Heh. First tutorial - for me and for the background I'm working on. It doesn't cover Photoshop basics, so you do need to know that first. Otherwise, it's quite easy.

This one covers how I did the tree. It's done with a tablet, but with some patience, it can be done with a mouse!
Throughout the process, I worked with a speckled brush, or one of Photoshop's charcoal brushes (just pick any speckly-textury looking one to your liking). And layerrrrrrssss... If you're not sure what you're doing, copy or make a new layer!

Still, use references when doing backgrounds. I'm using quite a few myself. It helps to see how light gets affected, etc.

Next... I think it'll be the sky and clouds, it's a bit shorter (I think) so maybe I'll add the vengeful grass as well.

Any comments and/or questions are welcome!

Follow-up tutorial: [link] (Clouds 'n grass)