Hello
Did an aggressive dust and scratch removal, and cloning.
I don't know how to clean up the shirt anymore than I did.
Also did some finagling with the clone brush and tried to fix the hair.
Would love any suggestions :hug:
(http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo85/battleaxe/teenorignialweb.jpg)
(http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo85/battleaxe/teenleveledweb.jpg)
(http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo85/battleaxe/teenwebsample1.jpg)
Hi BA
Wowser, you sure can pick 'em! I was going to grab this guy, because he's so handsome, but I instead grabbed one that you'll smack me on the head and say "what the heck were you thinking." I'll post it soon.
The main thing that strikes me is that the shading on his face needs smoothing. I've found that the easiest way - and the most natural-looking - is to take the clone stamp and set it to 20% or 30%. Then with a brush about half the size of the area of shading or less, work back and forth over the shaded area to blend it in. It'll smooth the rough edges and most of the shading as well. On the left side as we look at him, the light area will slowly disappear if you use this method, and the rest of the shading will be more even. With the lower opacity on the brush, you don't completely smooth away the texture if you don't want to. Be sure to get the corner of his mouth on the right side as we look at him, beside his nose and below his eye. Doesn't need much. The left side on his forehead looks perfect. That's the look I'd go for on the rest of the shading - a gentle blend that tapers to virtually nothing.
I think you did a great job on his hair. If there are any strands that you want to make less obvious, use the smudge tool at about 40%-50% and pull them out to blend them in (I see a couple on the crown of his head that could probably be blended in just a bit more). I've spent several days studying creating hair, eyes, ears, etc. in preparation for my "impossible."
As for the shirt: it definitely needs more work. All you can do is follow the lines of lightness and dark and try to make the pattern as uniform as possible. I don't know if you could copy rectangles to their own layers and then distort them in whatever way would make them fit. I can't imagine a way to use the clone tool, other than to clean up a patch to place and then tweak. If you don't have the shape on its own layer, there's no way to fit it. The more distant blurry area could probably be cleaned up a little more and have the edge a little more defined, and I think it would be okay, but once you get to the right side where the edge folds over and the buttons start, the pattern should be cleaner looking, I think.
For what it's worth, that's what I see. All that said, I think you did a phenomenal job getting this guy to the point that you have. That's one heck of a lot of cleanup.
Cheers
GK
Thanks GK
Your suggestions help a lot
:hug:
BA, I'm more than happy to give you what feedback I can. Besides, wait until you see the one I'm going to need everyone's eyes on. I'm not sure whether to go a little further before I post or go for broke and see what help I can get before I fall on my sword trying to figure out what I'm looking at. I really, really wanted to do this one, but it's about to kick my butt!
(http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo85/battleaxe/teenwebsample3.jpg)
Is this okay to send up now? Though now that I am posting I do see damage along the right edge. Funny how these things show up when your posting.
Hi BA
I downloaded this guy and did a little more smoothing on his face (I used the technique I described earlier - cloned at 20% - mostly on the right, a little at the left and at the right corner of his mouth - as we see him. I darkened the right eye as we look at him just a tiny bit. I also tried something on a few places on his shirt, which may or may not work on the whole thing. I was just playing around to see if there was a way to make it look a little less smudged. I don't know whether I like it or not. I just cloned around a few rectangles and then filled them with enough noise to make them look a little less dark than the original. I also smudged just a few places in his hair. See what you think.
(http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n222/glennab-fla/YoungBoyforBA.jpg)
GK