Photoshop - Airbrushing

Collector Freaks Forum

Help Support Collector Freaks Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PsychoCenobite

Super Freak
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Messages
1,518
Reaction score
2
Location
Croydon, London
It looks like I might have to do some airbrushing for a CD cover - the singer will probably reject the original photos.

So, I thought I'd have a go at doing some airbrushing.

This is my first go and took about 20min (original photo was just found on Google):

Before/After
befored.jpg

afterhfp.jpg


As this is a test I only took 20mins but if it was a proper job then I'd probably give it a bit more time.

What do you think?

PsychoCenobite :monkey5
 
looks great for a 20 min job. The reduction in the scond pic is MUCH better. You retained a lot more of her natural texture. You eliminated the potential "smokers wrinkles" abover her upper lip. Her complexion does not look so smooth either. :)
 
The problem is, the rest of the photo has a really sharp contrast next to the face which is smooth (even with the lowered opacity of the air brushed layer) so the face looks plastic and fake. It's immediately noticeable. I'm assuming you already know this but I'll throw it out there in case anyone else cares: if you really want to pull off the illusion, clone the pic (I cloned your second example). Gausian Blur that (I went with 4.0). Set it to "Screen" and play with the opacity until the rest of the pic has a smooth look to it (I set my layer to 50%). That'll make everything in the pic have a similar look so it won't be as jarring.

mod1111.jpg


IMO now the face doesn't stand out as much, and it looks like a normal pic (Note how the hand and face have a similar smoothness). You could even set the opacity higher if you wanted. Like I said.. this probably ain't news to you.. but if it helps someone out there.. that's cool. :D
 
The problem is, the rest of the photo has a really sharp contrast next to the face which is smooth (even with the lowered opacity of the air brushed layer) so the face looks plastic and fake. It's immediately noticeable. I'm assuming you already know this but I'll throw it out there in case anyone else cares: if you really want to pull off the illusion, clone the pic (I cloned your second example). Gausian Blur that (I went with 4.0). Set it to "Screen" and play with the opacity until the rest of the pic has a smooth look to it (I set my layer to 50%). That'll make everything in the pic have a similar look so it won't be as jarring.

IMO now the face doesn't stand out as much, and it looks like a normal pic (Note how the hand and face have a similar smoothness). You could even set the opacity higher if you wanted. Like I said.. this probably ain't news to you.. but if it helps someone out there.. that's cool. :D

Thanks for that! :cool:

I use Photoshop quite a bit but I've never had a go at airbrushing.

I'll try out your add method a bit later on.

Cheers,

PsychoCenobit :monkey5
 
Sometimes I keep thinking Denise Van Outen but it's probably not. As she is a TV presenter more or less not a singer. Her eyes look identical to Denise. Or maybe it's just that specific photo.
 
Hey, PC, sorry I didn't notice this thread sooner, so I don't know if you've already moved ahead with you project, but I thought I'd add my $.02.

My thoughts are that airbrushing can work well under some circumstances, but too often, even when applied at optimum levels (such as Devil_666's example), there is still something off about the skin. There is an unnaturally mottled look to it, and it makes the natural pores look somewhat smeared.

What I prefer is a series of steps that I learned about a while ago, that provide a much more natural-looking result. Here is an example of the kind of result I am referring to:

facetest.jpg


Note that for this test I only applied the technique to her face, not her hand, although that would also be possible (or maybe simple airbrushing would still be enough there).

The great thing about this technique is that I found a free Photoshop action on a photographer forum that has refined it to a point where the workflow is actually fairly simple, once you learn how to use it. For example, this test (which I admit still needs a slight amount of tweaking) took me about 90 seconds of work.

I've attached a copy of the action set (the one that created this effect is called "skinfix"), if you want to play with it.
 
Of course, if you want to take it to the next level, you unfortunately need to pay the price for pro tools, such as Portraiture. Here's the same photo (after applying skinfix) that has been run through Portraiture to give it a more "glamor" style:

facetest2.jpg
 
Thanks for the replies and that Action. I'll have a look at that.

I have done some early work on the photograph of the singer and the next stage is to show it to her and hope she likes it.

I want to do a little bit more to it before we send it to her. I want to get it fully set in a cover design.

So, I've still got time to try and few more of your tips! :chew

PsychoCenobite :monkey5
 
Back
Top