Creative Portraits: Adam

[DannyRaphael]

This is one of the pic Michael graciously donated for manipulation.

I thought it had great possibilities for this category.

Create and enjoy...

~Danny~

[keepemcomin]

Just messing around....

I used the "what does this button do" technique to clear up blemishes, take away some shadow, and fix other minor imperfections.

Near the end I gave up, changed blending to Screen, and cropped. I'm having another go at this later...not feeling too creative right now.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by keepemcomin

Just messing around... I'm having another go at this later...not feeling too creative right now.

I know what you mean. Happens to me all the time. Sometimes walking away for a few minutes / hours / days is good for recharging the creative batteries.

- - - - - - - - - -

On my three (I got carried away), #2 (cloned in Painter [Bristle oil]) is based on #1; #3 is based on #2 (Surface effects - image luminosity).

The attachment shows the roadmap for 1, mostly Impressionist > Chalk > Chunky Strokes for the background (brush size = 200, coverage = 80) and Xero > Cravaggio.

The more I use Painter, the more I like it and the more I realize how little I know about using it -- kind of like Photoshop!

Thanks again, Michael, for the pics to work on.

~Danny~

[CJ Swartz]

oooooh, Danny, I like them! 2nd and 3rd even better than 1st, I think...

Here's one with some smart blur/layer mask painted with chalk brush overlaying corrected copy (I used Liquify to enlarge eyes squinting into sun), then added another layer with mask and repainted again.

[TylerRB]

I'm not sure about the steps, but here are some likely one....

1. Added a Levels adjustement layer and changed the white point
2. I thought that the color of the sweat-shirt was kind of boring in the photo
so I manipulated that also
3. Selected all but the sweat-shirt and ran Brush Strokes -> Dark Strokes
4. Inversed selection, made a new layer and ran Dark Strokes again with slightly
different settings
5. Set the sweat-shirt layer Blend Mode to multiply and lowered Opacity to 75%

That's it I think. I presume I will get better in stating the steps.

T

[jaykita]

I'm a great admirer of your work, Danny!
I used a couple of fill layers with splashes of color, diff blends, then cloned in painter 8, selective color adjustments and texture-canvas in ps7.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by jaykita

I'm a great admirer of your work, Danny!

Thanks and right back at you. Which of the cloner brushes did you use?

This is excellent.

[Legacy~Art]

Sorry lol! that sounds bad but i have smoothed out the pimples and hidden the scars, and brightened up the picture alittle.

Don't have time now to change the background.

[jaykita]

Originally Posted by DannyRaphael

Thanks and right back at you. Which of the cloner brushes did you use?

This is excellent.

Thank you Danny. Praise from you is an honour...
I used oils - round camelhair (default) and also with these modified settings - size and opacity varied, resaturation 10%, bleed 90%, feature 1.5. This converts it into a pretty good BLENDER. There's an article on this HERE.

[SWEngineer]

Thanks to Michael for the pic to play with. Thanks to Judy for the link to the Painter discussion. And especially thanks to Danny for leading the way with Impressionist.

Lots of basic retouching including Ro's fix for blown highlights. Then run Impressionist (a variant of Paint:Smudges-Soft Paper). Lots of work converting the background into one that's not too busy & (hopefully) sets off the subject. Stole Danny's trick using a masked layer of DryBrush on the original to repair areas of the face where Impressionist got out of control (lips & nose in this case). over the nasty shadow on the jacket which looked terrible at this point. Back to the original -- LOTS of work fixing the shadow to blend softly with the rest. Run Impressionist again on this layer. Mask and use to fix the jacket. Very labor intensive, but I think it turned out ok.

-Mark

[Con Looymans]

Hi Danny,

Here's my attempt:

I cut out the figure and created a "Studio" background behind him using the Lighting filter to create a bit of depth. I then used the lighting filter several times on different copies of the figure and added a color "gel" on one of them. I reduced the burnt out highlights a bit as well as the pimples, and finally I lightened the shadow on the clothing.

Hope you like it.

Regards

Con Looymans

[Janet Petty]

If it hadn't been for Danny's bold number 3 and Con's rendition, I wouldn't have been inspired to work on this picture even though I liked it for the pose and composition. The picture itself just didn't say color or pop. The gray hoody blended into the background too well and made this young man's head stand out like a sore thumb. My humble attempt went further than I'd planned; and I ended up getting rid of the background as well as colorizing the clothing. I don't know that it is any better or worse than the original. I just know that it was fun working on it.

Janet

[DannyRaphael]

Judy:

Thx for the link. Interesting timing. This is an abbreviated version of this tutorial (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/photo-art-resources/10026-tutorial-link-brushes-painter-creating-blender-variants-david-nagel.html), so I now have 2 reasons to give it a go.

Irony:
Several months ago I signed up on Gin's forum (not the one you referenced). After surfing/searching for about 45 minutes looking for the answer to how to morph a brush into a blender, I wasn't able to find the answer -- and I'm pretty good at searching. So, my first post was a politely written request for assistance.

I got blown off by Gin, of all people, with a terse "Search the forum" reply. I now find that even more odd considering the simplicity of the technique. Maybe she was having a bad day, but with a reply like that to my first (and only) question I've not been back.

Go figure.

- - - - - -

Mark:

That's just a terrific interpretation. Great combination of effects. Glad the "restore a little detail" trick came in handy. Impressionist does get carried away sometimes! FWIW I started over because of that obnoxious shadow on his shoulder. I'm almost into the habit now if lightening shadow areas before jumping into Impressionist...but don't always remember.

- - - - - -

Con:

That's a great job of background replacement. Your choice of colors was just right.

- - - - - -

Janet:

Good going on your coloring and technique decisions. It's amazing what an improvement "better colors" can make. Bland is so boring!

~Danny~

[Mitch]

Hi All,
I don't know if we are supposed to work on the whole image, but I wanted to try a close crop and a 'painterly' effect. - So
Cropped and staightened in PSP
Impressionist
Focus Magic to sharpen the edges of the brushstrokes.
I think it's still recognisable, but it keeps reminding me of a Phil Collins CD cover.

Regards,
Mitch.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Mitch

I don't know if we are supposed to work on the whole image, but I wanted to try a close crop and a 'painterly' effect.

Cropping and zooming and splicing ("Oh my!") are perfectly O.K. As a general rule: If it's fun and you want to try it, you're fine.

This is a very bold and unique approach. A BIG thumbs up.