Photoshop | Hyper Realistic Manga

I was looking for something challenging to try to do the other week, when I stumbled on another book on Advanced Photoshop techniques. Saw this tutorial and had to give it a whirl. 

First thing was to purchase this shot of a model from iStockPhoto.com

Next was to adjust the head to give it a more rounded look.

Followed by shaping the jaw line a little :)

I selected her eyes and on a separate layer, enlarged them to start really changing the look. At this point she is starting to remind me more of a Mark Ryden painting. Which might be a cool post down the road when I think on it.

I apply a similar technique to the nose and mouth and desaturate the lips.

With the use of a layer mask, she gets a new doo and some ribbons. The new look is just about achieved. Time for a cool background. 

I really had a hard at this point settling. It was too much fun and really wanted the piece to be more than just a run through a tute. Something more original. But due to the amount of projects on my plate, I just went with it. The piece was a little dark and wanted to do something a little different, so I added one of Renata's necklaces to her, adjusted the color some and here is the final result.

I am working on an original piece for a friend, author Sam Kirshaw, taking one of her publicity shots and well, I will save the idea for later :)

Any questions on this, I would be happy  to answer, technique-wise.

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