Woefully In Need Of Guidance

[PatW]

Hi Guys,

Well I'm back to plugging away on this, but I need some help.  Usually I get one element fixed before I move on to others.  On this photo I work on one thing until I'm on the brink of madness, then I move to something else.  So nothing in this is completely done.  I haven't color corrected it yet, & probably won't for a while yet.

One thing I'm especially worried about is the car. I thought I would be able to paint over the blue channel & then clean it up.  Worked great on the grille but not over the red body.  Any ideas?  Do I keep piecing the car together & hope for the best, or is there a better way?

Anything else that catches your eye, please fire away.  This would have gone so much faster in the hands of someone more experienced.  I was a fool, yes an utter fool, to attempt it.  My head is drooping in shame.





Pat  (A.K.A.  The Fool)

[GP]

Hi Pat,  :)

don't be so hard on your self! I think you did an awesome job on this one already. Keep going, you are doing great. Maybe you need a break for a day or two, but than you will be able to finish it. Nice work so far!

Gerlinde  :hug:

[glennab]

Hi Pat

No head drooping allowed!  You're doing fine (i.e the grill of the little car looks great, as does most of the greenery). My experience has been that when you get that much muck, you'll be doing a lot of cloning and patching/healing (depending on what works best for you).  I usually clone over the worst and most off-color areas and then pick up the texture with the patch tool (and I do it in very small areas for the most part).  I can't seem to master the healing tool.

If anyone knows an easier way, I need to know immediately, because the restoration I'll be posting in the next couple of days has so much junk on it that I've resorted to some very unconventional methods that may or may not work in the overall scheme.  

I honestly don't think that there are blanket, easy ways to deal with most of these monsters.  Each seems to be unique and requires unique (usually out-of-the-box) means to clean up the mess.

An observation on the roof of the "school house:" I think the roof is completely blue.  The pink looks to me like damage.

Good luck!

GK

P.S. Gerlinde got her post in before I finished blathering, and I wanted to reinforce the "get away from it for a while" technique.  A minor fender-bender last month has slowed me down a bit, and I found that having a little time away from my current challenge has given me new perspective and more surety that I can finish what I started.  (I sometimes wonder if any of us is certain of that at the beginning of a new restoration!)

[PatW]

Thank you Gerlinde & Gk, for talking me in off the ledge.  You guys are real pals! :loveit:

Glenna, I was happy to hear that you haven't gotten a handle on the healing brush either.  I can't make it work for me & almost always turn to the clone tool.  I love the spot healing brush & haven't a clue why I have so much trouble with it's bigger brother.

Thanks for the catch on the roof.  I thought it was some kind of creative painting job, but now that I look at it again, I believe you are right.

I think also, that I've been trying to patch in too big of chunks.  Sigh, will try to work harder on that patience thing now.

Pat

[Mhayes]

Hi Pat, I think you are doing a great job! What I would do with the car is to use the lasso with a 2 pic feather and select areas of the car that you think would work and then copy that selection to its own layer and move and transform to fit in the places you want. As you build this up, the patch tool will come in handy. Later you can play with the blending mode on the layers to give it the shading you want. Keep posting your progress and we will try to lessen your pain.

Margie

[Hannie]

Pat, you have done amazingly well, you are almost there!

I rediscovered the healing brush myself recently.  Found it very useful, I check the "aligned" box and for source I use sampled or pattern, depending on the best result for any particular damage.

Great job!

:up:

Hannie

[PatW]

What I would do with the car is to use the lasso with a 2 pic feather and select areas of the car that you think would work and then copy that selection to its own layer and move and transform to fit in the places you want. As you build this up, the patch tool will come in handy. Later you can play with the blending mode on the layers to give it the shading you want. Keep posting your progress and we will try to lessen your pain.

Margie

Hi Margie, Thanks!  OK, that's how I've been working on the car, but each time I get the little selection where I want it, I merge down & start the next one.  I think I may have been making the selections too large, so am in danger of losing the contours of the car.  Thank you so much for the tip  about using blending modes & masks to ajust the shading.  One more thing that hadn't occurred to me.  This old dog needs to be a little faster picking up those new tricks. :)

Pat

[PatW]

I check the "aligned" box and for source I use sampled or pattern, depending on the best result for any particular damage.

Hannie

Thank you for the very kind words, Hannie. :hug:

I don't know why I'm having such a mental block with the healing brush.  I've reread Katrin E's section on healing with a pattern and still can't quite make it work.  Never the less, I shall persevere!

BTW, you've all been so helpful and kind, I really appreciate it! :loveit:

Pat