Guidelines? Give 'em a rest!

Since I'm going on vacation and won't be back for a week, let's give providing the detailed steps a vacation, too. As a reward for so many fine writeups so far the how-to detail will be optional for this mini-challenge.

Still, limit your submissions to no more than two (2).

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PHOTO ART: Mini-challenge #144 – Jose

Here’s another “mini-challenge” to play with in the Photo-based Art category until the next major challenge is posted here (http://www.retouchpro.com/challenge/index.html).

The base image can be downloaded by clicking the link below the legal verbiage.

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Looks like a great opportunity to try out your best sketch or oil-painting techniques.

Danny

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LEGAL VERBIAGE
J. Pacheo retains the U.S. and international copyright © not only for the original image, but also for any photo-art versions of it. Unauthorized distribution or use of this image without permission are prohibited.

Here's my sketch attempt. Can't wait to see some of those great smudger's work on this one...it's going to be great! My smudging looks more like a 4 year olds fingerpainting, so I won't even attempt it :)

Wouldn't you know it. I just got through reading the newest rules and regs (post with detailed instructions), and Danny lets us off this time! Oh well...here's the detailed instructions...

1 - Converted the original to a black and white image with the channel mixer and curves. The end result looked like this:
http://www.pbase.com/image/19192586
2 - Then did a standard sketch (dupe, invert, color dodge mode, g blur) to just bring out the lines slightly. I then opened a new layer and did a "stamp visible" (ctrl+shift+alt+E). I'll call this layer "lines".
3 - Duped the original, b+w version and ran smart blur on it to simplify it, then ran the standard sketch method on this layer also. Painted back a bit more tones with the brush on this layer.
4 - Placed the "lines" layer on top of this smart blur/sketch and set the blending mode to "multiply".
5 - Used a channel mixer layer (0 red, 40 green, 60 blue) to get a b+w sketch version.
6 - Used a color balance layer to give it a bit of color.
7 - Used a curves layer to give it a bit more contrast and depth to the midtones.
8 - Added a bit of film grain to give depth to the shadows.
9 - Duped this layer, ran gaussian blur on it, then set the blend mode to "soft light" and lowered the opacity just a bit.
10 - Another curves layer to lighten the shadows and deepen the midtones slightly.

Have a great vacation, Danny!

Pam

Oops, I guess I lost the image when I edited :)

Danny thank you for posting ths good portrait to work.

Pam, It is a very good attempt in sketch..You oly Know how was its original output..no problem....
thank you Pam..

here is my JOSE, .. this is also a sketch..Charcol..

Another swipe at the painterly-look. I kinda like these "relaxed" rules! :)

This man has great character in his face. This was fun to work with.

My thanks to whoever I borrowed the start from and my apologies for not giving you credit. This comes from a layers palette shot that I printed and can't find anymore. I forgot to staple the directions to the palette shot when I printed it, so who knows what it was really supposed to look like. I put the original back on top to give just a hint of color when I finished.

Update 7/20/03 I found the directions that went with the palette shot I used. :eek: I wasn't even close. The process I actually used can be found in the Try-It section under Soft Sketch http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6505

Danny, yours is a very supper work, and that effects never changes his charecter also.

Chery,yours is also have touch flow of creativity...

thank you danny and Chery..

This is again filters -
Filter>Texture>Patchwork = JosUP

thank you

-------

vijayan

I applied my simplifier, poster7 from Paint Engine, then applied PSP8's colored edges, using black.

Then I cut the dude out and pasted him on a black background, softened and applied an asphault texture, as it seemed to fit the face.

AmyHutton

I worked on this one last week and never took it out of the "work" file. Well...for better or worse...here it is....

Hi new here . Paint Shop Pro user. But not a pro by any means. But like to see what I can come up with.
This one I used Buzz stack/ink/adj opacity
HSL adj
B/C adj
G Blurr .
Merge dulp
Black pencil
Enchange edge / opacity adj
Merge
Dulp / texture
Hope my upload works.

Liked this photo so played again but did not take notes.
Think i should have made the eyes stand out more.

