face painting

21
Chapter 4 Face Painting What you’ll learn in this chapter One of the first things anyone ever wants to do in photo manipulation is paint on a photograph and Photoshop Elements contains some pretty potent tools to help you do this. In this chapter, we’ll paint half a dozen faces, exploring along the way: Using different brush styles to paint faces easily and convincingly. Experimenting with a wide range of blending modes to add realism and blend paints into the complexion. Create a cute little clown, a face-painted sports fan, a chubby-cheeked tigress, and more!

Upload: mulholland-varadi-eszter

Post on 07-Nov-2014

47 views

Category:

Documents


3 download

DESCRIPTION

Creative ideas

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Face Painting

Chapter 4Face Painting

What you’ll learn in this chapter

One of the first things anyone ever wants to do inphoto manipulation is paint on a photograph andPhotoshop Elements contains some pretty potenttools to help you do this. In this chapter, we’ll painthalf a dozen faces, exploring along the way:

Using different brush styles to paint faceseasily and convincingly.

Experimenting with a wide range ofblending modes to add realism and blendpaints into the complexion.

Create a cute little clown, a face-paintedsports fan, a chubby-cheeked tigress, andmore!

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 113

Page 2: Face Painting

114

Chapter 4

Whether it’s black and white photographs you want to bring to life, or a really bad snapshot of yourselfyou want to improve on, or even if you want to add a black eye to someone without actually sockingthem, this chapter will tell all.

The main tools we’ll be using are the Brush and careful use of those tricky layer blending modes. You’llsoon be creating real water-cooler moments with your snaps!

When we’ve figured out the best ways of using it, we’ll concentrate on how we can best optimize thebrush control we have at our disposal in order to achieve the makeup effects we want – whetherthey’re subtle or extreme.

Takeshi – sports fan makeoverNow you’ve got to take your hat off to the dedication of sports fans. They take the time to go out andbuy paint, make a design for their face, and then sit uncomfortably with this non-breathable goo allover them for hours in the heat. It is, to look on the positive side, a very theatrical and dramaticexpression. This makeover pays homage to those people, and gives you a look into exactly how weshould go about totally transforming the color of a face.

You might want to note that this makeover also pays homage to the NewYork Mets – my favorite baseball team. If you don’t like it, choose your ownteam – but I’m writing this chapter so you’ll have to suffer my ownallegiances! To that end, this makeover will include the colors blue andorange, along with a number 31 for catcher Mike Piazza.

I guess because of the extreme look of dedication mixed with a degree ofmessiness, I imagined this kind of fan to be over excited and rowdy. Toexaggerate the rough and rowdy element, I decided I would give ourportrait a hockey player look, with bruises and a black eye to complementhis face paint.

As I wanted to show the paint application as realistically as possible, Istudied some photos of painted fans partying at sporting events. Theirmakeup often looks sloppy and is often smeared. It’s best not to cutcorners on your research, and these days it’s as easy as surfing on the Webto get a couple of reference images. One recurrent theme I noticed was itseemed common to apply paint sloppily around the eye area without adistinct shape. Usually eyebrows were painted but there was often a gap inthe paint where skin showed through underneath the eye area. This workedwell for me when I was thinking about the black eye as it gave me enoughspace to focus on realistically incorporating the painful feature.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 114

Page 3: Face Painting

115

Face Painting

Preparation

1. Open takeshi.jpg in Photoshop Elements, and click through Layer > New Adjustment Layer> Levels to create a new adjustment layer to sort out the Levels of the picture.

2. Play with them a little until the lightand color quality are to yoursatisfaction. You may choose simply topress Auto, which most often does agood job!

Making a face mask!

That horrible dark background doesn’t really do us anyfavors in this picture, so it’s time to get rid of it.

3. Use the Selection Brush (set to Mask) to select everypart of the face. For subtlety, you’re going to have tobe very careful around the hair, and I suggest using avery small brush at a low opacity, and eating away. Itdepends how obsessive you are!

It’s always a good idea to start properly by getting the levels right.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 115

Page 4: Face Painting

116

Chapter 4

4. Once you’ve done that, create a new layer. Call it whitebackground. Click through Edit > Fill, and fill the areawith white. This will present you with our sportsfanneatly placed on a white background!

OK, now we should turn our attentions to getting thatblack eye and facepaint together.

Black eye

To create the black eye you need to start thinkingabout colors that say “bruise” to you. To my mind thatmeans greeny purple. Layering these colors lightly ontop of dark browns will deepen the tone withoutmaking it muddy.

5. Create a new layer, and call it blackeye. Select Multiplyfrom the new layer’s blending mode drop-down.

6. So, paint with a reduced opacity – at 20% maximum,with a brush at 0% Hardness, being careful not to oversaturate the dark colors. Making slight marks helps addrealistic light and energy to the surface, so work lightlyfrom the ground up.

