Basic PhotoShop Skill: Adding Colors to Black and White Photos

By Yan • May 9th, 2007 • Category: Photoshop Tutorials

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Step 3: Adding Make-Up

I rarely wear make-up, but I’m pretty sure I was wearing some when I had this photo taken. Besides, the whole orange thing made me look sickly, don’t you think? So, I decided to add some colors where appropriate.

I started with the lips. Using a soft brush with a small tip, I painted a bright red color across my previously pale lips. The end result was a little too shocking and entirely unattractive:

To fix this, I changed the Opacity to 23% and set the Blend Mode to Overlay.

This time, it looked like the kind of lipstick I would normally use.

Next stop was the cheeks. I again used the paint tool to brush on a pinkish shade on my cheeks. Notice that I didn’t even attempt accuracy in applying the blush. As a result, I ended up looking like a clown:

To make my face less comical, I set the Opacity of the blush layer to 33%. This time, I didn’t have to adjust the Blend Mode. I simply added a Layer mask and brushed over areas that I felt were too blotchy. The result was a more natural blush:

Now, it was time to play with the eyes (my most striking feature — or so they say. ahem). There wasn’t really a lot I needed to do here. But I just couldn’t resist adding a little eyeshadow. So, I brushed a dark brown color above my eyes:

And again adjusting the opacity and masking some areas, I reduced the contrasting effect to make the color blend with the rest of my face:

And voila! That’s me in full make-up. Ewww.

Next: Adding Color to the Background

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Yan (a.k.a. Yannie, YanYan) is a young-ish entrepreneur, writer, poet, artist, graphic designer, web geek, lover, friend, daughter, connoisseur, gourmand, amateur chef, coffee addict, control freak, and incessant dreamer. Not necessarily in that order.
© 2008 FubarGenre | All posts by Yan

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26 Responses »

Comments

Ta Yang on May 9th, 2007 at 3:05 am:
Wow Yan! What else CAN’T you do?
Yan on May 9th, 2007 at 3:13 am:
er…lose weight?
Makoy on May 9th, 2007 at 3:16 am:
Hayyyyy…ka-gwapa.
xy on May 9th, 2007 at 10:33 am:
ehem2x liwat sa manghud…lol
mom on May 9th, 2007 at 1:52 pm:
guapa ka kaayo. the three of you are all beautiful. thanks to me.
Yan on May 9th, 2007 at 1:59 pm:
naks! my MOM, the new web addict, has found her way here. hahahahaha. hi, mom. happy mothers’ day! we love you!
yahn on May 16th, 2007 at 10:49 pm:
Cool ^_^ Nice color combinations turning a grayscale pic into colored is way a difficult task. XD
Buffy on May 31st, 2007 at 12:04 am:
I had an annoying aunt ask me how to do this just this weekend. I’m the goto girl for any thing involving computers or photographs. Ugh.

I wont tell her I’ve learned.
Yan on May 31st, 2007 at 12:12 am:
buffy, your secret’s safe with me. now go slay those vampires. (gosh, i’m lame. lol)
edz on September 16th, 2007 at 10:58 pm:
wow! galing! its good seein filipinos makin photoshop tutorials! lol.. obvious sa pic na pinay ka.
edz on September 16th, 2007 at 11:00 pm:
wow! tapos bisaya pajud! BISDAK! yea! im an avid “photoshop tutorials” fan.. haha.. its way easier than experimenting. lol
Yan on September 16th, 2007 at 11:02 pm:
hi, edz! thanks! hahaha. obvious na obvious talaga ha? hehehe.

i honestly want to write more tutorials (friends have been bugging me to teach them some more tricks), but i can’t seem to find the time.

kaya heto, my blog is littered with (uhm) posts of a more personal nature. hahaha.
Yan on September 17th, 2007 at 1:51 am:
edz, where’s your blog? leave me a link so that i can check your work out.

and if you have some ideas for tutorials, please let me know.

hahaha. BISDAK kaayo ko! bisaya pod ka?
vicky cee on October 2nd, 2007 at 3:18 pm:
kaluoy ni she! apila pud intawn xa…
Yan on October 2nd, 2007 at 3:51 pm:
hi, vicky? you’re friends with my sister She^? apil man sya. tanawa unsay gisulti ni mommy. hehehe. mas maayo pod di na lang sya muapil diri kay dako na kaayo ang lalis kung kinsay pinaka-gwapa. di man gud nila ma-accept na ako jud. hahahah. joke, joke!
Romy Hitosis on November 14th, 2007 at 12:47 pm:
Very interested in your tutorial!!!!
Yan on November 14th, 2007 at 11:00 pm:
wow, Romy! Been to your multiply site. You don’t need photoshop at all. Your pictures are great!
Achilleas on January 12th, 2008 at 6:12 pm:
interesting
Bubbila on February 1st, 2008 at 1:43 am:
Sweet tip, just what I have been looking for! Well Pleased…
nooman on March 17th, 2008 at 11:51 am:
hi.,,..can i make use of your tutorial
Yan on March 18th, 2008 at 5:38 am:
sure, nooman.
Blog Hoster on August 6th, 2008 at 3:56 am:
Nice job with this share some great info will come real usefull.
ryan on September 5th, 2008 at 5:54 pm:
hello yan!!! im glad you have this site…helping us to realize what’s in our imanginations…hehehe. Im fond checking the tutorials here. Can i request for a tutorial on how to manipulate the photos of my idol rarindra prakarsa. Hope to hear from you soon. Please inform me for updates. thanks!

ryan
mom on October 8th, 2008 at 3:25 pm:
Alam mo lahat ng ginawa mo …
gimp lang!!!!!
dr wawe on March 12th, 2009 at 3:49 am: