Glamorous

This image was preprocessed in iColorama to make it easier to paint, and then painted in Paintstorm Studio. Then I used iColorama and Elasticam for further processing. I find it much easier to finish the piece in iColorama than in a painting program. I made a second, darker amd eerier image using the textures of Metabrush.

I started with this photo from the Sktchy app. Sktchy photos are small, so I upsized her twice in BigPhoto. I like the simple composition and the clean definition of her features, which will make it easier to paint her.

I opened the photo in iColorama. I used Adjust/Tonelab preset 5 for tonal separation, Effect/Denoise preset 2 and Style/Coherence for smoothness, and Effect/Glow preset 3 for a bit more depth, all at low opacity. The point of this preprocessing is to provide more tones, especially skin tones, for the painting we will do, which will make it easier to paint.

I opened the image in Paintstorm Studio. I made a duplicate layer, and painted color all over it using the Drawblend Opacity brush. I will use this layer at full opacity in the final output from Paintstorm, but I will use the bottom layer (with the cleaned up photo) as reference as I work on the image.

I smoothed the layer with the Soft Blend tool. Then I painted over the eyebrows with the Drawblend Opacity tool and a pencil.

On a new layer, I painted in the eyes using the Simple Ink tool.

On another new layer, I painted the hair using the Brush Hairy 2 brush. I saved to my camera roll.

I opened the image in iColorama. I used Form/Warp to alter the shape of the face and shoulders.

Using Brush/Paint, I painted some shadows and highlights on the earring. Then I used Brush/Tools smudge preset to blend them.

I used Adjust/Levels and an inverted brush mask to lighten the whites of the eyes and to brush a few soft highlights onto the irises. Then I applied Style/Flow at low opacity for a bit of smoothness, and I used Effect/Light at low opacity to lighten the high tones slightly, and I used Effect/Glow preset 3 at low opacity for smoothness and a bit more 3D feel.

I opened the image in the Elasticam app and altered the shapes of the eyes and mouth. I find that for small, fine adjustments like these, Elasticam provides more control than iColorama. However, for larger warp moves, I prefer to use iColorama. In Elasticam, I click on the "hand" tool and move the Size and Strength to lower settings, before I start fine work, like altering features.

I opened the image in iColorama and applied Effect/Raise preset 3 at low opacity, to emphasize the brush strokes. This is Version 1.

Now I want to make a second version. I opened the image in iColorama and I altered color and tone in Tone and Adjust/Levels. I used Brush/Tools smudge preset to smudge parts of her as well as the background.

I used the Elasticam app to alter her expression.

I opened the image in iColorama and painted an opening on her mouth, using Brush/Paint.

I used the Elasticam app to alter the shape of her mouth.

In iColorama, I used Adjust/Exposure and a brush mask to darken her chest. I removed the brush mask. Then using another brush mask, I applied Effect/Raise to her chest and to the background, to match the texture of the rest of the image. I will call this Image A.

In iColorama, I used Texture/Organic to blend a texture over her. I will call this Image B.

I opened Image B in Metabrush. On a new layer, using Brush/Paint mode, I selected Image A as the brush image, and I painted with the Kanji 1/17 brush, with spacing and rotation variance and position variance set to their maximum settings, and structure and shadow set high. I used the eraser to clear her eyes and mouth. I saved to my camera roll.

Still in Metabrush, I turned off visibility of the previous layer (by clicking on the layer's eyeball). Then, on a new layer, in Brush/Paint mode, I painted using Image B as brush image and using a round brush. I saved to my camera roll.

I opened Image A in iColorama and used Effect/Blend to blend the Kanju brush image over her. I tried several blending modes and slider settings, including the gray slider under Set.

Then I used Effect/Blend to blend the other Metabrush image over her. Again, I tried several blending modes and slider settings, including the gray slider under Set.

I used Preset/Border preset 3 at medium opacity to provide some vignetting, which serves to focus the viewer's eyes in the center of the image.

Then I used Adjust/Exposure and an inverted brush mask to darken her chest.

I opened the image in Metabrush and in Brush/Paint mode using white paint, and painting with a bird brush, I painted some birds coming out of her mouth.

I opened the image in iColorama and used Form/Crop to crop a bit from the bottom of the image, to provide more focus on her face, and then I applied Preset/Border at medium opacity and radius, to match the border fade on the cropped edge with the uncropped edges.

Finally, to lighten the image somewhat, I used Effect/Blend to blend Version 1 over the image at low opacity.