what should good d&b retouch look like?

[studionewmarket]

I am having a go at d&b, I have read and tried two variations, one with curve layer set and the other on softlight grey layer (as described by Chris Tarantino), with the latter I found fitting me a bit better, however my attampts at the skin being uniform failed miserably to date. I am attaching a sample, one unretouched image, the other after healing, and colour correction as well as some d&b done in the middle of the image. I am hoping that based on this example someone who is comfortable with d&b would show me what a good retouched close up of a photo should look like.

Guess where I am having the issue with is that by the time I get the lighter areas dark enough, the dark edges are getting too dark, I pick color based on the surrounding area and then dial the B factor to about 2.%, brush opacity that seem to work the best is about 10%, hardness is set to 0. I understand that my hand movement is most likely the problem, however this happens when I use brush size of 1 or 2, because the area is so small. Am I trying to tackle ares that too small, most likely not?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Peter

[namphoto]

what do you mean when you say youre trying to get lighter areas darker.

the way ive always did that stuff was to lighten the light, and darken the dark, creating the highest point the lightest and the lowest point the darkest.

as to d&b ive began using gray layer for shades as to where i use curves with color correction. i dont know how well that is gonna work in the future, but its done a good job so far.

[studionewmarket]

Originally Posted by namphoto

what do you mean when you say youre trying to get lighter areas darker.

if an area is brighter than the surrounding skin I would try to darken it to match the surroundings.

Thank you
Peter

[studionewmarket]

ok, was hoping someone would take a stab at maybe an inch or so from the image I posted or perhaps upload a close up of something they have done to show me what I should be aiming for and what's possible and what is perhaps not.

Another question I have: is the type of skin I posted above proper for someone like me to practice on, or perhaps something easier would be better. I am not sure if I am making myself clear but I think I have made a bit of imprevement in my second attampt but it would literally take me days to cover the whole face at the speed I am moving right now.

thank you.
Peter

[edgework]

Originally Posted by studionewmarket

ok, was hoping someone would take a stab at maybe an inch or so from the image I posted or perhaps upload a close up of something they have done to show me what I should be aiming for and what's possible and what is perhaps not.

Another question I have: is the type of skin I posted above proper for someone like me to practice on, or perhaps something easier would be better. I am not sure if I am making myself clear but I think I have made a bit of imprevement in my second attampt but it would literally take me days to cover the whole face at the speed I am moving right now.

thank you.
Peter

You're off to a pretty fair start. You went way too far beneath her eye, of course and there are still lots of imperfections, but, except for the eye, nothing you've done jumps out and screams "I've been retouched!"

As for what it should look like, that's up to you. If you're trying for a smooth, faultless surface, you don't want any specific area calling attention to itself. Rule of thumb: If you see it, hit it. That goes for indentations, bumps and sharp color variations as well. Skin is a multifaceted set of gradients from lights to darks and from hue to hue. No sharp edges, no unexpected transitions.

If you're getting dark halos around light areas, your brush is too big. Keep it slightly smaller than the region you're working on.

Not everything is a D&B issue. Sometimes it's a color shift that's needed, in which case curves would be your choice.

If you use the healing brush, don't use large, broad strokes. Focus in on small areas with a small brush.

Keep practicing.

[studionewmarket]

Originally Posted by edgework

You're off to a pretty fair start. You went way too far beneath her eye, of course and there are still lots of imperfections, but, except for the eye, nothing you've done jumps out and screams "I've been retouched!"

As for what it should look like, that's up to you. If you're trying for a smooth, faultless surface, you don't want any specific area calling attention to itself. Rule of thumb: If you see it, hit it. That goes for indentations, bumps and sharp color variations as well. Skin is a multifaceted set of gradients from lights to darks and from hue to hue. No sharp edges, no unexpected transitions.

If you're getting dark halos around light areas, your brush is too big. Keep it slightly smaller than the region you're working on.

Not everything is a D&B issue. Sometimes it's a color shift that's needed, in which case curves would be your choice.

If you use the healing brush, don't use large, broad strokes. Focus in on small areas with a small brush.

Keep practicing.

thank you, practice is what I intend to do.
under the eyes I did healing not d&b, will change that.
I am also noticing colour shifts, seems like selective colour or saturation change of individual colours helps with this issue. Anyway this seems to be very time consuming but I fully intend to figure out what will work for me and learn it the best I can.

Thank you
Peter

[cricket1961]

You have gotten off to a good start Studio.
I use the healing tool for all large "objects" on the skin.
For lines under eyes I still use a paintbrush on the grey layer more often than not.

And Edgework is right. THe technique is simple to learn but very time consuming to do properly.

Chris

[studionewmarket]

Originally Posted by cricket1961

You have gotten off to a good start Studio.
I use the healing tool for all large "objects" on the skin.
For lines under eyes I still use a paintbrush on the grey layer more often than not.

And Edgework is right. THe technique is simple to learn but very time consuming to do properly.

Chris

thanks for your input Chris, I started reading your posts couple of days ago trying to absorb every bit of info the best I can and am about half way through. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Peter

[bustaboy]

ok first post first try be easy