A surface modifying material for forming a surface modifying layer provided between a substrate and a resist film, the surface modifying material including an epoxy resin having a weight average molecular weight of 1,000 to 50,000; a method of forming a resist pattern, including: forming a surface modifying layer on a substrate using the surface modifying material, forming a resist film on the substrate, on which the surface modified layer has been formed, using a resist composition, conducting exposure of the resist film, and alkali developing the resist film to form a resist pattern; and a method of forming a pattern, including: etching the substrate, on which a resist pattern has been formed by the method of forming a resist pattern.