Creative Portraits: Hands Folded

[DannyRaphael]

Just an awesome picture by D.Maynard. Wait until you see it up close. It's priceless.

Happy creating.

~Danny~

[Xaran]

A really lovely picture.

I couldn't resist trying the high key look on this one.

Christine

[Manjumena]

nice image to work with

[Xaran]

Nice picture Manjumena, not sure about the white lines/marks sort of makes it look vandalised.

Christine

[shariwb]

Wonderful picture! Xaran, I really like your high key rendition! Manjumena, very creative watercolor! I also went for a watercolor look:

[DannyRaphael]

I was messing with my favorite plugin, Impressionist. I'm not quite there yet on these custom style definitions, but I kinda like the direction.

It's different, anyway.

~Danny~

p.s. If you'd like to try the .set file, send me e-mail via my profile (not PM) and I'll send it to you.

[Fluffbutt]

Here's my attempt.

three layers

bg + impressionist with custom setting, like a watercolour pencil + previous layer with PE applied (again, custom setting that makes it look like a watercolour picture that's been soaked with lots of water).

Then opacity changes on the layers, and merged.

[Duv]

Boy, it's cold out here!! I better get back in the house!

Cheers
Dave

[LQQKER]

Kinda looks "caught in the act".
Cropped and straightened image.
Created background using impressionist and simplifying.
Adjusted color cast.
Nik filters used were midnight for outer border, skylight and gold reflector to enhance skin tones and contrast.
FP lacquer.
embossed bg.
simplified lightly.
Color balance.

[jaykita]

Used a pencil sketch layer on the other one. Eliminated background, lots of handwork with watercolor brushes and layers. I am truly happy with these results.

[jill8026]

Jaykita these are both just beautiful...I am new to this...and am wondering exactly how you got these looks!!! Thanks for any help...

[jaykita]

Hi Jill8026. I would be happy to help though I'm no expert on the subject, please note!! However must add that I am quite proud of my creation!
The tutorial by Janee on soft portraits is very helpful. You'll find this at http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/porcelain/porcelain.htm.
Mostly I worked with brushes from the wet media esp. the "watercolor light opacity" in diff sizes and opacity depending on what i wanted to achieve with the image, namely a soft portrait
I first started with new adjustment layer- channel mixer - monochrome - red 87, G50, B20, constant minus 30. Then i erased the background completely, well almost (posted image below) by new layer, fill white, add layer mask reveal all. I kept changing from black to white to rectify mistakes. Also i discovered a really low brush opacity like 20% or so makes a big diff, and brush heavy flow scattered helps when working around hair. Ok, next I lightened this monochrome image considerably. Again i achieved this by using a layer mask and brushes of really low opacity. Finally, paste the original image (the colored one with the background )over this one, screen blend at 100% opacity. Tada!!

[jaykita]

Sorry forgot to add that the one with the superimposed pencil sketch was achieved by first making a greyscale sketch in the usual way, converting it to color by new adjustment layer -channel mixer- (no monochrome) and playing with the controls till u get a nice brownish color to match the image. Use this as a layer, multiply blend.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by jill8026

Jaykita these are both just beautiful...I am new to this...and am wondering exactly how you got these looks!!! Thanks for any help...

Hi Jill:

Wanted to say, "Welcome" to the forum and "Thanks for jumping in with your question."

...and to jaykita: Thanks for coming through with your description and link to Janee's site. She's got some terrific tutorials there.

~Danny~

[jill8026]

thank you so much for that great replay of what you did!!! you should be proud of it, the picture is just gorgeous!!!!! I have been lurking on this board for a while....and I just love it here!!!!

[JustChecking]

that pic is absolutely adorable!

2 copies - bottom: palette knife, top: poster edges and hard light blend, some curves on the bottom one to decrease the oversaturation, copy merged and paste as a new layer, some smudging to make the skin smoother...

[dws2434]

Not sure if this is the proper protocol. I was particularly impressed with SHARIWB's submission (hands Folded). I would like to know the process to get to the look that was achieved there. It really comes close to my old watercolor style which I am trying now to match digitally. Really looks good shariwb!

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by dws2434

Not sure if this is the proper protocol.

You used the perfect protocol.

Shari doesn't stop by often, so until she does again to confirm, it looks like she used a method (or one similar to it) that's available from Trimoon (Stephen Lequier). See "watercolor tutorial" here: http://www.trimoon.com/

Also: Check the 2nd post in this thread. It has a link that will display other paintings Shari has posted, in which she leaves some detail on her methods.

Thanks for asking... and keep doing it!

~Danny~

[Reason]

Lost track of everything, but what I remember:

colorized
impressionist brush painter8
pattern pen painter 8
mask psp7
glass filters
border added
adjusted colors/contrast
edge preserving smooth
renaissance filter

[jaykita]

Another adorable pic worth reviving! I hope u enjoy working on it as much as i did.
My watercolor effect...

[Neve]

Great result Jaykita and thanks for bumping this up, hadn't spotted it at all before.

[Neve]

I've done a number of pictures like this in the past for family and friends and this little charmer was an ideal candidate! Basically use a good quality blue sky and cloudy background photo. Extracted the boy and placed as new layer on bg. Extracted some clouds and manipulated into shape in front of the boy on another layer. Added a wing on a new layer, then duplicated it and added a slight shadow. Added a decorative wall on another layer. Merged.

Finally added Impressionist/Fluffbutt's Stevie's Gouache setting. It didn't work well for me the first two goes because it made the clouds too white, so I added a multilply layer reduced opacity to compensate and then applied the filter.

[DannyRaphael]

jaykita:

You've outdone yourself on this one. Very nice WC effect.

- - - - -

Neve:

Just priceless. What a perfect pose, huh?

[crex]

My Old Friend... PS7
and no Plugin!

[keepemcomin]

Had a lot of fun with this one.

And as usual, I don't remember what I did. Sorry...

[TylerRB]

I couldn't help but turn his eyes blue.......ummm, like mine!

What a great picture to work with.

T

[lkroll]

Can find the technique here. Also mixed in (on a duplicate layer of course) Impressionist.

[Alcar]

Ikroll...fine job, very nice.
Alan

[lkroll]

Repeat it again; Impressionist is just too much.

[Kraellin]

how could anyone resist such an adorable picture.

craig

edit: putting this second version up for some corrections. please tell me which you like better.