but I will do this........................
Portrait of Kate Beckinsale. (one of my fantasy girls)
Made this photo the base image. Put a layer on top and call it painting. Sketch or paint over the image, using the existing colors.

In order to pick the colors from one layer and paint on another, you have to juggle the layer opacity, back and forth. I found if you leave the base at 100%, and use the slider on your paint layer, you can affectivlely grab the color, and paint. I can do this fairly fast, but it is a pain, but pain is what it's all about. You have to suffer for your art. Using this technique, you can do all the painting of the skin on one layer. I put eyes on a separate layer sometimes because they need a lot of special attention.
On this piece, I'm using 4 layers for the Hair.
If you look closely enough, sometimes you can see the tonal changes of color and paint it that way. I use the paint in a liberal but careful mannor during this part(see pic)

The screen shots and descriptions you provided great insight into your methods, Greg.

As time goes on by all means post as many before / after / screenshots with key concept "non tuts" as you're inclined to craft. :) Each will certainly be appreciated by many.

Many thanks.

~DannyR~

(Paintshop Pro, right?)

Originally posted by DannyRaphael
The screen shots and descriptions you provided great insight into your methods, Greg.

As time goes on by all means post as many before / after / screenshots with key concept "non tuts" as you're inclined to craft. :) Each will certainly be appreciated by many.

Many thanks.

~DannyR~

(Paintshop Pro, right?)

PSP7, P7. I plan on doing more to this.
I can see what interest there is in painting, compared to a stupid plugin filter.

I don't know if this looks different, but I've been working on it so it must be. I am working in closer, getting the tones finer and better defined. If any of this is not clear, feel free to ask because instructions are not my forte'.

Today I'm doing more fine tuning and blending on the face. I switched over to PS7 because of it's superior tools. I use the Dodge but it wouldn't cooperate. The PS brushes are really great and have a nice soft feel to them, that I don't get with PSP7. I usually do the lips on a separate layer, not this time, as I think I can pull it off.
The eyes are separate so they can be changed, even when it's all done.

Lovely progression so far Greg, Hair on her chin noe doesnt flow as it did in the original, however, knowing you as I do, I am sure that this will be rectified in coming versions.

It really is a great transformtion and I have been on the edge of my seat waiting fot he next installation, with each installment comes a finer blending:)

*i would edit mistakes but i consider them art;)*

That's cause there is no hair on her chin. In case I do it differenly, I'm painting it without. I'm still refining the features and skin. This is the most important and takes the longest. Lots of smudging, painting over small areas.
I made the eyes early on because they define the features, and keep me focused by watching me.
Areas I'm not happy with. The chin and jaw. Easy you say!, not so, this is a human being that everyone knows, and it has to be perfect.

Originally posted by Mike Needham
[B]Lovely progression so far Greg, Hair on her chin noe doesnt flow as it did in the original, however, knowing you as I do, I am sure that this will be rectified in coming versions.

It really is a great transformtion and I have been on the edge of my seat waiting fot he next installation, with each installment comes a finer blending:)



Yeah, well it looks like your the only one. Thank You for stopping by.
greg

not at all greg, this thread has had over 90 reads - they obviously just lurkin;)

I'm sure the women have been there, a bad hair day. Oh dam, I can't do a thing with it. What's a girl to do.
Well, I have em' too. The difference is, this won't be solved in 30 min. I'm not done with the face, but thought I could work on the hair some. Because of the depth of shades, I'm going to use 3-4 layers, and 2-3 programs, as none is giving me just what I want. I can't tell anyone how to paint or stroke, just the little I know about technique. Although I can't crawl inside anyones head to see what they can see and do, I do think that a person with good to very good skills in a high end graphics prog. could do this kind of picture with a resonable amount of effort. This could be done in PSP, PS, Painter, Deep Paint, PhotoImpact, Corel, etc.
This hair thing is going to haunt me the rest of this day, at least.

Magnificent progress from the original photo, Greg. The progressive steps are facinating to me. Keep 'em coming.

RE: Kate and a bad hair day?
Doesn't seem possible. :)

Did some work on lips and chin. Face is coming along nicely. Workin the hair as best I can. My hand doesn't like certain movements, so it's sometimes difficult to get the flow right. I'm using Painter 6 on the hair now, cause I have some hair sets installed, in fact I have one just for Ms. Beckinsale. It has a texture in it and I think it chooses a brush. (don't ask me how it works) As far as Painter brushes, just dive in and practice on adjusting the 5000 settings included. The Brush set I'm using has two color ability, so it's perfect for doing hair. I think this can be done in vs. 7 too. Not in PS, or PSP. So with these programs, you would have to work harder to acceive the effect. Almost looks like we're getting somewhere.
Till next time.

hehe - I see after much breast beating you have nailed the hair, so to speak. Really is a good job fugitive and the impression of hair strands is greater than the detail. Gotta be chuffed so far:)

Originally posted by Mike Needham
hehe - I see after much breast beating you have nailed the hair, so to speak. Really is a good job fugitive and the impression of hair strands is greater than the detail. Gotta be chuffed so far:)

I don't know CHUFFED. ?

