Victorian Goddess

[BelovedMemories]

I actually used my sister for this. She has a natural beauty to her as it is, but I was trying out some new brushes and textures and want to know what you think? Did I go overboard? What is your first reaction to seeing this? I am just starting out in the photography career so any criticism I can get is greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance and God Bless!

[LeeR]

I like it! I think you have a real career ahead of you as an illustrator.

[BelovedMemories]

You really think so? Wow! Thank you so much. That means a lot to me!

[Ennor]

i really like what you've done here, shows creativity and imagination, well done !!

[BigFuzzy]

I think it's nice. Nothing that blows me away, but nice enough. I think the reason I say that it's just ok is that her face is lost in all the other art work. My eye is drawn to the white flower whereas I should think you'd want the viewer to focus on her face (or the image as a whole) and right now, my attention goes to the art around her face. I think there should be more contrast in her face to make her features (particularly her eyes) jump out at us more. Our eyes are typically drawn to the brightest or most contrasty part of an image.

All in all, it feels a bit flat.. needs contrast overall in my humble opinion.

It's a good start though, so you should be happy.

[windrider86]

I'd LOVE to know how you did it! pretty please

[BelovedMemories]

Originally Posted by windrider86

I'd LOVE to know how you did it! pretty please

honestly... Free Photoshop Brushes at Brusheezy! is your friend

I started with the original then duplicated that layer then did black & white.
then i went into filter>artistic>poster edges.
after that, i added a new layer and I applied an "eyelash brush" to her eyes and a "splatter brush" to/for her hair.
then I added another layer and started using "floral brushes including but not limited to: Japanese floral and roses" and started to fill in the background.
I then added another layer and used a different "splatter brush" to add in what kind of looks like a cloud on/above her head.
I then added yet another layer and added some "tree brushes" then hit ctrl+t to shrink them a bit to fit nicely in the clouds.
after that, I added another layer and added a few "fairy brushes" to the cloud as well. then shrunk those to fit nicely in the clouds.
I then added yet another layer (i know... lots and lots of layers) and used some "butterfly brushes" and shrunk those to fit nicely with the fairy's.
after all that, I added another layer and used a texture and applied it to the top AND bottom layers then set the blending mode to "darken" to give the whole image the colorization.
Then I added another layer and put in that big flower on the side of her head and also added the weed at the bottom right corner of the image.

Lots and lots of work... I think overall, it took me about 2.5-3 hours to complete! obviously lots of mistakes I made and had to fix... but all in all, I'm pleased with the result!

Resources for brushes:
Japanese flowers
Victorian floral brush
Eyelashes brush
Spill & Splatters brush
Beautiful flower brushes
Colored textures
Watercolor splatters
Trees brushes
Fairy brushes
Butterfly brushes

[BelovedMemories]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

I think it's nice. Nothing that blows me away, but nice enough. I think the reason I say that it's just ok is that her face is lost in all the other art work. My eye is drawn to the white flower whereas I should think you'd want the viewer to focus on her face (or the image as a whole) and right now, my attention goes to the art around her face. I think there should be more contrast in her face to make her features (particularly her eyes) jump out at us more. Our eyes are typically drawn to the brightest or most contrasty part of an image.

All in all, it feels a bit flat.. needs contrast overall in my humble opinion.

It's a good start though, so you should be happy.

Thank you so much for your honesty. Def. something for me to work on then!

[windrider86]

thank you for sharing. Gonna have to try this!

[BelovedMemories]

Originally Posted by windrider86

thank you for sharing. Gonna have to try this!

You're so welcome!