Oof!

The next step is to apply the greasepaint!

As this layer is grouped, Multiply mode com-bines new colors with existing colors in thephoto to create a third, darker color. Any darkareas or lines on the skin are enhanced, whichworks well towards achieving the effect of ablack eye.

Why have we done it on a new layer? Well, thefact is sometimes you get dissatisfied with yourmasking, and if you have a preserved originalof the background, you can always go backand sort things out.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 116

Page 5: Face Painting

117

Face Painting

Team Colors

To help achieve our face painting effect, we need to make a mask ofthe face.

7. Let’s copy everything we’ve done so far. Press CTRL+A toSelect All, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+C to Copy Merged (thatis, to take a snapshot of everything we’ve done up to now).Press CTRL+V to paste it on top of the layer stack. Call the newlayer facemask.

8. Once again, using the Selection Brush (set to Mask) paintover the face, but this time in just the areas you wish to havethe ‘paint’ appear.

When you’re satisfied with your selection, click out of theSelection Brush and press DELETE. Now we have anindependent face to play with!

9. What we’re going to do now is think ahead a little. The placewhere we want to put the paint is going to be a littlesmeared around the eyes, so it’s time to take a soft-edged Eraser with about 10% Opacity and muss up the edges of theeyes a little – that is delete them from the facemask layer sothe paint only fills those areas. It will help you to make theBackground layer invisible while performing this task.

10. Next, create a new layer called paint. This will provide thebasis for the color on the face. The blending mode that bestimitates light and dark is Overlay, so use the Layers paletteto apply the mode to the paint layer.

11. With the Polygonal Lasso tool, draw a box, with a line downthe center of the nose, encompassing the whole left handside of the face. Fill it with a vibrant orange. Create anotherbox for the right side of the face and fill it with blue.

When Overlay mode is painted on top of existingcolors, it enhances contrast and helps boost color’ssaturation. I’ve found that this doesn’t work so wellwith lighter skin because the color tends to oversaturate. In this case, orange turns fluorescent andyellow, blue turns iridescent purple.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 117

Page 6: Face Painting

118

Chapter 4

12. So now we have a rectangular paint job, which lookspurple and orange on the face. Now, click in the link boxof the facemask layer and click through Layers > GroupLinked. This associates the two layers and rather usefullydeletes any of the paint that we don’t want!

13. What is almost infinitely useful at this point is the fact thatwe can edit both the paint and facemask layers together.So, the thing to do now is go on to the facemask layer anduse the eraser to soften up those hard edges at the side ofthe face. The paint needs to look like it’s been blended in.After you’ve done that, work over the facemask layer witha low opacity Eraser (say, 10%) and randomly delete areasof the mask in order to make it look like the paint hasworn away in areas. What we’re doing – just to keep youahead of the game – is deleting the face mask, andrevealing the unpainted face layer right at the bottom ofthe layer stack!

Man, you’ve just gotta love it when Photoshop Elementscomes together like this!

14. OK, now we still have that real straight line down the center of his nose, so we’d better sortthat out. It’s going to involve mixing the colors – so let’s head back to the paint layer. Usethe Smudge tool and make a gestured smear across the hard line of color in between theeyebrows. We want the smudge placed here in relation to the black eye to help accentuatebattle scar evidence. After that, have fun messing up that straight line by scribbling over itwith the Smudge tool!

15. To finish off, we need to line up the layers so that the blue is genuinely blue and the orangeis genuinely orange. The way to do this is to select the facemask layer and press CTRL+U tobring up the Hue/Saturation dialog. Set the Saturation to 0, and you have yourself one blueand orange picture!

The finished image looks pretty wild compared to our original. The next makeover also possesses awild element – attempting to combine the features of a tiger and a female.

Check out takeshiSports.psd if you want to look at our final Elements file.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 118

Page 7: Face Painting

119

Face Painting

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 119

Page 8: Face Painting

120

Chapter 4

Miya – Face of the TigerFor this portrait, my focus was on experimenting with transforming a female into a tigress. Aside frombeing associated as wild and exotic, tigers are also associated with glamour and wealth.

My main aim in this makeover was to combine the ‘wild sides’ of both women and tigers. The dramaticstripes and dark outlines that you see around the eyes and mouth of a tiger would also really help toenhance female facial features. The combination of soft white and orange furry texture, combinedwith stark black was a fun mix to experiment with.

1. Open miya.jpg from this chapter’s source files. Because the background to this portrait ispretty unattractive, we’ll need to fill it in as we did in the previous exercise. Mask everythingyou want to keep (with the Selection Brush set to Mask), and on a new layer (backgroundblack) fill out the background with black.

