Anxiety

I call this Image Anxiety. I depict anxiety in her expression, and reinforce it through the overall shadowy blue of the image. The raking side light emphasizes the feeling, as does the low viewpoint.

I started with this photo from the Sktchy app. Because Sktchy photos are very small, I upsized it twice in BigPhoto. I like the from-below viewpoint, as well as her moody expression. I also love the strong definition of her features due to the side lighting. This will make it easier to paint her.

I cleaned up the image in iColorama using Adjust/Levels to lighten and tone, Style/Flow to smooth, and Brush/Clone to remove stray distractions. It doesn't have to be perfect, because we are going to paint all over her. For example, there was a lot of noise in the original photo, too much to easily get rid of. The noise turned into unwanted texture in Flow. But I'm just leaving that here, because it will disappear when we paint.

I opened the image in Paintstorm Studio. I reduced the opacity of the photo layer so I could use it as a guide to the painting I will do on new layers. On a new layer, I used the Draw Blend Opacity brush to paint color all over the canvas, including shadows. I used the Soft Blending tool to smooth out my paint strokes. Then on another layer I used one of the calligraphy tools to paint lines in the clothing (I modified the brush characteristics a bit), and I used the Simple Ink pen to draw her eyes. I didn't bother painting in the irises, as I plan to do that in iColorama. I like Paintstorm, but other painting apps would work just as well, such as Art Set or Sketches Pro (which are much easier). I always buy the Pro versions of these apps, because among other things, you often need the Pro version if you want to work at high resolution.

Still in Paintstorm, I used the Brush Hairy 2 brush to paint in her hair. Then I used Image>Color Balance & Brightness to increase contrast of the image. I adjusted the layer opacities of all the layers. Then I saved to my camera roll.

I opened the image in iColorama and painted in her irises, pupils, and catchlights, using Brush/Paint. I used Adjust/Levels and an inverted brush mask to whiten the whites of the eyes.

I used Adjust/exposure and an inverted brush mask to lighten her clothing, but not so much that I would start seeing noise in the deep shadows.

I modified the color in Tone/Enhance.

I used Adjust/High Preset 1 and reduced the opacity until I wasn't blowing out the right side of her face. This brings out the shadows and highlights in the left side of the face and neck. To avoid over-darkening the hair in the shadows on the left, I used a brush mask.

I applied Effect Raise at low opacity, to provide emphasis to the strokes.

I opened the image in the Elasticam app and altered the expression on her face. I was going for anxiety, which is further emphasized by the overall blue of the image.