Two Steps:
1) Fotomatic Pseudo-IR (available from www.cybia.co.uk)
2) buZZ simplifier 3

-Jeff

Corel painter8 (lighting effect and blend brush)and ps7 plugin vp watercolor.

One more by me.
Added a threshold layer, overlay blend, opac47, also a render-clouds layer, overlay, and one Photoshop drybrush, before merging and applying virtual p, oil, and buzz stack oil (without color edges and simplifier1). Added color to backgr.

What an interesting thread once again....! Really enjoyable.


Duped background layer.
L2 - Soft Focus
Paint Shop Pro Brushstrokes/Water Colour - Mode Normal - 78%
Duped L2
L3 - Overlay Mode 60%
Merged all and placed into
larger image with white bg.
Erased to get rid of hard edges.
Merged.

Here i've made use of my "jaykita" impr settings which i've posted (as a ##jaykita.zip file) in the "portrait bara" thread.
However, here i've used the "filter noise - median" setting at 5, and not 1. All other steps are same as described in the other thread.
(Sometimes one could reduce brush size, and then apply noise-median setting at 1 or 2. The idea is to reduce amount of white spaces.)

Here's my sketch effect. The one on the right is after applying filter-sponge 1,1,5. Also selective color-white -decrease black.

1 Duplicated image

2 Opened new layer

3 Colored over the entire canvas in white with the Light Oil Flat Tip

4 Used a soft brush erasor to erase parts of the white layer over Jose's face

5 Repeated 3rd step with a sepia-ish color instead of white

6 Repeated 4th step

7 Merged layers

8 Copy/Pasted entire picture into a new window that was 100px bigger all the way around

9 Used the lasso to select "torn" edges all the way around the picture

10 Selected the white border around my picture with the lasso

11 Select -> Modify -> Border -> 50px

12 Deselected white (there is probably an easier way to do the past few steps, huh?)

13 Created new layer

14 Used a sepia-toned soft brush around the selected edges

15 Deselected area

16 Used smudge tool (splatter brush) around the edges

17 Repeated steps 10-12 but made the border 20px

18 Used a darker sepia tone and a soft brush to fill in selected area

19 Deselected area

20 Cut out white border area

21 Added a soft drop shadow

Voila :)

Hi, very nice.. very antique look also.... Good tips..

vijayan

I love things that have an antiqued look...well done KeepEM.

awesome results everyone! :bow:
impossible to pick anything like "favourite", all are just great :nod:




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i guess i'm in some b&w mood today ;) "keep it as simple as possible, but not simplier" :lol:
[oops, that "anosi" in 2nd layer from top means "aniso" :blush: ]

ok here goes

took a few lines out of his face with the clone tool
then made his beard a bit neater clone tool
then gave it a sepia layer and this is what i have.

Photoshop..ill get there eventualy

im new go easy lol
We go easy on everybody, not just rookies. :)
i'll get there eventualy
You're doing just fine.

As long as you're having fun and/or learning, those are the things that count the most.

~Danny~

Gosh, this is my 5th or is it 6th posting. I must be crazy.
Did this purely in painter. Used the acrylic soft wet brush in clone mode.

A warm welcome to Quickmagic. Like Danny says, have fun! I know i do!

1. Sharpen Image
2. New Layer, Brush set to Multiply – use black and a soft brush set 5-15% to darken details; switch to white and brighten areas
3. New Layer, Brush set to Normal – use dark brown to fill in background
4. Merge Layers
5. Equalize
6. Duplicate layer; Stylize>Diffuse>Anisotropic, adjust opacity as you see fit
7. Merge Layers
8. Buzz Simplifier
9. Selective Color Adjustment layer to tweak colors

:bigthmb: Great Painter result Jaykita!!! Must try that brush next time...!

Wonderful result TP!

Thanks Neve!

Great job by all! I really like Jaykita’s last entry. The loose strokes really give the painting a lot of energy. Excellent work!

One last play...

Used the my previous entry
1. Duplicated Image
2. Ran Fotomatic Techni-X filter (created a pure black & white image…no gray tones)
3. Inverted Image, Changed mode to Saturation

Photoshop 7

Dup.Lay
Mask
Remove subject
Leave jagged edges
Snapshot
Filter-Pixelate-Facet
Filter-Noise-Median-1.0
Watermark
Merge

I've only been a member for a few days and I am already having a ball. :hat:

I just dropped the image into photo shop, created a background and adjusted thresholds. :hat:

I've only been a member for a few days and I am already having a ball. Great work with the rainbow background and reverse image w/Threshold application. Elegant, yet uncomplex.
Glad you're having fun.

