Innographx

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 7:10 am

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Photo Art Challenge 066: Gothenburg Girl

Download the original photo by clicking on the thumbnail below the photo description.

Thanks to Zevs for letting us use this terrific face from his Gothenburg Street Portraits collection in his Pbase gallery. I’m sure you’ll agree there are a lot of possibilities with this simple and lovely photo. As always, be sure to tell us something about how you accomplish your result.

LEGAL NOTE
Zevs retains the U.S. and international copyright © not only for the original image, but also for any photo-art versions of it. Unauthorized distribution or use of this image without permission is prohibited.

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 9:17 am

Inverted something along the way and liked the silvery look...that's all I can recall. It's very late. :zzz:

by **C T VIJAYAN** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 12:18 pm

Thanks Zevs for this photo. the face of hope...
And Phyllis , good touch on a monochrome projection without loosing the real imotions..

This one I did with fresco-poster edges-and plastic wrap and levels as usual..
thankyou.
----
vijayan

by **kaiman** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 12:19 pm

Phyllis, going overboard. Love your artistic rendition. :bow:

VJ, nice plastic rendition

Tried to do something similar to Phyllis' to no avail.

by **C T VIJAYAN** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 12:25 pm

Jorge Excellent rendition. I like the colour patches and the strokes..nice...

---
vijayan

by **Bill C** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 1:11 pm

Yes, thanks to Zevs for this beautiful pic.
Wow - some wild renditions!
Phyllis - "Cool" effect - It has a 3d depth to it..nice.
Vijayan - wild! Abstract, I like it!
Jorge - I sure wouldn't call this 'to not avail' - I like your modernistic rendition a lot!
OK - you know I had to do a 'soft' version ... however, in my 'playing' around with blend modes, I came up with one that is a bit different ... then of course, my 'softer' version.
I duplicated layers....on top layer did gaussian blur....then I did a color selection on the face to create a new layer of just the face then ran neat image to smooth the face colors out....then normally would use a blend mode of luminosity/normal, however, on the first one I used difference .... and the results were a bit different (also backed off on opacity). oh...I also used lighting effect to add lighting emphasis on face.
Regards to all - have a nice day. These probably aren't considered 'art', but more in the line of retouching....perhaps I'll do an 'artsy' one so this message qualifies for this forum!
OK ... came back and did more of an 'artsy' one ...
duplicated layer..
on top layer - ran CUTOUT with settings of 4,5,3
Change blend mode to Lumisoity
on top layer erased thru some detail on eyes and lips (opacity was in the area of 50 percent)
flattened...
Bill

by **LQQKER** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 11:51 pm

Phyllis - I like the silver effect as well. Reminds me of metalic body paint (not that I use it mind you).
Vijayan - Very interesting abstract, the overlay of designs give the picture a future look.
K-man - Odd assortment of colors . . .but nice with a strong presence.
Bill C - I think photo-art differs from regular art in many respects. For starters, I don't think it has to look painted or abstract to be art. Any changes where you change the mood or lighting in my humble opinion, is art. Myself, I like the first one very much even though it's not heavy on plugin type effects. It's still very artistic and holds a mood.

This was an interesting one to work on, the subject has attractive features.
Cropped the picture and worked on it in a larger format.
Removed the shoulder to bring attention to her graceful neck.
Found a texture in impressionist that I liked and used it for the background and slightly embossed.
I used soft water colors for the skin texture also slightly embossed.
Used apt.eq to bring out texture in the hair, separated the strands with Nik contrast, highlighted with Nik pastel.
Added a slight texture to the picture.

by **angue** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 12:39 am

Phyllis,
Silver lady - looks like stamp embossed.
CT - Looks like a picture left under the hot sun while still in a photo album.
Kaiman - I like the chalk version on a very rough surface.
Bill C - I like the first one the best. She has that soft inner glow.
LQQKER - Nice oi painting.

Here's a variation of the wishy washy watercolor.
Top layer - outline set to soft light.
Layer 2 - Sprayed strokes set to darken 67% opacity.
Layer 3 - Crystalize set to hard light 96% opacity.
Bottom layer - background (untouched)

Tony

Website · by **Blacknight** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 12:56 am

basic outline w/aniso, hue/sat and curves, and a modified green channel copy with some blend modes. Cropped, of course, and then a charcoal brush on a layer mask to further eliminate background.

by **trimoon** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 4:17 am

This is done using a variation of the my Sketching Tutorial.
I did the grin and lighting twice

by **kaiman** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 7:37 am

Bill, nice trio, like better 3rd, due to its simplicity and cleanliness.

