Computer Graphics with Photoshop - QUESTION: Looking for convincing 'painting' technique...

Author

QUESTION: Looking for convincing 'painting' technique...

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

Hey, all.

I have a series of portraits I took recently, and am experimenting with
effects which could make them look more interesting. I've used Diffuse
Glow, and Texturizer with the Canvas texture, to some pleasing effect.

I am trying to find a good technique for giving a photograph a
'painted' effect, to make it appear as if it were an oil or watercolor
painting. The built-in filters alone (CS2) aren't quite doing it for me
as yet, and I haven't developed the 'instinct' with PS as yet to be
able to see how these filters could be effectively used with layers or
other filters to provide the desired effect.

I did find this tutorial today, which might prove interesting:

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161032

I've Googled for Photoshop Painting Tutorial, and most of the results
are techniques for painting, not transforming a photo _into_ a
painting.

I'm hoping some kind folks might have some decent examples flagged
somewhere, for me to peruse...

Many thanks in advance!

Bill Hilton

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

> BD writes ...
>
>I am trying to find a good technique for giving a photograph a
>'painted' effect, to make it appear as if it were an oil or watercolor
>painting. The built-in filters alone (CS2) aren't quite doing it for me

I've played with this a bit and I think the built-in filters are a bit
disappointing ... if you really want to do this well I think you should
invest in the program Corel Painter IX, buy a Wacom tablet and buy the
book "Painter IX Creativity" by Jeremy Sutton ... he earns a good
living doing this (using Painter to create paintings from photos) and
he explains how to do it well in the book, I think. I had a lot of
trouble learning this program before buying this book.

Here's an example of what he's doing ...
http://www.paintercreativity.com/ga...ery/page06.html

There are other 'push-button' options like Deep Paint and Xaos that
work OK on some images but you have a lot more control with Painter, I
feel.

Bill

Hebee Jeebes

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

Second vote for Corel Painter. Nothing touches it for natural media
painting. The Auto-Clone option can give you a painted looking image in just
a few minutes or you can do it manually with spectacular results.

http://www.corel.com

R

Harry Limey

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

"BD" <bobby_dread@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1147807675.939902.28850@j73g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hey, all.
>
> I have a series of portraits I took recently, and am experimenting with
> effects which could make them look more interesting. I've used Diffuse
> Glow, and Texturizer with the Canvas texture, to some pleasing effect.
>
> I am trying to find a good technique for giving a photograph a
> 'painted' effect, to make it appear as if it were an oil or watercolor
> painting. The built-in filters alone (CS2) aren't quite doing it for me
> as yet, and I haven't developed the 'instinct' with PS as yet to be
> able to see how these filters could be effectively used with layers or
> other filters to provide the desired effect.
>
> I did find this tutorial today, which might prove interesting:
>
> http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161032
>
> I've Googled for Photoshop Painting Tutorial, and most of the results
> are techniques for painting, not transforming a photo _into_ a
> painting.
>
> I'm hoping some kind folks might have some decent examples flagged
> somewhere, for me to peruse...
>
> Many thanks in advance!

You could try Buzz pro
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/so...master/Buzz.htm

I used it to manipulate these images!! I applied a Photoshop texture to
finish!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/harrylimey/sets/259660/

Harry Limey

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

>Jeremy Sutton

He does have one tutorial on his site, taking a photo of a ballerina
and transforming it.

Looks very compelling.

Thanks!

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

>The Auto-Clone

I will see if I can secure the software, and give it a go. Thanks!!

Rudy Benner

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

That software comes with the Wacom Intuos 3 tablet.

"BD" <bobby_dread@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1147811201.165409.280340@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
>
> I will see if I can secure the software, and give it a go. Thanks!!
>

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

>That software comes with the Wacom Intuos 3 tablet.

The full version, or Essentials??

Dave

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

On 16 May 2006 12:27:56 -0700, "BD" <bobby_dread@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Hey, all.
>
>I have a series of portraits I took recently, and am experimenting with
>effects which could make them look more interesting.

>I am trying to find a good technique for giving a photograph a
>'painted' effect, to make it appear as if it were an oil or watercolor
>painting. The built-in filters alone (CS2) aren't quite doing it for me

>
>Many thanks in advance!

