Step 6 - Color corrections

Corrections - click image for larger view

After blending and smoothing everything out, you might notice your colors are looking a bit desaturated. A good way to help bring more life to your colors is to create a new layer. Set the mode to color. Now with a soft round brush, add some intensity to your colors. Remember that the 'color' mode is very powerful, so you might want to lower the flow setting to as little as 5%.

In this case, I brought out some greens, and added some red (mostly on his ear). Since you're working on a separate layer, feel free to experiment as much as you want, as you could delete the layer. If you find the colors are a bit too intense, you can lower the opacity of the layer as well.

A great way to test out different color schemes or intensify colors is by using Photoshop's variations tool (Image > Adjustments > Variations). Get familiar with this tool, you can get some very nice results if you know how to use it. Another way is to use the Color Balance (Image > Adj > Color Balance). Get to know these tools, they're very useful!

Tips

Duplicate your existing layer and try color variations; You can always delete it if you don't get desired results. Experiment with different layer modes (my favorite is color), opacities, etc.

Step 7 - Textures

Color - click image for larger view

Textures are great if you're going for photorealism (it also helps getting rid of that 'plastic' look you might have at this point). With some custom brushes, feel free to add skin pores (you can create that effect with a single brush, mode set to 'scatter'). I painted things ranging from the obvious (such as hairs) to the unusual (moles, scars, etc). Don't be afraid of texturing skin; Skin isn't 'perfect', so adding things such as this only adds to the realism.

I won't go into more detail about textures, as you can view my tutorial on that here.

Tips

If you're doing a portrait, try to come up with some interesting textures for the background.

Step 8 - Final steps

When things are looking 'finished', flip the canvas again horizontally. Ask friends/peers/ family their opinions. You'd be surprised what fresh eyes can see, even if that person has no artistic experience, they might notice mistakes you can have overlooked. Post your piece in art forums to get feedback. Don't hesitate to make any changes. In this case, I changed the ear to provide a translucency effect (with the help of a member from an online forum). Feedback is important, if you want to improve, make sure you listen to critiques, especially from more experienced artists.

Closing comments

The key to improving your technique is to practice constantly. Try to do a speedpainting everyday. Don't be afraid to experiment. Study photographs with dynamic lightning; See and understand how lightning works. I hope you found this tutorial useful, and don't hesitate to contact me for any questions/comments. I leave you with the final images and some close ups :)

Final image

Close-up eye

Close-up mouth

Mole

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NOTE: All images are property of George Patsouras and can't be copied/duplicated in any form.