Makeup in Photoshop

I love playing with my makeup, so I decided to hone my Photoshop makeup skills by trying out the following tutorial: http://effects.worth1000.com/tutorials/161629/make-up

I started with the following picture, where I tried to emulate the angle of Scarlett Johansson's face in the tutorial:

I then followed the blog's instructions on how to perfect the skin by pressing Q and using the paintbrush tool to select the skin area and then feathering it and adding a Gaussian blur.  A few times I had to reselect an area because it was hard to do it on my laptop with the trackpad rather than a mouse.  I reduced the opacity of the background copy layer a little bit, but I didn't think the blur and feathering made a large enough difference that I needed to make this layer really opaque.  I also cropped the image in this step.  The results are as follows.

The next step was adding eye and lip makeup.  This step was fun--I first added black eyeliner and then I selected a dark grey for my eyelid crease area and a green for my lid and under-eye color.  I then chose a berry color for my lips and added "lipliner" a shade darker.  I was pleased that the eye makeup did not cover over my eyelashes or make them look funny.  I had this problem in class, and for some reason it did not happen this time.  That was a relief because I did not want to use the pen tool to draw in individual lashes!  For all of the makeup steps I used a Gaussian blur and changed the opacity to make it look as natural as possible while still maintaining the fun makeup look.

Next I did face definition.  This step really did remind me of real makeup.  I used the brush tool with white on Soft Light and highlighted the T-zone along with the tops of the cheeks.  I then contoured the cheekbones by using the brush tool colored black on Soft Light.  Both layers were then Blurred and the opacity was reduced to make them look more natural.  I also learned the importance of ensuring that it was on soft light...  at first I forgot and the cheekbone contouring looked a little too Halloween-like!

Finally, I sharpened the eyes, nose, and mouth area to add more definition to the picture.  I then adjusted the blue/cyan levels in the picture (just slightly--too much looks weird) and called it a day.

Overall, I was pleased with the effects.  The only thing I might change is adding some highlights to the collar bone as well (and maybe not having a shower curtain as the background and the poor bathroom lighting next time).  I am looking forward to using the techniques and tools that I experimented with today in future projects!

I found some lovely artwork by digital artist Gale Franey.  She resides in Vancouver, Canada, and uses Photoshop, Flash animation, digital photography, After Effects, and Final Cut Pro for her works.  The first piece of hers that really struck me was the following:

It is entitled "Friends and Acquaintances".  This piece's denotation shows a girl toddler who holds a stuffed rabbit standing in a garden with a fence.  There appears to be a fairy of sorts peering down on the girl from above.  There are 2 dragons on the fence and a butterfly on a flower.  There is also lightning in the background and some bubble-like items in the scene.  It is very colorful and ethereal.  The connotation I draw from the image is the innocence and imagination of childhood.  The girl is in a beautiful, almost dream-like garden.  Dragons and fairies are common children's tale lore, which adds to the connotation of child-like imagination (the title also supports this interpretation).  The bright colors and the appearance of the girl (hair, clothes, and facial expression) all remind me of the innocence of childhood.

The next piece that I particularly enjoyed follows:


This image is known as "Lily."  It is comprised of over 70 layers in Photoshop.  The denotations of the image depict a pretty woman in a purple dress watering lilies with a purple can.  She also holds a small sparrow in her left palm and she appears to be in a forest clearing.  This image has a connotation of peace and fragility.  The beautiful light colors, the softness of the woman's features, and the fact that she is holding a small bird and taking care of flowers suggest the delicacy of the scene.  Life is also apparent, as there are trees, flowers, and wildlife in this surreal scene.  The setting and actions of the woman really conveys a message of oneness with nature.

I really enjoyed Gale's work.  She can do amazing things with her computer!

Sources:

My attention was drawn to Gale by looking at this blog post:
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/30-deviant-digital-artists-painters-illustrators-worth-to-watch/

Pictures and information found on the following:
http://www.thegraphicgroove.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/galefraney/
http://galefra.deviantart.com/