Hi, I am a photo retoucher and want to further my education to become more marketable in my area of interest & expertise, which is glamour & pageantry. In order to do so, I need to learn how to create those beautiful lips, skintones, eyeshadow, lashes, blush, etc. that I see on this website. What type of degree or courses should I be looking to take in order to learn this technique? I am not interested in creating characters, avatars, full bodies, animation, etc. just the make'up and skin. Would someone please give me some guidance?

I have attached a sample of the goal I am trying to achieve.

Thanks for any advice and help!

MarkBremmer has moved this thread from the Carrara forum to the Adobe Photoshop forum as of Friday, March 18, 2011 8:13 am.

I personally do not have a degree in anything lol

I did complete 2 years towards my BA in fine arts at a local college, but I have never studied or taken digital art classes.

 

A lot of people are self taught, and many use tutorials to try to learn techniques online.

A degree is nice, but with the job market the way it is - it doesn't mean that much. (If anything.) Best to have a job in the field first and then get your degree. Otherwise you're going to have a debt and without "experience" (or whatever somebody thinks it is), it's more of a burden than help. If you can't get a regular and steady job out of it, you're left playing "Crowdspring/99design lotto" or freelancing in other ways, and that's not always easy either.

As for the degrees... Most likely Graphic Arts.

Bachelor Applied Science (BAS or BS): Teaches you more about the tools, like software. More focus on things like typography and layout, but still covers the history too. You still get to do the stuff the BFA guys do, but perhaps not to the same extent. Since these tend to be the more practical application orientated, what you get out of it is what you put into it. (In other words, you're graded more on quantity than quality here. So to improve, you have to challenge yourself.) BTW, this is the degree I have.

Bachelor Fine Arts (BFA): Teaches more about the technique. (At least from what I understand.) Tools come second. This is the more "arty" graphic arts degree, but possilby more challenging too. More studies done in traditional media and more bias towards classical techniques. BFA degrees tend to be at a more arts dedicated school, so it might be a little better from a networking and job-placement perspective. The downside is that some BFA schools may be a little more selective of students, for the better known schools you'll have to have a decent portfolio ready.

Schools with Graphic Arts as a BS tend to have business or more practical sciences such as nursing as their main programs. So their ability to adequately support their arts students may not be as good - at least that's been my experience. (If you don't manage to hook up with a job during one of your internships, you're pretty much on your own since the schools job placement folks deal with 99% of business majors and are clueless otherwise. I don't mean to badmouth since I'm not naming the college, but this has been what I've seen personally and among classmates.)

I am another one of the "no degree" types but i've been in the field for over 25 years. Knowing how to draw and paint helped get my foot in the door (many, many years ago...) but they are not required a whole lot in my final product. i do work out a lot of preliminary layouts on paper first but finish up digitally.

 

my best advice is to study that which you are trying to create.  meaning, if you are looking to utilize your skills of photo-retouching in glamour and pagentry you need to understand how lighting effects the subject. you need to understand how makeup artists concel imperfections, how hair stylists weave their magic. and then try to replicate that digitally. if you don't have a good grasp of the "real life", your digital work will look plastic.  View the computer as just another tool.

Honestly, when it comes to art, you don't need a degree to be good, or even fantastic. I have a BFA in Photo/Filmmaking, with HEAVY art training almost all my life - was tough to decide between the P/F track or go into Illustration. I can tell you the piece of paper means nothing - they'll wanna see your portfolio, and that's the work work work.

Art on the computer is just another tool. Learn the basics, line, weight, composition, perspective, light, color theory, volume and anatomy, etc.

Look in your area for drawing courses maybe at local museums or community centers. They're usually not that expensive, and you'd be amazed at how MANY experienced working artists you'll find in the room just because it's amazing practice.

Look for life study (yes, people sitting in front of you nude - honestly, you're looking at them just like they're a bowl of fruit, you won't see any difference, I swear) drawing classes if you can find them - they're invaluable! Draw from life - no kidding!

It may sound bad to leave the computer and pick up a pencil, but it really does apply from one medium to the other once you know how to draw and color in general.

Good luck and we look forward to seeing your work!

-Lew

"This is the more "arty" graphic arts degree, but possilby more challenging too. More studies done in traditional media and more bias towards classical techniques."

 

yep and a lot of art professors want it done THEIR WAY and can be very picky and choose their favorite students.  I will never forget my pottery 1 and 2 teacher, couldn't stand her, and she ignored most of us and focused on the students she liked best that had her style, even though many of us were pretty good at it, she didnt like our style, we didnt do well.  Sucks but thats the way it is.**
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I agree to Sveva. Most of the astists are self taught. Anyway a course or a school related to graphics will give you a great start as an artist.

Although I have a BA in art and have taken many suplimental classes in 3d art, graphic design, print and press technology and such.  I believe after many years of experience, and of course this is IMHO ... studying life drawing and cosmotology may be your best bet.  You want to usnderstand the makeup part of it ... for that I sold AVON for a couple years on the side, just to understand the application, look and color theory of makeup. Most larger communities have collage sponcered life drawing (croque) workshops at reasonable cost.  You might want to look into that.  Anatomy studies is a plus.  So ... if you don't want to go through all the hasstle and money of a full on degree, I suggest these areas of study. I hope this helps.

Boni