Astafas' thread for creating custom portraits

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:15 pm

It's been some time but now I'm back on this forum, at least for a while. I just did two more custom portraits and thought it would be nice to share ideas and discuss various technics in a new thread. Everyone is invited to post their own portraits as well!

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:20 pm

I have used a recent photo of myself to create this Half-Elven Bard. The armor is created from pieces of armor from Mazzy and Haer'Dalis.

Update: there is a remade version of the portrait on page two, for which reason I removed this earlier one.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:26 pm

Here I have used a recent pic of my fiancée to create an Elven Paladin. Being a new player, she will use it on her first adventure in the Realms. The armor is made of pieces from Keldorn's armor.

Sytze · Post by **Sytze** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:50 pm

Why am I always the first to post in your threads? =)

I like the picture of yourself quite a lot. Not too much lighting or fancy clothing. The simplicity of the work makes is great.

I wish I could post a portrait of my own creation, but simply put: I suck at editing them. Changing the sizes of portraits is something I can do, but that's about it. I often wished I could change the colour of clothing. For example, I wanted to make the guy in my current portrait wear red clothes instead of green, but I don't know how to. So I stuck to changing the sizes of portraits instead of doing all these fancy thing you're doing.

SP101 · Post by **SP101** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:04 pm

hehe... same here. I lack of artistical talents

Congratulations for your portraits. They're pretty well-done.
I never liked the Idea of starting from a Photo to make a portrait for BG2, but these 2 looks great!

The background on the 1st portrait (and the portrait itself) is a bit too dark... but that's just my opinion.

Keep up the good work!

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:11 pm

[QUOTE=Sytze]I like the picture of yourself quite a lot. Not too much lighting or fancy clothing. The simplicity of the work makes is great.

I wish I could post a portrait of my own creation, but simply put: I suck at editing them. Changing the sizes of portraits is something I can do, but that's about it. I often wished I could change the colour of clothing. For example, I wanted to make the guy in my current portrait wear red clothes instead of green, but I don't know how to. So I stuck to changing the sizes of portraits instead of doing all these fancy thing you're doing.

[/QUOTE]

Hehe, I don't know. Should I be scared?

About your problem: In Photoshop CS, use the Magic Wand or Lassopolygon (normally easier) to select the area you wish to change. Then press CTRL + U to get the Nuance(?)/Saturisation window. Use the upper arrow to switch colour, the middle to adjust the amount of colour and the lower arrow to determine the brightness.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:23 pm

[QUOTE=SP101]hehe... same here. I lack of artistical talents

Congratulations for your portraits. They're pretty well-done.
I never liked the Idea of starting from a Photo to make a portrait for BG2, but these 2 looks great!

The background on the 1st portrait (and the portrait itself) is a bit too dark... but that's just my opinion.

Keep up the good work![/QUOTE]

Thanks!

Actually, the two portraits are both a bit too dark - otherwise, they would look to bright when used in BG2. I find this a bit strange since the original portraits, when extracted with WinBiff, seem to be perfectly normal in brightness.

If you look at the faces of the two portraits rather than the background you will find that they are very similiar in brightness. However, I desired to make the paladin more "holy" by giving her person a bright glow, thus the extra light in the background. And of course, a shining armor is more or less standard for every pally nowadays...

SP101 · Post by **SP101** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 6:24 pm

Just a bit curious : How much time did you spent (sp?) on these 2 portraits, from photo to the final product?

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:04 am

[QUOTE=SP101]Just a bit curious : How much time did you spent (sp?) on these 2 portraits, from photo to the final product?[/QUOTE]

About 10 hours for the first one, slightly less on the second one. I normally have to use up to 20 layers... A quality photo is absolutely critical, but even with that there is much to do in order for the result to look good.

