Creative Portraits: Touching Ground

[Fizzgiz]

Here is a pic of my son from last Summer. He wasn't very steady on his feet so we only let him play on the grassy area of the yard. Well he just couldn't wait till we let him go near the stone walkway, and this was the first time we let him. I was dissappointed that I didn't get the shot more at his angle, but you know how fast children move. The first shot is the original. The second one has a Black Pencil Effect (in PSP8) with the opacity set at 50%. The third is the second plus a Brush Stroke Effect with the opacity set at 40%. I played with so many other settings and adjustments, but wasn't happy with anything but these. I'm not going to try any real painting until my tablet gets here. Enjoy playing!!!

[TylerRB]

Fizz, thanks for the pic. I actually like the angle just how it is. More of "in the moment" than if it were straight on.

I used an adjustment layer to isolate the boy and change his levels to brighten him up just a tad.
Isolated the background/grass with a curves adjustment layer and created a very odd curve to extremely change it to have this purplish hue and even a bit of a different look to it.
Applied a canvas texture at various settings.
Gaussian blurred the background to 1.3 pixels.
Reapplied canvas texture with slightly lower settings.
Copied layer.
Diffused it to Lighten only.
Ran Sketch -> Reticulation.
Changed blend mode to Screen with opacity of 70%.

[jaykita]

Such a cute pic!
Here's my creation. Adjusted image in ps, used vp airbrush, wc filter, low opacities, also aniso.

[Fizzgiz]

Great jobs!! Tyler, I love the purple in the grass. It looks like it belongs there, and it changed the pic from Summer to Spring. Jaykita, I love the colors and overall effect. Really nice!

[TylerRB]

Fizz

Thanks for the comments. And thanks again for a great pic to work with.

T

[Fizzgiz]

Here is another one. Here I did an adjsutment layer of Contrast -25, and Brightness -31. Duplicate layer, Art History Brush whole pic, layer opacity 56%. Duplicate layer, High Pass Sharpening, 13.7, layer opacity 35%. Duplicate layer, set to multiply, opacity 41%. Thank you all for enjoying this pic!!

[DannyRaphael]

Terrific pic!

Prep:
* Used Levels adjustment layer to unhide most of the shadows
* Made larger via Image > Image size

Layers (all duplicates of the Levels-fixed Background)
* Smart Blur (Edge only), inverted, (Darken), layer mask
* Photoshop Dry Brush, layer mask
* Xero > Caravaggio, layer mask
* Impressionist > #djr Smudge Paint > 1S, layer mask
* Impressionist > #djr Smudge Paint > 2M

Selectively applied each layer (bottom to top) by airbrushing white onto its respective layer mask, then merged all visible layers into a new layer (alt + Layer > Merge Visible). Saved, flattened image and saved as a new, one-layer file.

Opened one layer file in Painter
* Applied Blender > Grainy Blender brushes
* Saved and closed

Opened in Photoshop
* Duplicated Painter rendered layer and applied a heavy dose of Unsharp Mask
* Use Hue/Saturation to boost color saturation
* Added stroke frame
* Save for Web

Good luck on fatherhood, Fizz. I'm just a few years ahead of you and it's a great trip.

~Danny~

[Fizzgiz]

Hey Danny thanks for stopping by, I was hoping you would. I loved your work on this, and thank you also for the detailed steps. BTW, I am enjoying my MOTHERhood. You wouldn't have known even if I had signed my name, because it is Jessy, and I spell it like a boys name with a Y. I am one of the few who does have a small profile posted here, but most do not I've noticed, so sometimes you have to guess. I will pass the Good Luck wishes onto my Husband though, as this is his first trip into parenthood. (I also have a 13 year old daughter.) I also posted in the introductions forum not too long ago, if anyone is interested as to how I got here. Thanks again for taking the time to enjoy my pic.
Jessy
P.S. Fizzgiz is the name of my favorite cat, who now resides comfortably in the beautiful mountains of Vermont, with my Aunt and Uncle.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Fizzgiz

...I am enjoying my MOTHERhood. ...Jessy

Major league blush, Jessy. Considering the circumstances Parenthood would have been a much better choice of words I dunno why, but I just ass-u-me-d on the Fizzgi moniker. (Doh!)

Glad you were able to take it with a chuckle and that you like kitties (we do, too). Someday I'll post pics of Grateful and Patience.

~Danny~

[Legacy~Art]

Danny when are you going to add the pictures i sent you?

Perfect picture Danny!

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Legacy~Art

Danny when are you going to add the pictures i sent you?

Probably within the next 2-10 days or so.

[cardmnal]

Great pic Fizzgiz, thanks for sharing.

I was going through a drawer and found my old Deep Paint program so I installed it

Cloned the whole photo using brushy cloner set at about 30 pixels. On one layer I cloned it horizontally. On the next layer I did it vertically.
Put back into photoshop and adjusted levels and curves using adjustment layers.

Hope you like.

Alan

[Fizzgiz]

Yes I do. Very lovely job, coming from one lefty to another.

[zip022]

Danny, I have Impressionist but don't seem to understand the below info...could you enlighten me? What is djr etc.
Thanks in advance

Impressionist > #djr Smudge Paint > 1S, layer mask
* Impressionist > #djr Smudge Paint > 2M

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by zip022

Danny, I have Impressionist but don't seem to understand the below info...could you enlighten me? What is djr etc.
Thanks in advance

Impressionist > #djr Smudge Paint > 1S, layer mask
* Impressionist > #djr Smudge Paint > 2M

Hi Deb:

Sorry I missed this one until just now...

See post #13 in this thread:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/photo-art-resources/8328-impressionist-plugin-custom-styles-member-posted.html

#djr Smudge Paint > 1S and 2m refer to custom settings I created and uploaded.

Refer to section "INSTALLING .SET FILES or CUSTOM BRUSHES or PAPERS" in the first post.

Another good question. Thanks for asking this one, too.

~Danny~