Colorizing Lips

[Dreamer]

Whats a good method for colorizing lips.

On darker lips I use Blend mode color and it works great but I find on lighter lips the reds are always a funky hot pinkish color.

Can anyone recommend a good method for makeing the lips "darker".

Thanks in advance!

[Hunter]

I usually mask off the lips and then create a new floating object ("layer" for PS users) of the lips, adjust the color/hue/saturation/selective color of the object.... then create a clipmask using the object's transparency ("layer mask" for PS users) and paint away any excess I don't want. Then I adjust the merge mode and/or the transparency for the object (layer). I did a tutorial here that might help you:

http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/index.php?m=show&id=43

[CourtneyConk.Co]

You are going about it in a complicated way. I normally use the brush tool, with image mode on overlay, and use a red color and paint over the lips at a low opacity. Quite simple with beautiful results.

[Hunter]

Courtney, I don't consider it complicated because if I need to alter the color, it's just a matter of selecting the object and doing a hue adjustment. If I feel I've accidentally overshot the area needing color, it's a quick fix to the clipmask to show more or hide more of the object. I can also adjust the transparency of the object to blend with the original item if I want or play with the merge modes for other effects. Personally, I feel that just brushing color over the image limits me.

[mseydel]

it can be even simpler than that; use the burn tool locally in the channels affected for lip color. By darkening existing pixels rather than creating color from scratch, the grain of the image is a better match and tends to look more realistic. This works whether you're in RGB or CMYK...

[sdubose99]

I prefer Hunter's method because of the control you get. And it maintains the grain as mseydel wants to do...

Scott

[grafx]

I've been known to do it both ways depending on how much difference is needed. Courtney's way for minor adjustments, Hunter's for major. There are so many different ways to accomplish tasks digitally. I do whatever makes sense to me at the time.