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:05 am

Wow, the elven Paladin looks really cool! Man, you ARE talented

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 1:18 am

[QUOTE=Brynn]Wow, the elven Paladin looks really cool! Man, you ARE talented

[/QUOTE]

Hehe... I'll put up the portrait I made for you later today, along with a few more I've made earlier.

I'm actually very pleased with the pally myself. I've even asked my fiancée if she could consider pointed ears on a more permanent basis...

Sytze · Post by **Sytze** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 1:45 am

[QUOTE=Astafas]About your problem: In Photoshop CS, use the Magic Wand or Lassopolygon (normally easier) to select the area you wish to change. Then press CTRL + U to get the Nuance(?)/Saturisation window. Use the upper arrow to switch colour, the middle to adjust the amount of colour and the lower arrow to determine the brightness.[/QUOTE]

Ahh, thanks. I downloaded a demo version and tried changing the colour. Not that easy I confess!

Changing the colour itself isn't hard, but getting every green part red, and also a 'believable' red is a whole different matter. This stuff needs practice, and patience.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 3:00 am

[QUOTE=Sytze]Ahh, thanks. I downloaded a demo version and tried changing the colour. Not that easy I confess!

Changing the colour itself isn't hard, but getting every green part red, and also a 'believable' red is a whole different matter. This stuff needs practice, and patience.

[/QUOTE]

Practice and patience do indeed come in handy.

There is also a function called Replace Color which you could try. It does exactly the same thing and I find it harder to use, but try it out and see for yourself.

A general advise is to always work in layers. Copy your portrait into a new layer placed on top of the original. This way, there is no risk of making changes you then regret - you may simply remove the new layer and start again with another one. You may also remove all but the armor/clothing in the new layer in order to make changes without affecting the rest of the picture. You could then for example try the Pencil (set on Color instead of Normal) without risk of changing the rest of the picture by painting outside the desired area.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:58 pm

This is a portrait of a Human Mage I made for Brynn last year. Robe made of Jan's armor, the necklace is added on afterwards (it's actually a present I gave to an ex, I took a photo of it at a party for this very portrait).

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 3:02 pm

This is once more made from a pic of me (I actually took this one myself, holding the camera in one hand). I've used Edwin's cape and some armor from Imoen, although that last is hard to see. Lots of black to give the Human Mage a sinister look.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 3:04 pm

I made this one for an ex (not the one with the necklace though

) and used mainly Mazzy´s armor.

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 8:11 pm

Very nice work!

trance · Post by **trance** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:49 pm

Very well done.

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 1:02 am

Um... not because it's me but I like my portrait the best

It's really cool, I have never used anything else for my games since then. Do you know if it could be used in NWN, too?

Ylva's portrait is stunningly perfect!

Absolutely professional! You could make a living of it

Ever thought of taking orders?

It's lucky you have so many ex gfs, they make a nice range of portrait subjects

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 1:34 am

[QUOTE=Brynn]Um... not because it's me but I like my portrait the best

It's really cool, I have never used anything else for my games since then. Do you know if it could be used in NWN, too?

Ylva's portrait is stunningly perfect!

Absolutely professional! You could make a living of it

Ever thought of taking orders?

It's lucky you have so many ex gfs, they make a nice range of portrait subjects

[/QUOTE]

I believe NWN use different sizes, but apart from that I see no problem. Of course, I try to make these portraits fit in as much as possible with the NPC portraits of BG2, thus it may feel somewhat out of place in NWN. On the other hand, the portraits in NWN vary a lot in style IIRC...

I like the Pally portrait best myself, I think I really nailed it there. And I'm remaking the Bard portrait again, not being satisfied with a few things (minor details if you ask my fiancée, vital changes if you ask me).

Keep your eyes on this thread over the week if you're interested - only got a few hours left...

I would gladly take orders if I were given, say 100 EUR or so per portrait. Even then the pay per hour would not be that great but the fun would of course make up for it!

Getting married in September, so I'm not quite sure which portraits I'm allowed to make in the future...