Stephanie Mac wrote:


I'm at a point where every time I do a new retouch, I've learned something new and improved a bit - so this is my most recent and what I'd consider my best so far.

I did retouching on the skin and the big project was the hair; I had never really retouched hair before so this was my first time really tackling it and trying to get it under control. I think I did a good job for my first time!

The hair looks awesome ... the whole photo is a noticeable improvement.

btdsgn wrote:
I don't think this is my best retouch, but it is my favorite celebrity retouch. It's a composite made up of 5 or 6 images and some hand painting.

Stunning image ... what were the 5 or 6 separate pieces?

STL-After-Dark wrote:

Stunning image ... what were the 5 or 6 separate pieces?

I'd have to pull the file out to know exactly what was changed. In the original image one arm was up near his chest and he was pouring chalk into his hand. I used an image of him standing with no chalk and his hands together then masked in and painted some exploding chalk. I also used a different head for the shape and another face as well.

Tytaniafairy wrote:
Digitally painted from photo .

wowwww

ZARIHS RETOUCHER wrote:

wowwww

double wow.

Tytaniafairy wrote:


Digitally painted from photo .

Amazing to say the least ... any tricks or techniques that you would like to pass on. Looks like there was a lot of leg work on this one.

STL-After-Dark wrote:
Amazing to say the least ... any tricks or techniques that you would like to pass on. Looks like there was a lot of leg work on this one.

Thanks everyone .

The only tips I have is keeping shadows in all the right places and painting them in where needed .

As well people will tell you to stay away from high pass .
If used correctly it can be a very useful tool at lower percentages . I use this frequently on all my digital work to give it the more bang and also give the colors and sharpness a more painted feel .


Yes this was a 200 layer work .

All handpainted .

I also painted in the leaves for her dress .

I painted in grass , plants , and added extra trees and also I use a fractal program to create all the magical nebula like things in the air .

This required 5 layers alone .
My tips would be to stay to reality with shadows and natural light for these kind of pictures .

If you are using a subject and manipulating part of the picture make sure the photo is/was shot in natural light or by lighting equipment without on camera flashes or detachable flash as well .

It makes it easier to render a picture into a painting .

I follow the pre-raphaelites in most of my digital art .

Another good thing for me was to study painting with real paint .

Also use the dodge and burn with control over body and face , it can make the difference when going for a painterly like look .

Thanks everyone !

Good Egg Productions wrote:
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/14193818 (18+)

This was one of the few images that didn't start as a real concept in my head.  Basically, it evolved after staring at the image for about 10 minutes and doing some very minor retouching. Then, once the idea settled in, i spent the next 6 hours making it as close to real as I could.

The model hated the finished result, but accepted the art of it. She would never use it, but gave her unconditional permission for my use.

Very realistically done , great job !

Good Egg Productions wrote:
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/14193818 (18+)

This was one of the few images that didn't start as a real concept in my head.  Basically, it evolved after staring at the image for about 10 minutes and doing some very minor retouching. Then, once the idea settled in, i spent the next 6 hours making it as close to real as I could.

The model hated the finished result, but accepted the art of it. She would never use it, but gave her unconditional permission for my use.

Man, that's beautiful work! I love how realistically you were able to recreate the lighting on all of the surfaces you must have hand painted ... amazing!

Oddly, models rarely like the art I create from the images either ... I don't understand why a model would like my work but not like the results of her photos done in exactly the same stile lol

Eye Designz wrote:
I think this one for me right now. But I am working on two that are just as good.

Beautiful photo, tell us more about your technique on this one?

Ruben Vasquez wrote:


This is my favorite retouch so far. Though far from perfect, I'm pretty happy with the results. Besides the obvious, I lifted the back leg a little and composited the base of the stand.

Being good at B&W is an amazing skill of it's own ... beautiful image Ruben

pellepiano wrote:
This is Anna, shot in my home "studio", placed on a 3d generated beam with some Fashion paint and champagne, placed on a sunset image over New York.

damn damn damn...if we could vote here...this would get a million votes! VERY realistic!

FlirtynFun Photography wrote:
damn damn damn...if we could vote here...this would get a million votes! VERY realistic!

+1

Koncek Retouching wrote:
Hot damn everyone! I would just like to take a second and say WOW!! I love looking through all of your pictures, there are so many talented artists on this site, and you should all be very proud!

WOW looking through your portfolio ... what, you didn't want add this?

cinema photography wrote:
I think this is my favorite, lots of little things went into this, but over all, i feel that its those things that can matter most..a little fix here and there

You have a lot of nice work, I love pin-ups!

pellepiano wrote:
This is Anna, shot in my home "studio", placed on a 3d generated beam with some Fashion paint and champagne, placed on a sunset image over New York.

3d capability in CS is one of the best things that Adobe ever did in my opinion. What did you use to generate the 3d elements, StudioMax?

Sergey_B wrote:

i think these one of the best

Ah beautiful edit, everything in your gallery is unique.

Marios Art wrote:


heres mine so far, i want give that bad'as look to the photo and thats the final result

I dont like the soft edges on the llama so much, but this is still one of the more impressive photos that I have seen in a long time. I love the color and feel that the background creates.

Koriana wrote:
My favorite technical edit. I think it came out very clean.


My favorite creative edit. I'm trying to work on a signature creative edit where the image has a painterly water color feel. This has come the closest so far.

Beautiful, I like them both ... have you tried vector to get the watercolor look? Obviously a vector will have distinct lines separating the color, but if you then selectively blurred or smudged areas, that might look cool too?

Eastfist wrote:
To date, my best:

http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/19373766 18+

Awesome photo, what are some of the finer points of the edit?

STL-After-Dark wrote:
Ah beautiful edit, everything in your gallery is unique.

Thank you very much! To me it is very pleasant

TomSchopperPhotography wrote:
An homage to Gil Elvgren's 1962 oil painting "Rare Edition":

I love that, very well done!

STL-After-Dark wrote:

I love that, very well done!

Thanks!  We shot this on a white seamless paper background -- so the edit work on the photo itself was one part; then I had to separate her, the stool and the books from the backround and place them on a stock photo of library shelves....  :}

STL-After-Dark wrote:
3d capability in CS is one of the best things that Adobe ever did in my opinion. What did you use to generate the 3d elements, StudioMax?

I used Cheetah 3d.