First Post - First Attempt at Smudge Painting

[graham5]

This is my very first attempt at smudge painting. I was trying to get a painted look for my son's portrait. I used Corel Paint Shop Pro X2. I really had a good time doing this. I would love some honest critique. I really don't have a clue to how to work on the eyes - especially the eyelashes. I tried to download Linda's brushes and Sara's brushes, but my program would not accept them. Does anyone know where I can download brushes that are compatible with paint shop pro x2??

[palms1]

Welcome Graham

well done for your first smudge, it does have a painted feel to it

now the bad part

Open your image up again and zoom, you will see the parts where you have not smudged ( believe me we all do that it is always worth going over your smudge again after you think it is finished and checking) not only does this make the image look better still, but it helps with any sharpening that you do,
Yes the eyes need some work but i think they are the hardest part and struggle with them as well

again you have done great i know it is harder to smudge in psp but stick at it.
in case you havent seen this post there are some tips there

and for converting brushes take a look at this although as i havent tried it i cant say if it works or not

Palms

[graham5]

Thank you so much palms! I can now convert ps brushes to paint shop pro due to the direction you provided me. I went to the forum you found for me and was able to download gobs of different kinds of brushes and found out how to convert to paintshop. For others out there, when you download the paintshop pro software, corel media one software comes with it to view and organize photographs. After you download the brushes in their image packs (they are in jpg format), unzip the files to a location you can find easily. Right click the windows logo and select open. Find your brush files and click on the image. It will automatically come up in corel media one. Click on file, open with, paint shop pro and the file will open in paint shop pro. Then go to file, export, custom brushes and rename them. Be careful, you may have to resize some of the images, but that is not a big deal. I am going to busy for a while converting, but it will be worth it. Thanks for the critique. I know it will take practice, practice, and practice. If you know others struggling with paint shop pro please let them know they can convert brushes.

[Peter S]

Not that bad for a first attempt keep going. though I think you have been a little heavy with the brushes you've used and maybe a little over the top with the sharpening, the halos seem a little large and draw the eye away from the subject.

I hope you don't mind but I had a go at this one.
I thought it might help seeing how someone else would handle it.
I replaced the BG and added a texture also.

Peter

[dmrdm]

Like your version Peter. I need to get back into playing with smudging again. I have a hard time with people myself and found dogs and cats much easier to do. Your little boy turned out very nice.

[graham5]

Thank you for your critique Peter. It's a very beautiful picture. I am honored you wanted to try your hand at it. Perhaps you could share some of your technique tips with me. I loved how the eyes turned out and the background just seemed to make him shine. I love it.

[palms1]

Nice one Peter

dmrdm i too find people harder but it does come with practice

Graham i have added a link to this post into the smudging resources post for anyone who needs it thank you for the write up

Palms

[Peter S]

Originally Posted by graham5

Thank you for your critique Peter. It's a very beautiful picture. I am honored you wanted to try your hand at it. Perhaps you could share some of your technique tips with me. I loved how the eyes turned out and the background just seemed to make him shine. I love it.

Thank you.

1st tip follow Palm's link to the smudge resources thread, It's like a bible really lots of info and good examples there.
2nd tip try the brush pressure lower, but high enough so you see a difference.
3rd tip try different brushes, there's lots about, I find I have to use different ones for hair, skin and fabric etc.
4th tip keep within the lines, like when you used to colour in pictures when you were a kid, you want to soften the edges not obliterate them.
5th tip careful with the sharpening, you need a lot but it's easy to do too much. Palms has a sharpening action for smudging but I think your not using PS so maybe no good.

I couldn't do much with the eyes really as it was a quite small photo, so just a little Dodging and added catch lights, (that nearly always improves eyes).

Happy reading (it's a long thread that one)

Peter

[graham5]

Thanks for the tips. Also, how did you create the background? I like the way he looks lit up from behind as well as the canvas print look. I have started reading all those resources that palms1 provided and they are helping tremendously. Thanks for all the input.

[Peter S]

Originally Posted by graham5

Thanks for the tips. Also, how did you create the background? I like the way he looks lit up from behind as well as the canvas print look. I have started reading all those resources that palms1 provided and they are helping tremendously. Thanks for all the input.

Well the back ground is your son as well, on a dupe warped blurred then rendered lighting effects - omni (not sure if PSP does this). Obviously masked where the boy was, this got rid of some of the halos as well.
The canvas texture was added as on overlay layer and the texture was generated in Impressionist. If you need this check out Danny's signature, though could be Googled as well.

Peter