My second try.

[Insensitive.]

Alright i tried again.
Theres one of the Before., One of the after, Using Dodge and Burn, and one with the degrunge technique.

Before:
http://i4.tinypic.com/6pgb2np.jpg


Dodge and burn:
http://i10.tinypic.com/7yd3oxw.jpg

DeGrunge:
http://i2.tinypic.com/86jqn10.jpg



Comments and tips would be much appreciated!

[Amy.Read]

Hello, i like these ones better,
but they're a bit dark i think, but that can be totally down to personal taste. her eyes look heavier and darker on the retouched version.

[Insensitive.]

I dont know why, But i like darkness. lol. I always thought of it as intense. I know those photos arnt magazine capable. But im more into art. So maybe thats where the darkness comes from? But i really wanted to know which was better, The Dodge and burn/healing tool. Or DeGrunge, which includes blurring?

[Amy.Read]

I still prefer the non blurred one, but again thats a personal pref thing. Blurring always seems to distract me from any other retouching.

[his4ever]

I really like the dodge and burn one... and it would be cool if you could take the eyes from the degrunge one and put it with the d&b to make her eyes pop some more .

[MatthewMarshall]

on your degrunge photo, her skin looks so plastic like. how do yo do that. I see alot of you all doing that to the skin. Just wondering how its done.

[Insensitive.]

Originally Posted by MatthewMarshall

on your degrunge photo, her skin looks so plastic like. how do yo do that. I see alot of you all doing that to the skin. Just wondering how its done.

Man i tryyy sooooo hard to not make it look plastic lol.
I actually like it, and you look closely, there is texture, so its not your average "Blur"

I use the Degrunge technique, http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/index.php?m=show&id=213


But i usually end up adding double the amount of texture to the skin. By duplicating the Detail layer. and playing with its opacity. But the skin has alot of texture left in the close up. But i guess its not good enough lol. Darn!

[pixelzombie]

if you could eliminate the few areas where it looks smeared, the degrundge version would look pretty good but i think the sharpening is overdone..the d/b version has far too many areas that are uneven...

[MatthewMarshall]

im sorry for using the word plasic, i did not mean it in a bad way thanks for showing me how this was done.

[Insensitive.]

Originally Posted by MatthewMarshall

im sorry for using the word plasic, i did not mean it in a bad way thanks for showing me how this was done.

Oh no hun its fine! Alot of people have agreed that it looks fake. and non skin ish. I love this technique though, i dont know why. But i guess it will be put to more use on a different project intended with a plastic outcome. Thanks!

[Insensitive.]

Originally Posted by pixelzombie

if you could eliminate the few areas where it looks smeared, the degrundge version would look pretty good but i think the sharpening is overdone..the d/b version has far too many areas that are uneven...

Yeah thats what i think is wrong and why i have that degrundge itch. I feel like the dodge and burn has sooooo many flawed spots, maybe i'll lower the opacity of my degrunge or i'll mask it and only paint areas that need to be done.

[pixelzombie]

i think you could spend more time with the d/b version..check out this file we got from an ad agency:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45178172@N00/2086220420/

you'll see that it's not perfect by any means yet someone was willing to pay for it..i'm not saying you can lower your standards that far but you can see there is a lot of leeway depending on the client/budget...

[Insensitive.]

Originally Posted by pixelzombie

i think you could spend more time with the d/b version..check out this file we got from an ad agency:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45178172@N00/2086220420/

you'll see that it's not perfect by any means yet someone was willing to pay for it..i'm not saying you can lower your standards that far but you can see there is a lot of leeway depending on the client/budget...

man that looks bad!

[pixelzombie]

yeah it does, i'll post other parts of the face later on as well as another high-res image you can practice on...