[SWEngineer]

Here's another product from my 'redoing it now that I know something' effort. It's based on 3 great tutorials here on this site:

1) http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9193
2) http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8242
3) http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9043

Essentially, I used the split between high & low frequency idea from 1 with high frequency to preserve details, similar to 2 and most of the impressionist look from 3.

In the attached layers snapshot:

lo - copy BG. Gaussian Blur 5. Pointillize 3. Gaussian Blur 1.5. Sprayed Strokes 12, 16, left diag. Sprayed Strokes 12, 16, right diag.

high - copy BG. Highpass 5. Add mask & fill with 75% (dark) gray. Layer mode LinearLight, 50% opacity. Adjust opacity &/or mask fill density to suit. I painted the lower left corner of the mask to bring out some extra detail in the fence.

Levels - to bring back contrast & saturation 59,1.0,227

Outline - using what ever sketch mimicking method you like. I think this one was based on SmartBlur - Edges Only on a high contrast copy of the BG. Layer mode Multiply, 35% opacity. This layer is optional.

I've also attached the before & after pictures along with a blowup of the final image with addition of a canvas Texturizer filter applied to the merged down final image. Hopefully this captures some of the finer detail that may not have survived or be reproducible from the scaled down originals (which were 1600 x 1200 pixels.)

-Mark

[DannyRaphael]

Mark:

In some ways photoart is kind of like cooking... take a little of this recipe, a little of that recipe, make up a little on your own and you've got something totally unique.

This is an excellent example illustrating the power of combining methods and another valuable contribution for those just getting started.

Many thanks...

~Danny~