blue and grey

FULLVIEW? I don't know, maybe this one actually looks better smaller than larger. And yeah, I tend to write a lot when I'm starting out on something new, so I can go back and read what I did.

(And before anyone gets started -- I know, I used a filter! After using Photoshop for seven-going-onto-eight years, I should know better! I was just playing around and it turned out nicely, so I decided to keep it. Arg! I definitely feel guilty about it though. And I violated the Division of Thirds rule too, arg.)

So this is the second time I've tried to do a fancy photomanipulation, but the first time I've tried a composite -- at least a very simple one to start off. Wasn't sure what to do at first, but then I remembered that whenever I'm trying a new art style, I ALWAYS do one particular original character in order to have something to compare across styles with. Conveniently enough, I found some stock photos that, when combined, bear an uncanny resemblance to him, better than any PB definitely.

I started off having to replace the head of the original body with a new more fitting one. I've never done it before, so it was kind of tricky to do right without looking really fake. Did some scaling until they matched, then adjusted the colour of the body's neck to match the skin of the new face, as well as re-adding the shadow cast by the chin. Then I did A LOT of airbrushing, most of which unfortunately can't be seen in the finished product -- stuff like lighter strands of hair, removing excessive skin shine, adjusting skin colours, changing the eye colour slightly, etc.

After that, I followed the edges tutorial (listed below) to smooth down the edges. Other elements like the background, shadow, and moon were edited seperately before being compiled and edited together. Yes, I used a watercolour filter, unfortunately. I wasn't going to, but I WAS careful (or at least tried to be) about how I used it. It's still gratuitous and amateurish though, although at the same time, it kind of fits. And then there was the usually layering and editing of textures and colour until the whole thing looked right, complete with a weird border.

I definitely need a LOT of practice working on composites. Hopefully, once I get better at that -- and if I get a tablet -- I can progress to actual airbrushing to do photomanipulations.

CREDITS

TUTORIAL -- Blending Edges When You Are Making a Composite Photo. This is the first time I've ever followed through with doing a composite photomanipulation -- I usually give up because I can't get the figures to NOT look like cardboard cut-outs -- and this tutorial helped a lot.


FACE -- [link] by ~mrstock.
BODY -- [link] by ~homnoct-stock.
FULL MOON -- [link] by ~loustock.
WOLF + BACKGROUND -- stock.xchng.
TEXTURES -- Mayang's Free Textures Library.