First time fooling around with Photoshop, after reading through http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jf/hand-colouring-a-black-and-white-photo/hand-colouring-a-black-and-white-photo.html and using the same image, but giving it my own special touch.
Before:
After:
The eyes still suck, I don’t like the skin colour, and I could use a steadier hand. What do you think?
Skin tone seems unnatural and the hair line is too defined.
Other than that it looks great, clothes look good.
[quote=“Frell, post:2, topic:377858”]Skin tone seems unnatural and the hair line is too defined.
Other than that it looks great, clothes look good.[/quote]
Thanks. I’m afraid the hairline is thanks to my unsteady hand/mouse. I just realised there’s a button on my mouse that allows me to change the dpi of my mouse, so I can work more accurate. The hairline of the woman was supposed to be a bit higher, and I didn’t change the colour of the guys’ hair because I like it that way.
What can I do to change the skin tone? The basic colour isn’t that far off IMO, but it’s too bland. I still have to dive deeper into PS.
Real human skin isnt all one color with darks and lights. Id start with a more pale color and add in reds where they look like they need to go (girl’s cheeks etc)
For the hair line, what i mean is you go straight from skin to grey. Use a scattered brush so the line isnt so defined (little skin above the hair line). The girls hair looks like shes wearing a tight hat. Just soften them up.
[quote=“Frell, post:4, topic:377858”]Real human skin isnt all one color with darks and lights. Id start with a more pale color and add in reds where they look like they need to go (girl’s cheeks etc)
For the hair line, what i mean is you go straight from skin to grey. Use a scattered brush so the line isnt so defined (little skin above the hair line). The girls hair looks like shes wearing a tight hat. Just soften them up.[/quote]
I’m an idiot. I merged all layers, so I either start again, or I start with a new image.
I chose the latter, here’s my progress.
Before:
Now:
I think the skin color on this guy is much better, and if I may say so myself the sweater he’s wearing looks awesome. If you look closely enough, you’ll notice the tires are a little more like you’d expect them to be, although they are a bit greenish in the shadowy parts. That’s the downside of black and white pictures, spots that didn’t get enough light are to dark to find out what they belong to.
Any tips on how to do the brick wall? I want the bricks to be red, and the fillets to be white/grey. Are there any methods other then adding every single brick to a layer with Quick mask?
Woah much much better. There a small strip of light on the collar thats bugging me and a gray patch on the elbow. I think you should play with the colors of the jacket and hat, the jacket almost looks like it should be a dark olive green, and the hat almost a tan plad. Up to you though.
For the wall, I wouldn’t worry about the grout for now. Just give it a sort of ‘off’ red and then play with different shades all around the wall with some grunge brushes or something.
A serious question, how do you pick the colours that flow so well? 
I guess it’s just trying. People in the 1900’s didn’t wear much bright colours. Vests/jackets like the one in this picture probably were brown (light or dark) or as Frell said darkish green, and those hat’s, I think it’s a Gatsby, should be a different colour, but I liked this one.
From a distance, that strip looks like it’s just a bit of skin. But up close I can see that it’s part of the jacket, so I’ll have to fix that. I don’t know how that part of the elbow didn’t change colours, I probably forgot to select it. There’s a bit that’s over the steering wheel that’s still grey too.
You’re right about the cap. I found the Wikipedia page about those caps, it should be darker or tan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsboy_cap
I know they didn’t wear bright colours, but still, good job on getting it looking so authentic.
Just found out that the wall won’t be a problem at all.
I’m still not completely satisfied with the jacket, but the cap is much better.
0o Much better. Yea id play with the jacket, try going darker.
The eyes look a little weird to me…
I haven’t touched the eyes yet.
@Frell: do you think the crates behind the windscreen need a different treatment then the other crates?
Your edges are a little rough
like here for example:
[quote=“eczema3, post:14, topic:377858”]Your edges are a little rough
like here for example: [ img]http://grab.by/8kV7[/img][/quote]
Yea, it’s something that makes it look a bit strange when seen without the zoom. I don’t have a steady hand, and not great equipment. So I have to zoom in a lot, which means you can’t always see what pixels are part of what. Is it possible to add more of the image to a layer? Or do I have to add a new layer for every bit that’s not coloured yet?
Anyways, I’ve done part of the crates now, although the colour isn’t completely satisfying. The ones behind the windscreen are still original, because the windscreen is a bit reflective and I have to figure out how to handle that first.
Desaturate the walls and the crates
[quote=“R.I.P RSC, post:13, topic:377858”][quote author=Davidi2 link=topic=473743.msg3465122#msg3465122 date=1294832567]
The eyes look a little weird to me…
[/quote]
I haven’t touched the eyes yet.[/quote]Yea, that could be it