In this tutorial you'll learn how to blacken skin for a darkly surreal effect.
Open up your image in Photoshop
First add a Photo Filter adjustment layer.
Choose Cooling Filter (82) with the Density set to 20%.
Next add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, and take the Saturation down to -95.
Then add a Curves adjustment layer and bring the black slider towards the middle.
Finally add an Exposure adjustment layer below the Curves layer.
Take the Offset slider to the left, and the Gamma slider to the right - as shown above.
With the Exposure layer still selected, go to Edit > Fill and fill the layer with Black to hide the effect.
Next we'll go back and tinker with the layer masks a little.
Go back to your Curves layer and take a small black brush with the Hardness at 0%.
Use it to mask out the darkness in each eye.
Use a slightly larger brush with the Opacity set to 70% and lighten the necklace a little.
Now go to the Exposure layer and take a soft Eraser with the Opacity set to 50%
Paint over the skin to bring back the black of the Exposure layer.
Finally go to the Hue/Saturation layer and take a soft black brush set to 40%.
Paint over the eyes to bring back their colour.
Then set the brush's opacity to 20% and paint over the necklace.
And then paint over the hair and background with the brush's opacity set to 5%.
Here's how your layers panel should end up looking.
And here's the final result.
