May 06 Contest Discussion

[T Paul]

Add your comments, questions or general discussion about the May Contest entries as well as the contest itself here. This is also a great place to share your techniques or ask others about theirs.

Most members are eager to hear comments/suggestions about their entries, so please take the time to help each other out.

[T Paul]

If you have a question please check out the Contest FAQs first….

[T Paul]

Quick Links

May 06 Contest Entries

May 06 Contest Votes

[Frank Lopes]

TPaul,

I was wondering if you could clarify one of the rules................. :-)
I'm joking off course!!!

Thank you for your time and effort to coordinate these challenges!!!
And thanks for taking the time to "baby sit" all of us...

Originally Posted by T Paul

Quick Links

May 06 Contest Entries

May 06 Contest Votes

[T Paul]

LOL...I just posted all the contest info and was sitting here holding my breath and then saw your post and thought...it's not starting already (wink).

Thanks

[HannibalVector]

Very clear instructions!
No clearification needed.
Not sure if I am gona enter this time, because of a lack of time.
Also thanks to T Paul for al the labour! We sure do appreciate it.

[T Paul]

Well thanks!

The May Contest was reviewed by several moderators, so hopefully all the glitches have been caught....(I know I have spoke too soon or jinx myself now)

[Swampy]

It took three tries to post it, but I'm in. The Forum is acting strange for me today.

[goose443]

Here is a color pencil version. I know it's supposed to be BW pencil so that's why I'm posting it here. I think it looks more interesting in color.

[chrishoggy]

Just a little bit about how I did my sketch.
Took around 15 mins and used only basic Photoshop filters/effects

First off I deleted red and blue channels, and converted to gray scale.
Then applied the following standard filters on duplicated base layers.

Photo copy (Sharpened once done)
Bas relief
Graphic pen x4 (one layer for each stroke direction)
Crosshatch (brush effect)

Then it's just a matter of playing with layer opacity on the last 3 above, to get the look you want

[soleah]

Originally Posted by goose443

Here is a color pencil version. I know it's supposed to be BW pencil so that's why I'm posting it here. I think it looks more interesting in color.

That is lovely, goose.

[T Paul]

Msfrigyfrog

Your current contest entry does not meet the rules. You must include your username as part of the file name. Please correct this to prevent your entry from being disqualified.

3. When you submit your entry put your username in the file name (ie: tpaul.jpg). This is so users can save the images to a local directory and remember who did what--important when it comes time to vote.

Entry has been corrected

[T Paul]

laradfreder

Your current contest entry does not meet the rules.

5. Your final image size must be exactly 800 pixels high and 600 pixels wide.

Please correct this to prevent your entry from being disqualified.

~Thanks

Update: Entry has been corrected.

[Nanls]

Haha Frank! Very Pretty Goose! It took me three times to upload also Swampy, but I'm in too! Lots of entries right off the bat, bet this one will have more then the last contest!
~Nancy~

[T Paul]

Chrishoggy,

Thanks for sharing your steps. I hope to see more members use the Discussion Thread to share/discuss techniques as well as experiment such as Goose did with the color version.

[Nanls]

When I saved mine, in PS, I had to reduce the file size 39% to get under 100k.... I flattened the image before I saved it.. Does anyone have any tips on how to squeeze more out of 100k???
~Nancy~

[chrishoggy]

Originally Posted by T Paul

Chrishoggy,

Thanks for sharing your steps. I hope to see more members use the Discussion Thread to share/discuss techniques as well as experiment such as Goose did with the color version.

It's a very simple method, but I like the results it gives me. Doesn't work with all photos, but think it gave quite good results on this one.
I will share the PSD version, if anybody wants to see it. It gives a better idea of how I did it, and layer breakdown

[byRo]

Originally Posted by Nanls

.. Does anyone have any tips on how to squeeze more out of 100k???

To the right of the "Quality" setting in the "Save for Web" screen there's a little mask symbol. This is for you to use a mask previously [now he tells us ] stored in a channel to control the quality.
Doing this right you can use better quality for the important parts and loosen up on the rest (i.e. background). I've never used this option, and would be interested in hearing if any one has.

Another observation is paper texture. This positively bloats JPEG sizes. If the paper texture isn't too important (which is not the case for this month's contest) you may be a lot better off avoiding it.

Rô

[bart_hickman]

Originally Posted by Nanls

When I saved mine, in PS, I had to reduce the file size 39% to get under 100k.... I flattened the image before I saved it.. Does anyone have any tips on how to squeeze more out of 100k???
~Nancy~

I use "save for web" (ctrl-alt-shift-s). This pops up a preview of your image along with what the filesize will be when it gets saved. Just decrement the quality setting until the image is under 100k. It also leaves your regular save settings unchanged.