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GrafixD:

The jagged crop + softening of Facet and Median made for a very interesting combination.

Hats off to both of you. :bow:

Hello Cardmnal, nice to meet you :wavey: That's marvellous, a creative mix for certain.

Thanks Neve, T.Paul. T, your color image is superb.
Cardmnal, Grafixd, Welcome to our forum.

Ok, did my best too, one can only learn by trying. PSP7 used here.

First:
Lightening up a bit, then used the paintbrush tool (5, 11, 43, 3, 50, softness 20) (I have a Dutch version of Paint Shop Pro, don't know all the names of the tools in English).
Saved that version.

Second:
Took the saved photo, turned it into B&W, used 'lightening and brightness tool twice (37/44), second time as a layer. Mixed the layers about 60% and then I lost track of what I did next. :o: Have to learn to write down each change.

And have to learn to work on a resized photo, this doesn't show quite what I've made. Or have to look up how to put that thing in where you can click on to see a larger photo.

Life isn't always easy, is it. :(

One can only learn by trying. PSP7 used here....I have a Dutch version of Paint Shop Pro, don't know all the names of the tools in English...Life isn't always easy, is it. :(re: "One can only learn by trying."
Absolutely true and there's no "failure" in this forum. Only opportunities and new experiences.

re: "I have a Dutch version of Paint Shop Pro, don't know all the names of the tools in English"
That is a challenge. So far you're doing just fine!

re: "Have to learn to write down each change."
It takes a little getting used to. When you consider the value others derive from your experiences, the extra effort is worth it.

re: "Life isn't always easy, is it?"
True. But it can be fun.:)

~Danny~

Trying to practice with the Art History brush, with added texture/color.

Glad i found this one (must of missed it ) great face to work with

Palms

P.s Ro would this be a good one for draganizing ????

P.s Ro would this be a good one for draganizing ???? i was thinking the same thing, palms.

Craig

Well, I thought that was a good idea too but I soon learned that I don't know how to Dragonize so I just fiddled around.

Titia, your sketch is very nice. Excellent work.
Alan

Warp Swirl; then my usual Impressionist/Paint Engine combo followed by some GIMP processing (bump mapping and Retinex Overly). Also added a Clothify Script-fu for the canvas texture. :)

Needed a touch of sun...

Duv Your not on your own, i do not know how to draganize, we will have to wait to see if Ro is reading,
Cj looking at his skin i think he has had to much sun ( although the colours are excellent

Palms

Another go

some smudge, levels, and ansiotropic

Palms

Two renditions of our man Jose.

Steve

Jose has a great, rugged face. My interpretation uses a black layer and masking.
Alan

I used BuZZ.X and then made some adjustments and added texture.

Cathy :nod:

Someone sometime back asked about a Draganized version. Here is mine.

Looks a lot like what Alcar came up with, except for the color.

Steve

...we will have to wait to see if Ro is readingSeems I'm a bit late for the party.
You're right, this is a good base for doing a "Dragan" and Steve's made a good start here :thumbsup: but actually Palm's smudge (at thumbnail size anyway) looks closer.
Although one might get the impression that Dragan just makes things dark, grungy and unsaturated, my reading is that he is actually doing an extreme photo enhancement. The idea being that instead of (just) making a pretty picture, you concentrate on bringing out the character of the subject.
As such the famous black backgrounds are reminiscent of the Old Master's portrait tricks.

If I have a few minutes I'll try one.......but I really ought :wink: to be working.

Rô

Hey i'm usualy refered to as the Dragon not a dragonizer :lol: :lol: :lol:

Palms

Ro you have me intrigued now so hope you are not working and having a go

Here's another try at the Draganize technique. Tried a completely black BG.

Lets the subject stand out a bit more.

Steve

Steve much prefer the all black background

Palms

Does help doesn't it?

Thanks.

