Creative Portraits: Pink Flower in her Hat

[DannyRaphael]

From http://gal.mvc.ru/

This should be another fun one.

[Legacy~Art]

Well where do i start...

I smart blurred it gently and then i used smudge hairbrush, and smudge soften brush and i then added texture.

[Legacy~Art]

Uppted the colour and lighly embossed...

[byRo]

Found the original and used as base.
Cropped and retouched before getting arty.
AHB Chalks (still tweaking the brushes).

Rô

[Janet Petty]

I've been working on new/old effects. I didn't quite get the cracked paint right on her face; but I'm done for now. Gotta fix dinner.

Janet


Ok, I'm reposting this picture. I cleaned up the "black spots" on her face and neck. What is left is the effect of compression on the cracked paint effect. I hope this is better.

[DannyRaphael]

I'm doing some more experimenting with a new technique in Painter IX...

Started in Photoshop:
* Knocked out the blue background
* Levels, Hue/Saturation (boosted sat a bit)
* Flatten, Save, Close

Painter IX
* Opened and Cloned
* Used Blender > Grainy Water at small size, low opacity just about everywhere to "simplify" (smudge) the image
* Used Cloner > Soft Cloner to restore some detail
* Use Tinting > Diffuser 2 for the first time to "diffuse" some edge areas. This is a really cool brush.
* I was experimenting with adding/blending colors here and there, but by the time I finished it looked a bit overdone.

For a first time using this method, I can see the potential.

[byRo]

Danny, the lower half worked perfectly.
IMHO the face, however, could do with less..less blush, less definition for the eyes and mouth. Then it would combine better with the rest.

Just an opinion, OK?
Rô

[Janet Petty]

Dannny, less rosy cheeks; but the rest is perfect. I kept blowing out the dress and hand. How did you get so much detail in them? Nice work.

This one was an experiment from a tutorial by Tim Shelbourne. I didn't have the exact brushes he used (don't know where he found them either -- looked all over for them -- maybe I have TOO many brushes ) In any case. I quite like the results.

Your were right Danny. This one is a good, fun one.

Janet

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by byRo

Just an opinion, OK?

No problem. Your points are valid.

With this type of maniulation I almost always struggle with how much (or little) to tweak the eye/mouth detail. Since I often hose that aspect (smudge beyond repair), I tend to "go light" which leads to an unharmonious look.

The addition of blush is new ground, too, and I'm coming to the conclusion "less is more" in that regard.

Your candor is appreciated, Ro.

Originally Posted by Janet

I kept blowing out the dress and hand. How did you get so much detail in them?

After smudging with Grainy Water, I used Soft Cloner to lightly add back a little detial where needed.

[jaykita]

Originally Posted by Janet Petty

I've been working on new/old effects. I didn't quite get the cracked paint right on her face; but I'm done for now. Gotta fix dinner.

Janet

P.S. Don't look too closely. It still needed more work before I gave up.

Janet, superb!!
Just a suggestion though...hope you don't mind...maybe you have some other plan in mind, but the black smudges on the face are a bit distracting. Knock them off, and she'd be a knock-out!!

[Legacy~Art]

Janet you reminded me of something my Mum use to say when i was 15 experiementing with make up, she said that foundation is going to start cracking if you put anymore on it, so thats means keep it simple and get rid of the black smudge marks and it will be perfect!

[palms]

I thought i would give this one a spin
done a watercolour added texture and added the waterpaper filter

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by palms1

I thought i would give this one a spin. Done a watercolour added texture and added the waterpaper filter

Glad you took a shot at this one. I like this interpretation very much.

[PamSav]

I haven't posted anything here for a while (I've been moonlighting elsewhere ). Here's my version of the girl in the hat. I removed the original background and made a new one for her in PSCS. Adjusted colours a little and enlarged image. Took into Painter IX for painting with Captured Bristle, Just Add Water and Square Chalk then back into PSCS to add the texture.

Click here for larger version: http://www.pbase.com/pamsav/image/42924917/original

[GOLDCOIN]

Just love the watercolor effect, so I keep trying...

for a larger view..

http://www.pbase.com/goldcoin/image/42966183/original

[byRo]

Pam, if you changed the colour of the yellow hand - then it would be perfect!