2. Once again, use the Selection Brush on the Background layer and select the area of the faceyou want to be painted. Click through Layer > New > Layer via Copy and place that layer atthe top of the pile. Call it facemask.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 120

Page 9: Face Painting

121

Face Painting

3. Now we’re going to do what we did right atthe end of the previous example – we’regoing to desaturate facemask so our colorslook right. Click CTRL+U and set theSaturation level of the layer down to 0.

4. Now, I find that a little flat, so in the spiritof getting everything right beforeproceeding, let’s tweak the levels bypressing CTRL+L and entering the followingvalues:

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 121

Page 10: Face Painting

122

Chapter 4

5. Now it’s time to add a new layer for the paint. Call it paint – why not? Set its layer blendingmode to Overlay.

You’ll remember we performed a very handy grouping of layers before in order to make thatsquare blue and orange paint fall into line with the shape of the facemask layer. Well, let’sdo that again now – there’s no reason to put it off!

6. While on the paint layer, click in the link box of the facemask layer and then click throughLayers > Group Linked.

Now for the paint. This face is much more about playing around with art styles and sketching,to produce what will hopefully be a fine feline – it’s about building up paint, rather thanwearing it away, as we did in the last exercise.

7. With a 50% Opacity Brush tool, startsketching with color, painting a faintundercoat shape of white and orangearound the cheeks. Daub the lips withscarlet for the main part, and thin maroonedges. Remember your lip liner girls!

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 122

Page 11: Face Painting

123

Face Painting

8. Now’s the time to experiment with different shapedbrushes. In the Brush menu, you have the facility to selectCalligraphic Brushes.

9. With a calligraphic brush – I’ve chosen the flat 235 pxbrush – brush ‘eyeliner’ around her eyes and start tolengthen her eyelashes by painting an exaggerated shape.

10. It’s from here you can build your colors and blend theface to your own preferences. Personally, I darkened theexisting orange and added more around her nose andforehead to help further define a tiger-like fuzzy chin. Ialso colored in the pink of her nose and outlined the topof the shape with a dark, warm brown.

The design and impact of this makeover is mainlydependent on the placement and shape of the tigerstripes.

11. Use the Lasso tool todraw an outline ofyour planned patternand fill it in black.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 123

Page 12: Face Painting

124

Chapter 4

12. Using the Lasso tool and trying to work along thecurve of the cheek, draw a jagged stripe, becomingthinner towards the nose. Paint the inside of theshape black using the Brush, and add some whitewith a soft white brush at a low opacity (10% orbelow) to help add softness to the pattern, andinterrupt the flat black.

13. Next, add a new layer to the top of the layer stack and make a layer mask. We need to seewhat I was painting in the layer mask and at the same time, see the makeup to trace thestripes. Using SHIFT-CLICK, the new layer mask turns red and acts like a screen.

14. As the eyebrows are still showing through the Overlay layer, add a new layer (do not groupit to the previous paint layer) and give it a Screen blending mode. Call it eyebrows. With a30% opacity white brush, carefully paint over the eyebrows in white to reduce their presenceon the face. This layer works as thick makeup to help cover over the eyebrows, but it looksnatural because it is still possible to see the texture coming through.

I feel that was a pretty successful makeover.. Combinations of both striking and subtle effects bindreally well together to help achieve the female tigress appearance. Of course, if you want to go beyondsimulating makeup application and really incorporate a tiger appearance, you could look atmanipulating the eyes and mouth so that they have more feline characteristics. Along with the additionof a few whiskers, you’d really have something far flung from the original portrait.

For now, though, let’s get back to the realms of human beings (albeit silly ones) and look at a clown-style makeover.

If you want to experiment with our finished file, miyaTiger.psd, you can findit on the accompanying CD-ROM!

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 124

Page 13: Face Painting

125

Face Painting

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 125

Page 14: Face Painting

126

Chapter 4

Ava – Clown makeoverWhen I was a kid, my Mom would dressas a clown every year on Halloween. Shewas a drama teacher and very skilled attheater makeup. I always wanted her topaint my face like hers so I could see ittransform. After seeing Ava’s photo, Icouldn’t let the opportunity pass by toreturn to childhood memories.

Ava’s expression in this photo wasprecious, how could I ever possiblyimprove on such a perfect photo?

We have to paint an even moreendearing personality – that of a younghobo clown.

This makeover is based purely ongreasepaint and love. I think thebackground looks great – sort of like acountry setting that helps add a positiveelement to what should become abittersweet character.

1. This time, we don’t need to get rid of the background, we just need to create a facemasklayer. So, as before, paint over the face with the selection brush and create a new layer outof it with Layer > New > Layer Via Copy. Call itfacemask, and desaturate it.

2. Then create a new layer called paint, link it andGroup Linked with the facemask layer. Give it anOverlay layer blending mode. We’ve done all thiswith the other pictures, so you should be pretty niftyat it now!

