Welcome to this tutorial where we will create a movie poster of a much popular zombie/virus theme. We will use a base photo and paint on top mostly everything and just finish up with the help of some textures. The tutorial is accompanied by videos for each section so you don't miss out even a single stroke; and since it is a heavy painting tutorial it is highly recommended that you do watch the videos while you read. OK so lets get right into it.

Final Image Preview

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Photoshop
• Version: CS6
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Estimated Completion Time: 10 Hours

Tutorial Assets

• Image 1
• Image 2
• Image 3
• Image 4
• Image 5
• Image 6
• Brush File

1.Base sketch

Step 1

Lets open up our image and crop it to about what is shown here, then create a new layer on top.

Step 2

Select the brush shown here and setup the transfer and pen pressure in the brush palette as shown. Then just sample dark color from the image and start blocking in the areas and shapes of the-sections we will be messing up.

Step 3

Do the same work on the shoulder and hand as shown here. Next sample lighter color from the skin.

Step 4

Reduce the brush size a bit and start painting in where we think the flesh its ripping apart.

Step 5

Then change the sample color to some pinkish top flesh like the tongue here and add to the previous strokes as shown here.

Step 6

Continue adding flesh as shown here, remember we are sketching and planning how and where the pieces of flesh are ripped off; where do they go and how are they still attached. Next sample a darker color from the mouth and paint in to support the other strokes. Similar to the mouth the top layer of skin is lighter and as you go deeper into the flesh its more dark blood red.

Step 7

Now sampling color from the teeth we can start defining what will be exposed bone and teeth sections.

Step 8

Then we continue to find all the sharp edges and give the same treatment so the flesh has some thickness.

Step 9

Also sketch a little bit around the eye so we know the area needed to take space for it.

Step 10

And then touch to add the flesh in front of the eye.

Step 11

As we said previously we need to keep the top skin on top for the rest to make sense so touch up accordingly as show.

Step 12

At this point I decided to clear the eye section a bit so we could later see a bit more of it.

Step 13

Then to suggest a limit to the depth of the skin and flesh we need to paint in some hint of bone bellow all this mess; so sample some color as shown here and paint in some bone back there as shown here.

Step 14

OK great! at this stage we need to cover with the same sketching for the rest on the shoulder and hand. And that is it for this stage we should have all of our plan and sketch in place.

2. Eyes

Step 1

OK we will start to modify the eye on the right to make it a bit more sad; so duplicate the base image and then make a selection of the eye as shown here, then transform the selected part as shown.

Step 2

Move the selection in this position and then use the healing tool to remove the lower gap left there.

Step 3

Then for the rest of what we have missing we will continue a bit with the healing tool, yet only for the white part and make sure yo don't go over the darker section of the lashes or the algorithm will plaster a black smudge there.

Step 4

For the rest just grab the clone tool and complete the eye as shown here. I left a bit of extra white at the bottom to suggest a bit of tears.

Step 5

Perfect, now lets select the right eye and copy paste it on a new layer; then move it over the other eye.

Step 6

Distort it a bit as shown here and then just erase around it so we keep only the eye.

Step 7

Now go back to the clone tool and select this brush tip for it, at about only 6px.

Step 8

Now just clone a bit to complete the eye as shown here.

Step 9

Make a duplicate of this layer, rotate it and just erase the top of so we have a complete round retina in the eye. And finally just clone a bit more to complete the White section.

Step 10

Now merge both layers together and grab the smudge tool with the tip shown here. Then just smudge out to make the infected eye.

Step 11

Now reduce the brush size at about 4px and smudge a bit more detail in there.

Step 12

We can now re enable the painted layer and then make a color balance layer for the eye adjusted as shown.

Step 13

Then create a levels layer and set it up as shown here.

Step 14

Lets erase the section shown here.

Step 15

Sample some color and paint in some pieces of flesh going from the eye lid down.

Step 16

And then apply some lighter highlight color.

Step 17

At this point I decided to rework the skin that covers the top of the eye, so just erase a bit as shown here.

Step 18

And then just sample color close by to rework that piece of flesh as indicated.

Step 19

Now select the brush tool and adjust the brush settings as shown here.

Step 20

Lets start touching up what we have around the eye, refining a bit and start getting rid of the dribbles we did on the sketch section, and that is it at this stage lets move on to the next section.

3. Increased detail painting

Step 1

Lets continue adding detail to the face by refining the edges redefining the shapes and adding color tones needed to give volume to the flesh.

Step 2

Obvious dribble stuff lets just take care of it at this point all over so we have a cleaner painting layer.

Step 3

And lets take the opportunity to extend the teeth as shown here, just sample color from one of them.

Step 4

Lets continue our process defining even more the shapes adding depth and content to the flesh.

Step 5

Lets now paint in some nasty eyelashes left around the eye.

Step 6

At this point lets create a shadow for the left eye since it is well covered by flesh, so create a new levels adjustment layer and adjust it as shown.

Step 7

Fill the mask for that layer with black so its all gone and just use a soft brush to apply it at the corner of the eye as shown.

Step 8

At this point we go about finding shapes that need a better way of attaching to the rest of the flesh as this one here and rework it differently.

Step 9

And also sections that need detailing further, or restructuring; now its the time to deal with those and finish up this section with a cleaner structure. Keep in mind studying the video at all stages of the tutorial.

4. Detailing part 2

Step 1

For example lets work on this section and add some detail; sample some color as shown here.

Step 2

Paint in some circular patches, then sample lighter color and add to the top of those patches.

Step 3

Then sample a bit lighter color and add more to the tip of those; to finish those ugly circular pieces of rotting skin.

Step 4

Keep the lighter color and add it to other sections such as this one here to bring out the shape.

Step 5

Lets now go to this section on the forehead and by reducing the brush size lets paint in some detail going in as shown here.

Step 6

Then sample a darker color to add between the flesh we just painted and add detail ad the edge as shown here.

Step 7

Then sample a medium tone from the skin and paint in more detail over the surface of the skin.

Step 8

Then sample some darker tone and add even more detail to the surface

Step 9

Great! now lets create a new layer, select this blue color and the brush tip shown here.

Step 10

And we paint in some blue veins coming out from the infected area as shown, then reduce the brush size and paint in some more at the ends.

Step 11

Then just setup the layer mode to soft light and reduce the opacity so all this is subtle enough.

Step 12

Lets add some skin stripes still joining this section.

Step 13

Now lets block in this section here, so sample color and paint in to block that hole.

Step 14

Sample some darker color and paint in some detail as shown here.

Step 15

Then as we have done all over the image sample some lighter color to add depth and highlights to the section.

Step 16

OK great! now lets check on this part of the jaw and add detail to it in the same way.

Step 17

Move on to the neck and start by adding some skin by sampling color ad painting in some stripes as shown.

Step 18

Then as we have been doing we sample darker color to add depth as shown here.

Step 19

Now in this section here lets make a hole that goes all the way through the neck, just sample color from the bright back and paint in as shown.

Step 20

Lets continue with the rest of the body which its a bit behind in detail.

Step 21

Do the same for the shoulder area as we did at the beginning with the face, start by cleaning up the sketch and defining the areas correctly.

Step 22

And in the same way work on the hand section to bring its detail up a level.

Step 23

Clean up and detail the fingers to bring them closer to the detail in the face.

Step 24

Then clean up and shape the rest of the hand, so its also in an increased level of detail to finish up this stage of the tutorial.

5. Texture detail

Step 1

Now we will introduce some textures to help us add even more detail to our painting, so open up this image and bring it on a new layer; then just distort it and scale it a bit as shown.

Step 2

Make a duplicate of the layer and scale it a bit as shown here.

Step 3

Lets now select the clone tool and the brush tip shown here.

Step 4

Clone as shown here to cover all the painted areas, then clip this layer to the painted layer and set the layer mode to soft light.

Step 5

We now have the detail from the texture adding to that of the painted detail. Lets adjust the levels as shown here.

Step 6

And then adjust the hue saturation as indicated here.

Step 7

Perfect now create a mask for the texture layer and lets select the brush with black.

Step 8

And then just mask off where we don't need the texture, such as on top of the teeth and bones.

