Little Girl on Wall

[oehlers]

I've been working on this one for a while, and need some input. It's frustrating because the face was in pretty good shape, but the dress and especially the legs and shoes look fake. Not sure how to fix it though.  :-\

I used shrubs from another picture for the background (that's why they don't exactly match up), but I thought that looked better than the damaged original. Is this OK, or is it too far from the original?

Original


Restoration


Any input would be appreciated. Still learning!

[Hannie]

You have worked wonders already!  There's nothing wrong with the legs and shoes, all it needs is a little softening of the outlines and maybe some shadowing there.

I think the shrubs you used are too much in focus in comparison with the little girl and her dress.
You may want to try and fix up the original shrub or try and make the new shrub more out of of focus?
To use the original shrub and clone from the good parts has the advantage that the little girl blends in more naturally with the background.

Great job,

Hannie

[lurch]

Great job so far. I agree with Hannie about trying to use the original shrubbery - or else blur and lighten the transplanted bush. Like you, I also have a problem with the legs and feet.  They just don't look quite right, but it's hard to put a finger on what bothers. This happens to me quite often. Then I remembered that when children sit with their feet dangling they often flex their ankles so the feet angle up, not down. So what I did was to enhance the contrast in the blue channel and trace out (very roughly) what I think is the outline of the legs and shoes.



Hope this helps some.

[oehlers]

Thanks so much for the feedback Hannie and Lurch!  :hug: It's what I needed to go back at it one more time. I'm liking the results much better - let me know what you think.



Thanks again!
Susan

[Johnboy]

Susan,

She looks good to me. I am not an artist but you have done a great job with the girl. I would suggest toning down the shadow lines on the clapboards in the background. They seem a little too pronounced compared to the rest of the shadow showing on the boards.

Johnboy

[oehlers]

Thanks for the feedback, Johnboy. Good point about the boards! I've tweaked it some more, and I think (hope) that I'm ready to send it home.  :)