Creative interpretations: Portrait - Paula

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Mig

I'm glad I don't have that filter because it produces ugly results.
All these contributions, except perhaps one of Catia's, are horrendous. I should say I'm sorry to have to say this, as if, "I'm sorry to have tell you guys this, but..." I can't - they're awful and that's the truth.
Really, why bother explaining how you did these? Who would want to know? You could run this picture through any filter at randon and in a less than a second get a better result.
Even if you want to get 'creative' about it, the idea is to make her look good.
I feel sorry for this girl. She's supposed to be beautiful.

Mig

FYI: Mig is a long time RP contributor. He's helped me many times in the past and is an exceptional talent when it comes to retouching, graphic design and the like. As one whose skills and background I truly respect, I wasn't offended or bothered by Mig's comments. I know his interests generally don't fall in this area and he meant no malice. When you're that good, it gives you license to speak your mind. A little debate once in awhile doesn't hurt.

The quetion:
It has been asked many times in the past and will be asked many times in the future, "Why mess with a perfectly good photo, like this one?"

Answer:
The original is nothing more than a source from which an artistic interpretation can be crafted, hacked or however you want to describe the method of getting to a final result.

Whether the final outcome is an improvement over the original isn't the point. Manipulating an image digitally it is our equivalent of a traditonal artist clipping a photo next to her easel for a sketch or oil painting reference.

Making up for an absence of skill:
People like Mig whose skills I can't even imagine ever having, can freehand these types of effects while eating a sandwich. For the artistically challenged like myself whose stick figures pale in comparison to my 7-year-old daughter, filters, plug-ins and actions make up for the skills I'll never have. They are digital tools, just as brushes, chalk, paint, canvas, etc. are tools for the traditional artist.

FWIW: Whether one likes the effects rendered by the Impressionist plugin or not, I firmly stand my by claim that it creates effects like no other plugin or application I've ever seen, heard of, own and/or demo'd. It has unparalleled functionally. Thanks to recent threads and comments by Jeff, I continue to discover more nooks and crannies.

Why bother to describe the steps?
Believe it or not, some people actually want to know these kinds of things. I remember when I first got started with this hobby. Having access to instructions, how-to hints, etc. enabled me to learn from the experiences and knowledge of others. Sometimes they inspired ideas of my own.

I frequently get e-mails and PMs asking for step clarification or additional details.

The "actions" thread is going on 60,000 views (the most viewed thread ever at RetouchPRO) and the thread that contains a list of internet photo-art tutorials just went over 10,000 views, which puts it in the top five all time. Believe me, there's interest in "how."

Okay. Nuff said. Time to move on.

No harm, no foul. Keep creating and keep having fun.

~Danny~

[Mig]

Originally Posted by Xaran

You are entitled to your opinion Mig, however the idea is NOT necessarily to 'Make her look good' it is to create a photo art effect with 'Creative Interpretation'

Did Picasso make his subjects 'look good'

Christine

Sometimes I get ahead of myself. Most of what I say you should let go in one ear and out the other.
However, on a serious note, I've never seen Picasso make a woman look bad. Ever. Even when she looked like a mess, all skinny, depressed and ironing the clothes, she still looked good.

But who's Picasso anyway? Anyone can do that stuff.

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html

M.

[ajcutler]

I saw a beautiful girl with more beauty waiting to be drawn out.

To draw out Paula's beauthy, I desaturated the color to give the skin a more natural tone, added some makeup, replaced the background with a sky (render coulds), and used a gaussian blur to soften her skin and hair, and an unsharp mask to highlight her eyes.

Alan

[jch71566]

Originally Posted by ajcutler

I saw a beautiful girl with more beauty waiting to be drawn out.

To draw out Paula's beauthy, I desaturated the color to give the skin a more natural tone, added some makeup, replaced the background with a sky (render coulds), and used a gaussian blur to soften her skin and hair, and an unsharp mask to highlight her eyes.

Alan

Beautiful job, Alan! I especially like the new background.

-Jeff

[ajcutler]

Originally Posted by jch71566

Beautiful job, Alan! I especially like the new background.

-Jeff

Thank you Jeff! I thought that a blue sky would go well as the background, because it would be less distracting than the original, and would fit with the sunlight cast on the girl.

Alan

[Duv]

This is a quasi watercolor effect. Set Dust and Scratches to 8 then created a layer mask and with the mask selected painted back the pupils with a black brush set to 65%.

Cheers
Duv

[DannyRaphael]

Mig:

RE: "Who's Picasso anyway?"
You crack me up. Nice pic you crafted, too.

- - - - - -

Duv;

Nice WC effect. Using layer masks to restore detail is one of the greatest things I ever discovered.

- - - - - -

Photofix:

Welcome aboard. Glad to see that (a) you jumped in the pool and (b) you got the attachment puzzle figured out x3. Well done.

