Brushwork restoration

[Florin]

Hello dear friends. I´d like to share this recent work with you. It was a real mess but finally, after 2 days work, was recovered. Ofcourse it looks like a paintwork, as always in these kind of extreme restorations.

http://i44.tinypic.com/14jt8ao.jpg

Regards

[Der_W]

I think it looks great!
Wish I could paint like that but unfortunately I'm not patient enough.
Just one little thing: in my eyes the color is overall a little too green (or too yellow, however you want to take it, measured in a- & b-values that is), but that could just be me.

[Florin]

Thanks, Der_W. I really did it like this but I´m waiting the client´s comments about this colour. This photo was assigned to a photo-studio which send it to me for restoration. I´m working with some 7-8 photo-studios and I never know the original clients.
Regards

[Cupcake]

Very good work Florin.

[HroadhogD1]

Wow, looks real good!

[DJM]

[QUOTE=Florin;262153. Of course it looks like a paintwork, as always in these kind of extreme restorations.

I looked at this finished retouch and my first thought was Is this the norm when repairing damaged photo's . Will you get paintwork and not a vintage original or am I missing something here . Very nicely done , I like it . I could use a lesson or 2 or more :>)

[Florin]

Hello my friends. Back home again (I´m teaching all afternoons untill 7 p.m.).
Well, thank you very much for your gentle reply. I really enjoied this job bescause from the beginning I saw it as a paintwork, as art, not quite a common restoration. That´s why I put some "golden" touch when coloured it, I like it. Still don´t know who is the lady-client, haha... I hope she like it too.
My best regards,
Florin

[aartist]

Florin, love your work.
You have an eye to detail and this example shows it!
Great Job!

[Florin]

Thank you again

[Stringbean]

What a wonderful job!

[Florin]

Thanks a lot, I´m feeling great with your comments, my friends.

[Nezbitten]

What a fabulous job! It really does look like a painting. It is my preference to restore the photo, if it starts to look painterly then I would have strayed off the path. Possibly you could have used the FFT filer to remove the texture and then restore as a photo. It is by no way as extreme as some photo restorations I have seen. Excellent none the less!

[Florin]

Thank you, Neil. Well, many years of practice behind. Yes, I used first the FFT for the texture but still was a mess and had to be painted, some 8-9 work hours. You are also a very good retoucher, I´ve been seeing your site, very good works.
Regards

[Kraellin]

very nice, florin!

i had a go at this also. some nasty stuff in there. the FFT was a must. i followed that with some add noise then used psp's 'edge preserving smooth' filter (similar to median). some 'digital camera noise removal', some brightness/contrast, come hue/sat, some color balance, and a bit of clone, airbrush and push.

the first job was to get rid of the pattern. fft, add noise and edge preserving smooth did most of that.

that left the big stuff that had to be cloned out.

some color balance and hue/sat to get the colors back to right.

then a bunch of clone, airbrush and push for the final cleanup.

total time, about 2 hours on the first go, wait a few hours, then finish with maybe another half hour.

[Florin]

Hello Craig and thank you. Of course I begun with the FFT but still was a mess:
http://i42.tinypic.com/20sxe78.jpg
Then, you know me, clonebrush and paintbrush for some 7 hours:
http://i44.tinypic.com/33w8qvb.jpg
Final touch, the hair texure with my own brushes and the colour layers.
That´s no easy.
My best regards and be in touch.
Florin

[unimatrix001]

I hope you don't mind I had a go at this photo myself. I just wish i had your talent. I am no artist but i do my best. Not really satisfied with the hair but like i said i am no artist. I really like the rendition you did of this photo, it is excellent. So here is what i got.

[Florin]

Hello my friends.
I´m so happy for your attention with this post. Really Craig and you, now, made so good works. Congratulations for your http://www.flickr.com/photos/39473188@N00/ site. Of course I must go a little more, painting more etc etc because it´s a pay job and I had to deliver it as you have seen. For the hair, I suggest to level, to have some flat tone and try to paint it with a hair brush, which seems like a lot of small points.
Have my best regards for all of you,
Florin
P.S. Anytime when you´ll need a good high resolution sample for practice, a "virgin" one, without any retouch, please let me know and I´ll upload it for you to a server and give you the link.
Cheers

[Kraellin]

thanks, florin