Professional Retoucher - Ask me anything!

[RetouchS1234]

I retouch for the most luxury fashion brands and magazines. I learnt how to retouch through online tutorials and want to give back!

[Mark33]

What is the best technique to make natural skin texture in photoshop?

[RetouchS1234]

What is the best technique to make natural skin texture in photoshop?

Hey,

I use a combination of dodge and burn and healing brush/ stamp mostly. The thing that sets professional retouching apart is how those tools are used. An image looks cheaper if the retouching is noticeable. When I started out I used to do so much and as I went on gradually less and less. You learn how the facial muscles in the face sit, and how the skin sits on top. Most of the time you want to avoid changing the muscles of the face and focus on the skin. If you imagine the skin like a piece of fabric draped over a shape. The shadows that you see from the shape underneath should be left alone! These are the things that make the face look real and humans are experts at noticing when something is wrong with a face, even when we can’t tell what it is. With the skin, don’t make it perfect either. Leave little smile lines etc. Leave eye whites alone! Leave some flyaway hairs. Things look cheap if they’re too perfect. What’s much more important is balancing the colours in the skin. Hands, legs and feet are usually more red than the face. I usually match them to the tone of the face.

hope this is helpful! X

[washbcr]

for retouching bodies.. how would you "sculpt"? in order to get more definition, contours... I'm sure it begins with dodging and burning, but how do you take it further?

-thanks, Chris

[RetouchS1234]

for retouching bodies.. how would you "sculpt"? in order to get more definition, contours... I'm sure it begins with dodging and burning, but how do you take it further?

-thanks, Chris

I would have a look at some anatomy tutorials first. They will help you get the basic shapes and proportions right. Compare images of models with different amounts of body fat. Shadows on skinnier people are more angular, less round and reveal more of the underlying structure. If you simply liquify without paying attention to these types of changes your model will look slightly off. Pay attention to the lighting as well. If you try to bring out some muscles by burning in a 6 pack, make sure that the shadows make sense (direction, tone etc match context) otherwise it will look like you've just painted them on.

[Megamycete]

I am sorry dude for being rude or maybe offending you, but I do not really think you have ever worked for any magazine of any luxury brand. I mean, a person of your talent and abilities should be working right now, as your services should be in demand any day of the week. Moreover, you would never give this kind of advice for free if you are such a great professional. So, I do not think that you are any good even at retouching portraits. You might know some basic stuff but nothing more than that.

[Sabrina81]

I retouch for the most luxury fashion brands and magazines.

Would you link to a couple of samples of your work, please?