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 126

Page 15: Face Painting

127

Face Painting

3. With a large 40% opacity brush, with its Hardness set to 0, start marking out where you wantyour colors to go. I began by marking out and filling in a peach color for her forehead.

4. Paint around her eyes with white, in order to give the makeup a powdery look. Start her beardby adding black under her nose with a soft brush at 40% Pressure, and continue the beard onher cheek and around the mouth. The appearance of the beard helps convey the look of a glumexpression around the mouth area, which you can accentuate by painting the inside white.

5. Working in the color is 90% of the job with this picture. Paint over and over the picture withlow opacity brushes until you have the color you want. For example, with the peach forehead,I added scarlet at a low opacity just to make everything look a bit more rosy.

Her lips are still apparent in the Overlaymode, so we should disguise this.

6. Create a new layer (lips) and give it a Screenlayer blending mode. Add more white to thearea we’ve already earmarked (orlipmarked). Bear in mind, if the whitenesslooks too opaque, you can always reduce theopacity of this layer, because it’sindependent!

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 127

Page 16: Face Painting

128

Chapter 4

7. Back on the paint layer, draw a red line on herbottom lip to further accentuate the look of afrowning face. You may have to go back anderase some of the white on the lips layer toprevent it interfering with the red line.

8. Next, using a hard brush, paint her nose withthe same deep red I used on her lips, beforepowdering her cheeks with a softer brush anda slightly more cool, rosy red.

9. Finally, using a calligraphic brush, apply blackaround her eyes like eyeliner, and also addsome long, stylized eyelashes to give her thespecial girl clown touch – we want to make surewe bring attention to the fact that she’s a girlclown, even though she has a beard!

After doing this, I realized I hadn’t left room forthe full color eyes when creating the facemasklayer! Disaster! Not really – I just went to thefacemask layer and deleted away the grayscaleeyes to reveal color ones beneath.

10. With the addition of some out-of-positioneyebrows, our girl hobo clown is complete!

Ava’s face now looks tinged with sadness, but is still captivating even though she’s now wearing wackyclown makeup. The idea of wacky makeup leads us nicely into our next makeover.

avaClown.psd can be found in the Face Painting folder of the CD-ROM.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:48 am Page 128

Page 17: Face Painting

129

Face Painting

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:49 am Page 129

Page 18: Face Painting

130

Chapter 4

Kymar – a lightning bolt across the faceFor the last makeover, let’s work in Overlay mode as we have been all along, but with having todesaturate skin tone. Whereas paint applied in Overlay mode tends to over saturate on light skin, it isenhanced as it mixed with Kymar’s darker skin tone. The makeover will be a vivid blend of colors thatare very effective – and it’s easy to do, with the right foreground color.

For this design, I wanted to replicate a makeover in the ilk of a 1970s glam rock star and looked atpictures of music artists such as David Bowie, Kiss and the New York Dolls.

As we’ve already experimented with thick paint, let’s see how fluorescent color looks with a lightapplication.

1. Block out the background in white, and create a facemask layer for old time’s sake. Then,add a paint layer, grouped with the facemask layer, and set its blending mode to Overlay.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:49 am Page 130

Page 19: Face Painting

131

Face Painting

2. Using a brush at about 15% opacity, paint withred along the edges of his face. The glowingeffect suits the concept for this makeover quitewell, so use the same brush in facemask anddraw a lightning bolt across his face at a greateropacity (about 50%).

3. Create a new Screen layer (paint2), and group it with facemask and place it underneath paint.Add some yellow through the lightning bolt at about 15% opacity, which transforms into moreof a gold color and acts like a highlighter around the lightning bolt to help bring out its shape.

4. Create and group a Multiply layer (paint3),placing it at the top of the layer stack, androughly outline the edge of the bolt with a navyblue, at around 20% opacity. Several strokesshould see it dark enough.

5. For the lipstick color, go for gold, which you canachieve by painting yellow back in the paintlayer – the highlights in his lips really brought aglossy shine to the texture. Darken the edges ofhis lips a little by painting yellow in the paint3layer.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:49 am Page 131

Page 20: Face Painting

132

Chapter 4

In a few short and simple steps, we have been able to give Kymar a lightning bolt like on David Bowie’sAladdin Sane album cover. When the approach is this straightforward, the effects are just as enjoyableas spending hours crafting a finished portrait.

See lightning strike twice by double-checking your version against our provided PSD –kymarBolt.psd.

SummaryTreating the face like a 3D canvas, Photoshop Elements’ blending modes help us to focus on thephoto and allow us to be expressive, while not straying too far from a level of realism.

It’s worth experimenting with blending modes when using a photo as the beginning point for aportrait.

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:49 am Page 132

Page 21: Face Painting

133

Face Painting

4240_04idx.qxd 24/1/03 9:49 am Page 133