Bliss to Abyss

- Open a saved version of your Bliss Background in Photoshop

- Double click on the layer named Background in the layers panel and rename it Bliss (you can toggle the layers panel on and off by pressing F7), Create a new layer (Press Ctrl+Shift+N) and call it Clouds

- Use a Foreground color of bright red (ff0000) and a background color of orange (ff9600), then go Filter > Render > Clouds and use a blending mode of Linear Burn on the Clouds layer

- Select the Bliss layer by clicking on it once and select the burn tool (Keyboard Shortcut : O), use the following settings on your Burn tool : Brush size : 145, Range : Shadows, Exposure 17%

- Apply the burn tool on the sky only and try to leave the line where the mountains and the sky meet without burning, try to fade the burning as you get to that line, this will be used to create an illusion of depth and will be used to enhance the Volcanic and volatile nature of the image

- Open This image , right Click on it and choose Copy . Go to Photoshop , select the Bliss layer by clicking on it once and press Ctrl+V (Paste) to paste in the layer above the Bliss layer , Double click on the layer to rename it, call it Volcano one

- These next few steps are completely up to your aesthetics but I will give you my settings just for preference

- Press Ctrl+T (Transform) to bring up the free transform tool to scale down the new volcano image, hover your mouse over one of the corners of the box, when you get a two headed arrow click on it and hold , while still holding the left mouse button press Shift + Alt on your keyboard to scale it while maintaining its dimensions , Scale it down to 44.2 % and put it on the middle left of the picture, somewhere around our horizon line (the line that separates the mountains from the sky that we kept unburned in the previous steps)

- Choose the layer "Volcano 1" and try to blend it in with the background as much as possible using a mixture of eraser tool and burn tool, select the eraser tool (Keyboard Shortcut : E) and select a brush of 0 Hardness and relatively big size (I used 34)

you can access Brush setting by right clicking anywhere on your work area while selecting the eraser tool

- Use the eraser tool on the Volcano one layer at the right top corner to show the clouds behind it and use it in the bottom of the image to delete a bit of its edge so it blends in better with the background.

- Select the Burn tool (Keyboard Shortcut “O”) and select the Bliss layer, use it on the horizon line and anywhere else you find necessary to conceal any edges , you can also use it on the volcano one layer around the bottom edge to make it even blend more with the background

- Open This image , Right click and select copy. Choose the Volcano one layer and press Ctrl+V then double click on the layer and rename it Volcano two , Scale it down to 41.5 % and place it somewhere next to the other volcano

We are going to use a mixture of burn and eraser tool as we did to the previous Volcano, the image now should look something like this

- Now for the fun part, Choose the Bliss layer again and press Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new layer, name the new layer "Cracks", then press Ctrl+D, now your foreground is Black and your background color is white

- Go Filter > Render . Clouds , Then Go Filter > Render > Difference Clouds , press Ctrl+F a few times to reapply the effect until you get something you like then press Ctrl + I to invert the colors

- Go Image > Adjustments > Threshold and move the cursor around until you get a clear line , you should try and get something similar to the image below

- Go Select > color range and make sure you have the image option selected , click anywhere on a black spot in the image preview in the options window and click OK

- Make sure you have the Cracks layer selected and press Ctrl+Shift+I to invert the selection, now Press Delete to remove all black areas from your layer and you'll be left with something like the image below

- Press Ctrl+T to select the free transform tool and scale it down only vertically , you should now have something like the image below

- Use the Eraser tool to erase any parts of the cracks layer you find unnecessary and make sure it looks well with the horizon line, the final image should be something like the image below

- Click on the small arrow at the top right side of the layers panel and choose flatten image, you can also do this by selecting all your layers and pressing Ctrl+E, you should now be left with only one layer, rename it into "Abyss" and press Ctrl+J to Duplicate it

- Go Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and select a radius of 2.0, select a blending mode of Linear Light and use the Eraser tool to clear out around the erupting Volcanoes so that they don't become too bright, Press Ctrl + E or flatten image and the final product should look like the image below

- Duplicate again by Pressing Ctrl + J and then Go Filter . Render > Motion Blur , in the options window let the angle be 90 and the distance be 50 , now once again use the eraser tool around the erupting Volcanoes and whatever place you find necessary, try to stay away from the cracks we have made , the blur effect is especially made for them so don't erase anything above them, Press Ctrl + E or flatten image

- Finally use the burn tool to put the final touches if you feel like some spots need it and press Ctrl + Shift + N to create a new layer, Go Filter > Render > Clouds (While using black as a foreground color and white as a background color) , Select a blending mode of Color Dodge for this layer and once again use the Eraser tool around the erupting volcanoes and the horizon line and stay as far away from the cracks we have created as possible, Press Ctrl+E or flatten image and save , the final product should be something like the image below , you now know how to turn Bliss into an Abyss