Step 9

Reduce the opacity of the texture to just 93% and then merge both layers into one.

Step 10

Now that we have only one layer we can go back to paint in some detail, so grab the brush tool again and sample some color such as this one here; and start adding some detail that suggest cartilage.

Step 11

Then select this color here and set the brush size to 18px

Step 12

Then use it to shade the bone shape a bit.

Step 13

And also lets start painting to detail and merge the skin edge as shown here.

Step 14

Continue with all the sections as shown here.

Step 15

As we can see the detail within the flesh breaks up the obvious texture look and the detail on the skin merges the edge with the skin, which brings us to the end of this section.

6. Bone and rotting skin

Step 1

Lets start this section by adding a bit of bone texture by using this image here; so just make a selection as shown and copy it on to a new layer.

Step 2

Make another two duplicates of this piece as shown here but merge them in a single layer as shown.

Step 3

Now clip the bone layer to the painting layer and then make a mask for it. Fill the mask with black and select the brush with white so we paint in only where we need the bone texture.

Step 4

Then mask in the texture of course just where the bones are.

Step 5

Once we are done with the bones lets continue painting detail to suggest some underlying structures of flesh and cartilage.

Step 6

And also messing up the edges so everything is merged better. We must go all over the image adding these detail so take a look at the video for better reference.

Step 7

OK once we have refined and detailed our painting, lets bring in this other image to add some nasty rotting effect on the skin. Open it up, bring it on a new layer, then scale and rotate as shown here.

Step 8

Make a duplicate of this layer and scale it down as shown here

Step 9

Now we will do as with the texture of flesh, so grab the clone tool and this time cover the skin next to the flesh as shown here. Yet only for the hand and mouth. Then set the layer mode to multiply.

Step 10

Then lets adjust the color balance directly as shown here and create a mask for the layer.

Step 11

Then use the brush with black and mask off to delimit the texture only closest to the edge, then set the layer mode to multiply and reduce the opacity to 80%

Step 12

Then lets readjust the color balance a bit more to get this result.

Step 13

Now make another duplicate and scale it down; then use the clone tool again to cover the rest of the face as shown.

Step 14

Set the layer mode to multiply and adjust the color balance as indicated here.

Step 15

Then of course make a mask for the layer and mask of as shown here.

Step 16

Lets grab the original piece of skin and warp it a little as shown here.

Step 17

Set the layer to multiply and once again use the clone tool to fill up the rest as shown here.

Step 18

And as we have done adjust the color balance and use the mask to eliminate most of it.

Step 19

And finally grab all these three layers and merge them into one. And the resulting layer set it back to multiply.

Step 20

OK so now what we need to do is detail all the painting and mostly the edge to merge with all the textures and bring out some detail that is a bit hidden by the textures themselves. So just sample color as we have done and paint in the detail.

Step 21

Make sure you give some thickness to the skin as it doesn't look cutout.

Step 22

And also adding some darker detail that goes into the rotting skin also helps blend everything.

Step 23

Yet very important be sure you work with the texture following the features it provides as shown here. And that is it, we concluded yet another section in our tutorial.

7. Hair and background.

Step 1

Lets start by adding a color balance layer clipped to the painting layer and adjust it as shown.

Step 2

Mask off this ;layer from where the bones are to keep them off this color influence.

Step 3

Now at this section here we need to paint in some hair to cover what we painted over the original hair. So grab the brush tool again and reduce the size to just one pixel, with transfer and pen pressure enabled on the brush palette. And start painting in a new layer.

Step 4

Now sample color from the original hair and start painting in as shown here.

Step 5

Of course there are different shades on the hair so be sure to mimic the original sampling for highlights medium and darker tones.

Step 6

Be also sure to follow how the hair falls yet also you can paint in some out of place hair. as shown.

Step 7

On the top we should also add some hairs out of place as shown here.

Step 8

OK great now lets make a duplicate of the base layer, and hide the other one just in case. Then access the color range tool sample the background and adjust it as shown

Step 9

The resulting selection wont be perfect, so grab the lasso tool and fix it so there is only the background in the selection.

Step 10

Then inverse the selection and create a mask.

Step 11

Lets create in the background a layer and fill it with blue so we can see what we are doing. Then select your brush tool and with a small enough brush lets edit the mask to get rid of the noise left behind by the color range tool.

Step 12

Once we have cleaned the mask lets replace the blue back with this image here. So scale it flip it and set it into this position.

Step 13

Then we will apply a lens blur to the background adjusted as shown here. And finally adjust the color balance of it as shown here.

Step 14

Then on this section that we cleaned earlier we need to touch up with some hair so go back to the hair layer and paint in as shown.

Step 15

Perfect now lets start defining the final color and shading for our image with a color balance layer on top adjusted as shown.

Step 16

Followed by a levels layer with these settings.

Step 17

Grab the brush and a big soft tip as shown.

Step 18

Softly mask off the darkening effect of the levels layer as shown here.

Step 19

And now we continue with a curves layer adjusted as indicated here.

Step 20

In this case fill the mask with black and just paint in the effect of the curves layer, that lifts the blacks with a small soft brush.

Step 21

At this point it is a good idea to go back to the hair layer and paint in a bit more as shown.

Step 22

Then in sections like this where we practically cut the hair we need to place it back on top the painted layer as shown here.

Step 23

Perfect! now lets make a color fill layer right on top of the painted hair and select this dark red for it.

Step 24

Fill in the mask with black, set the layer to multiply and select this brush tip shown here.

Step 25

Enable pen pressure on transfer from the brush palette and with white mask in some dark blood on the hair.

Step 26

Create a new layer as shown here and choose this brush tip at about 4px.

Step 27

Now use this brush to paint in some more veins on the chest area, and hand. On the chest area you might want to make the brush a bit larger at the beginning and smaller at the ends.

Step 28

Next up lets create another levels layer on top and adjust it as shown.

Step 29

Fill the layer mask with black again and with this big soft brush just apply it where needed. And that brings us to the end of this section

8. Final shading texture and presentation

Step 1

OK we are close to finishing our tutorial so now lets just dial in some final adjustments and dressings to the image. Lets start by adding another curves layer on top and adjust it as shown here.

Step 2

After that create a color fill layer and select this color for it. Then set the layer mode to overlay and reduce the opacity to about 30%

Step 3

Grab the big soft brush tip and mask off as shown.

Step 4

Lets create yet another color balance layer and this time choose this dark brown.

Step 5

Set the layer mode to overlay and reduce the opacity to 38%; then mask off as shown here.

Step 6

Great now open up this texture and bring it over in a new layer; then scale it a bit to cover the whole image.

Step 7

Then desaturated the layer, invert it and set the layer mode to overlay. Finally create a mask for it.

Step 8

Select this brush here and make it about 400px.

Step 9

Then just mask off the layer over the face so that we can see all our hard work.

Step 10

Great! now lets go back to this layer and mask off the darkening over the eye with a soft brush that fits.

Step 11

Then create a hue saturation layer and lets adjust it as shown here.

Step 12

And again fill the layer with black and just mask in softly over the eye so its more saturated than the rest.

Step 13

Next lets create a new text layer and select the DIRT2DEATH font, if you don't have it just search in Google and install it, its freely available, then select a bright blue color for the text.

Step 14

Type pathogen and set the layer mode to soft light and reduce the opacity to 90%

Step 15

Then enter what your imagination can come up with as for the studios, director, producer and such.

Step 16

Select this bright yellow for the color and arrange the paragraph as shown here.

Step 17

Set the layer mode to hard light and the opacity to 61 %

Step 18

Lets make yet another layer and this time drag with the text tool to pre define the paragraph size.

Step 19

This time select this font and set its size at about 11pt

Step 20

Set the layer mode to overlay and lets do one more text layer.

Step 21

Select Bradley hand font again plus the same blue as the title; finally set the layer mode to soft light. And that is it! we have finished up our image with a nice poster look.

Final Image

Hope you have enjoyed making this fun image and poster, and learned some nice stuff alongside. If you have any questions you can send me a mail and I will try ASAP to give you a hand, thanks for your patience and support.