Creative Portraits: Blond looking Relaxed

[DannyRaphael]

OK. I really did try to find a handsome man for this weeks portrait pic, but no luck.

I'm open for suggestions.

In the mean time see what you can do with this one.

~Danny~

[CJ Swartz]

OK -- first I was just going to change her hair color, but then I got a bit carried away. I thought a bit of texture on her so-smooth skin would make it a bit more realistic..., and once again I got a teeny bit carried away.... with a bit of leather texture PLUS the Extrude filter. So then I decided to add a mirror frame look so that the extruded areas could be mirror pieces instead of her skin..... hmmm, but what about that skin color?

[Xaran]

Curves layer to enhance.

Posterize layer.

Gradient Map - multi colour.

Merge visible to new layer.

Duplicate of background moved to top - Xero line art in sketch mode, monochrome. layer mode changed to multiply to add dark outlines to facial features.

Way out stuff is not usually my sort of thing but trying to get more adventurous.

Christine.

[CJ Swartz]

Christine,

There's something about her that brings out the urge to ... be adventurous with her likeness. I think you've managed to incorporate several "Warhol-esque" versions into one image.

[byRo]

Started out with general skin tone and luminosity corrections.
As usual divided into four luminosity ranges, did a chunky background (impr. Sumi-e) and ended up blending just about everything else (impr. chalk pastel) as screen.
Lost the eyes along the way, so I brought them back from the original.
Used white outlines to texture the hair and a PS Burlap canvas to hold it all together.
(Pencil sketch also attached - takes 10 seconds to run the action, sometimes it works!)

Are you having as much fun as I am? Hope so!
Ro

[Xaran]

Great rendition CJ.

Ro yours is fantastic, the pencil sketch really worked well on this one.

Christine

[byRo]

Thanks Christine.
I was following your "way-out" tracks and got sort of side tracked...
I have some gradient maps that I use for other purposes and combined three of them to get something new...
Hey, you make it look like I'm coloring inside the lines.

There's something about her that brings out the urge to ... be adventurous with her likeness.

Uh,huh, adventurous.... now where's that good-looking dude??
Just kidding ladies.

Have fun,
Ro

[Janet Petty]

Everyone else went for elegant. I wanted something different. My object was to make a high key, abstracted version of the model, sort of cartooned but not really. I supposed if I pushed it a little further, I would have crosshatched the lines; but I didn't. So here she sits...errrrr...reclines in her glory.

Having fun here folks,
Janet

P.S. I did not change the saturation once the cartooning began. I left the skin yellow on purpose for effect.

This pic just seemed to shout at me for another go. This time I chose to turn her upright as if the wind was blowing or she was brushing the hair out of her face. I also made some other subtle changes just for grins.

I sure enjoy this forum.
Janet

[byRo]

Originally Posted by Janet Petty

So here she sits...errrrr...reclines in her glory.

Hi, Janet. That came out nice, now she's blond all over..
Thanks for posting the layers. Don't know about you, but after I started doing that, I found I was getting more organized in my work ('cuz somebody's going to be reading the stuff later)
Just a tip, if you save and post the layer palette as a GIF file, it's quicker and the download more readable.

Ro

[Duv]

Here's another watercolor effort using Trimoon's Watercolor Preset Brush. Added Dave's Simplifier action to smooth out a little more and to soften focus.

Cheers
Dave

[byRo]

Been remembering stuff I did at school....
Aimed for a sort of pen and wash that I did then - blue washable ink!

Rô

[CJ Swartz]

"The Blonde on one elbow" spoke to me about my "teal version", and I decided that she deserves a more straight-forward image. So here's a color illustration - usual abstract outline method (Add Gaussian blur to top of 2 unsaturated layers [top copy inverted] set to Color Dodge layer blend to elicit outline), then multiplied duped layers of result to add to effect, place copy of resulting image over copy of original with layer blend set to Vivid Light -- run Graphic Pen on original copy. Bring copy of original above this result with layer blend set to Hard Light and another copy of original above that layer with layer blend set to color to correct skin tone.

[Cheryl H]

I realized it had been weeks since I've done any photo art and decided I deserved a play session.

1. selected the eyes and mouth and ran USM
2. inverted selection and ran a little buzz
3. virtual painter--air brush
4. lucis art exposure to bring back the eyes
5. played around a little with nik midnight and virtual photographer (lots of fading) to fine tune.

[Duv]

Selected face and arm: PS Artistic: Cutout: 8/0/2
Inverted selection: PS Artistic: Cutout: 4/0/2
With inverted selection: Exclusion
With inverted selection: Intellihance Pro 4: Vivid Enhance.

Nice reditions by all. Keep 'em comin!

Cheers
Dave

[Neve]

Thanks for the lovely photo Danny! Wonderful submissions, each one as inspirational as the next - a joy to view! A pleasant diversion whilst I redo a restoration.

PSP8.01

Without knowing where I was headed....

Copied the image.
2nd image - Split RGB. Retained the blue.
Added a new layer and filled with a "Cafe" gradient.
Layer Blend Mode - Col (L) - Merged.
Copied and pasted 2nd image and added as a new
layer to the original photo. Mode/Screen/Merged both layers.
(I was pleasantly surprised by this "brighter" result...)

Smudged her hair a lot.
psp/Art Media Effects/Brush Strokes/Water Colour
Layer Mode/Luminance (L) 68%
Merged both layers.
Darkened the outside edge
(i.e. Media Spark Filters/Darken Edges)

Cheers

[Xaran]

Another attempt.

