Tips On Beautifying This Ugly Girl?

[Bronson]

Alright, so I've taken it upon myself to start on this personal project of mine: making this girl I found off of Google images into someone that could be on the front cover of a modeling magazine. Or at least moderately pretty. :neutral: I'll post the large transition she's been through since I've been working on her, so you'll get an idea on what I've improved (or not improved) on.

I showed the final outcome of the girl to my friends and they say that she is still hideous. Please help me make her attractive. Any ideas, suggestions, tips, lessons, or teachable moments would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Hoogle]

I would start off with getting a better quality image and not a webcam shot. and there is nothing wrong with the way she looks in the 1st image anyway.

 

[sprucemagoo1]

Just a few things I have picked up on:-
She's starting to look like a Disney Pixar character,
The colour around one pupil is bigger than the other,
The nose looks broke,
Lips are fat,
Looks like loads of the same pic, but with different backgrounds.
Do you not think you could have had the exact same outcome as you have now by just drawing on a blank canvas.


I would have concentrated on making the right cheek look less swollen, Making sure the face is all in proportion and with symmetry.
When Photoshop experts re-touch an image, they don't just draw over it and play with bending options over and over. You have to manipulate and enhance what is already in the image, otherwise you eventually loose the details that make a face look human. Focus your efforts on the task in hand, you can put a new background in when the face is done, this is just an unnecessary distraction. Being from the UK, I have glanced upon some real munters, but anyway, I might do you an example of what I mean after I've been to sleep as it is 5 in the morn here.

 

[SEI7390]

Hideous?
Really?

The definition of hideous is "offensive to the senses and especially to sight : exceedingly ugly "

You think this young lady is exceedingly ugly?
Really?
REALLY?

How ridiculous.

 

[sprucemagoo1]

She does look like she has had some sort of trauma to the face to make it swell like that, maybe a car crash. But purely as a photoshop exercise,
this is what I was trying to say as a start to getting the effect you were after.

Obviously, I would agree with everyone here that has said she is not bad to begin with, and that you could have started out with a much higher quality image, and why are you doing this anyway?

 

[SEI7390]

Anyone can take a bad picture.

10 Hottest Celebrities without Make up

 

[Bronson]

She does look like she has had some sort of trauma to the face to make it swell like that, maybe a car crash. But purely as a photoshop exercise,
this is what I was trying to say as a start to getting the effect you were after.

Obviously, I would agree with everyone here that has said she is not bad to begin with, and that you could have started out with a much higher quality image, and why are you doing this anyway?

Um, to be honest, I actually prefer my job on her to yours. Unless you just did a really quick demonstration of what you're talking about, she looks stranger than my final outcome.

Well, maybe she isn't hideous, but in my opinion she is not pretty. I just don't find her physically appealing. Anyway, I'll take your advice on using a higher resolution image next time. Why am I doing this anyway? It's a Photoshop project I made up so I can become better with the program. We've all seen those Youtube "Ugly to Beautiful" videos; I just wanted to replicate that in hopes of getting my "beautification skill" higher. You really do learn a lot about Photoshop when trying to do what I'm doing, like techniques using duplicate layers, contrast, shaping, fixing bad lighting, etc.

 

[Paulie1108]

After


Before

 

[Bronson]

After


Before

Okay, I see. So you guys are saying I should make the bridge of the nose back to its original length. Yeah, I can definitely do that. Thanks!

On a similar note, and I think everyone should know this for future reference, the transformation I'm trying to make is not supposed to be subtle, just realistic. In other words, I want her to essentially go from the original to this:

 

[Paul]

Good luck mate, and be sure to show us your final version - as she asked for this or are you just doing it because you can?

 

[sprucemagoo1]

Yes it was a quick thing. I'm not going to spend hours on a project that not mine, as I did say i was going to show you what I meant. Maybe choosing somebody that has not got swelling to the face. It looks as though she is the victim of some sort of abuse! The point I was trying to make is to get the facial features straight, and not to over do the enhancements.

 

[sprucemagoo1]

Are you honestly saying that you think that your end result looks more realistic than what I did in 15 minutes?



Good luck with that! Good bye.

 

[Bronson]

Alright, here are my most recent touch-ups. I've worked on the eyes, nose, cheekbones (so she doesn't look "swollen and abused"), and chin. I've also gotten rid of the distracting background. Tell me what you guys think.

 

[Steve]

The look fine but they look like drawings, not a photo of a real person.

 

[Bronson]

The look fine but they look like drawings, not a photo of a real person.

Thank you for the compliment.

Yes, I know they don't look realistic, but I was going more for "idealized beauty" rather than just doing a few minor enhancements. See my picture of the black-haired Italian model. They both look unrealistic, but what I'm shooting for is that the girl I'm working on ultimately looks pretty. Someday in the future I'll do a picture retouch that is more subtle and more realistic, but for now all I care about is idealized beauty. However, I do not want her to look like a cartoon; she still has to have some elements of realism. If she looks too much that way tell me what I can fix up.

 

[sprucemagoo1]

Are you on drugs?
The model looks like that because she is a model!
The image that you use has been altered in a lot of ways, but changing her face to start looking pretty is not one. I think you need to get a grasp on reality.
Like I said in my first post on this thread, you may as well start with a blank canvas, because what you are trying to do is more than just re-touching an image.

Get out more, and meat a real woman!

 

[Paulie1108]

You have to understand that there are limitations to what you can do

 

[Paul]

You have achieved an almost Mango styled look without realising it mate, it is 'cartoonish' - other than that it looks ok if thats what your trying to do?

 

[Hoogle]

Ouch Spruce bit harsh.
Honestly Bronson, there is a manga style going here whip it into the liquify filter select the pinch tool and pinch the nose and eyes in a bit on your last version then it may start looking more natural tidy up the eyes a bit there is a black ring around the iris and maybe add some texture back to the skin it is a little to smooth, followed by some sharpening of the hair eyes and lips could probably be done with a high pass filter or unsharp mask.

I often find once you edit pictures to the extreme it is best to walk away for at least 10 mins then look at it again you tend to find you have either over done it or not enough.

Honestly I dont think you will get what you want to achieve with this image however if you feel like starting again with better quality pictures this is a good start.
The Lipstick Fetish Forum • View topic - Fashion Models Closeups to Retouch-:00

 

[sprucemagoo1]

I'm just not cumfortable with people using the term "idealized beauty". I wonder whether a girl would find him physically appealing, and in fact, would it not be better for him to get an image of himself, and try and improve that, instead of passing his almighty judgement on who is good looking and who is not. Neadless to say the girl still has a swollen nose, lips and cheek in his image.
Like I say, this is beyond re-touching. It may as well have been a blank canvas to begin with.