Help with duplicating this method

[JoeLacy]

Hello Everyone,

I'm wondering about this style of photorealism. (for lack of a better word) The retouched photo on the right has a rather "painted" quality to it. It's not quite a painting and not quite a photograph to my eye. The style is somewhat simlar to this.

http://andrzejdragan.com/foto/nowawyrobniaeng.html

Any tips on how I can achieve either of these more look painted looks without the image looking overly painted would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps some type filter, plugin or action I could try? The author of the image graciously provided a .psd file fro some suggested hints. This .psd with it's layers can be downloaded here.

http://www.dfwlookingglass.com/s2/freelancer.zip

Thanks,
Joe Lacy

[DannyRaphael]

Hey, Joe:

Welcome to RetouchPRO.

After looking at the layered .psd (that was great... thx for posting it), IMO no action, plugin or filter could ever be used to achieve this look in hands off mode. This is because the artist created so many custom layers, e.g., eyes, hat, shirt, etc., based on image colors and shapes, then applied them using techniques such as layer masks, layer blend mode changes, opacity tweaks, etc.

I'd say the original artist has developed a basic style that can be imitated, but not fully automated.

That said, an action could be built and used to create and insert certain layers, e.g., duplicate the Background and apply sharpening, insert various adjustment layers, merge individual layers into a final one as well as display reminders for tasks that would have to be done manually outside the action, e.g., paint on the layer to darken the background, adjust blend modes and/or opacities and to use the Burn tool for final fine tuning.

It's definitely an interesting effect. I can see why it caught your eye.

~Danny~

[JoeLacy]

Over at DPR we have been struggling with this. Over 250 threads now and only a few understand what's really going on. We thought we might ask someone here.

Is this the right place for this or should it belong in another area here at retouchPro?

Thanks for responding,
Joe

[DannyRaphael]

This was a most appropriate place to post your question, Joe. I noticed the thread(s) at DPR after they were hundreds of posts long and, for that reason, didn't get into them because I did not have time to play catchup with so many responses.

Based on the feedback you've gotten at DPR, what's your sense of the general consensus on this one?

[JoeLacy]

There are others that are close like this one.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...essage=9685836

I have read almost all those threads. I was on board early on. There seems to be no one way to achieve this. My sense is there are some basics though that all of them share. What those basics are...I don't have a clue. Layers and masks at overlay, solid color and a host of burning and dodging methods have been used. Dupping the blue channel, blue filter, highpass and a 1000 other things. It's hard to figure out what do do.]

My idea on this is pretty simple. An action that get's you close and you tweak from there. For whatver reason we are having a hard time getting a straight answer over there, hence my post here. I thought maybe another few sets of fresh eyes might have an answer.

Joe

[DannyRaphael]

Thanks for sharing what you've learned so far, Joe. I'm not surprised by the variety of suggested possible solutions. That's one of the blessings/curses of Photoshop: flexibility.

What makes this technique very challenging to actionize is its reliance on image specific tones and colors. You just can't make an action smart enough to select image dependent colors, let alone apply them selectively either on individual layers or via layer masks.

In some ways having this method difficult to automate is a good thing: The results from applying to each pic will truly be unique.

[freelancer]

There's a new .psd available using 10 steps to the old woman, Dragan style.

It includes progression snapshots and snapshots of the areas to paint as well as text describing each layer.

yahoo.com
login: dpreviewfreelancer54
pass: dragan54


http://atlas.walagata.com/w/sigimage/10green.jpg