Thanks Mike.

So now, what is she going to wear? I'm trying something on the sweater, a background I made for a ballet pic. I'll have to shade it and such. I don't know if the hair will ever come together, should I stop? You tell me. Otherwise, I'll mess with the hair for the next day or two. Mostly fine tuning from here on.

Hi Fug

Thats a beauty.. I really think your technique is interesting. Thanks for sharing the steps that you use. Rats...guess I am going to have to get a tablet..(A southpaw using a right handed mouse just isn't capable of the brush control that is required for this type of work.)

Keep it up
Jerry :D

Jerry: It's the difference between partial control, and total control. Ever try to ride a motorcycle with a cast on your leg or arm? Costco sells the Graphire2 for $80.
Wacom sell reconditioned units on their site. ebay has some most of the time, bid carefully.




Thanks for your comp.
greg

:)

Greg, just want you to know that I have been following your progress on this pic. Just beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing your method, you do a wonderful job. Just want you to know I have learned a thing or two from you:) Thank you. This is better than a tut. Hope you share more:)

Wanda

Thank You Wanda. Danny has been bugging me to do one, but I don't know how, so I did the only thing I could, and that was this very informal talk, in steps, which is something I could follow. I have read hundreds of tuts, and they don't quite reach my brain, as a rule.
Good thing you didn't give up Dan.
greg

This is the final image of the non-tut, tutorial. As you can see, I completely changed my mind about the sweater, did some touch-up on eyes, left cheek, hair.
Thought I'd say a little more about the hair. Hair is hard, no doubt about it. I have searched and worked for several years to find a way to get hair to look natural, soft and real. I'm not there yet. Since there are 4 hair layers, I didn't use a normal Layer Blend Mode for all of them. One is dark, one is screen, one luminance. This is a very flexable area. Experiment. The hair color can be changed using colorize, you could even make it blue.
The smudge settings were very low, so as not to shove the paint but lightly blend it.(very important). My goal is to make them touchable, I hope I have succeded, and hope you enjoyed the trip.
greg

I much prefer the finished top you chose to the other lilac dappled one :) I have followed this through from your initial post and it is really nice to see the genesis of a painting. The airholes in the top are a really nice touch too:)

So Greg, who are what is next?:)

Gee Mike, I don't know. I didn't even plan that one for the tut. It just happened. I have no shortage of ideas, and I still have several unfinished, including another Kate, that has been killing me. This one was easy compared to some, it just went together smoothly, except for the hair, which still isn't right. It's too hot right now, 80's in Portland is hot. I'm really glad you liked the trip. You actually think I should do more, It might get boring.

Dont worry Greg, trust me if you start to bore I WILL let you know:D . Yout non tutorial style reminds me of a television programme that airs in the UK, it follows a portrait artist around as he is commisioned for famous peoples portaits, he interviews them in an informal way, whilst painting. It has always interested me watching him go from a pencil sketch to building up the broad picture to finally filling in the details.

Pretty much what you have done here - apart from that, the good thing about you is, you dont demand a liscence fee:)

:)

Greg, you hit the finish line beautifully with this one:) You can be very proud of this work!! I wish I had a bad hair day like your painting, I would be happy:D Don't EVER think your non-tuts would get boring. I love it, it's like having a teacher over my shoulder. Now that you've allowed people to see what you can do, now you're in for it;) Thanks again for sharing your method, I for one have learned A LOT. What's next:pleased:

Wanda

Greg:

I think the measures of interest can be gauged by the #'s in the Reply and Views column. This thread has been a definite hit.

When it cools down in PDX and you're so inclined, there are many (including myself) who would relish looking over your shoulder and into your mind via cyberspace. Getting to see the results of your work is icing on the cake.

Benefit to you for future non-tut(s): Inspiration to start some new paintings you've been thinking about and/or finish some that have temporarily stalled.

Winners all around. I like those possibilities.

Thanks again for yielding to the gentle nudges.:) There's a lot of folks who are very glad you did.

And for future reference go easy on the "stupid plugin filter" jocks like me. Many of us aspire to develop real artistic talent like you. We've just at the beginning of the learning journey. Non-tuts like this will help us move forward a lot faster. :)

~Danny~

Did I say that Dan? I think that must've been my twin brother Arti, he has a mean streak, and no social manners.
Quote "Non-tuts like this will help us move forward a lot faster" I hope so, that's the only reason for doing it. Perhaps some will break out and Paint, as it's not scary, there's no mess, and it's so easy to erase and start over. If one shy wallflower comes out of the closet to paint, it's a good deal for me.
greg

Nice work Greg. I think the non-tut approach, particularly for painting is more meaningful. Painting is very visual and words would probably not capture the process and effects as well as you did by showing your progression of work. The transformation is amazing. It also shows that painted art doesn't happen in one session but evolves through blood, sweat and tears. Keep em coming, this was great.

Earl