Two Pretty Girls

[Marydh]

Hi all.  I'm thinking the girls look older than they should but I don't know how to fix them.  Also, I'm hoping I haven't blurred too much.  They looked really fake when I healed.  See what you think and if you see anything else that needs fixin'.
Thanks,
Mary

[Jo Ann Snover]

I agree about the girl on the left side of the picture - I think the one on the right looks good.

If you look at the original, you've removed the pink bow around her waist and changed the shape of the bodice as well as slimmed her skirt. That, along with the change in her mouth shape all make her look quite a bit older. And did you just decide to drop the pink polka dots on her dress? I don't think that contributes to the age issue though

[Marydh]

Holy Kamoly Jo Ann!  I didn't even see the polka dots and thought the bow was damage.  Boy is my face red. Going to go back after it with some new eyes....or could I borrow yours? 
Thanks so much.

[Jo Ann Snover]

No need for a red face :) That's why the forum can help with fresh eyes that haven't been looking at the same image until the brain fries!

If you're stealing eyes, I'd go for a younger set with more miles left on them!!

I do think, BTW, that some of the looking older than their years is part of it being a pageant and young girls in very grown up hair & makeup.

[Hannie]

Mary, perhaps you can bring a little more expression in both girl's faces and bring out their child like features?

[Shadow]

Lovely cleanup Mary. Jo Ann and Hannie's tips will put it over the top.

[Marydh]

Hannie, that's one of my problems.  I'm not sure how to do that....

[Jo Ann Snover]

I'm not sure if this will help explain how to restore that child-pretending-to-be-grown-up look, but here's a quick attempt at that.



I drew some outlines on the damaged original as a guide and then changed a couple of facial features on the girl on the left (along with adding a little contrast overall as I think yours is a bit too light). I moved her outside eye - not the pupil - in and re-did the mouth shape. I think it's the fact that her teeth look a little too large for her face that contributes to the little girl look (my daughter "grew into" her adult teeth through her early teen years). And somehow placing the eye as in the original has minimized that sly-minx look that I saw in your WIP.

I made the bodice shape match the original - again, that made it a bit less shapely, which restored a feel of childhood a little. I only hinted at the polka dots, but did draw in a bow and the skirt that was missing (crudely)

I didn't do anything with the other girl's face, but I did put back the back of her dress sleeve that had gone missing. There's also the missing braid on her skirt - you have part of it, but not the continuation past the fold. Not critical, but it's a pair of mystery lines that vanish as is.

Hope it helps a bit

[Marydh]

Thanks so much Jo Ann.  I think I can get it finished now.

[Marydh]

Well, I hope she looks a little younger now.  Please look and see if I should change anything. 
(I didn't want to do too much to her teeth.  She started looking vampirish.)
Thanks.  Mary

[Jo Ann Snover]

I think she does. It's interesting that relatively small changes have quite a big impact on how things look. I put the original, your new version and the older WIP in three tabs and flipped among them and I think you now have the "feel" of the original without the damage or color cast.

See what other votes you get, but I'd say that looks very good :)

[Marydh]

Thanks Jo Ann.  You were a big help.

[Shadow]

Beautiful Mary. One tiny thing ... maybe flip the hand of the girl on the left? Quick example.

[Marydh]

Will do Shadow. Thanks.

[coopmj]

Great job on this!  :up:

Mary (the other one :))