Apply digital makeup
Be a digital makeup artist like James Paterson, using Photoshop to enhance your portraits
Give an image extra impact and colour by adding ‘cosmetics’ in Photoshop
At the risk of stating the obvious, applying makeup is a job best done before you shoot a portrait. But if that’s not an option, or if you want to try out a different style after the photo has been taken, it is possible to make up your portraits in post-production with a few simple Photoshop skills. Take this image: we chanced across a colourful graffitied wall, which made a perfect backdrop for our portrait. We then added our digital makeup to complement the background colours.
In this tutorial we’ll show you a host of digital makeover tricks. Using Layers, Blend Modes and Brushes, we’ll add eye shadow, blusher and lipstick to our portrait. We’ll also retouch the face by softening the skin and boosting the eyes. And while nothing beats the real thing, digital makeup has one advantage over the traditional method: it means we can change the colour or strength of the makeup whenever we like, simply by editing the layer. Here’s how it’s done...