Makeover of a lady to her younger days-Painterly look Please comment.

[Tom Mann]

Just got back from running an errand ... here's a modification of the previous version that's really intended to go in a painterly direction. Unfortunately, I didn't plan for these at the start, so they cut into the image a bit too much, but it gives you the idea of what can be done easily should someone want this sort of thing.

T

 

[Tom Mann]

Hi ALB - There are a lot of little differences between the original and your tweaked version in addition to color, tonality and skin smoothing.

For example, an ear and earring has appeared on the subject's left side. Her hair has been tidied up in some areas, and the part in her hair has disappeared. The subject's eyes, her double chin, and, for that matter, the whole outline of her face has been changed (slimmed). I initially didn't realize you put that much work into it.

I think you did an excellent job on the changes I just listed. They indeed make her look much younger without looking so incredibly artificial. Is there any way you can post a version of the image that has just these changes without any color / tonality / or skin smoothing?

Regards,

T

 

[ALB68]

Nice! Beautiful in fact. I'll utilize your advice.

 

[ibclare]

This has been an interesting thread to follow. Good stuff Tom. The one thing I don't like though is the canvas texture. It's too blatant. You just won't see that on a painting unless the artist is really watering down the paint. I think that is one filter that should never be used to approximate painting unless it is done with a smart filter. Then you can control the blend mode and opacity. I'd can it all together if I were you. At least if you want a fairly decent approximation of a painting ALB.

May as well be a Velvet Painting. Sorry, it's the painter in me reacting.

But I really admire your taking on these projects ALB. And listening to the feedback! Ignore mine if you want to.

 

[ALB68]

Aunty, I am here to learn. Heretofore I never really had the time to devote to learning PS properly. I have found this forum to be extremely beneficial to that end. What amazed me was exactly how ignorant I really was on a lot of these procedures. Color is a science I think and it can make or break your efforts. I never utilized all of the tools in PS either. A lot of them, I had no idea what they did. I set out to learn what every tool in the box would do and how to "run" it. It has been an amazing journey so far. PS will do amazing things with the knowledge to utilize it. So y'all just keep on doing what your doing and I'll sit back and soak up all this knowledge that's imparted.

This has been an interesting thread to follow. Good stuff Tom. The one thing I don't like though is the canvas texture. It's too blatant. You just won't see that on a painting unless the artist is really watering down the paint. I think that is one filter that should never be used to approximate painting unless it is done with a smart filter. Then you can control the blend mode and opacity. I'd can it all together if I were you. At least if you want a fairly decent approximation of a painting ALB.

May as well be a Velvet Painting. Sorry, it's the painter in me reacting.

But I really admire your taking on these projects ALB. And listening to the feedback! Ignore mine if you want to.

 

[Tom Mann]

Clare: "...The one thing I don't like though is the canvas texture. It's too blatant. You just won't see that on a painting unless the artist is really watering down the paint...."

You are absolutely right to point that out!

In fact, there actually are *two* problems with the texture effect I used - both its spatial frequency and its amplitude. I suspect most people would think you were only talking about the amplitude or relief of the texture, but, in addition, the size of the weave that I used makes it appear like we are only seeing a tiny section of canvas, say a couple of inches on a side. To further complicate matters, the size of the weave (aka, its spatial frequency) shouldn't vary if you print a given image at different sizes, so, as you correctly point out, texture should always be put on in an adjustable way (ie, either as a smart object, or at the very end) so it can be made appropriate for a given size print.


That being said, I tend to overdo such effects intentionally for these sort of beginner demos because I want to make them obvious.

Good call.

T

PS - ALB: What's the story on the re-shaping of the head & eyes, the introduction of the 2nd visible ear, etc? Did you do all of that?

 

[ALB68]

"PS - ALB: What's the story on the re-shaping of the head & eyes, the introduction of the 2nd visible ear, etc? Did you do all of that?"

Well actually this started out as an attempt at a makeover. I recall that I did use Portrait Professional Pro to manipulate the eyes. One thing kinda led to another. I reshaped her face and nose a bit there also. She was looking a lot younger by then and I decided that would be the direction to go in. I took it into Topaz and used Clean/ Cartoon. Then I used PS the rest of the way. When Topaz did it's thing what I perceived to be her other ear appeared. I cloned the other ear ring on a new layer, flipped it horizontally. I brushed it out and blended it using the Color Mixer Brush. I know, I know , her hair is a mess but it was an attempt to improve it, but I think I made it worse. I wasn't really trying to maintain her original as much as make a painterly image. I also used the Color Mixer Brush to reshape the double chin etc. Aside from the technical issues, I guess I just like the look that can be created this way(Maybe all my taste is in my mouth...LOL)

I think the second ear is actually the skin tone of the man behind her. I undoubtedly used the filter and then cut her out to use a new background and it looked OK, so I left it and added the ear ring.
The hair was done by using the Content Move Tool in Extend mode,clone tool etc. It ain't really that bad IMHO.

 

[ibclare]

me too ALB. I had never used PS to its fullest -- if one can ever really do that anyway. But I have learned a LOT being on this forum. Yep, color is a science. Way back when, when I was 12 years old -- a drawing teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago, Young People's Studio, told me two things I have never forgotten. Draw what you see and you must learn the formal, conventional techniques before you can bend the rules and look like you are making children's drawings. Economy of line is what you learn once you have spent time many way too many lines to depict what you see. Best to you. Enjoy the journey. Path of the Warrior so to speak.

 

[Tom Mann]

Tnx for clarifying that, ALB. I knew there was a bunch of stuff going on. You did a really nice job on those tweaks.

T

 

[ALB68]

Learning Photoshop is like the old saying about painting the whitehouse, you never finish. Always a new issue to address and then those geniuses at Adobe continue to come up with new things to use and learn. Thanks for your comments.

me too ALB. I had never used PS to its fullest -- if one can ever really do that anyway. But I have learned a LOT being on this forum. Yep, color is a science. Way back when, when I was 12 years old -- a drawing teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago, Young People's Studio, told me two things I have never forgotten. Draw what you see and you must learn the formal, conventional techniques before you can bend the rules and look like you are making children's drawings. Economy of line is what you learn once you have spent time many way too many lines to depict what you see. Best to you. Enjoy the journey. Path of the Warrior so to speak.

 

[ALB68]

Tom, thanks, that means a lot coming from you!

Tnx for clarifying that, ALB. I knew there was a bunch of stuff going on. You did a really nice job on those tweaks.

T