

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PexFex 7 months ago

Thnx! Nice tutorial! I have learned a lot from it!

2

Bilal Atique 6 months ago

pease check it

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Bilal Atique 6 months ago

I tried it Kirk please let me know if I can go Ahead ?? Thank you very much for your instructions... i accept you as myteacher ... God Bless you :)

1

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Liu Bo 15 days ago

Dear kirk,

Thanks for your tutorial. At the 6 Finishing Effects, I can not go into the Filter > Camera Raw Filter. My photoshop isAdobe Photoshop CS6.Is there any other method to figure that?

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Moh Marzuqi 3 months ago

wow, an amazing pict, this post very interesting n helpfullthank you

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Ocane 7 months ago

My final product :

http://www.maryseandco.com/201...Thank you !

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Kirk Nelson 7 months ago> OcaneVery nice result Oceane! I hope you learned some new techniques you can use in your own work.

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Sameer Tariq 7 months ago

Will You please tell me which adobe Photoshop is this?

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Kirk Nelson 7 months ago> Sameer TariqHi Sameer, It's Photoshop CC 2014.

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Sameer Tariq 3 months ago> Kirk NelsonCan i get link to download it??

Reply

Kirk Nelson 3 months ago> Sameer TariqHi Sameer. You can get it from Adobe's site: http://www.adobe.com/creativec...

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Sameer Tariq 3 months ago> Kirk Nelsonhow much it will cost?

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Kirk Nelson 3 months ago> Sameer TariqThat download link should give you a free 30 day trial. But then the pricing plans arealso available on adobe's site: https://creative.adobe.com/pla...

Sameer Tariq 3 months ago> Kirk NelsonCan I get a link to download this ?? :( please ??

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Douglas Gale 7 months ago

Here's my final result! I just struggled with the white outlines on the trees.

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Kirk Nelson 7 months ago> GuestYou are very welcome! Thanks for sharing your result. I love the addition of the moon! Nice Work.

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jazzad 7 months ago

Great end result & good tutorial :)

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NICE 6 months ago

Learn from, thank you, this is my last effect

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Create a Spooky Forest Setting

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