How to Create a Beautiful Underwater Surreal Scene in Photoshop

Now, go back to the layer you create the second light shape then activate the layer mask. The result should be similar to this:

And set the layer opacity in 38%, you will get like this.

Now, activate the layer mask and activate the "Brush tool" (B) and set the following:

Brush size: Soft round 500-600px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 30%
Flow: 100%
#: 000000

Note : this step is same with the step you mask the first light. The result should be like this.

Step 33

In this step, we will blend the sea with a texture. To start, open the image "Texture 2" by kuschelirmel-stock.

Now, activate the layer mask and activate the "Brush tool" (B) and set the following:

Brush size: Soft round 600px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 100%
Flow: 100%
#: 000000

The result should be similar to this:

Step 34

In this step, we will be adding a boat silhouette. Let's open the " Boat" image by Chibiangel-stock. Make a selection with Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) or Pen Tool (P).

Copy (Ctrl/Cmd + C) and paste (Ctrl/Cmd + V) it into our work canvas. Then activate the Transform Tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and position the boat like the image below.

Next, create a new adjustment layer "Levels" then activate the clipping mask to the boat layer. Set the following like this:

After you change the level, your image should be like this:

The boat is not totally black. We will be adding a black with a Brush Tool (B). To start, create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd +Shift + N) and activate the clipping mask to the boat layer, then activate the "Brush tool" (B) and set the following:

Brush size: Soft round 300px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 100%
Flow: 100%
#: 000000

Step 35

Now, we will be adding the fisherman silhouette. Open the "Fisherman" image by joelshine-stock. Make a selection with Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) or Pen Tool (P).

Copy (Ctrl/Cmd + C) and paste (Ctrl/Cmd + V) it into our work canvas.

After you flip the "Fisherman", hold shift and resize your image with the Transform Tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and position the fisherman like the image below.

Next, create a new adjustment layer "Levels" then activate the clipping mask to the fisherman layer. Set the following like this:

The result should be similar to this

Step 36

In this step, we will make the bait line. To start, create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and activate the "Line Tool" (U).

Activate the "Line Tool" (U) and make the line like the image below. Set the color #000000.

Note: the warp effect is a little bit tricky, don't be afraid to trying move every grid points to see the transformation. Change the line into like a "S" shape like the image below.

Step 37

Now, change the bait line layer opacity into 42%. Your image should be like this:

Now, activate the layer mask on the bait line layer and activate the "Brush tool" (B) and set the following:

Brush size: Soft round 200px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 100%
Flow: 100%
#: 000000

The result should be similar to this:

Step 38

In this step, we will be adding the boat and the fisherman shadow. To start, make a new group name it "Fisherman", then select the boat and the fisherman silhouette layers drag into the group. Now, duplicate the group and name it "Fisherman's Shadow" (Check again in Step 22; how to make a group and duplicate it).

Activate the Transform Tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T) and position the shadow like the image below.

17 comments on “How to Create a Beautiful Underwater Surreal Scene in Photoshop”

jos says:

September 8, 2016 at 4:09 am

Mooi werk, dankje!

Somya says:

January 10, 2016 at 10:00 pm

Thanks a lot, this is my first try at surreal and your specifications were very exact.wish to attach my output here.

Thanks a lot, learned a lot, done a lot with simpler tricks.

poop says:

November 10, 2015 at 5:31 pm

hello its cool

Yagnik Hirpara says:

October 1, 2015 at 5:13 am

This is awesome

jordan says:

September 23, 2015 at 6:21 pm

when i try to brush the sky, it only gives me variations of grey I can't use colors for some reason =[

James M says:

September 10, 2015 at 10:01 am

Bloody hell! Awesome work man!

Iulian says:

September 7, 2015 at 6:16 am

step 33: where to brush and where to place the texture?

1. Evan Lawrence says:
  
  September 9, 2015 at 7:32 am
  
  I'm really sorry, maybe there's an error when they upload it. I already sent an email to the admin, I hope they can fix it asap. I give the JPEG file for the complete step 33, you can download it here https://www.dropbox.com/s/u33iqxc9stbvvzb/step33.jpg?dl=0
  Thank you
Iulian says:

September 7, 2015 at 4:58 am

in step 27 I get these oversaturated pixels. Is there another way to get rid of them without using clone stamp? https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=95141D5708B162B1!221924&authkey=!AIcVgO6H6-DH6rA&v=3&ithint=photo%2cpng

1. Evan Lawrence says:
  
  September 9, 2015 at 7:26 am
  
  In step 27, I'm using brush. It's okay if you use the stamp tool, the result is totally same. I already remind a note in this step about making silhouette with the levels adjustment effect is not always make the image change into totally black, it depends with the quality of the image. Thank you.
Anonymous says:

September 1, 2015 at 2:39 am

Thanks good

gerda says:

August 29, 2015 at 9:25 am

Beautiful tutorial gerda

Dave says:

August 28, 2015 at 1:12 pm

Thanks for a good detailed tutorial.

arvind kumar gupta says:

August 28, 2015 at 7:45 am

it is a good tutorial.thanks

Iulian says:

August 28, 2015 at 4:36 am

I can download other files, but the zip files just interrupt randomly and cannot be opened even if the download is full. Please check all links before posting a tutorial.

1. Evan Lawrence says:
  
  September 9, 2015 at 7:18 am
  
  Hello Iulian, I'm sorry for the late reply. The zip files is totally fine, I already check it. Thank you.
Margaret Black Pyron says:

August 27, 2015 at 9:26 am

cool