Creative Portraits: Niki

[DannyRaphael]

We'll use this thread to launch the new forum.

Objective: Turn this into a painting, sketch or watercolor.

~Danny~

[DannyRaphael]

Here's the base image...

[Jeff L]

I thought I could come up with something for this beautiful model....

1. I used Flaming Pear "Glare" and faded a bit.
2. I followed up with a "Gothic Glow" and faded that layer a bit.

This may be one of those things that appear really cool on my monitor but don't really work. Lemme know!

[DannyRaphael]

Wayne:

Sorry I'm a little slow to reply: I'm on 'jury duty.'

You're in the right place and you've got the right idea. Including the client's name on the print is a unique touch that I believe would be an attractive (and easy to apply) option.

- - - - - - -

Jeff:

Without feedback from a "real client," it's hard to get a feel for what works and what doesn't just by viewing a manipulated image on the monitor.

My approach is to strive for a look/result that's different enough/appealing enough that a potential client would consider purchasing it in addition to (or in lieu of) an original shot. I've actually printed up some variations (as samples) for client review. (If they buy one or two, fine; if not, I've keep them for future marketing samples.)

Since not many folks offer this type of thing at this time as far as I can tell, it's going to take time to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. Since I'm just beginning to do this myself I'm finding that my hunches on what I think "look good" and might sell are often very different than what appeals to a given client.

~Danny~

[Leah]

Originally Posted by DannyRaphael

Since I'm just beginning to do this myself I'm finding that my hunches on what I think "look good" and might sell are often very different than what appeals to a given client.

Jumping ahead here, but when you've been doing it a while longer I'd be very interested in your considered opinions on what does and doesn't appeal to clients versus what you thought would appeal going in to the venture.

[ahutton]

I tried a pencil sketch on this one.

Two images (I always find it easier to make individual images of each effect, rather than layers. Just personal taste.)

One buzzed, sent to PMArtGallery for hand drawing, buzzed again, greyscaled, darkend contrast.

The other, buzzed, impressionist pencil sketch crosshatch softened smudges with 100% brush. Then made the lips and nose darker.

Merged together and redid the background on the left to cover up nasty jpeg artifacts.

AmyHutton

[Jeff L]

That could be a tough one Danny. One thing that comes to mind is the old little league templates but that is pretty standard.

I printed a 4x6 of the one I posted and it looked pretty cool, even if it was just printed on a HP Photosmart 1000.

I'm thinking that with portrait manipulation you are looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack but one way to present them without losing your margins would be to print up a "contact sheet" of 3x5's with the different versions, or maybe have some test portraits in a portfolio for customers to view. You could speed things up a bit by creating a "flavor of the month" action folder for the manipulations. This could turn into a real nice marketing angle for you to say the least!

Best 'o Luck man!

[Henk Bos]

Just new and experimenting.

[DannyRaphael]

Well, I'd say you can experiment all you like. Wonderful interpretation. I especially like the unique edge treatment.

Welcome and I hope we'll see more of your inspiring work in the future.

~Danny~

[lglogan]

It's been a long time since my last post. Hopefully I haven't lost my touch. Here is my try.

[DannyRaphael]

Hey, stranger... Nice you see you. I see you haven't lost one ounce of your touch.

Hope you'll be able to play for awhile. Your creativity has been missed -- and is always a joy to see.

Welcome back.

~Danny~

[Andrew B.]

One of my standard methods. Use a combination of too much noise reduction and too much sharpening. Too much noise reduction simplifies, taking away the photographic look. Too much sharpening makes steep ramps in the local contrast. Then take several results, pick out which ones seem to contribute something, and mask the best parts together. Then touch up with smudge tool.

[DannyRaphael]

Wow. That's a very, VERY nice effect, Andrew. What method(s) are you using for the noise reduction?

[Duv]

Very nice renditions everyone! I tried to keep mine simple.
Cropped to place the eyes as close to 1/3 as possible.
Ran 3 levels of Stylize: Diffuse: Anisotropic
Unmask Sharp: 200/32
Xero: Mood Light
Image: Adjustments:Selective Color: Red: increase Magenta slightly
Stylize: Diffuse: Anisotropic
Texturizer: Sandstone: 52% 3
(After most effects, erased back the eyes to keep them clear.)

Cheers
Dave

[Andrew B.]

Originally Posted by DannyRaphael

Wow. That's a very, VERY nice effect, Andrew. What method(s) are you using for the noise reduction?

I use Smart Blur, but not the one in Photoshop. I use Photo-Paint's smart blur because it is much smarter. The rest are plugins set way too high. Sometimes I run them twice. They include Alien Skin Image Doctor Jpeg Repair, Focal Blade Selective Blur Pro, and Digital Gem. And if you see the pattern here, these are all edge protecting blur tools. And this gives the simplified surfaces.

