Creative Portraits: Baby under a Blanket

[Legacy~Art]

http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml

Neve left the link for this wonderful site today, i have downloaded about 100 pics today, one picture i downloaded i wanted to share with you, and maybe we can all try and paint it, its just so adorable not to share!

Lets have some fun...

[Legacy~Art]

But i had to post this before i did, i shall be adding the results to my portfolio, i am just wondering how many pictures a person is to have in a portfolio.

Anyhow good night everyone, if its evening there good evening, and if its morning, well good morning have a nice day!

[Legacy~Art]

I just noticed i have squished the ear...well there ya go nothing is ever perfect...

[Neve]

Glad to see your still cookin' LA. Those eyes say it all...!

[Legacy~Art]

Your picture is dreamy, that is lovely!!! Well done hun!

[DannyRaphael]

I'm still experimenting with the Wow Watercolor method. It seems to work better on "scenery" than "people."

This is a very cute picture nonetheless.

[Legacy~Art]

Danny that is awesome, and yes its an awesome picture, what a cutie!

[CJ Swartz]

LegacyArt -- lovely choice of image, and nice touch on both versions.
Neve -- you're right -- those eyes say it all, and your emphasis really enhances them.
Danny -- your watercolor technique is good, but with this baby, it seems to emphasize the "startled look" in his eyes and mouth.

I started with a sharpened/diffused layer with layer masking to reduce a good deal of the effect, leaving it on the blanket, and around the edges of his face. Then I ran Graphic Pen (chose black and his pinkish skin color), added a Layer Mask, and ran a gradient on the mask to show a transition from the drawing effect to the previous image. Used a layer mask to reduce the pencil effect on his face.

[Legacy~Art]

Beautiful...Just Beautiful!

[philbach]

Well I ran a sketch action on the photo and came up with this.

[Janet Petty]

Wonderful results people. I'm a sucker for babies and this one is no exception. Thumbs up to all of you.

Here is my contribution. If it turns out too yellow on your monitors, please let me know. I added quite a bit of yellow to the final and my monitor is calibrated to the printer so what I get is often different that what ya'll get. Thanks

Janet

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by Janet Petty

... If it turns out too yellow on your monitors, please let me know. Janet

Since you asked ...
Janet, the baby's skin shows pinkish/magenta for the most part, but there is a section on the left side (facing) that shows 100% yellow when I look at it in Photoshop. (varies but 18/76/100/9 [CMYK] is typical from what the eyedropper picks up). The shaded area on his chin and on the right side are also high in yellow, but not 100%, and don't LOOK yellow. The brightly lit areas of his face (his "mask", I believe is the term, is mostly majenta according to the numbers. It's an attractive look to my eye, and I would expect a bit of yellow reflection from the yellowish blanket to show up on his face next to the blanky. (quite honestly, if you hadn't brought it up, I'd never have noticed -- I had to bring the image up in PShop to "see" the yellow.)

[catia]

Ran Neat Image on this one first. Then One Step Photo Fix in PSP9 followed by Edge Preserving Smooth and Brushstrokes. Smudged the sharp edges left by brushstrokes, added a texture layer, and framed in PS7.

Catia

[Janet Petty]

Nice Catia. I'm glad you ran Neat Image. It is something I should have done when I realized how much grain the face had in it to begin with. Nice job!

Thanks CJ for the comments. I was trying for a yellowish/magenta glow to warm the picture up a bit but couldn't tell if I'd accomplished it without feedback from another eye (not just numbers).

Janet

[SWEngineer]

Nice versions all. I'm curious what Janet did to get the "imported from painter" base layer in hers. Please share.

Mine is basically a repeat of my 2nd "Paula in BW" version. But I left out the cutout layer, added a hint of color, and added a texture layer.

-Mark