[DannyRaphael]

Welcome to "Turning Portraits into Digital Sketches, Oils, Watercolors." forum.

This forum is dedicated to topics related to morphing pictures of people into "saleable" art. Hopefully it will not only appeal to the interests of hobbiests like myself, but the needs of professionals looking to expand their service offerings beyond traditional portraits and/or retouching/restoration.

Some well known professionals achieve very appealing results in this regard. Check out their sites:
* Marilyn Sholin - www.MarilynSholin.com
* Jeremy Sutton - http://www.jeremysutton.com/interpretive.html
* Jane Connor-ziser - http://www.janesdigitalart.com/

Attached are some examples I created recently (while experimenting) that will give you an idea of the types of images I envision. Feedback I've been given on these types of manipulations has been very positive so far, measured by the fact that I've actually sold a few of this nature.

The bottom line...

THIS IS YOUR forum and I'll steer it based on member input and feedback. Feel free to add to this thread if you have ideas, suggestions and/or questions.

~Danny~

[gwpowell]

I have a G4 Powerbook with Photoshop CS are there any plugins available to create impressionist art or an oil-colour type look. I also have a PC which i can revert to if i have to.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by gwpowell

I have a G4 Powerbook with Photoshop CS are there any plugins available to create impressionist art or an oil-colour type look. I also have a PC which i can revert to if i have to.

Greetings, and welcome.

I appreciate your asking this question. I wasn't real clear on the definition of Impressionistic art or what distinguished it from other styles, so I decided to do a little research before trying to answer your question.

From: http://www.cs.ucf.edu/~MidLink/Impress.html

"Impressionist art is a style in which the artist captures the image of an object as someone would see it if they just caught a glimpse of it. They paint the pictures with a lot of color and most of their pictures are outdoor scenes.
Their pictures are very bright and vibrant. The artists like to capture their images without detail but with bold colors.

Some of the greatest impressionist artists were Edouard Manet, Camille Pissaro, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot and Pierre Auguste Renoir."

Impressionist Technique from http://www.impressionism.info/info.html

Color
The Impressionists distanced themselves from the somber tones of earlier paintings. They generally avoided the use of black and earth colors and instead used light, vibrant colors to give their paintings luminosity and to capture the changing effect of sunlight on the scenes they painted. Bright, contrasting colors were put onto the canvas one next to or on top of each other, often without prior mixing or subsequent blending.

Brush Work
In order to convey the movement and changing nature of a passing moment, the Impressionists used quick, broken brushstrokes that were left without any further smoothing. This method allows the viewer to clearly see the traces of the brush and gives impressionist paintings an unfinished appearance. The Impressionists worked quickly, sometimes in one sitting, in order to capture the fleeting moment and to give their work a spontaneous feel.

Locale
Impressionist painters often worked outdoors, not in a studio, to be in close touch with nature and to be able to directly observe the effects of changing sunlight, weather and movement.

Too much to quote from this informative source:
http://www.impressionism.org/teachim...outimpress.htm

So, based on what I now know about this style and the examples I saw while surfing, it is my uneducated opinion that a very important characteristic of the Impressionist art that sets it apart other styles is the brushwork. So, I will revert to my standby recommendation for the most "realistic looking" brushstrokes, it's hard to beat the Corel Painter program. (http://www.corel.com). I believe there is a Mac version, but cannot confirm that.

Painter is also outstanding (unsurpassed in my opinion) for digitial oil paintings.

I hope others will add their thoughts to this thread. Thanks for asking.

~Danny~

[gwpowell]

Sorry to put you to all that trouble. (with the "impressionist" request)
Are there any photoshop plugins or other software which would create a hand painted effect from a digital image with just a few easy steps.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by gwpowell

Sorry to put you to all that trouble. (with the "impressionist" request)
Are there any photoshop plugins or other software which would create a hand painted effect from a digital image with just a few easy steps.

No trouble. It was an educational experience and I learned some things. No harm in doing that.

Since you've got CS, many of the built-in filters have possibilities. Artistic > Dry Brush is among my favorites.

There are many, Photoshop actions available that can render arty results. Most of these will work on Macs as well as PCs. See this thread if you haven't already:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2653

For general purpose plugins, look into:
* Paint Engine - http://www.FantasticMachines.com (Windows only)
* Virtual Painter - http://www.vpainter.com (Windows only)
* Microsoft Impressionist (also Windows only) has a lot of options and flexibility. It was packaged on FrontPage 97, 98 & 2000 CDs, but was not included with the Office versions of FrontPage.

Hope this gets you moving on the right track this time.

~Danny~