Photoshop

[Peebee]

Having a tough time with the guided photoshop on my iPad Pro . I can’t figure out the instructions.I would love to get an outline so I can study the hair in detail .Also this is the photo I want to draw.can I get help or advice .

[Mike Sibley]

What you need is terrible photos Like these:

PRIYA_dog1.png

1: Unaltered. Some detail can be seen, but not much. Search online and find images of the same breed (or a similar breed). You can use those to understand and rebuild this one.

2: The head, using LEVELS (CTRL+L / CMD+L in a Mac) to lighten the dark values. I also sharpened the image first. In Photoshop, drag the white slider left. (I did this in Affinity Photo, which is very similar). Lightening the darks often helps you to see detail in the nose and eyes.

3: Using LEVELS to darken the dark values. In Photoshop, drag the black slider right. This will usually expose detail in the burnt-out highlights. It's not perfect, but could be valuable if used with another online image.

4: Using LEVELS to darken the mid-tones. In Photoshop, drag the middle slider right. In Affinity Photo, drag the GAMMA slider right. Now you can see detail on the legs and neck.

Just play around with the sliders until you see detail appear. Push it too far and back off a bit, until you find the best setting.

[Peebee]

Thank you so much Mike . This is very helpful. Really appreciate it .Drawing from the bad photo also looks difficult. I have been practicing daily but can’t find my flow as yet .This is my first attempt using a compass .it’s not finished…I was wondering if I should sign up for the intermediate.would appreciate your advice .

[Peebee]

Hello Mike , I have managed to get this done on my iPad .how does one study these pictures? Is it for the negative drawing and shadows ? Apologies for putting up so many pictures

[Mike Sibley]

I would love to get an outline, so I can study the hair in detail.

I think I misunderstood before. It appears to be two different goals? You can study the hair by altering the exposure of the image, as I showed you previously. And by searching online for better photos of the same breed.

If you want to produce a line drawing as a base, try this video: GUIDELINE DEVICES and GUIDELINE MAGIC should help too.

[Peebee]

I guess I did not word it correctly. Though I need both . The videos have a wealth of information.I keep having “aha” moments. I just have to start putting it on paper .Thank you Mike .

[Mike Sibley]

Drawing from the bad photo also looks difficult. I

It's really not. In fact, it can be quite liberating. Well, that's assuming it's a recognised breed. In that case, you can use the "bad" photo for the pose (and any unique markings the dog has), and then you just need to search online for good photos of the same breed. You use those to rebuild the bad photo. I've done that many times, and it's usually quite enjoyable.

I've been searching for a Basenji I drew many years ago, from a photo bonded to a drink's coaster - but, no luck. That's one I rebuilt from book photos (pre-Internet days ).

I have been practising daily but can’t find my flow as yet. This is my first attempt using a compass. It’s not finished… I was wondering if I should sign up for the intermediate. Would appreciate your advice.

I've been giving that some thought. Given your present level of ability, I think you'd benefit. You have my book, so you already know the way I work. Apart from everything else that course covers, it includes the three basic methods of drawing hair. You can read about that course here. I run regular sessions. In fact, that reminds me... I have to set new dates for a couple of the courses.

[Peebee]

Thank you Mike for your guidance and understanding. As far as the photos go , I have more than 1000 plus photos and videos of the three. So I finally made myself go through them , full of tears and found few with the nose definition and eyes in quite a few angles. I now need to practice the detailed outline like you do . I guess once I join the intermediate course then I’ll understand light and hair and composing parts from different pic .my main struggle is with my white dog .

[Shmush]

I have always looked for pictures on line to help with the details. Mike, when you use pictures from on line do you actually find ones you can incorporate into your original using a program such as photoshop, or are they used as reference photos only or does it just depend...

I have this picture of my Molly (now 10 years old). I love the pose, but when I started analyzing from the perspective of drawing I realized the details for the eyes and nose are very limited. Even when I enlarge and manipulate just that section in photoshop the details are miniscule. Right now I am really focused on the eyes. I have been studying pictures of golden retriever eyes on line, studying Mike’s book section on dog eyes. Not to mention driving all 3 of my dogs crazy by staring closely at their eyes and trying to take close up pictures. (I was staring at my puppies nose while she was sound asleep, she must have sensed it, because she got up and moved away) The pose is a bit challenging to start with, so when I do find pictures they are certainly not a perfect match. Molly is now 10, so her features are a bit different now AND even though I have a golden retriever puppy in the house close in age to when this picture was taken her eyes are entirely different. They slant differently and they don’t have the dark outline coloration Molly has, which I think is part of what makes this picture appealing. I have gone from thinking I just need to draw dog eyes and noses without trying the entire picture at this time, to considering putting the entire project aside for now and working on something more fun and less mentally challenging.

Thoughts from others on how they deal with this delimma?

[Mike Sibley]

I have always looked for pictures online to help with the details. Mike, when you use pictures from online do you actually find ones you can incorporate into your original using a program such as photoshop, or are they used as reference photos only or does it just depend...

Never incorporated. I have drawn composite head-studies, but only when all the parts were taken from my own photos.

Online searches return images that I only use for supplying detail. For example, if I have to work on a nose similar to your Goldie's, then I'd be looking for noses (not necessarily Goldie) at a similar angle. Then I'd use the detail from that clear photo to rebuild the one I'm working on.

Although I can't recall an instance, I might - just might - see a feature in an online image that could be used to enhance my subject. Such as a rose ear (like a Whippet) that looks better when not pushed too far back. In that case, I'd alter my drawing based on the online reference.

This is one composite, based on my own photos, and those of the dog's owner:

B47_TIBETANSPANIEL.jpg

This Tibetan Spaniel has its own ears, but the ears are considerably younger than the head; The chest and neck belong to a different dog; and my model was a particoloured dog, so the colouring was taken from yet another dog;

It just occurred to me that I had an advantage... these days it seems as if most photos are taken with phones. That's really restricting. I was using, in the early days, a Canon AE1 with a one-touch 50-200mm zoom lens. Later, I went digital, and now use a Canon 20D with a 70-300mm lens. It's not one-touch, but that's OK because it has a sufficiently good auto-focus when needed.

The advantage that gives me is that within the space of a second or two, I can decide I like (and capture) a particular pose, and then zoom in to take photos of the eyes, mouth, and anything else of interest - such as the inside of the ear, if it's visible.