There is of course a few things Photoshop can nòt do, one of which is
painting. Photoshop simply can not paint.

Like pointed out to you by more people, you should buy
Corel Painter IX.

Here is a few paintings only to show you the realism
in Painters work.
I have posted an exaggerated bg1a to demonstrate
the brush strokes, and then finished it off with bg1b.

Auto Clone is not one of my favourite facilities,
because that takes the art out of it.
Lioness_b is Auto Cloned.

Changing a photo to a painting in a realistic way,
is hours work; hours of enjoyment (and frustration:-)

I bought "Painter for Photographer' by Martin Addison,
and find it good. (So should any course be for a novice,
and I assume they are all good.

I have uploaded this now for you, and please keep in
mind this is A2 size Tiff's being reduced to small jpg's.

Uploaded it right now, only for the sake of this conversation,
because I am still working on all of them, so I will take it of
tomorrow or so again.

Dave

Again - it is not in a album because off what I said,
this is only for the sake of this talk.

http://home.intekom.com/davesplace/...ment_in_oil.jpg
http://home.intekom.com/davesplace/...ngs/lioness.jpg
http://home.intekom.com/davesplace/...an_in_chalk.jpg
http://home.intekom.com/davesplace/..._watercolor.jpg
http://home.intekom.com/davesplace/paintings/bg1a.jpg
http://home.intekom.com/davesplace/paintings/bg1b.jpg
http://home.intekom.com/davesplace/...s/lioness_b.jpg

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

>Here is a few paintings

Thanks, Dave. Yes, I think that Painter will be the best option for
what I have in mind. I have used older versions, back when it was
Fractal Design Painter. I look forward to discovering its evolution.

Dave

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

On Wed, 17 May 2006 00:18:04 +0200, Dave <d@ve.com> wrote:

>
>I bought "Painter for Photographer' by Martin Addison,
>and find it good. (So should any course be for a novice,
>and I assume they are all good.

Should have been ' "Painter for Photographers' by Martin Addison,

's'

Here is a review
http://www.kickstartnews.com/review...rs_addison.html

Dave

Dave

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

On 16 May 2006 15:52:39 -0700, "BD" <bobby_dread@hotmail.com> wrote:

>
>Thanks, Dave. Yes, I think that Painter will be the best option for
>what I have in mind. I have used older versions, back when it was
>Fractal Design Painter. I look forward to discovering its evolution.

Big pleasure, BD.

If you intend painting to make money, and people will by 'Auto Cloned'
paintings, then you do Auto Clone.
If you want to paint for the art of it, and be proud of what you done,
you must be willing to spend hours on a painting.

Good night:-) It is already one hour into Wednesday the 17th.

Dave

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

>If you want to paint for the art of it,

Oh, absolutely. This is for me-the-perfectionist, so I am quite willing
to take the time required to do a good job.

Heck, I spent _days_ on one effect I wanted from a picture of this
particular model. A few hours would be a nice diversion for an evening.

Bill Hilton

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

> if you really want to do this well I think you should invest in
> the program Corel Painter IX, buy a Wacom tablet and buy the
> book "Painter IX Creativity" by Jeremy Sutton

BD, here are some photos I "painted" using Sutton's techniques ... I
can't draw or paint from scratch worth a damn so this is what you can
do with zero natural talent with Painter ... I think these were with
pastels or chalks, not oils, but you get the picture ...

http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/zoe_pastels.jpg
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/p_caribou.jpg
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/flicker_chalk.jpg
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/antelope_chalk.jpg

I think I have the photos of the caribou and flicker on the web
somewhere if you want to see the starting point ... these were done by
painting the muck-up with a large brush, then going to a smaller brush,
then still smaller, then 'soft-clone' brushes to add details back in
certain areas like eyes ... this is explained well in his book.

Dave said in his post that any of the books should be good for teaching
a beginner but I tried learning from the "Painter Wow!" book and one
other book (not the one Dave mentions) and the light just didn't click
on until I read Sutton's book ... maybe I was just a step or too slow
for the program though.