Posterize layer levels 5
Merge visible
smudge stick
duplicate layer blur slightly and change mode to screen
Xero line art sketch of background layer - multiply mode
TM watercolour layer
Texture

Christine

[jaykita]

Lovely lady. Very nice renditions by all. Here's mine with one find-edges layer, 2 vp, 2 impressionist layers watercolor and painting both modified all of which i merged of course.

[ahutton]

This one was fun, wasn't it? I used a heavy dose of VP watercolor, xero improver, and PSP8 sepia toning. She screams out for an unconventional treatment.

Amy Hutton

[Duv]

This screams out to me " Job well done!!"

Cheers
Dave

[byRo]

Originally Posted by Duv

This screams out to me " Job well done!!"

Hey, Dave, you didn't say which one - and rightly so!
Three wonderful versions on this page alone..
Congratulations Christine, jaykita and Amy.

Rô

[DannyRaphael]

Ya know, I think this is one of the most outstanding threads I've ever seen in 2+ years of this forum. This is just a fabulous collection...

CJ: Just an awesome modern art piece to start out and set the pace for the rest of us to follow. You follow up color illustration is lovely, too.

Christine: Your "Busting far outside the lines" absolutely ROCKS! ("wild & crazy is good" sometimes) and your last one (the posterize + smudge stick) is one of the best I've ever seen you do.

Ro: Just about every time I look over one of your layers palette snapshots, I'm amazed at what you bring to the table. You use layer combinations and effects like no one I've ever seen before. You hurt my brain sometimes - in a good way! My fav: The purplish graphic pen-line effect!

Janet: Speaking for all of us, I'm delighted you're having fun. It shows in your creativity. The crop and rotate was brilliant.

Cheryl: Welcome back... Glad you found a few minutes to play. You sure haven't lost a step.

Dave: You're really getting the hang of Trimoon's method. This is one of the better ones I've seen. I like the cutout x2 version, too. Very avante gard.

Amy: Hard to find a more creative effort than yours. Simply a marvelous creation. You outdid yourself here.

Jaykita: The combination of VP + Impressionist = very artistic rendition. I don't know what I'd do w/o Impressionist. I like your version very much.

Neve: Your soft and gentle touch on this one is just right.

It's an honor and a pleasure to hang with such a talented and nice group of folks.

- - - - - - - -

Having struggled lately trying to make sense of the Trimoon WC method and being a little disappointed in my 1st Wow WC attempt, I fell back onto something that was comfortable and predictable.

I started out by applying an action that came with the PS 7 Wow book called Wow Watercolor. See LP snapshot for the next several additional layers of which Impressionst rendered two.

I flattened the stack and saved a copy that was opened in Painter 8, where I applied "Grainy" Bender brush strokes. Saved stroked version and back to Photohop to finish up: Oversharpened with Unsharp Mask, applied Levels and added stroke frame.

~Danny~

[Manjumena]

Nice work everyone!

This is with my new found toy:

OPTIPIX > Select Edges > Fine Detail

Click HERE for more information on this plugin.

[LQQKER]

So many interesting entries on this image.

Corrected color and hue.
Embossed lightly.
FP lacquer
Multiple contrast adjustments.
Nik midnight.
Xero clairity.
Nik Skylight.
Virtual painter watercolor.
Lightened face.
Darkened edges slightly
layer styles.
Several different dirt brushes to create border.
Color solarization using several masks.
trim

[catia]

Used the image to define a pattern stamp. Added a white fill layer above the BG and set opacity to 50%. Added another layer above that to "paint in." Selected the Pattern Stamp tool and used various sized brushes to paint in the image. Flattened and added some sandstone texture.

Catia

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by catia

Used the image to define a pattern stamp. Added a white fill layer above the BG and set opacity to 50%. Added another layer above that to "paint in." Selected the Pattern Stamp tool and used various sized brushes to paint in the image. Flattened and added some sandstone texture.

Catia

I sure like this method. It sure opened my eyes to some interesting possibilities. Did you use Wow pattern stamp brushes or some of your own? This one turned out especially nice.

I was glad to see your post. Your creativity is always welcome.

~Danny~

[catia]

Thanks for your comments Danny. Yes, I used the Wow PS Watercolor brush. A tutorial and brush downloads can be found here http://www.software-cinema.com/wow/ .

Catia

[celestine]

Well, I just followed Trimoon's Portrait Tutorial. Not much of my own creativities...
But love to hear what do you think...

Celestine

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by celestine

Well, I just followed Trimoon's Portrait Tutorial. Not much of my own creativities...
But love to hear what do you think...

Celestine

Welcome back, Celestine...

Trimoon has written a number of tutorials and I can't keep all of them straight. Which one did you follow? In any event, I'd say you socked a home run on this one. Nicely done.

...and don't stay away so long next time!

~Danny~

[Janet Petty]

Great Job!!! Celestine, you hit this one right on the mark.


Which tutorial?

[GOLDCOIN]

Gave Painter 6 watercolors a try with this lovely lady....

Had lost so much of her hair & eyes ...decided to try again. The foundation of the pix was using a version of Trimoon's history technique and a version of SW Engineer http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/photo-art-101/9114-simple-but-effective-photoart-technique.html

then back to Painter 6, to use watercolor brushes...mostly from 5.5 default.