Quote:
Originally Posted by jaredkelley
Digital touch-ups are definitely worth the time. It's usually the darkest areas of my portraits that will showcase the imperfections the most. Any crumb or brush hair that gets painted over will stand out like a sore thumb when I light it for photographing. You can see several specks in the original Wander photo before I edited it.
I probably could have left those speck in the photo and they'd go unnoticed in the print of the card, but I don't like to leave it to chance.
I started digitally removing the specks and scratches when I saw how horrible the Alomar card came out. In the beginning, I used to prep my substrate with a brush and thick globs of gesso. This would leave noticeable brush marks and texture on the surface, which I used to love when I painted portraits for past clients. But once I saw how the surface texture translated into scratch-like striations on the cards, I changed my preparation process. I now roll out the gesso with an extra smooth cigar roller. This eliminates 98% of the surface imperfections I was getting when I photographed my work. The first 5-6 Living Set portraits I submitted to Topps had these distinct striations. I honestly wish I could redo them all on the new smoother substrates I currently use. |
This is fascinating stuff. Thank you for giving us some insight into your process.
Also, 72,484
