Painterly Quality

[dillonturman]

I am absolutely in love with the way they did the skin in this photo. Now, most people would think "that is just way too over re-touched", but that is not the case. What Pascal and his crew did was they created a painterly effect.

I love it! Does anyone know how to acheive this effect while still keeping the quality of the bodys structure and the proper shadows/highlights??

[Repairman]

Re: Painterly Quality

Easy to do but you need patience. Use the smudge tool and make 'paint' strokes that follow the natural curves of the subject. The bolder the strokes the less figurative the result. A nice by-product of the technique is you can seamlessly edit detail as you go. This style was really popular 20 years ago!
Also, try tracing the outline of the subject with mask using a fine pencil or crayon texture brush, When you have finished the 'painting' use the mask to selectively add some pencil line strokes over the top. Partial use of both painting and linework can work really well.

[rl-retouch]

Re: Painterly Quality

Yes as just as Repairman explained. I remember reading about this project in this article from a few years ago - http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...urrentPage=all

A quote from it, "In the spring of 2004, the Prada campaign, shot by Steven Meisel, had a retro, vacationy look—tie-dyed cardigans, hairbands, sailboat prints. Using a Photoshop tool called a smudge brush, Dangin applied extra color to every pixel, giving the pictures—hard and flat, at the outset—a dreamy, impressionistic texture, as if they had been wrought in oil and chalk."

[dillonturman]

Re: Painterly Quality

Thank you guys so much!


Oh, how I love Pascal Dangin and his godly abilities.

[rl-retouch]

Re: Painterly Quality

I wouldn't laud godly upon him, put in 80 hours a week and good photography and anyone creative will come up with interesting work and ideas

[arson]

Re: Painterly Quality

The slimming/liquifying on these models is of kindergarten quality

[rl-retouch]

Re: Painterly Quality

John Currin had a big show in New York in 2004, I wouldn't be suprised if he was an influence on the work, quite a big one actually. He sprang to mind when I saw the op's attachment.

[AKMac]

Re: Painterly Quality

The slimming/liquifying on these models is of kindergarten quality

That was the first thing I noticed too. The anatomical rendering of the girl on the left is a total disaster. But, anyway, the OP is interested in the 'painterly' technique.

[Repairman]

Re: Painterly Quality

This digital painting style was first used mainstream on the Aha video, Take on Me, in about '86 I think, using Quantel video Paintbox. I used the same techniques myself over the years on print work using the Graphic Paintbox. It is very easy to do Dillon and you can experiment with different brush shapes to stamp your own style on an image. That said, these days, there is probably an iPhone app that'll do it!

[rl-retouch]

Re: Painterly Quality

That was the first thing I noticed too. The anatomical rendering of the girl on the left is a total disaster. But, anyway, the OP is interested in the 'painterly' technique.

Well yes, which presents the influence of Currin all the clearer. Not just in 'painterly' texture but also in his tendency to distort the figure.

[Aladdin]

Re: Painterly Quality

Here is what I did, no smudge, no blur! It was too heavy as the posted image above, but I did not like too much "painting". I did not do the required D&B. Just the basics.

Not my image, off the web.

[dillonturman]

Re: Painterly Quality

@repairman,

I attempted the smudge tool. Let me know what you think. I spent about two hours on the photo just to make sure texture and colors were on kilter.


http://i62.tinypic.com/111p9ap.jpg

[dillonturman]

Re: Painterly Quality

I think my chest area along with my collar bone tuned out more accurately due to the amount of shadows. I am really happy with my chest area. My face didn't turn out as well as I would have liked though. What do you guys think?

[Repairman]

Re: Painterly Quality

Great first go; just a couple of points. This technique is like drawing cartoons - you can chuck away a load of figurative detail but what remains becomes so much more important. I'd take another look at the nose and lip detail which are at odds with the eyes and beard. The highlights on the lips may look better if they smeared vertically (matching the vertical creases in most lips) rather than a horizontal line. The hilite and shadow on the on the nose could be smoothed out a bit more also. This is your picture though and without seeing the original it's tricky to make judgements. It's clear you understand the technique and are going to have a lot of fun with it.