What do you think? (beauty retouch)

[jbedford]

Hi there, I don't post very often, but appreciate all your feedback. More on the subjective side of editing.

HERE IS THE LINK

I think I'm improving...I haven't posted many threads to show my progress, but feel that I'm finally getting the hang of this.

The photograph is from a generous photographer on DeviantArt.com named Christopher Murr.

Here is a link to his page there: http://christophermurrstock.deviantart.com/

[jbedford]

Hmmm...83 views so far and not one critique good or bad? Who's supporting this forum? lol

[buso23]

I think you did a great job. I like the color and the texture of the skin. Maybe the blacks are a bit overdone, but maybe thats just my taste. Anyway great job. If you need images to play around with, feel free to visit my portfolio here and I can send you either the raw file or a full size JPEG. Regards, Ljupco

[fonelan]

I like it. good job on the hair.

[jbedford]

Thanks y'all. Fonelan, the hair did take a while as I had to redraw the bangs hair by hair. Thanks for appreciating!

[MariusX]

If i was to be picky, id point out the following:

Blur in the hair, prolly result of cloning

Choppy lips, the upper lip needs more differentiation from the surrounding area.

Not sure if like the skin treatment. Not a fan of this powdery look. Plus, the blown out areas dont't seem to carry much texture as opposed to overly textured midtones and shadows.

Artifacts in the skin.

The whites in the eyes seem too bright to me.

The bulging left shoulder looks strange to me, id probably push it down

[jbedford]

Originally Posted by MariusX

If i was to be picky, id point out the following:

Blur in the hair, prolly result of cloning

Artifacts in the skin.

Thanks for the critique, MariusX. The points that you made that I have NOT quoted above, I can appreciate. Despite being specific in some areas of your critique, the quoted points included (above) are a tad unspecific. Where do you see the blur in the hair?

We all are guilty of looking at a picture for too long and missing a few things here and there!

Cheers,

Joel

[seattle-light]

Hey jbedford...

Nice job overall, but a few quick comments. You've done a lot of work on the hair in front (which I wonder if it's an improvement but it's an impressive undertaking), but then you've ignored the mess up on top. The lips are lighter and less differentiated from the skin than they were in the original, but they are also darker and more gray/black in the shadow areas at the corners (which kind of makes it look like she's been chewing on a ball point pen). If you're going to lighten the skin overall, then the freckles should probably be lightened proportionally (you've got them going darker and blacker which just doesn't look natural/believable -- so now they look more like errant flecks of mascara or ink than freckles).

Keep up the good work. Hope you are doing well. Take care. Alan.

[MariusX]

Originally Posted by jbedford

Thanks for the critique, MariusX. The points that you made that I have NOT quoted above, I can appreciate. Despite being specific in some areas of your critique, the quoted points included (above) are a tad unspecific. Where do you see the blur in the hair?

We all are guilty of looking at a picture for too long and missing a few things here and there!

Cheers,

Joel

Yeah, you're right about our eyes getting accustomed to the picture and blinding us to some flaws. I guess with training and experience one can overcome that. This is actually a reason why i follow the critiques on this forum and try to participate. Its a great learning tool and ppl here do seem to know their shit. Another way of overcoming visual accommodation is flipping the canvas horizontally.

As for my points:

The blur in the hair is quite subtle, there are a few small parts and stripes (esp. above her left eye) that look like u treated them with smudge or blur tool. But like Seattle-Light said its quite an impressive undertaking nevertheless.

The artifacts are most visible on her left cheek on the border between the light and dark. I call them artifacts because the don't feature in the original. They look like compression or sharpening artifacts.

Hope this helps.

[jbedford]

Thanks a ton for the constructive feedback. You guys are awesome!

[seattle-light]

Hey jbedford...

Keep up the good work. And post a revised version sometime. Always interesting to see how the feedback loop changes things.

Hope you are doing well. Take care. Alan.

[jbedford]

Thanks guys. I'll post a revised edition v. soon!

[mikedimples]

Originally Posted by MariusX

Yeah, you're right about our eyes getting accustomed to the picture and blinding us to some flaws. I guess with training and experience one can overcome that.

You can trick your mind into seeing the image with fresh eyes by flipping it horizontally.