Bill

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

"Dave" <d@ve.com> wrote:

> There is of course a few things Photoshop can nòt do, one of which is
> painting. Photoshop simply can not paint.

> http://home.intekom.com/davesplace/...ment_in_oil.jpg
> [... pity snip...]

Corel Painter is likely to send you some good $$$ if you promise to NEVER
post again. Jeeze, how embarrassing.

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

"Dave" <d@ve.com> wrote:

> If you intend painting to make money, and people will by 'Auto Cloned'
> paintings, then you do Auto Clone.

You got a printer that works on black velvet?

2006-05-16, 10:20 pm

"BD" <bobby_dread@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Heck, I spent _days_ on one effect I wanted from a picture of this
> particular model. A few hours would be a nice diversion for an evening.

Don't quit your day job.

Toby

2006-05-17, 6:19 pm

Try JASC Virtual Painter--quite nice oil, gouache and watercolor effects. I
think you can download a trial version. You don't have as much control as
with Corel Painter, or Photoartmaster or the Buzz3 plugin, but the effects
themselves are quite nice and easy to use.

Toby

Hebee Jeebes

2006-05-17, 6:19 pm

Corel has done a good job cleaning it up and making it work like other image
editors. It is nice having things like layers standardized.

R

Dave

2006-05-17, 6:19 pm

On 16 May 2006 17:14:34 -0700, "Bill Hilton" <bhilton665@aol.com>
wrote:

>I think I have the photos of the caribou and flicker on the web
>somewhere if you want to see the starting point ... these were done by
>painting the muck-up with a large brush, then going to a smaller brush,
>then still smaller, then 'soft-clone' brushes to add details back in
>certain areas like eyes ... this is explained well in his book.
>

>Bill

the soft-clone brushes - this is where I tend to be very carefull,
Bill. Trying to prevent a potrait kind of painting with eyes
which is obviously photocopies.

You got me adding Sutton's name to my searchmachine now.
More people then only you speak with high praise of
Jeremy Sutton's book. And I love books; got nearly
a library on CS & CS2 - maybe I should add his:-)

Dave

Bill Hilton

2006-05-17, 6:19 pm

>Hebee Jeebes writes ...
>
> Corel has done a good job cleaning it (Painter) up and making it work like
> other image editors. It is nice having things like layers standardized

I wish they did a better job with formal Color Management though, they
seem to be way behind the curve with the ICC flow ...

Bill

Dave

2006-05-17, 6:19 pm

On 16 May 2006 17:14:34 -0700, "Bill Hilton" <bhilton665@aol.com>
wrote:

>these were done by
>painting the muck-up with a large brush, then going to a smaller brush,
>then still smaller, then 'soft-clone' brushes to add details back in
>certain areas like eyes ... this is explained well in his book.

the soft-clone brushes - this is where I tend to be very careful,
Bill. Trying to prevent a portrait kind of painting with eyes
which is obviously photocopies.

>
>Dave said in his post that any of the books should be good for teaching
>a beginner but I tried learning from the "Painter Wow!" book and one
>other book (not the one Dave mentions) and the light just didn't click
>on until I read Sutton's book ... maybe I was just a step or too slow
>for the program though.
>
>Bill

You got me adding Sutton's name to my search machine now.
More people then only you speak with high praise of
Jeremy Sutton's book. And I love books; got nearly
a library on CS & CS2 - maybe I should add his:-)

Dave

Scott Peterson

2006-05-22, 3:17 am

"Bill Hilton" <bhilton665@aol.com> wrote:

>if you really want to do this well I think you should
>invest in the program Corel Painter IX, buy a Wacom tablet and buy the
>book "Painter IX Creativity" by Jeremy Sutton ..

Corel has a special running through the end of the month. You can
purchase Painter IX.5 for the upgrade price which is a substantial
saving. Go to http://www.corel.com and click on the Painter upgrade
promo.

You should also check the O'Reilly Fine Arts Effects Cookbook for CS2.
Any good sized bookstore should have it. It describes techniques for
applying a number of different painting effects to photographs.

Scott Peterson

--
The world is full of willing people:
some willing to work and some willing
to let them.

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