But you also need strong edges. So I oversharpen along the simplified edges. And there is only one sharpener that can handle this technique, and that's Focal Blade. It is the only one with enough power and enough control to pull this off.

[Cheryl H]

The variety in the submissions on this one is amazing.

1. Ran through VP air brush
2. Made a couple of duplicates of the BP layer and ran different lucis art settings on them--blended together and merged
3. Ran through Nik midnight and blended with original
4. added some adjustment layers, a little dodge and burn, and a pattern fill layer in soft light with reduced opacity for a hint of texture.

[billglaw]

Using multiple layers each with different effects and degrees of transparency gives you many levels of control. In portrait work I use "posterizing" and "conte crayon" to effect an enhanced image.

[Xaran]

Duplicated background twice.

Bottom layer converted to black and white.
Secondlayer - changed hue to give a more magenta tone, ran xero line art in drawing mode -65 and line 2. Changed layer mode to overlay.

New layer on the top - Painted white over the background area - gaussian blur to soften the edges.

Christine

[DannyRaphael]

Hey, Bill:

Sure glad you found us and posted a creation. I like what you've done here. Hope to see more of you in the future.

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Christine:

That's a very unique approach (the BW on the bottom and building on that). Do appreciate the detail on how you did it.

- - - - - -

Amy:

Meant to ask... Do you have the PM ArtGalery standalone program or the plugin? I thought the results of your slicing and dicing on this one was outstanding. I really like this effect.

- - - - - -

Inspired by Amy's creation, I set out in one direction, took a sharp left turn and ended up with something completely different than I originally intended.

BTW: I sure didn't realize when I uploaded the base image that it was so doggone small. Sorry about that.

Basic layer stack (top to bottom) after resizing image to 10" high, 100 ppi:
* Curves Adjustment layer - tweak contrast
* Channel Mixer Adjustment layer - monochrome
* Clone over a few blotches
* Merge visible
* Duplicate of Merge visible + Emboss (Overlay) - Add depth
* Merge visible
* Duplicate of background + Impressionist: Natural - Gauze Underlay, selectively merged in with a layer mask
* Duplicate of Merge visible + Unsharp Mask (oversharpened)
* Merge visible
* Duplicate of background + Find Edges (Multiply)
* Duplicate of background + Fluff's custom Gouache style from his Impasto collection (click HERE to get Fluff's brushes.)

~Danny~

[Xaran]

Thanks Danny, it is really interesting to see all the different techniques being used. Neve ceases to amaze me how many incredible variations on one picture can be done.

Christine

[angue]

Just sharing my impressionist filters render

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by angue

Just sharing my impressionist filters render

Very nice interpretation, Tony.

By impressionist you mean the Impressionist plugin, it would be great if you would add your custom style definitions to THIS THREAD.

In any event, it's always a pleasure to see your work.

~Danny~

[ahutton]

Danny, you wrote: Amy:

Meant to ask... Do you have the PM ArtGalery standalone program or the plugin? I thought the results of your slicing and dicing on this one was outstanding. I really like this effect.

ANS: I have both There are more filters in the stand alone one. But not worth the extra $$ if you already have the plugins.

Amy Hutton

[Duv]

The two things that really struck me about this image is the hand and the eyes. I decided to accentuate the hand (larger almost masculine) and her left eye. Puckered the lips. Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer. Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. PS Angled Strokes, Direction Balance 81/Stroke 8/ Sharpness 5
Thomas Newman: Palladium
Cropped and stroked.

Cheers
Dave

[Manjumena]

smudge in photoshop

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Manjumena

smudge in photoshop

This one is very nice too. If you'd care to elaborate on the steps you used to achieve this lovely result, I'm sure many would be interested.

Well done.

~Danny~

[Joy_CA]

Nice picture, fun to play with...
Joy

[Duv]

Really nice Rendition Joy! As Danny has alluded to, we here to learn techniques. Do you remember your steps to achieve this effect?

Cheers
Dave

[Joy_CA]

Hi Duv, thank you.

I honestly doubt that I could tell you if, my life depended on it. You would not believe how many steps and 'undos' (mostly Undos) this one had. I started out to do a sketch and it wasn't going very well, so, I started playing. I doubt that I could repeat it, myself.

I'm sorry, I promise, I will do better with keeping notes, next time.

Joy (PSP8)

[Manjumena]

Originally Posted by DannyRaphael

This one is very nice too. If you'd care to elaborate on the steps you used to achieve this lovely result, I'm sure many would be interested.

Well done.

~Danny~

Thanks Danny

I followed 2 grate tutorials by Phyllis Stewart at innographx.com
http://www.innographx.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=274
and then followed
http://www.innographx.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18
with the coloured pencil layer, when you smudge it gives the hair effect
finaly created a white top layer>masked>brushed away from 20%.40% and 80%

hope this will help and sorry if there is any grammer or spelling mIsTaKeS!