am I any good?

[blaskica]

Hello!

I am new on this forum and very excited to participate. I am not new to Photoshop though, but I am to retouching. I would maybe like to pursue a career in beauty retouching so critique is welcome. I wanted a challenge so I picked this photo to retouch even though it is not that good to begin with. I am aware that I went a little over board, but am curious of the overall impression you have.

[skydog]

Where is Ant when you need him?

[jagerman]

HughSteenk would be helpful as well.

[Godmother]

Originally Posted by skydog

Where is Ant when you need him?

Originally Posted by jagerman

HughSteenk would be helpful as well.

You're both mean and not helpful. She said she was new to retouching and that retouch isn't bad, she removed A LOT of hair and it's pretty good.

As for u Blastika. Keep going. Practice makes masters.

Don't ever blur

You have some stamping/cloning marks (always watch out for repeated patterns in the skin.

The whites in the eyes should always have more blue than yellow (unless the whole image is tinted yellow)

Hair is as important as the rest of the image

Try to get better images to work with, you have a lot in this forum, high quality raws to start.

Wish u all the best and keep an eye on ppl like:

Amy Dresser
Chris Taratntino
Conrad Digital

They are very helpful (not like this two) Chris has a Blog and a DVD coming up. So stay alert.

Practice again, a lot... that's the key. Look at fashion/Beauty magazines, forget Deviant art. But...above all.... don't give up!

xx
Natalia

[blaskica]

Thank you so much Natalie for advice! Saw your Flicker posts and they rock. I just hope I become that good one day!

[TommyO]

Agree, disregard those quick to criticize.

Considering your level of experience and the image you chose to work with, very good. The work with the hair is especially good, as that is normally difficult.

The image is really not conducive to a good retouch. So, try to find better ones.

A few additional pointers:
- As Godmother said, one of your tools is allowing the freckles to remain or repeat. It makes the skin look a bit blotchy;
- Look around her right eye for color issues. Most notably the veins/dark circles revealed near the nose;
- Work on removing the highlight around the lower lip.

[blaskica]

Thanks TommyO. I posted a new thred. If you would be kind to state your opinion I would very much appreciate it.

[jagerman]

I did not criticize anyone. I'll leave that to the pros.

[skydog]

Nor I...I believe you were the one who put out the bad vibes...just what Ant loves to do...critique.

[Qixil]

Can't really say whether you're any good - a) as I don't know what you were trying to do; b) I can only judge your work.

I think the result is stunning - especially considering what you started with.

Only criticism is the white of the eye - tricky to sort the hairs from the blood vessels.

jagerman & skydog - would have been useful to include a critique before referring to a greater authority and leaving Blas in the cold - don't you think?