Looker, excellent texturized rendition, a winner.

Tony, great looks, wonder what you're planning next. kool.

BK, wise combo, hard & soft. Rocks !

Trimoon, Always on the prowl, a real treat !

I tried a sketch from scratch, it's hard and slow.

by **Andrew B.** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 7:45 am

Her expression didn't look very happy, so that's what drove what I did. The subdued colors were done with Nik's Monday Morning Blue filter. Then I tried to get some painted feel by using the same Nik filter to add some noise. Then used Image Doctor Jpeg Repair to simplify the image and noise pattern. Then Focal Blade with high levels of sharpening to generate the texture and increase contrast.

by **C T VIJAYAN** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 1:00 pm

Thank you all for these wonderful submissions..
Billc Beautifully executed three works and there feels the defferences..
LQ, Fantastic one. very grainy and so sharp also..
Tony, Sprayed strokes worked well..the charecter is safe..
Steve, very sharp and good in BW gradiation...
Jorge, again it is good in outline.
Andrew, good fell of a kind of Ink work.

One more from me is in Fresco-Glowing edges and angled strokes in low opacity..

thank you
---
vijayan

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 5:33 pm

Vija, the first looks like she’s covered in honey. In the second one I like the highlighted edges that keep her profile sharp amidst the abstract look of the pic. It also smooths her hair, which I found to be a problem when working on this one. The combination of abstract mixed in with realism is a good idea since you get the feel of it without losing facial detail.

Jorge, that multi-color version is really cool...bet she’d like that one! Your sketch is really great...did you actually sketch it by hand with the pen? Terrific result!

Bill, three winners in a row here! Nice variety... Love em all, for different reasons.

Looker, really nice texture from the AE, great look overall!

Tony, casual painting is good effect that lets the features show up clearly...nice!

BK, just a hint of form and color is a terrific look on this! The subtleness is quite a departure from your usual intense style. Perhaps you’ll be going off in new directions! Can’t wait to see!

Steve, great sketch! Really looks like you drew it on rough paper. I would like to see more contrast on the face, but it could be monitor diffs.

Andrew, what a wonderful look! Like it’s drawn with frost on a window! Too bad it required all those plug-ins to do, or we could get a great tute from you on it. But I doubt many folks have all of these. You sure have a nice collection of add ons! I’m jealous!

by **Andrew B.** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 3:08 am

>>Too bad it required all those plug-ins to do, or we could get a great tute from you on it.

I'm not even sure I can repeat this on another picture, and I almost didn't do it on this one. It just looked so edgy I couldn't resist. But I'm sure I will try this again, and I won't necessarily try it with the same tools. There are other tools that do grain, simplification, and sharpening, although I do think Focal Blade is exceptional. There will be a Mac version, btw.

by **Andrew B.** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 3:45 am

Well, I guess I'm doing two this time. I actually started this one before the other one. And tonight decided to finish it.

Basic technique

1. Boost color (saturation)
2. Simplify (I used median and jpeg repair tool)
3. Over sharpen (I used Focal Blade)
4. Touch up
5. Texture

by **kaiman** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 10:15 am

Andrew, it looks painted alright.

Unbelievable simple tech for this great result.
These are few steps, is there any more to it?

I'm trying this new quick sketch-tech that i call weave sketch or Counter sketch.
It has a weave-texture layer i made, sandwiched between two sketches made with different methods.
The effect is generated by the texture and the different gray areas in the sketches, as they add or substract grays, depending on blend modes and saturation.
The texture layer is made by combining PS filters on a "noisy" layer, and it can be customized, according to the subject.
In this case i made it look like a coarse-weaved fabric.
It needs fine tuning some details i'm not fully satisfied with, yet.

A painted rendition at this link -> http://upload.pbase.com/image/22324910

by **Andrew B.** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 1:41 pm

There is more to it, but that is still be basic method.

The "more" would be the use of layers to apply the filters at different levels to different areas of the image. For example, after running jpeg repair at full blast the hair was not simplfied enough. So I copied to a new layer, ran median, then painted on the mask to blend in the hair. Same thing with over sharpening. I used two or three layers and masked them together.