Bart

[Nanls]

Originally Posted by bart_hickman

I use "save for web" (ctrl-alt-shift-s). This pops up a preview of your image along with what the filesize will be when it gets saved. Just decrement the quality setting until the image is under 100k. It also leaves your regular save settings unchanged.

Bart

Thanks Bart, I guess I forgot to say I use "save for web" settings.
~Nancy~

[Nanls]

Originally Posted by byRo

To the right of the "Quality" setting in the "Save for Web" screen there's a little mask symbol. This is for you to use a mask previously [now he tells us ] stored in a channel to control the quality.
Doing this right you can use better quality for the important parts and loosen up on the rest (i.e. background). I've never used this option, and would be interested in hearing if any one has.

Another observation is paper texture. This positively bloats JPEG sizes. If the paper texture isn't too important (which is not the case for this month's contest) you may be a lot better off avoiding it.

Rô

Thank you Ro, didn't know about the texture bloat... that will help!
~Nancy~

[Peth]

I'd be very disappointed if you didn't enter this month. Come on mate you've got almost three weeks! I'm keen to see how you'd approach this task.

Can't believe the number of entries already. These competitions are becoming quite popular!

[MissyB]

Thanks for sharing your steps, chrishoggy! It's fascinating to learn how different people approach the same problem. Here's how I did mine:

- Converted to grayscale using the Channel Mixer in monochrome mode
- Applied the Underpainting filter, faded back to about 20%
- Applied the Colored Pencil filter, faded back to about 30%
- Selected the lips and used a curve to darken them slightly

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/att...chmentid=32561

Missy

[chrishoggy]

One thing I missed out on my description was:
I left one of the graphic pen layers slightly more prominent than the other 3. Did this to show a dominant pen stroke direction, to make it look more natural.
Not sure if it worked, but did it anyway

Also did a colour version using same method

[Verywierd]

Originally Posted by T Paul

Chrishoggy,

Thanks for sharing your steps. I hope to see more members use the Discussion Thread to share/discuss techniques as well as experiment such as Goose did with the color version.

I would, except that what I did was almost impossible to duplicate as an exact process. Apart from making copy layers, desaturating and applying various sketch filters, masking and painting them into different areas, I also took each resulting changed image, applied blur or median, adjusted level and applied selectively using masks and various blend modes to taste. There was also a small amount of actual drawing and smudging directly on the image.

Probably not important anyway as I see many more impressive efforts than mine

[T Paul]

Originally Posted by Janet Petty

My try. This was so fun to do. I wish I could submit more with different techniques and not enter the contest.

Janet

You can, just post them in the Discussion Thread....

[InfiniteMonkey]

Have just ordered a new wacom. Had a beautiful A3 Intuos from my pre-OSX days which was unfortunately rendered useless when Wacom decided they were not going to support legacy platforms when they shifted to USB.
Have been trying to justify getting another ever since. Finally found a good reason, so thanks!
Just hope I get it in time.
Sketchy Sketchy, Painty, Painty....etc, etc...!

[Gigadals]

Very nice auroraskye, hope you could share your steps.

[goose443]

While the rules are very specific and very well written (Thanks T paul) it's nice to see there's still a lot left to interpretation as is evident by the breadth of entries so far. I've always looked as a sketch as being somewhere in between a basic gesture drawing and a fully rendered drawing. It's great to see the entries so far run the gamut from one end to the other. Some entries show form-defining pencil strokes and rough delineation of light and shadow that are characteristic of a more gestural form a sketching while other entries have the subtle tones and subdued strokes of a more completed drawing. I think both approaches are elegant solutions to a contest that will no doubt be difficult to judge.

[DannyRaphael]

There are 20 layers in my final image, so forgive me for generalizing the how-to detail. See the attached image for a screenshot of the Layers Palette. Layers named "Merge" resulted from merging visible layers at that point in time.

The Green channel was used for the base image (less noise in the skin areas), to which Levels and Selective color adjustments were applied to achieve a high key effect.

After knocking out the background foilage, filters and effects were applied on duplicates of this base layer, including:
* Photoshop colored pencil
* Photoshop angled strokes
* Photoshop crosshatch
* Photoshop unsharp mask
* Impressionist > Pencil Sketch > Detailed monochrome, and a couple custom styles
* Virtual Painter > Oils

The effects from the various layers were selectively applied using layer masks. Layers were were duplicated and/or merged along the way, hence so many. Curves adjustments was used to fine tune the grey tones.

~Danny~