Edited painting - how can i do this

[Ovi Sergiu]

Hello, Photoshop gurus!

My question and my biggest wish is to find/to learn how can I edit an original painting to obtain a more clean and live version.

The original (via Wikipedia): fisrt attachment

Edited image: second attachment

 

[ibclare]

I would guess: hue saturation adjustment, curves to soften the highlights and deepen the shadows, color layers to improve increase the color. You can paint color on with a brush, varying the shade, tone, and tints, opacities and blend modes. You might even try to duplicate the original layer, make changes to that, then add the color layers, then change the duplicate to something like soft light to blend some of the original antique look back in to the picture.

Just my ideas without trying it. I may give it a shot though.

 

[ibclare]

Well, having tried replicating this in PS, and failed, I might think it is instead a plugin, but since I don't use anything but PS native tools, I can't give any advice there. Hang in there; a member will doubtless have some good advice.

 

[Paul]

New empty layers with different colours applied (one layer with the shirt on - one with the table on etc)

 

[Paul]

The key is layers the more you do the more the effect you will achieve, look at each area separately, adjusting light/colour/blur etc.
This is just a quick version to show what i mean.

 

[chrisdesign]

I beamed her into 2014 and changed her "look" a bit.

 

[Paul]

Very nice chris, please explain to our viewers how you got to this state mate.

 

[Tom Mann]

A huge amount can be done using nothing more than 1 "levels" adjustment layer and ACR (inside of PS in CC).

Spend a bit more time making local adjustments instead of all global adjustments like I did, and you can get an even better final product.

Tom

 

[Tom Mann]

PS - BTW, I intentionally didn't try to reproduce the colors and tonality of 2nd image posted by the OP. Instead, I tried to address his question:

"...my biggest wish is to find/to learn how can I edit an original painting to obtain a more clean and live version..."

in the simplest way I knew.

T

 

[IamSam]

Tom, I like what you did in your last version except the upper lip.............can't stop making the implied association which is present in all versions but accented in this one. :neutral:

 

[sprucemagoo1]

I had a go,

 

[Ovi Sergiu]

The key is layers the more you do the more the effect you will achieve, look at each area separately, adjusting light/colour/blur etc.
This is just a quick version to show what i mean.

Can you please give me some detailed/step-by-step instructions? Thank you in advance!

I beamed her into 2014 and changed her "look" a bit.

I like it a lot! Please, can you give me some step by step instructions? Thank you so much.

A huge amount can be done using nothing more than 1 "levels" adjustment layer and ACR (inside of PS in CC).

Spend a bit more time making local adjustments instead of all global adjustments like I did, and you can get an even better final product.Tom

PS - BTW, I intentionally didn't try to reproduce the colors and tonality of 2nd image posted by the OP. Instead, I tried to address his question:

"...my biggest wish is to find/to learn how can I edit an original painting to obtain a more clean and live version..."

in the simplest way I knew.

T

I like a lot your version too. But your second answer is a little bit of a riddle for me (I am not a native English speaker) and I will dare to ask you if you could give me some step by step indications. I am ashamed for not knowing what is that ACR and CC.

Many many thanks your your kind suggestions and answers. I really appreciate them.

 

[ibclare]

Tom, I like what you did in your last version except the upper lip.............can't stop making the implied association which is present in all versions but accented in this one. :neutral:

Sam? I don't see it, but then I don't have time to look really closely. Maybe later.

I like your explanation Tom. Thanks. I failed miserably with native PS tools. Maybe I can try it later.

 

[chrisdesign]

You did a very nice job on your edited version Ovi Sergiu. I like it a lot. The colors still look very natural.

In my version I used the technique of "frequency separation". It is worth learning it, and you can use it for various jobs, not just for beauty retouching.
http://fstoppers.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-frequency-separation-technique

I try to give you an easy explanation how to work. English is not my native language.

Open your image
make 2 duplicates (layers) of your image.

Name the top layer "high frequency". HARD. Go to filter: other filters, high-pass, you'll see a grey image, select 2 pixel, say OK. On this layer select mode "linear light". On this layer you work with a small hard brush with the clone tool. Only the small details are affected like pimples, wrinkles, canvas cracks or other blemishes.

Name the middle layer "low frequency". SOFT. Go to filter: gaussian blur, select 2 pixel, say OK. You' see a very soft image. On this layer leave the mode "normal". On this layer you work with a big and soft brush with the clone tool. Only the big soft areas in a face are affected.

On your layer panel all the 3 layers look the same, that's why the layer names are very important. Never touch the bottom layer, only retouch on the high frequency layer or the low frequency layer with the above mentioned tools.

Next you make a new layer, fill it with 50% grey, name it dodge and burn, and select the mode "soft light". On this layer you can lighten or darken parts of the skin.

Don't forget to save your layer version as PS.

Next step: Changing the physiognomy of a face.
Reduce your layers to BG layer and save it under a new name, because you may not use this image later. On this image I applied the liquify filter. Make only very subtle adjustments by pulling on the grid in certain areas like the head and arm in my case.

I hope you get a good result, though I guess you have to play around, as in learning by doing.

Chris

 

[Tom Mann]

Tom, I like what you did in your last version except the upper lip.............can't stop making the implied association which is present in all versions but accented in this one. :neutral:

Thanks for the comment, Sam. Initially, I paid no attention to the odd lighting, but after staring at it for a while, I think I have finally figured out the association it triggered in you: Are his initials AH?

T

 

[Tom Mann]

... Maybe I can try it later.

Would you like me to make a preset out of the ACR settings I used? I can then zip it up and post it, and then you can see exactly what I did in ACR.

T

 

[Tom Mann]

Don't be embarrassed - I see abbreviations that I don't know every day on the web.

ACR = Adobe Camera Raw
CC = "Creative Cloud" - the name for Adobe's newest, subscription version of Photoshop.

There are many nice tutorials available on the web about these two things - just Google the two terms. If you still don't understand what I did after you read up on these, feel free to come back and ask.

Tom

 

[IamSam]

Are his initials AH?

 

[Tom Mann]

Would you like me to make a preset out of the ACR settings I used? I can then zip it up and post it, and then you can see exactly what I did in ACR. -T

Umm ... err ...

Unfortunately, I've got to rescind my offer to post the XMP file for ACR. I used ACR within PS CC as a smart object and thought I had saved it that way. Unfortunately, when playing around with the image, I must have accidentally flattened the whole PSD image and then hit "save" again, so I lost the two layers, the ACR settings, etc.. Sorry.

FWIW, what I was experimenting with was essentially the exact opposite of what the OP requested. He requested a procedure to make the image more vibrant and life-like (...my interpretation of "clean and live"...). I can certainly see the need for such a procedure, but I started to think that it would be interesting to see what an old painting like this might look like after applying efx usually used to antique modern photos (eg, vignetting, vignette blur, sepia toning, grain & grunge, reduced contrast, etc.). Attached below is one of the looks I obtained which I rather like. To me, it looks like it has become some sort of a hybrid between a painting and a photo.

The combination of clothing, hair, and photo effects reminds me of (real) B&W photos I have of my grandmother and great-grandmother.

I can see uses of this.

Cheers,

T

 

[gedstar]

Decided to have a go and this is my result

View attachment 44646