I also changed some of the color areas in the background, but that doesn't really contribute to the painted look.

by **Zevs** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 5:54 pm

Wow, Wow! and Wow again! Fantastic renditions of my picture! I have been away for little over a week so this was a nice surprise to come back to!!!

Almost too much good ones for words, but here are some of my favs:

Phyllis thanks for posting it.. and loved the silvery, etheric rendition, it almost floats out of the frame...

Bill, your more subtle versions are just beautiful, the second one is almost breath stopping!! Wow!

Lqquer, beautiful, loved the texture you used, works well on the face and makes the background almost glass like

Blacknight, very etheric look, love how her face and neck almost dissolves

Andrew, beautifully moody frosted glas look! Loved the reversed simplified one too, classy and beautiful, makes the hair and skin shine! A real winner for me

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 8:18 pm

Zevs, good to see you back! Glad you're letting us use your wonderful photos, because I have several other Zev-pics waiting in the wings!

Jorge, you're on to something here...just needs a bit less contrast and sharpness in the middle of the hair area. I love your painting! You are a natural!

by **themanda** » Wed Oct 15, 2003 8:50 pm

i love this picture.

zevs, thank you so much for letting us play with it!

phyllis, i like the invert, but she seems so cold now! frozen in ice.

then vijayan comes along and boils her! i normally can't find a good use for that plastic wrap filter, but you've made a place for it here. i really do like this. i like your second version as well, but it's not quite as unique as this one!

kman, more great colors from you! i like this, but your painting is fantastic!! in fact, all of your entries for this one are great. did you do the drawing by hand???

bill, i love all three. they're all so different from each other, i can't possibly compare any of them. i think i like the second one best, though.

lqqker, great choice to crop it. i really like the treatment on this one...so much texture.

steve, another terrific sketch! always so wonderful to see your work.

andrew, i love how you changed the color on this! so soft and cool now...

i like your second version, too, but not as much as the first one!

for mine, I wanted to make her look more sad and not quite so annoyed and angry. i isolated her onto a black background and added a very subtle grey glow. did a very, very light smudge on her face and hair, then changed the angle of the tilt of her head. Added a soft spotlight with render lighting. i really like this one a lot...she looks so hopeless and sad but also strong at the same time.

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 6:09 am

Amanda, wow! You've created such a dark mood here! And you just posted that "depression" interpretation from Crone's challenge. Hmmm...you okay? Feeling any better? Sick and tired of being sick and tired? Or just on a dark binge art-wise. Hope it's the last!

by **ugot2bkdng** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 6:51 am

Zevs, Nice photo and thanks for sharing.

A lot of nice versions so far. Too many for me to comment on at this late hour. However, I will say ditto to Phyllis' comment to Amanda. Nice dark arty mood.

Here is mine. I cropped it pretty tightly and ran edge preserving smooth in PSP8. Saved and opened in PS7. Used liquify filter to tug in a bit of a smile and a layer mask to paint her eye back in. Added a 50% grey layer and ran texturizer filter with a custom art paper filter. Set blend to soft light and opacity to 20%. Flattened and saved for web.

http://www.pbase.com/image/22505681

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 8:14 am

OOOoooooo....I like this, Chuck! So simple! Soft yet angular!

Care to share that wonderful custom paper texture? There is now a thread for posting good textures in the Treasure Chest Forum. I hope you will upload it there!

Here is where it goes: http://www.innographx.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=827

Thanks in advance! :bouncy:

by **themanda** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 1:10 pm

Phyllis Stewart wrote:...you okay? Feeling any better? Sick and tired of being sick and tired? Or just on a dark binge art-wise. Hope it's the last!

LOL!!!

I'm still having to go to the hospital for breathing treatments and seem to have reached a point where I'm just not getting any better at all. I'm also *swamped* at work and behind in my schoolwork, so I feel like I'm paddling at full speed and still falling behind everyone else. I also realized last night that I've been sick now for four weeks. That'll get a person down...

But I'm really not depressed. Black was just an easy color yesterday.

by **Zevs** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 4:21 pm

Some more good ones!

Chuck, very nice soft and natural version!!

Amanda... very moody and dark yes for sure!! You angled her face down also ... to make her look more sad perhaps...

