Embedded Files
This image blends the image of a woman with one of horizontal brush strokes, to give a suggestion of Venetian blinds, through which the woman appears to be gazing. I show how I created four distinct variations.
I started with this photo from the Sktchy app. It's beautifully photographed with selective focus. Because Sktchy photos are so small, I upsized it twice in the BigPhoto app. Upsizing like this isn't the same as starting with a high resolution image. But it provides a canvas with enough pixels to create a high-quality result. This is because painting in programs like iColorama and Metabrush creates new pixels that replace the lower-quality ones underneath.
In iColorama, I used Brush/Clone to get rid of the object in the upper right corner of the image. I applied Adjust/Tonelab preset 4 for tonal separation and clarity. Then I used Effect/Denoise smooth preset at full opacity, Style/Coherence preset 1 at medium opacity, and Style/Flow at medium to full opacity, to smooth her.
I used Form/Warp to warp the image, filling the canvas and exaggerating her cheekbones, the lines of her eyebrows, and her pouty mouth. I used Form/Deforms preset 5 twice, to enlarge the eyes, once for each eye. Then I fine-tuned the resulting image in the Elasticam app. I find it is easier to do the larger-scale warping in iColorama's Form/Warp, and to do the fine-tuned warping in Elasticam.
I previously painted this pattern in iColorama for use in distortion and blending. You can find it in the iColorama background exchange on flickr. I will use this image to blend with the image of the woman, to create "blinds."
In iColorama, using Effect/Blend, I blended the blinds onto the woman in Difference blending mode. I tried several blending modes and slider settings, including the Lightness and Gray sliders under Set. When using the Difference blending mode, I find it I often get better results with the Lightness slider at a very low setting, and it is also important to experiment with both the Opacity and Feature sliders to get a good result. It is worth trying this blending mode for the unusual glowing, often liquid, effect you can obtain in some images. This is Blend Step 1, which I will refer to later when I create another variation.
After a blend step it is always worth improving the tonal separation, because the blending of the images in many cases can produce a somewhat dull or muddy result. I used Adjust/Tonelab preset 4 for more clarity. Then, because the blend step can introduce unwanted granularity or rough edges, especially if you use the Gray slider, I used Style/Coherence at medium opacity, then Style/Flow at medium opacity, to smooth the image.
For more definition, I applied Effect/Raise at low opacity. I'll call this Image A. I'll refer to it later, when I create additional variations on the image.
Now I used Form/Crop to crop a bit off the left and right edges of the canvas. Then, I used Effect/Blur preset 3 at low opacity to create a smoother image. It's worth trying the various Blur presets; some of them have quite interesting results that can be used in various ways.
I applied Effect/Glow at low opacity, which enhances the glowing effect from the Difference blend we did earlier. I blurred the edges of the canvas using Effect/Blur and an inverted brush mask to paint the blur around the edges.
For finishing touches, I used the Vibrance slider in Adjust/Vibrance to highten the reds and blues a bit. I desaturated the edges of the image by using Tone/B&W and an inverted brush mask to paint the black and white effect around the edges. I removed the mask. I used Adjust/Levels and an inverted brush mask to increase the contrast in the eyes. This is Variation 1.
Now I'll create a second variation. Going back to Image A, In iColorama I used Effect/Blur to create a blurred version of Image A. I tried various Blur presets. I saved but did not apply. Then I used Effect/Blend to blend the image with its blurred version, using Difference blending mode. Again, try all the sliders, including the Lightness and Gray sliders under Set.
In Form/Crop, I cropped a bit off the left and right edges of the canvas. I used Style/Flow at medium opacity to smooth the rough edged resulting from the blend step. I increased contrast in Adjust/Levels, to compensate for the dulling effect of the blend step. Finally, I used Tone/Tint at low opacity to add warmth. This is Variation 2.
Now I'll make another variation. Following the process I used for Variation 2, I created another blend of Image A with a blurred version of itself, this time with a different blending mode.
To correct for the dulling effect of the blend step, I increased contrast using Adjust/Levels. I used Tone/Duotone in overlay mode at low opacity to tone and deepen the shadows. Finally, I lightened the eyes using Adjust/Exposure and an inverted brush mask to apply the effect to only the eyes. This is Variation 3.
Now I will create another variation. This image is the result of different Blend settings in Blend Step 1, in the creation of Variation 1. Here I used one of the negative blend modes (Difference, Negation, Exclusion), trying all the sliders.
To correct for the dullness that resulted from the blend step, I increased contrast using Adjust/Levels.
To smooth the rough edges that resulted from the blend step, I applied Style/Flow, at medium opacity.
I applied Effect/Sharpen at low opacity and Effect/Raise at low opacity for more definition. I used Tone/Duotone in overlay mode at low opacity to deepen and tone the shadows. This is Variation 4.
Google Sites
Report abuse