Critiques - - Tell me what I did wrong - Page 2

imann08 · #16 04-07-2006, 10:52 PM

Klassylady: Thanks for the compliment, I'm sure my mother will turn bright red when she see's it. Unfortunately, Kraellin will have to alter his color image when this happens. LOL My mom's eyes are actually green although sometimes they can look a little blue depending on what she is wearing. Mostly green though. I put the image on here so you could work on it. I was interested to see what I did wrong and what could be obtained. Thanks a bunch.

Veryweird: That was nice. The blotches are still there but the texture was removed nicely. The background also looks very good. Thanks.

craig: I showed my mother your work and she now wants me to do it in color. Thanks a lot (sarcasm)! lol As far as I'm concerned there is always someone better but I thought your job was very very good and I was totally impressed.

To all who responded: Thanks a bunch for all your input I'm going to take that and see if I can get something better. I'll post what I get here soon. I notice that people are using high pass instead of the unsharp mask to sharpen the image. Is there a reason in this case to chose one over the other? With the duplicating of the image to eliminate the background problems, I am assuming that a mask was needed in those cases. Am I correct? Again, thanks a bunch. I am always amazed at how nice this board is and how helpful it is. I can always be sure that I will get a number of replies to all my posts and that makes me want to come back. Truly an original forum as many of you who have been on a graphic design forum know.

Kraellin · #17 04-07-2006, 11:53 PM

thank you, imann

i think ken's colors are a bit better; at least a bit richer. but maybe my monitor is off...or yours...or kens

craig

imann08 · #18 04-08-2006, 01:33 AM

The more I look at it the more I have to agree. I think that it is because I saw yours first that I like it so much. I know that with the other work that I do outside of photo R&R I like to put something down for a day or sleep on it and then look at it again with a fresh mind. It often helps me see things that I didn't see before or like things that I didn't like before or visa versa. I'm sure you are well aware of that.

Cameraken · #19 04-08-2006, 10:14 AM

Thanks Craig

Yes. I used my code. I just added a little more red to the lips, cheeks and eyelids.
Once you see the shape of the skin graphs I made it’s really quite easy to replicate with curves. My code is just quicker.

Yours looks great too. And probably more in keeping with the age of the picture. Mine is more saturated. But both are correct skintones.

imann08. If you add a hue/sat adjustment to my picture and lower the saturation then my picture will be very similar to Craigs. It’s just personal choice.

Ken.

Kraellin · #20 04-08-2006, 10:32 AM

imann,
yup, walk away for a while and take a new look later on. anything that gets you to look at the thing in a new unit of time, with 'fresh' eyes, tends to work.

ken,
i hadnt thought about your code relative to curves, but now that you mention it, yes, that graph in the filtermeister thread does look like a curves graph. (and thanks

).

oh, and imann, i did take another look at the image. you're right; there's still blotchiness there. use a light opacity 'push' or 'smudge' on it to blend and bleed those out.

craig

imann08 · #21 04-08-2006, 01:30 PM

Here's another attempt. I took Syd's recommendation for the background but I continued to use surface blur pretty heavy with a mask to get rid of the print texture. I also used high pass which I hadn't used last time. I don't think it's nearly as blurred as last time and there's no mask to create a totally new background so it doesn't look cut out like it did last time. Anyways, tell me what you think. I think it's an improvement.

Craig: I have some info on coloring an image but I'm a little confused as to how you colored the forehead that is visible through the hair that comes down over it. You obviously didn't color each strand of hair so what did you do?

Kraellin · #22 04-09-2006, 01:07 PM

that's looking good, imann.

for the forehead, i painted pretty much the same as the rest of the face, but maybe a bit less. the blend modes will pick out the skin color from the dark hair. also, gausian blur and erasing can help. when i paint with the airbrush like this, i dont try to paint it exactly or even evenly. i rely on the gausian blur and erase to smudge things around and then erase the stuff that is 'outside the lines'. and even when i erase, i erase at a reduced opacity to give a more blended look.

you can get away with this because of how colors and shades tend to bleed into each other, even in the original images. hair near color is often shaded with the color it's near, just a bit. and the eye tends to do the rest. so, it's a bit of a cheat

craig

imann08 · #23 04-09-2006, 10:15 PM

Thanks Craig. I thought everyone had forgotten about this thread. I'm working on a color job of the photo and will post it soon. I think it is turning out pretty well. Kind of surprised how easy the basis of it is. Of course, it takes a little to get from where I am to where it looks really realistic. Keep your eye out. I'd like to hear what you have to say when I post it. BTW, my name is Isaac

Syd · #24 04-09-2006, 10:58 PM

That's looking great Imann. A huge improvement the first one.

Kraellin · #25 04-09-2006, 11:06 PM

ok, isaac.

just sign your posts with your name and i'll remember; otherwise, forget it

craig

imann08 · #26 04-10-2006, 12:04 AM

Ok, here it is. I am actually pleased with what I have accomplished so far. I am still working on it and trying to fine tune it with taking out some of the uneven color and such. The one thing that I really don't know what to do with right now is the plastic look to it. I think it is a bit too plastic looking. I think that may have had to do with the blurring that I did while I restored the black and white more than it had to do with the coloring though. Regardless, I was quite surprised I could get something this good done at this point. I really thought it would take a lot more work and practice and frustration. Anyways, take a look and tell me what you think. What is good and what is not.

Isaac

imann08 · #27 04-10-2006, 12:15 AM

The minute I looked at my attached file I felt is was way too saturated. I took it down to an opacity of 60% and it looks better I think. At least it does in photoshop. It looks very different in photoshop at 300ppi compared to the one I attach to the forum at 72ppi.

Kraellin · #28 04-10-2006, 08:57 AM

Quote:

My mom's eyes are actually green

looks pretty good. the skin color seems a bit off to me, though. and i actually like the first one better. skin color seems to be quite a topic of discussion around here, so i'll let others run the numbers for you (i just go by sight). and you can search on here for many topics of discussion about it.

'pasty' comes from two things, mostly... not enough texture and mostly, the colors are all too close to the same. the first one doesnt look pasty to me, but the second one, a bit.

craig

imann08 · #29 04-10-2006, 10:42 AM

I know I actually said that my mom's eye's are green but I said screw it and just went with blue. She thinks that they are sort of blue so it's all good. The blue I used is overdoing it but so be it.

With these I only used one color for the skin so I think that may have a lot to do with it. I do think that how much I blurred the skin also is a factor though.

I'll need to mess around with how to properly add additional colors a mix and match the right colors.

I'm interested that you like the first one better and basically think the exactly oposite that I do with the two pictures. That damn subjectivity.

I am going to give you a pm so keep your eyes open. Thanks

Isaac