Self Teaching but stumped

[rtfinklea]

Gentlemen and Ladies this is my first thread. Allow me to introduce myself. I am a photography/graphic design hobbiest. I haven't been doing design for very long and am completely self taught. Undoubtedly I am a complete rookie compared to most of the artists involved in this forum but I spend many hours of my free time trying to get better at every project. I learn from inspiration from work I see. I just happened to run by some work on a web site called Home. There is an effect on every picture in the portfolio on this site that I've been trying to figure out. If anyone has the time could you stop by and give me some advice on what this technique is. If it's some kind of filter or airbrushing. I'm a bit stumped on this one and would really appreciate some feedback. Thank You.

[MoodsR4Cattle]

Hi rtfinklea,
It looks like a lot of layering. Layer upon layer with some of each layer erased with a fuzzy brush eraser to reveal parts of the previous layer(s).
That is how I do it, no doubt there are other ways that some of the others here may want to share. (nudge, nudge, hint, hint)

Moods

[rtfinklea]

Thanks for the advice Moods. Sounds promising. I'm going to have to try that.

[Tamlin]

I would partially agree with Moods' interpretation, but I would get the effect by using layer masks, rather than the Eraser tool - that way, if you "erase" too much of one layer, you can always "put it back", even if you've closed and saved the image in the meantime.

[rtfinklea]

So this will help achieve that cartoonish look???

[Tamlin]

Ah - I see what you mean now. I thought you were talking about the effect of blending one image into another. I think that the "cartoonish look" you are after is possibly the result of boosting the colour saturation, coupled with some very subtle posterization effects. There might also be some contrast manipulation (with a Curves and/or Levels adjustment layer) in there somewhere, too.

[rtfinklea]

I really appreciate your input Tamlin. You always give great advice. I'm trying to get that effect down. It's just bugging me at this point.

[notjustgraphics]

If you do manage to get a satisfactory result, I'd love to know what steps you used to get there...

Thanks!

Mike.