A Complex Young Man

[smoke665]

Having a go at practice and merging photos. The toning is intentional to give it a slightly industrial feel. C&C always welcome.

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[pgriz]

I'm thinking that if you align some of the circles with the eyes, you'll have a Maori tattoo look and that could be very powerful.

 

[smoke665]

I'm thinking that if you align some of the circles with the eyes, you'll have a Maori tattoo look and that could be very powerful.

I've struggled with positioning on the gears. I had the large one over the eye earlier, but it threw off the rest. I'm not sure I've picked the ideal photo for the gear layer. The intent was to create a semitransparent look to the face as if you could see through parts of it to the inner workings.

 

[smoke665]

@pgriz I took your advice and moved the gear level. Also added a little steam punk look to the eyes. Any better.
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[CherylL]

I like the 2nd one better. I would mask out the gears on parts of his face like the lips, eyebrows, and a lower opacity on the sides of the nose to give it definition.

 

[pgriz]

I like it better. The first one had the gear center on the space between his eyes, and was creating a third "eye", which I found distracting. In general I'm thinking if you're doing this kind of mashup, you don't want to diminish the instant attraction we have to the eyes. This second one tends to reinforce the eye, rather than compete with it.

 

[smoke665]

I like the 2nd one better. I would mask out the gears on parts of his face like the lips, eyebrows, and a lower opacity on the sides of the nose to give it definition.

Thanks for commenting. Good point. I masked the highlights on the nose, but it could stand some more. Didn't even consider eyebrows and lips. Duh! LOL

This second one tends to reinforce the eye, rather than compete with it.

Thanks I think I like it there better as well. Especially since I added the mechanical apertures to the iris of the eyes.

 

[smoke665]

@CherylL I think I've about picked all the meat off this bone. Did some work on the lips, eyebrows, and shadows.

 

[CherylL]

Looking more like I had in mind. The chin is much, much better. If you want to pick more meat, his right side nose and nostril seem off. Lower the opacity a bit? I saw photos where a cutout was placed over a light that shines on the face by Lyndsay Adler. Not as detailed as your overlay, but that came to mind when I saw your photo.

 

[smoke665]

Looking more like I had in mind. The chin is much, much better. If you want to pick more meat, his right side nose and nostril seem off. Lower the opacity a bit? I saw photos where a cutout was placed over a light that shines on the face by Lyndsay Adler. Not as detailed as your overlay, but that came to mind when I saw your photo.

Yeah the spot of the nose is a hot spot on that particular image. Tried a clone stamp which didn't help much, and to lazy to add a layer to generate a new fill. It's not an overlay, but two different images combined in PS.