I've been getting asked some about this new postwork style I've been playing with. I guess I was going for a "painted" look, though I've ended up with something much more of a hybrid. Still, I like the way it makes my work look a little less obviously Poser -- something I have to contend with at some art shows. You can see the difference in the image above. The left side has the style I've been working on, while the mirror image on the right is close to the original render with only minor corrections for render artifacts. Note: I reversed the sig just for fun -- the sig goes on as the very last thing, not as part of the style work. Anyway, since enough folks have asked, I thought I'd do a quick write-up on the technique. Of course, I need to give quite a bit of credit to FlyByNight because I got my start from some of his/her suggestions. I think there's a tutorial posted on that technique somewhere, but I've lost the link. For starters, you'll need two add-on Photoshop filters from Xero. You can probably get there here: http://www.xero-graphics.co.uk/ Then, do all of your normal postwork edits, i.e. joint correction, poke-throughs, etc. Get all of that merged onto one layer, referred to as RenderComp. Then make three copies of the RenderComp layer. From bottom to top, they are LithoLayer, IllusLayer, and WaterLayer. Turn them off to start and turn them on as you work your way back up to the top. This is so you can see what you're doing. On LithoLayer, use Xero's Lithograph filter. I set Grittiness to 1, and I usually leave Coloration alone, but I usually lower the Vibrancy setting. I'm still playing with this some, and it varies by image. Once I get this one done, I set the layer Opacity to about 30%. On IllusLayer, use Xero's Illustrator filter. I usually leave Definition and abstraction alone, and usually lower the Coloration some. Again, I'm still playing around with this one. Once I'm done, I set the layer Opacity to about 30%. On WaterLayer, use the built-in Watercolor filter. I set brush detail to the maxiumum (14), Shadow intensity to the minimum (0), and Texture to minimum (1). Once that's done. I do a Gaussian blur of the layer of abut 1.5 pixels. Then, I set the layer Opacity to about 30%. All of these are showing through to the original RenderComp layer. Once this is all done, you can play around with the differnet opacity levels, enhancing or detracting various effects. Here are a few things I do at this stage, but these are just SOMETIMES, not all of them and not every time: * Erase parts of the LithoLayer. The Lithography filter tends to put some dots in the middle of solid patches of color. Yes, you can try to heal those, but sometimes I just take a wide 50% eraser to those areas. * Blur the LithoLayer. Another fix for the spots is to just put a 1 pixel Gaussian blur on that layer. * Crank up the Saturation on IllusLayer. The IllusLayer tends to mute the colors, and if I want to really bring them up, I'll use the Hue/Saturation control to bring up the color saturation on this layer. * Sometimes I'll make a copy of the IllusLayer, crank up the contrast, then crank up the saturation, blur it by 1-2 pixels, and then leave it in the stack with a 20-40% opacity. It gives the colors a nice glow. * If there are areas that need some additional definition or detail from the original image, just copy those forward with a feathered selection to a new top layer and give it a 50% Opacity. At this point, I get all of that onto a new merged layer I call PostComp. Sometimes I'll make a copy of that as well and apply a little extra color correction to make it appear washed out or sepia toned. And then I stack on the last things like framing and signature. It's not quite consistent enough to do it as an action, but it's pretty easy. Just play around some with those filters, and you'll find some neat effects. Good luck! Dan among Den