Rô

[Janet Petty]

Nice work everyone. I learn so much when I look at and try everyone's different techniques. Thanks for the beauty and the learning.

Janet

[jaykita]

Beautiful pic, Danny, thank you.
I did this purely in painter 8, with grainy brushes and grainy water blend.
Though this was fun, it took me a while compared to some of the other stuff i do

[byRo]

Originally Posted by jaykita

....it took me a while compared to some of the other stuff i do

Time very well spent, beautiful work!!

(was that really you, or your twin sister?)
Rô

[GOLDCOIN]

Wow...Jaykita...simply beautiful work. The exceptional details to her dress are masterful. A real pleasure to view...

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by GOLDCOIN

Just love the watercolor effect, so I keep trying...

for a larger view..

http://www.pbase.com/goldcoin/image/42966183/original

Outstanding work, GC. This is terrific.

I also enjoyed surfing your pBase gallery. You've got done some wonderful painting manipulations.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by jaykita

Beautiful pic, Danny, thank you.
I did this purely in painter 8, with grainy brushes and grainy water blend.
Though this was fun, it took me a while compared to some of the other stuff i do

Ditto what Rô said. Very nice, Judy.

[Janet Petty]

Judy, ditto what Ro and Danny said. Wonderful look.

Janet

[jaykita]

Ro, Goldcoin, Danny, Janet... thank you, thank you very much...

[DannyRaphael]

Just tried a new Art History Brush (AHB) / Brush combination inspired by our good friend, Trimoon.

AHB settings: Normal, Opacity ~ 40-60%, Tight/Short, 10 px, 0

## Brush: Spatter 15. Width ranging from 4 px (for important detail) to 50-60 px for large, blotchy patches of color.

##: I don't recall if the Spatter brushes are among those loaded by default into the Brushes palette. If not, you will find them among the brush set files (.abr) that are installed with Photoshop.

Read "To load a library of preset brushes" found in the "Selecting preset brushes" HELP topic.

- - - - - - - -

* Opened original
* Used Magic Wand to select blue background
* Deleted blue
* Double-clicked Background layer and converted to a regular layer
* Created a new layer and moved below the subject layer
* Filled with a light tan color
* Flattened image
* Saved as a new file ("Hat AHB")
* Closed

* Opened "Hat AHB"
* Created a new layer
* Selected Art History Brush tool and applied settings shown above
* Right-click to display Brush menu
* Chose Spatter 15 brush and set width to 40 px
* Started painting away with AHB. Adjusted opacity and brush diameter as needed, for example to 4-6 px for more detail around the eyes, mouth, nose.

* When finished, created a new layer at the top of the layer stack
* Alt + Merge visible
* Unsharp Mask (to give some definition to strokes)
* Lowered opacity of the USM layer a bit to tone down a little
* Added stroke frame

[LQQKER]

Very nice work by all.
Virtual painter a few times.
simplified.
Hue & sat adj.
Heavy gaus. blur on underlying layer.
light simplification
enhanced colors.
Some hand work.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by LQQKER

Very nice work by all.
Virtual painter a few times.
simplified.
Hue & sat adj.
Heavy gaus. blur on underlying layer.
light simplification
enhanced colors.
Some hand work.

The coloring is supurb and you did the right amount of simplification w/o losing too much detail.

[Janet Petty]

This thread gets more interesting and visually beautiful all the time. Great jobs everyone. I'm enjoying your art.

Here is another one from me. This makes three.


Watercolor with the AHB set at a low opacity.

Janet

[Xaran]

Incredible results from everyone - here's my version.

Made picture larger at the top and painted in the rest of the flower that had been chopped off.
Xero line art - drawing mode to lighten and brighten.
Painter IX to Paint - Flat oil brush over a layer of 'muckup'.

Christine

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Xaran

...and painted in the rest of the flower that had been chopped off.

The flower wasn't chopped off. The image was creatively cropped! Actually, the extension you did does look better.

I especially like your results, Christine. This one is terrific.