New project colouring

[barry_uk]

Now having a break from my grandad, I have now been given a old picture of his wife my nan ages 18 I am now asking you folks your thoughts on face colour, and is the image good enough to colour? I have posted a befor and after colour, please note i have only done the face colour what do you think?
anyone wanting to see if they better the first image your welcome all help are a bonus for me, Please remember I am only using psp7 Many thanks

Regards Barry.

[barry_uk]

Hello again I have played around with my photo and now have to ask you guys how do you get the hair done properly? I have the brushs but unable to get the effect I want But so far whats your thoughts on what I have done ? Over all would you say it can be better ! I am open to all ideas,

Have I said how much I love this place, I am looking forward to being a long term member and hope I can contribute to others usng PSP. One day I wil master it LOL

Regards Barry.

[Duv]

Hi Barry

Coloring is not my forte. Mmmm, not sure if I have a forte..anyhow, I had fun colorizing this.

Cheers
Dave

[Hephaestos]

Stray hairs are the hardest part in my view. I tend to go with a mask, and a brush roughly the same width as the hairs I'm covering, varying in opacity from 50-75%. There's probably a better way though.

[barry_uk]

Right folks what in your opinion is the better picture! I have played and played to get the image as perfect as I can you can see a slight diffrence in the images but only slighty is one or two the better.

[adhd]

I tried playing with it aswell, hope you don't mind, didn't turn out too well though

[barry_uk]

Your all welcome to try and test your skills on it I have now gave it another go made the hair as realistic as possable but found it hard to be honest, I have altered face colour and brought out the fur what stands out better, Also i am sure you will agree the face makeup sets the face of a lot.
Can I do any better I ask myself. LOL

Regards Barry

[philbach]

Well I had a go at it. Since its the day of the Irish I tried a green motif.

[Flora]

Hi everybody,

Wow ... great jobs here!!!!

Who said that colouring is addictive??? (I think it was T Paul....) ..well ... I can only confirm it!!!

Barry,

You are really doing some nice colouring jobs!!!

Just some small tips .... When working on these old pictures, remember that in the past contrast, sharpness and colours weren't as strong and vivid as today ... Be gentle and delicate ... try to keep the feeling of the time ... I wouldn't 'reconstruct' or add anything unless missing or absolutely necessary (it might make the whole picture look fake and unnatural...) ...

In my opinion, it's enough just the lightest hint of hair (or fur) hidden in the shadows ... In other words .... quoting someone I can't remember and myself ... when restoring pictures, in most cases less is much, much more ....

P.S. Thank you so much for letting us use this beautiful picture!!! I had a lot of fun in colouring it!!!

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Barry, just adding my go with your image. I don't usually do colourising, so this is a learner for me also.

[barry_uk]

Good going folks all very good work, I love colouring photos Just wish i could blasted get my grandads picture perfect This one was easy I have enjoyed every minute playing around. Cheers folks.

Regards Barry

[Vikki]

Flora, It might have been me who said coloring was addictive....

The following tips are based on viewing a LOT of colorings
Pay attention to the details. It really is that important.
Don't leave any areas gray, even if you know they probably were. That goes for black and white as well.
Nothing is one solid color, unless you dye it, (or make a selection and fill it with color).

This woman is quite attractive, and I think the image works well for coloring.

[realaqu]

wow, Vikki
I do love your version, how could you make the face that natural, really fantastic.

realaqu

Originally Posted by Vikki

Flora, It might have been me who said coloring was addictive....

The following tips are based on viewing a LOT of colorings
Pay attention to the details. It really is that important.
Don't leave any areas gray, even if you know they probably were. That goes for black and white as well.
Nothing is one solid color, unless you dye it, (or make a selection and fill it with color).

This woman is quite attractive, and I think the image works well for coloring.

[BigAl]

Using PSP9.
First desaturated, then cleaned noise and brightened image.
Followed this tut (interesting effect, but the recipe needs to be modified to make it work).
Added a brown layer (blend mode color). Added a hide-all mask, then used various shades of grey to color the hat, hair and dress.
Added a dark grey layer (blend mode color). Added a hide-all mask, then used a white brush to color the stole.
Added a blank layer, then used a thin (1, 2 & 3 pixel) low opacity dark grey brush to add shadows and hair highlights.
Copy-merged a new layer blend mode multiply - opacity 30%.

[Flora]

Originally Posted by realaqu

wow, Vikki
I do love your version, how could you make the face that natural, really fantastic.

realaqu

... ... At the risk of boring her to death .... Vikki doesn't colorize .... she creates magic ....

BigAl,

Great link!!! Thanks for sharing it ....
The method is similar to the one described at "worth1000" but with the great addition of the PSP version!!!

Originally Posted by Vikki

Don't leave any areas gray, even if you know they probably were. That goes for black and white as well.

...I'd only add just the slightest hint of colour to eyes and fur ... otherwise I think it's just great!!
I love how you managed to add colour while keeping a very warm overall sepia tone ....

[BigAl]

...I'd only add just the slightest hint of colour to eyes and fur ... otherwise I think it's just great!!
I love how you managed to add colour while keeping a very warm overall sepia tone ....

Thanks Flora, I'd forgotten to reply. I suppose the eye color is a bit overpowering in the overall sepia tone

It's quite interesting how close the Worth1000 method is to the one I gave. I wonder who is plagiarising who

[xxpaperdollxx]

I went to that worth1000 thing. I'm stuck here:

Blush it

Turn off the gold layer, so that you see predomininantly red, and switch to the red layer. It's time to edit our mask, so, in PSP, go to masks>edit; in PS click the mask icon in the layer pallette. Both programs should now be showing you a colour pallette containing only values from black to white.

Fill your entire mask with a medium grey value. You should end up with a purple grey colour, like this:

[creeduk]

Vikki and Flora, great work. I have looked at a lot of coloring jobs, I don't dabble much myself and these are really good. I love the skin and you are right this picture subject works really well.