In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a firing medieval scene with disintegration effect. You’ll learn how to combine stock images, use debrish brushes, work with fire, make a cool atmosphere and create lighting effect.

What you’ll be creating

We’ll start this tutorial by adding the background and blur it to create a depth of field. Then we’ll add the knight and apply the debris brushes to him to create a shattered effect. Later we’ll add the fire and create a glowing light for it. After that we’ll make the fire effect on the knight as well as use several adjustment layers to change the whole contrast and color. We’ll finish it up with more light and fire sparks. You’ll need Photoshop CS3 or newer to follow this tutorial.

Tutorial Resources

• Castle
• Knight
• Fire
• Debris brushes

Step 1

Create a new document in Photoshop with the settings below:

Step 2

Open the castle stock. Drag it into our white canvas using the Move Tool (V):

To add some depth to the scene, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the radius to 6 px:

Step 3

I used an adjustment layer and set as Clipping Mask to desaturate the background. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation:

Step 4

I used a Curves adjustment layer (Clipping Mask) to darken the castle background:

Step 5

Place the knight image in the middle section of the image and remove the background using a layer mask.

Step 6

Change the brush kind to the debris ones. Take the brushes you like and start painting on the arms to shatter these areas. I turned off the Curves adjustment layer of the castle to let you see the effect more clearly:

Step 7

To add more debris, on a new layer, use a debrish brush with any colors (I choose white) to paint on the knight body.

Turn off this layer. Hold down Cmd/Ctrl and click the debris thumbnail layer to load its selection:

On the knight layer, right click this selection and choose Layer via Copy. Move the copied part onto the one of the shoulders.

Step 8

Apply the same method to make more disintegration effect for the knight, use a layer mask to erase any unwanted debrises. Here is my result:

Turn on the Curves adjustment layer of the background.

Step 9

Select all the knight and debris layers and press Cmd/Ctrl+G to make a group for them. Change this layer mode from Pass Through (default group mode) to Normal 100%. On the top of the layers within this group, make a Curves adjustment layer to darken the knight and the disintegration effect:

On this layer mask, use a soft black brush to refine the light and shade on the knight to fit the background. You can see the results on the layer mask and on the picture:

Step 10

Use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to reduce the redness of the skull and other details:

Step 11

To reduce the lightness on the top of the skull, make a new layer and use a soft brush with the color #958673 to paint there. Change this layer mode to Multiply 100%:

Step 12

Place the fire image in the foreground and change the mode to Screen 100%. Use a layer mask to remove any white edges remained.

Step 13

To add a glowing effect to the fire, make a new layer under the fire one. Use a soft brush with the color #281b01 to paint on the bottom right of the image and change the mode to Linear Dodge 100%.

Step 14

Make a new layer, use a soft brush with the color #e6802d to paint on the bottom right again. Change this layer mode to Hard Light 100%.

Step 15

To make the fire reflection on the knight, create a new layer under the fire and glowing light ones. Use a brush with the color #ffd10e to paint on the strokes of the knight clothes and sword. Change this layer mode to Overlay 100%:

Step 16

Duplicate this layer to make the effect stronger:

Step 17

Create a new layer and use a soft brush with the color #ff850e to paint more red effect. Set this layer mode to Overlay 100%.

Step 18

To change the light and contrast of the image, make a new layer on the top. Active the Gradient Tool (G) and choose Radial Gradient with default colors (black and white). Drag a line from the top left to the bottom right of the canvas and change this layer mode to Soft Light 100%. Add a mask to this layer and use a soft black brush to erase the right of the fire area as I don’t want it to be affected by this Gradient layer.

Step 19

To increase the movement and atmosphere for the scene, make a new layer and change the foreground to #e3e6e5. Active the Brush Tool and press F5 to change its settings:

Paint many dots with various sizes around the knight and edges of the image.

Convert this layer to a Smart Object and go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur:

Apply a Gaussian Blur of 3.5 px:

Step 20

Add a mask to this layer and use a soft black brush to make this effect more subtle.

Step 21

It’s time for coloring the scene. Make a Photo Filter adjustment layer on the top:

Step 22

Create a Selective Color adjustment layer and change the Reds values:

On this layer mask, use a soft black brush to erase most of the fire area:

Step 23

I used a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer to enhance the whole light and contrast:

On this layer mask, use a soft black brush to erase the parts you feel brighter than you expected:

Step 24

We’ll add more glowing light to the fire area. Create a new layer and use a soft brush with the color #fb6525 to paint on the indicated area and set the mode to Overlay 100%:

Step 25

On a new layer, use a soft brush with the color #e6802d to paint on the bottom right. Change this layer mode to Hard Light 100%:

Step 26

Create a new layer and press Cmd/Ctrl+G to make a group for it. Change this group mode to Color Dodge 100%. On this layer, use a hard brush with the color #ffd72b to paint some sparks around the fire.

Double click this layer, choose Outer Glow:

Add a mask to this layer and use a soft black brush to reduce some dots opacity:

Final Results

Download the PSD

Tutorial by Jenny Le