First critique!

[Janet Kimantas]

John,

Thanks for your comments. I think you are absolutely right about the eyes, I should have painted them squint and all and it would have made for a better likeness and a better painting. As for the "Photoshop save" are you suggesting tweaking the shot until it looks like what you want to paint? That sounds interesting.

Janet

[Janet Kimantas]

Michele and Linda,

I really appreciate your tips and your honesty. It was exactly what I had hoped for. I'm not upset in the least, Linda, in fact delighted. You could have said "nice photo, shame about the painting"!

I took a quick look at that website and will revisit it again. I'll also have to go into the forum archives on this whole photography topic - it seems to be much more complicated than I had thought (hoped!). I've art directed dozens of photo shoots of children over the years and have found it to be a challenge. Some kids are naturals and some have about 10 good minutes in them. My stock response to all the anxious frowns around me is a muttered "I'll just Photoshop it out".

I'm actually going to post a photo I am thinking about painting from for critique. I'd be most grateful if you ladies (and John, too) would be able to spare a moment or two to take a look and let me know what you think.

Thanks again, Janet

[John Crowther]

Exactly, Janet, tweaking is one of the ways I use Photoshop, either playing wih color and value of the whole image, or isolating areas I think can be profitably changed. Many artists, including myself, also use it to move elements around, combine sections of various photos, and eliminate aspects of a photo such as background. It's always a good idea to work with layers. I believe these techniques have been discussed here previously -- perhaps someone can point you to the right place in the archives.

John C.

[Janet Kimantas]

Hi John,

Thanks for the tip. I'll go through the past threads on photo editing. I do a lot of that kind of stuff at work - dental surgery, eye work, head transplants etc. The technical end won't be a problem, but I'm sure that one has to keep oneself in check a fair bit. I know that I could easily over-work a photo when taking a better one would be the best answer. In the meantime, I may redo the eyes on this little guy in line with your advice. No harm done and I might learn something.

Janet