Wanted to make her light again so tried some things. I'm lazy though and use those cheating plugins

So duplicate layer two times, top layer Virtual Painter Oil second layer Virtual Painter Draw, both top and second layer set to Screen, then changed the levels a bit giving it a bit more punch....

by **ugot2bkdng** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 4:56 pm

Phyllis,

Thanks for the comment on my version. The texture I used is one from Trimoon's tutorial. It is located in the textures folder on the CD.

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 7:11 pm

Zevs, that's awesome...love the intensity and brightness, and the simplicity most of all.

Chuck, thanks...will have to dig that out.

Amanda, four weeks may seem like a long time, but for pneumonia that's just the beginning. I was weak with jello feet for about 3 months, and still tired easily for another 3. Xrays still show scars on my lungs. DO NOT OVERDO! Lungs need rest, and if you have to take a leave from work or school, then please do it. Please take care of yourself! :kiss:

by **gina** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 9:09 pm

Hiya,

So many great entries in this one, and so many great things to learn.
Thanks Andrew and Jorge.
Things to start trying out, new tricks in the box hé :lol:

I found this a rather difficult pic to work with, great though, but hard.
I hate changing the lovely skin color and inversing some layers gave some ugly blotches sometimes.
I happened to arrive at this sort of sketchy look.

seeya

gina

by **C T VIJAYAN** » Fri Oct 17, 2003 9:55 am

Phyllis,
Amanda, My hearty thanks to you both for the great words up on my entries..
Amanda, your version is simply not a picture.. that life in the lights makes mind more restless.. this is not a compliment. it is a feeling..
Chuck, the cus version the face gives the real impact of the filters have applied.. very soft feeling..
Zevs, very good result of such an artistic touch and the reflection of fast minds...
Gina , never can say that it is digital..

thank you.
--
vijayan

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 5:45 am

Gina, love the multi-colored lines you ended up with...looks great!

by **C T VIJAYAN** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 12:47 pm

Another two also posting..

the first one in Find edges-opacity-58%,Diffuse glow-opacity-75%0 and levels as usual..

and in the second one I used Chrom-low opacity-30%,levels, Accented edges-opacity-70%,and Ink out line..

thank you
-------
vijayan

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 4:49 pm

Vija, in the first it looks like she's been beaten up badly and is covered with bruises...scary, and not very pleasing to look at. The second looks like a dream, or an aura, and I like this one.

by **Skyopal** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:04 am

I dup, multiplied layer,painted grad on, smudged, framed.

by **Tyeise** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:26 am

Nice gradients for the background and frame. :-)

by **Pauline** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:40 am

Thank you for bumping this one up, it was enjoyable to do. Done in Painter, started with Den's Oil Fine Bristle Brush to block in and Soft Blender Stump. Also some Cloners/Wet Oils, more Soft Blender Stump. Added some extra hair. Dodged and Burned.

by **Tyeise** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:43 pm

Lovely job!

by **Kathy** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:44 pm

There is such good work on this photo!

I tried her in Painter after cropping using a sketch brush. Finished her in Adobe PS

by **twinbnj** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:51 pm

Kathy - that came out lovely! Very nice crop and colors.

by **Phyllis Stewart** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:14 pm

Sky, love the colors and the mood here!

Pauline, terrific job, but the bottom half of the hair looks different than the top half, on my monitor, which is brighter than most I have to say.'

Kathy, love that crop... and the "lady of mystery" look you gave her.

by **Kathy** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:14 pm

Thank you so much twinbnj. I think you are Jan but I wasn't sure

by **Kathy** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:53 pm

Thanks so much Phyllis!!!!

by **Pauline** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:42 pm

Well done Sky and Kathy, great results.

With more time I should've gone over the upper half again with black brush strokes perhaps? What I see is 3/4 bottom in black and 1/4 blue above which is too light.

by **The Zen Monk** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:57 pm

This was really fun.

I have to say though, that Amandas image took my breath away.

A lot of blur, smudge, hue/contrast went into this one.

http://www.pbase.com/image/57003301

by **Kathy** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:09 am

Thank you Pauline. I sure loved what you did with yours!

I left a comment on yours Redwater on your PBase site.

Innographx

Photo Art Challenge 066: Gothenburg Girl

Photo Art Challenge 066: Gothenburg Girl

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