Oil on Canvass Effect?

[NikonErik]

Does anyone know of a great way to make a photo look like an oil on canvass painting?

I don't have a lot of faith in the photoshop filters for this effect, they always seem like they fall well short of what I'm looking for. Obviously, they could be used in various combinations combining masks, transparencies, fades etc . . .

I just haven't worked out an acceptable methodology for this effect.

Anyone?

[shaunes001]

Hmm, you could try texturing the "canvas" first, you also might want to experiment with filters... I would say Filters->Artistic->Underpainting is a good one, or try the sketch filters.
Its got me in the mood to try it myself now! lol

[tamlin]

I think to get any kind of "realistic" effect with the built-in Photoshop filters, you have to use them in combination. As shaunes001 says, texturing your "canvas" and using the Underpainting filter will help.

Here are a couple of tutorials that may help:

Learn Adobe Photoshop Tutorial:Photo Effects: Photo Into An Oil Painting Action - Free Adobe Photoshop Tutorial
An Oil-Painted Look from a Photo: a Photoshop Tutorial by Janee

A third-party plugin that you might want to investigate is Virtual Painter: Virtual Painter 5 - Turn your favorite digital photos into realistic paintings in seconds!

I have had very good results using this plugin.
Here's an example:My Evil Twin - BioRUST.com :: User Gallery

Of course, for the ultimate in photo-to-painting conversion you can't beat Corel Painter: Painting/Natural Media - Corel Painter X - Corel Corporation
although that is a separate application and represents a significant investment.
Here's one I made earlier: High & Dry 3 - BioRUST.com :: User Gallery

An alternative to Painter is ArtRage: ArtRage 2
I have tried this application and I couldn't get on with it, although others may find it OK. It is, however, considerably cheaper than Painter!

[NikonErik]

Well . . . High and Dry 3 is just beautiful . . .

I have Corel Painter 9 - jeepers! What a learning curve that one's got! I figure I'll stick to photoshop for this one. It's a request from my sis in law to help her make a gift for her parents.

[tamlin]

Thanks Erik!

To be honest, the only feature I know how to use properly in Painter X is Auto-Paint. I first learned how to use it from this tutorial (yeah, sorry - it's a PDF): http://www.corel.com/content/pdf/px/...John_Derry.pdf
and then went on to experiment with other media and techniques.

[tamlin]

Don't know if it's too late, but I just discovered this forum:

Innographx :: View Forum - Photo Art Tutorials

It has tons of useful tutorials and advice about creating painterly and sketch effects from photos.

[NikonErik]

Thanks . . . I'll have a look.

[suthrnmuslim]

Very Beneficial Thank you