[DannyRaphael]

We were visiting a small town this weekend, Cle Elum, Washingtion, and I was on a photo safarii. I thought the name of this store, where one can purchase tobacco products, was especially clever.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar with U.S. slang (non-standard English), here's why the name for this store made me chuckle:
* Chew = an abbreviation for "chewing tobacco"
* n = short for "-ing", but also used as an abbreviation for "and"
* Butts = the discarded portion of a cigar or cigarette or reference to one's buttocks
* Being "chewed out" or "getting your butt chewed" = being verbially reprimanded or scolded. If the boss or a teacher was yelling at employees or students, they are said to have been "chewing butts."

So "Chew-n-Butts" (chewing tobacco and cigarettes) is a clever play on another slang phrase meaning a verbal tongue lashing.

See what you learn here at RetouchPRO!

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In the mean time here's my BW conversion. Have fun with your own manipulations.

[Janet Petty]

Nice BW conversion Danny. It looks GREAT in BW.

Here is my feeble attempt.

Janet

[oltenius]

Nice pic and renditions.
Dan

[Swampy]

What did you use for your b/w conversion, Danny. It' so crisp!

[Steve Conway]

Well here is a good example that when you keep messing with something you're not sure what you will get. Finally I just gave up and posted it.

Steve C.

[Swampy]

Nice Steve.

Love the old car, Danny! :-) Thanks for the play.

Photoshop - AHB and HB.

[GerryB]

Nice picture. This was fun to work with.

[palms1]

Cant beat a bit of education as well as arty fun !

A illustrated action ( with a few edits for ps7) and a black and white conversion

Palms

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Swampy

What did you use for your b/w conversion, Danny. It' so crisp!

For the basic conversion I used the "2 hue/saturation plus one selective color adjustment layers" method. Then I added curves adjustment layers and another layer to tweak contrast and tones in specific areas.

Snapshot of Layers Palette will hopefully illustrate better than I can explain...

[Photomaster]

Painted in Photoshop with Art History brushes and freehand work.

[Swampy]

Chuck, that is teriffic! I like the added textures and strokes.

[des151]

Photomaster,
Very nice, I like it. Would you explain your technique? Thank you. I also noticed the (Danny's Pretty Good Art Gallery) sign.
Ray

[GerryB]

Very nice, Chuck. Love your technique.

[Photomaster]

Thanks everyone. Glad you liked the outcome. As requested by Ray (glad you noticed the sign) and Palms, here is a description of the technique used here and on the "return of the cuties" puppy:

This post basically reiterates the content of this post by Steve Lequier. The referenced brushes are available there.

TM Brushes Used:
Layer 2. TM Impressionist Brush No5
Layer 3. TM Brush Spatter 15A (Set Layer Blending Mode to Hard Light)
Layer 4. TM Detail Brush (Blending Mode is Normal)
NOTE: Place these brushes in the Presets/Tools folder of the Photoshop directory in the Program Files folder. To use these brushes you must load them into the Tool Presets menu.

SEE ATTACHED IMAGES:
Step 1. Open the image. Adjust size, color (hue and saturation), etc. (You cannot make any of these adjustments after you start using the art history brush.) Save the image as a tif file. (Under Layer Compression select Discard Layers and save a copy.) Close the image.

Step 2. Re-open the image. Select the Art History brush on the TOOL MENU. Create a new layer and fill the layer with white.

Step 3. Create another new layer, (blending mode Normal.) Paint with the “TM Impressionist Brush” to fill this layer with the image. Works best with a graphics tablet. Use pressure to increase the size or ease up on the pen to decrease the size of the brush tip.

Step 4. Create a new layer and set the blending mode to Hard Light. Use Trimoon’s “Art History Brush Spatter 15A” to paint the entire layer. Increase or decrease the size of the brush as needed. Get as much detail with this large brush as you can. Use a larger brush tip for the background and a smaller tip for the subject itself. Fill the layer with the image.

Step 5. Create another new layer. Set Blending mode to Normal. Use the “TM Detail Brush” for the finest of the detail on the main subject. Adjust the size between one and six pixels. Use this brush on other areas of the image where you want to bring out detail.

Step 6. Select the top most layer and Stamp Visible (ctrl-alt-shift-E) to merge the layers. You can now sharpen and apply a texture and call the painting finished - or you can get really creative. This is where I like to start using Dodge and Burn, selective cloning, smudging, color adjustments and free hand brush work to give the image that extra zip. Example Here.

Try this method and I guarantee you will be delighted with the results and will want to use it again and again. Try experimenting with different brush setting and be sure to save any tool presets that you find useful. Hope this keeps you busy for a few hours.

Thanks to Trimoon (Steve Lequier) for the great brushes and this wonderful technique.

[des151]

Chuck,
Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed description of your technique. I really appreciate it. I'll be putting it to good use. Thanks again.
Ray