Of the three I think I like #3 the best, with the middle one with the impasto strokes a close second. Good to see you're experimenting and trying various effects. That's how you learn what works and what doesn't.

Hope to see more of your creations in the future. You can try any of these creative interpretations anytime.

- - - - - -
Jilly:

Your grayscale version inspired me so I had to try another Impressionest effect.

This time the base layer was created applying a modification of the "Crayon Sketch" effect to a copy of the Background. Image > Adjustments > Desaturate sapped the colors.

Stylize > Diffuse > Anisotropic and Unsharp Mask applied to this layer to give the lines a little more character. Image > Adjustment > Levels applied to generate some contrast.

Duplicated the background, moved to top of layer stack and applied Find Edges. Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. Changed mode to Multiply.

Added a Levels adjustment layer (grouped with previous, so it only affected the Find Edges layer). Messed with sliders to get the effect I wanted.

Duplicated BG again and dragged copy to the top of layer stack. Added a "hide all" layer mask and set blend mode to Luminosity. Airbrushed white on layer mask to bring back some eye detail that got obliterated by the Impressionist effect.

Created a new layer at the top and Alt + Layer > Merge Visible to consolidate all layers. Did a little clone work to fix up blobs here and there and to remove the background shrubs.

With all due respect to Mig, this doesn't make her look beautiful by any stretch of the imagination, but to me it makes her looked a lot more sketched than I would have been able to do with a 2H pencil.

~Danny~

[Duv]

With all due respect to you Danny, you've cheapened my response to your image. Whether you realize it or not, you created something that gave me a strong emotional response. I don't care about anybody else. By coming out and saying this doesn't make her look beautiful by any stretch of the imagination, you have voided any reason to create what you did in the first place plus made me feel like an ass to respond to it the way I did. What is artistic expression other than sincere feelings between one and another. I hope you don't do this again. I love what you did!

Cheers
Duv

[DannyRaphael]

Duv:

RE: With all due respect to you Danny, you've cheapened my response to your image.
That was certainly not my intent. My sincerest apologies you took it this way.

RE: Whether you realize it or not, you created something that gave
me a strong emotional response. I don't care about anybody else.
I didn’t realize that it moved you to that extent. My wife’s typical reaction: She rolls her eyes and shakes her head in wonder, as in, “Why mess up such a nice picture?” I’m not used to positive reactions and didn’t mean my flip comment to come across as dismissing yours.

RE: Your coming out and saying this doesn't make her look beautiful by any stretch of the imagination, you have voided any reason to create what you did in the first place.
Communicating meaning through words alone can be a challenge. Let’s try it again. “Although in my view this particular photo-art interpretation does not make her look more beautiful than the photograph, it’s an interpretation of the photograph that, considering my absence of traditional artistic skills, I’m proud of.”

RE: …plus made me feel like an ass to respond to it the way I did.
Again, I’m sorry you felt this way. I would never intentionally say something that put down someone’s opinion — especially when it’s favorable.

RE: What is artistic expression other than sincere feelings between
one and another?
This is one of those philosophic questions that I cannot possibly answer.

RE: I hope you don't do this again. I love what you did!
You can be assured I’ll use better judgment in the future. Thanks for your very kind words of support.

~Danny~

[Duv]

That a boy Danny! Perhaps your comments were skewed a tad by Mig's original post. Your kind response is very much appreciated. The feelings which one infects others whether it be strong or weak is art. At least by my definition. That's why I don't think we should trivialize what we do. It's very unbecoming. Again, thank you. I do so enjoy this forum and the efforts by so many.

Cheers
Duv

[LQQKER]

Exactly the same procedure as my first post, with a mood color/contrast adjustment.

[ahutton]

More playing with xero lineart and PSP8's impressionist filter.

AmyHutton

[Fluffbutt]

What an absolute beauty!

I had to try keeping that gorgeous face as is, and still make an arty picture. How does a big sloppy wet brush over sharply defined edges sound?

(and to what's his name back there (forgot his name and can't be bothered to go back and look - LOL!!!): this was Impressionist. Three filters, five layers (background, 'Old Masters', 'Waterbrush', 'Colour Pencils" (15%), and original in colour mode (to restore colours))

[jaykita]

Well done, Fluffbutt.
Here's what i did.
Original layer, duplicate original and use gradient-map - pastels-green, purple, blue. Saturation blend. Copy-merged, paste. This is image 1.
Duplicate file. This is image 2. Use image adj levels - brighten and lighten image. Edit - define pattern. Use pattern brush, hard-round, and pattern. Aligned.
On image 1, darken mode for lips, color burn for hair, overlay and vivid for eyes, multiply for pupils and jewelry and lighten for rest of girl.

[Janet Petty]

I think the instructions were to "be creative".

I had fun with this one. No painting involved unless you count painting masks. This was all done with blending modes.

Janet

Edit: Second picture. The face is from somewhere else but turned out the way this one should have. In any case, you'll "get the picture".