How to Create a Mysterious Floating Box in a Desolate Land

Tutorial Resources

Stormy view of Valley - night-fate-stock
MBI Beton - Jascha400d
Basic white cube 1 - svilen001
Concrete Wall 3 - mdpratt
394 Look up - WolfcatStock

Step 1: Create a New Photoshop Image File

Let's start by creating a new image file, go to the Menu bar and click File > New, and then input the following values on their respective fields:

Width: 1920 pixels
Height: 1040 pixels
Resolution: 300pixels/inch
Color Mode: RGB Color; 8bit
Background Contents: Transparent

Step 2: Create the Background - Sky

In this step, we will be creating the sky of our image. To start, open "Stormy view of Valley" by night-fate-stock. Once the stock image is open, activate the Rectangular Marquee tool (by pressing M on your keyboard) and create a selection area around the sky. See images below:

When you're done, activate the Move tool (V) and left-click on the selected region and drag it to the canvas. Take note that this sky is from a huge stock image and so when you move it to the canvas it will occupy a lot of space.

Move and position the selected area as shown on the image below:

Now that it is in position, rename this layer now to "sky".

To rename a layer, simply double-click on the words: "layer 1" (you can find that on the layer window) to prompt a text box to appear. Once that appears, you may now rename the layer. See image below:

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and resize the image as shown on the image below:

The result of that should be similar to this:

Next, let's darken the sky; to do that, make sure that the "sky" layer is selected and then create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N). This process makes sure that the new layer will be created above the active layer. Now when then new layer box is open, input "darken sky" on the name box. See image below:

Now that the new layer has been created, activate the Brush tool (B) but before we start, make sure that the active Brushes are the default brushes. The default Photoshop brushes are shown on the image below, if that's not what you see, then follow the instructions below:

Right click the canvas while a layer is selected and while the Brush tool (B) is activated and then click on the button highlighted below:

Then click on "Reset Brushes" from the contextual menu.

Now, that that is done input the following settings for our Brush tool (B):

Brush size: 1000px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 15%
Flow: 100%
#: 00011b

Note, the #: 00011b symbolizes the brush's color. To change your brush color to that color, simply follow the steps shown below:

Once the Color Picker box opens, input the following:

Now, your brush has a dark blue color, let's start painting!

The result:

Step 3: Create the Background - Ground

Now, we will complete the background by adding land. To start, open "MBI Beton" by Jascha400d. Once open, activate the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and create a selection area as shown on the image below:

Once you have created the selection area, activate the Move tool (V) and drag it to our canvas. Position it as shown on the images below:

Rename this layer now to "ground". Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + T) and resize it as shown on the image below:

The result of that should be similar to this:

Now, we will need to blend the ground with the light from the sky. To do that, create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and type "lighten" on the name box.

Next, right click on the newly created layer and click on "Create Clipping Mask" so that the paint we will be applying will only be applied to the "lighten" layer.

Activate the Brush tool (B) and then input the following:

Brush size: 300px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 15%
Flow: 100%
#: ffffff

Now, let's paint:

The result:

Next, we will add more light to the horizon to make it look more dramatic. To start, create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and input "horizon fix 1" on the name box.

Activate the Brush tool (B) and then input the following:

Brush size: 500px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 15%
Flow: 100%
#: fffdc5

Now, let's paint:

The result of that should be like this:

Next, create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and name this layer "horizon fix 2". Activate the Brush tool (B) and input the following:

Brush size: 1000px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 15%
Flow: 100%
#: fffff3

Now, let's start enhancing the horizon for the second time:

The result:

Next, let's darken the "ground" to make the light look more dramatic. Create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and name this layer to "darken ground".

Activate the Brush tool (B) and input the following: