Critiques welcome :-)

[klember]

Hi there,

Here is my second image in my first retouched experience ever in that style. Mean I'm still not sure if I can call this as a beauty retouch but it's basically what I'm trying to learn. I would like to hear from you guys all your opinions . Please be strict. I will appreciate all your critiques. I know it's a long way to go and I will be more than happy to learn from all mistakes.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1nl8q4j58d1kk06/AADSpe1kkMONTFyUQi-6i0IGa?dl=0

[klev]

Re: Critiques welcome :-)

Take a look at the lighting falloff in your after version. It looks out of place. Take a look at that cheekbone. No one has cheekbones that high. She doesn't either, and it's obvious. It looks like you have a reasonable level of technical skill but zero judgement. I've been there, but you need to work on it. Your work could be much better than this.

[klember]

Re: Critiques welcome :-)

Thank you. Any recommendations?

[skoobey]

Re: Critiques welcome :-)

Start comparing your work to Vogue., and fix things one at the time. Starting with a better /easier image can also help.

[klev]

Re: Critiques welcome :-)

Thank you. Any recommendations?

I have made an embarrassing number of similar bad judgement calls. I think reference material helps a lot. I also think you should click your layers on and off. You should be able to catch the drifting cheekbones just by clicking layers on and off. If not, try google images or 3d.sk for reference. Fashion magazines may also help you identify ideas for some other parts. I think they'll help with things like eyes.

The shadows fall off in a weird way, but unfortunately I see that type of thing published. It's usually less extreme than this. Shadows and shaping issues (for lack of better terms) are difficult. They may require significant practice and lots of reference material.

I know that's probably disappointingly vague, but I think you would learn a lot if you compare features while you work, not just once at the beginning or end.

[klember]

Re: Critiques welcome :-)

Thank you Klev,

Till now I was working on all post processing techniques and I have to start working on harmony and esthetics. It's very easy to cross the line and over do it. I guess it will take time to learn when to stop and how to keep shape ;-)

[klev]

Re: Critiques welcome :-)

You're welcome. It happens to me too as I mentioned, but I need to clarify the details.

It's not that it's overdone. Most of those adjustments shouldn't be there at all. The after image deviates considerably from a natural representation of human anatomy, and applying a lighter version of the same adjustments wouldn't fix that.

For example the shape of the head is unnatural. Doing that same adjustment halfway would make it less obvious, but it would still be unnatural. As I mentioned before, you also gave her cheekbones in a place where they wouldn't naturally exist. They're also arguably not painted well. The chin in the after version is overdone, but it also has a more masculine shape. These are things that take the image in the wrong direction. Overdone would imply the right direction, just taken too far.

Like I said, I would review books and websites on anatomy. You want the ability to make something look believable. I think you'll see the issue when you check your intuition against more realistic representations.