Steve

Steve much prefer the all black background

Palms

Steve / Palms, agreed.

Faces are usually at the higher end of the luminosity scale, so if you want them to stand out, you put in a dark background.
Take that to the limit and you've got black.

However, the face shouldn't be too dark - otherwise we're going to lose all the contrast we generated with the black background.

I was thinking of something like this......

Rô

Ro
Glad you had a go it was worth the wait,

I think i can feel a black background faze coming on :)


Palms

Way cool, Steve and Ro. I like both treatments of the subject. Both make unique statements.

Janet

Thanks Janet.

A bit off subject, but was trying out the technique on some downloaded images & the attached seemed to lend itself to Draganizing.

Overall quality is lacking. Was a small image.

Steve

Way cool, Steve and Ro. I like both treatments of the subject. Both make unique statements.

Janet

Your version looks a bit more like the actual Dragan images that I have seen. His faces are usually the standouts and the first thing that you notice in his work. I think that since I left most of the facial lines and other detail in, it caused the face to be darker.

To me his images look like paintings without any simplfication or brush strokes. Really hard to tell how much was in the lighting etc of the original photo and how much was manipulated. Reminds me of the type of feel you see in an Albright painting.

Steve

Steve / Palms, agreed.

Faces are usually at the higher end of the luminosity scale, so if you want them to stand out, you put in a dark background.
Take that to the limit and you've got black.

However, the face shouldn't be too dark - otherwise we're going to lose all the contrast we generated with the black background.

I was thinking of something like this......

Rô

Nice one, Steve. you're really getting the hang of this stuff!!
Overall quality is lacking. Was a small image.Yeah, I've found that doing a Dragan on a low-quality image is difficult because pixelation and JPEG artifacts get in the way of the surface texture I'm trying to make stand out.

Rô

What a great face! Went for a earthy etched look to fit the character in the face. Basically just fooled around untill I got a look I liked - used poster edges,inverted and blending layer on color dodge; duotones etc. etc...

Background removed.

A nice version, Margaret.
Would you accept a suggestion? If you took away the background stuff from around the hat, and just filled in with the beige background - I think you'd have a much stronger image.

Just a thought.

Rô

In the case of this image it seems to be pixelation. Actually the original was larger but had to reduce it to get in under the 100k limit after all the layering etc.

Appreciate the comments. Or should I say obrigado? 8-)

Steve

Nice one, Steve. you're really getting the hang of this stuff!!
Yeah, I've found that doing a Dragan on a low-quality image is difficult because pixelation and JPEG artifacts get in the way of the surface texture I'm trying to make stand out.

Rô

As Steve already experienced, you will have a lot of artifacts/pixelization issues due to compression since we are so limited. It would be cool to be either able to add an imbeded link as in inline image, or up the size to 200K. Just expressing my desires; maybe someone with some power can help address this. :)

You are right ByRo - I'll try it when I have a little time. Thanks for the input.
Margaret M

Well two from me
First Lucis + others????
Second impressionist + tweaks

Peter

sorry in messing around mode again mainly texture work and on the second emboss

Palms

Nice job Palms. I like the mood you set with your work on this one. There is something there that keeps me coming back and back to look.

Janet

Palms - thanks for unearthing this thread.

I did some experimenting in Painter after background change and tweaking in CS2.

Smudged it then flipped it for good measure.

Joe

Palms - thanks for unearthing this thread.

I did some experimenting in Painter after background change and tweaking in CS2.

this is a great thread to of unearthed isn't it ? All the different variations is a testament to this hobby of ours !

DC super painter work
and Joeven that is a great smudge

Palms

this is a great thread to of unearthed isn't it ? All the different variations is a testament to this hobby of ours !

DC super painter work
and Joeven that is a great smudge

Palms

Thanks Mr. Palms.

The quality ones do keep coming back.
I like the darker one myself MR PALMS. ;)


Peter

my version :D

some layers blend, modes ... standard ;) picture stylized a'la cross proces E4
in background old photos.

my version :D

some layers blend, modes ... standard ;) picture stylized a'la cross proces E4
in background old photos.

Hubii that is a very nice version with a very believable "old " photo look

Palms

many tnx :D

:blush: