NOTE: In the book Digital Art Revolution, Creating Fine art with Photoshop, we discuss creating convincing shadows by modifying drawn silhouettes. Here’s a brief tutorial using an alternate method, where shadows are created by creating, filling and distorting a selection mask. The tutorial assumes that you have some basic knowledge of Photoshop, but the book, Digital Art Revolution, Creating Fine art with Photoshop, starts from the beginning and teaches you all the fundamental tools of Photoshop as well as how you can use them as tools of personal expression and develop a personal voice as an artist!

If you are placing elements into an environment, they may need appropriate shadows to convince us that they are in this environment. If there is an element casting a shadow in a photo you are using as part of your background environment, use this as reference and create other shadows that match its direction, value, color, opacity and blurriness. Here’s a technique that you may find helpful when creating a shadow for a complex shape:

ORIGINAL IMAGE.

Place an element into your environment, on its own layer. Lets assume it’s an image of a person. Create a mask around the figure with any combination of selection tools. Select black as the foreground color. If you think there is a strong color cast to the shadows, you could change your foreground color to reflect this. Create a new layer, above the layer with the figure on it. Use EDIT>FILL and select Use: Foreground Color in the panel that pops up. This will fill your selection area with a solid black shape. Make sure that you have selected your new layer as the destination for your fill, so you don’t accidentally “paint over” your figure.

PLACE THE NEW FIGURE IN THE COMPOSITION. CREATE A SELECTION MASK AROUND THE FIGURE. CREATE A NEW LAYER. FILL THE SELECTION MASK WITH THE SHADOW COLOR, USING THIS NEW LAYER.

Once you have filled the selection, drag the layer in the Layers Panel, so it is now behind the layer that contains the figure. With this area still selected, go to: EDIT>TRANSFORM>DISTORT and stretch the selection to match shape, size, and direction of existing shadows. Make sure the shadow is connected to the element in an appropriate way. If it is a standing figure with two feet on the ground, the shadow will connect at the feet.

MODIFY THE SHADOW SO THAT IT RESEMBLES THE SHAPE AND DIRECTION OF OTHER SHADOWS IN THE PICTURE, USING EDIT>TRANSFORM>DISTORT.

When your shadow has taken on an appropriate shape, deselect it before taking further steps. Go to: SELECT>DESELECT.

Go to: FILTER>BLUR>GAUSSIAN BLUR to blur the edges of the shadows to a degree that is consistent with existing shadows. In order to let background elements show through underneath a shadow, you can adjust the opacity of this shadow layer by selecting it in the Layers Panel, and then accessing the Opacity slider by clicking on the arrow to the right of the word “Opacity” at the top of the Layers Panel. Adjusting the opacity of your shadow might make it lighter than you wish. Go to: IMAGE>ADJUSTMENTS>BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST and adjust the settings to compensate for the transparency and match the value of other shadows in the composite image. You could also use the Clone Stamp Tool to clone some of the grass, etc. showing through other shadows and place them in your shadows.

THE FINISHED PIECE WITH BLURRED AND ADJUSTED SHADOW.

ORIGINAL PHOTOS FOR THIS EXERCISE TAKEN BY DAVID SPATZ.