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This painterly image gets its effect from Metabrush brushes as well as iColorama's Explode brush, and raised effects in iColorama that enhance the feeling of thick paint.
I started with this photo from the Sktchy app.
I used Adjust/Tonelab preset 4 for tonal separation, or clarity. Because this step darkened the face, I also lightened the face using Adjust/Exposure and an inverted brush mask to paint the effect only onto the face.
I used Adjust/Exposure to overexpose the image, which simplified and flattens the image somewhat.
To further simplify and flatten the image, I used Style/Flat preset 4.
I applied Style/Flat preset 18 just because I kind of like the effect. In retrospect, I would skip this step.
I smoothed the lines using Effect/Denoise presets 1 and 4, and smoothed the overall image using Style/Coherence. Then I applied Effect/Raise and Effect/Sharpen preset 7, both at low opacity, for emphasis.
I used Form/Warp to enlarge her head and alter its shape, giving it more prominence in the image.
The background in the right side of the image is distracting, so I removed it using Brush/Clone, replacing it with the same white as the rest of the background.
I again applied Effect/Denoise presets 1 and 4 to smooth the lines. Sometimes the processing steps result in jaggy lines, which you can see if you zoom in close.
I used Tone/Tint to simplify the colors a bit.
Now I opened the image in Metabrush. On a new layer, I painted over the image in Wet mode, using large square brush. For brush settings, I had spacing at the maximum setting, variances for rotation and position at the maximum settings, and no structure or shadows. I saved this image. Then I turned off visibility for the layer, by touching the "eyeball" icon for the layer. That should result in a diagonal line through the eyeball, meaning the layer is "turned off."
Still in Metabrush, on a new layer, in Textured2 mode, I painted over the image using a watercolor brush. I saved the image.
Now, in iColorama, I blended the above two Metabrushed images.
In Brush/Paint, using a small hard square brush at partial opacity, I painted a catchlight in the eye.
I used Style/Coherence at medium opacity to smooth the image in preparation for using Raise. Then, I used Effect/Raise preset 1 at medium opacity to emphasize the paint-like texture.
I felt that her hair needed some oomph. So, in iColorama, I used Brush/Explode and a red brush to paint in some big hair. I used the color picker to match the red to the color of the hair that was there previously. Then I used Adjust/EQ preset 2 on just the hair, with an inverted brush mask. This helps to separate the tones in the mass of brushstrokes that are the hair.
I replaced her eye with one from another image. To do that, I blended the other image on top of her, reduced the opacity to 50% so I could see what I was doing, and then positioned and resized the top image to put the eye in the right place. Then I put the opacity back to 100% and using an inverted brush mask, I painted in the new eye. I erased a bit from the middle of the mask so that the original catchlight shows through.
I adjusted the eye using the Elasticam app. I find it easier to make fine warping adjustments in Elasticam, and make the larger warping adjustments in iColorama's Form/Warp.
I used Brush/Paint to paint a thin line of black paint on the top right of her glasses, where it was faded due to a previous processing step. This helps to make the eye appear more naturally placed in the frame.
Using Adjust/Exposure and an inverted brush mask, I painted a few highlights in her hair.
I used Effect/Light at low opacity, to brighten her skin a bit.
For finishing touches, I used Adjust/High preset 3 at medium opacity to give a touch of sharpness to the image, and I used Tone/Duotone in Multiply Mode at low opacity to tone the shadows.
Finally, using Brush/Paint, I painted a bit of white border on the right edge of the canvas where her hair was running off the page, to prevent the viewer's eye from following the hair off the page.
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