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Description
edit: for those who are asking, im afraid prints can not be made from this image, sorry guys! i cant get print approval, but for understandable reasons from one of the texture providers, so yeah, sorry!
if someone really wants a print i might be persuaded to (somehow) re-do this... though i think it would be too difficult to be honest, but if you really want one i will try (or try to achieve a similar deviation to this)

inspired by and dedicated to
miss ' I'm OBSESSED with sea creatures ' ! hope you like it darling!

also, if you didnt guess by the title, this is my entry in to the Sea and Sky Competition ! (ok ok, so i cant win... but it was so fun making this!)

but my goodness the work i put into this... and im going to be thorough cos people seem to appreciate it when an artist shares their techniques

well, lets start with the base photo! not sparing many details - you are excused from reading if you already accept i worked hard on this!)
firstly let my just say how much planning went into it! first i put down some initial sketches late one night last week trying to outline what i wanted to get from the photo
next i had to scour eBay, find and bid on and win the scallop shells, necklaces, and the pearls for my hair
once all the items had arrived, i gather everything i needed for the shoot, which included finding out my old face paints.. that night i washed my hair and tied it back in french plaits
i got up early the next day to make sure i had enough time to get ready before the midday sun hit (cos i cant afford proffesional studio equipment so i have to rely exclusively on the sun)
doing my hair took the longest. first i undid the plaits which had given my hair nice waves, i then took section from the front side of my head and plaited right across the top, gathering up my fringe as i went.
next i had to weave the long pearl strand across my whole head, so i secured the main pearl at the front and plaited the pearl strands back.
next i severly backcombed my hair (and girls who have done this will sympathise about how difficult that is too take out...!), took my hair into two sections at the back and used the remains of the pearl strands hanging down to tie my hair into two bunches
finally (and this is after awhile of trying because i had to repeat each step over and over because it was so hard to do well myself!) and finally i added extra beads and a long feather to the bunches (which i dont think you can actually recognise in this photo. but check my stocks, its there!)
right, so when id battled with the hair enough i started on the make up, which, and i'l try and keep it short, involved silver, grey, white and black face paints and brown eyeliner with a few lashings of mascara. and after much experimentation with lips colours (silvers, blues, blacks, reds..) i finally decided on 'coral'
next came fixing on the shells, which you will wince to know i did so with copious amounts of duck tape...
after slipping on a skirt, the necklaces id won on eBay, and tieing ribbons to my arms, i was done with the costume.
now i had to set up where i was planning to shoot the photos, which (and i'l say this quick) involved speading a sheet out on the floor, using a mirror to help reflect light back at me, and precariously balencing my tripod on top of my coffee table with the legs at full extention..
the next half hour was spent setting a timer, jumping into position, posing, getting back up, checking the photo, re-setting the timer, jumping back into position and so on until i was quite exhausted!
when i had filled my memory card, not forgetting to shoot some stocks for you guys too, i uploaded my images to the computer.

i dont really log what i do when i photomanip, but it was about 7 hours work (because im new at this and dont have a tablet)
the final image is a mix of photography, digital rendering (original done by the wonderful ~sadestock ) , textures, brushes and painting by hand - or rather by mouse
getting that tail right was sooo difficult, it has ended up a mix of 3 of ~sadestock 's renders, but i editted them so much, it doesnt realy resemble any of them no more!
the wondeful watery textures are part of resurgere's Flood pack (fantastic work guys! i think it was actually `wroth who made that pack so extra kisses to him! )
the hair is mainly my own, but i enhanced the lower right hand side with the help of ~trisste-brushes
then after alot of hues changing, cloning, burning, dodging, painting, rotating, and finishing with a splatter of brushes, i was done
( face close up - [link] )

so there you go, my first ever try with textures and digital renders

hope you all enjoy the final outcome!

resources:
[link] [link] [link] [link] [link]

Description
edit: for those who are asking, im afraid prints can not be made from this image, sorry guys! i cant get print approval, but for understandable reasons from one of the texture providers, so yeah, sorry!
if someone really wants a print i might be persuaded to (somehow) re-do this... though i think it would be too difficult to be honest, but if you really want one i will try (or try to achieve a similar deviation to this)

inspired by and dedicated to
miss ' I'm OBSESSED with sea creatures ' ! hope you like it darling!

also, if you didnt guess by the title, this is my entry in to the Sea and Sky Competition ! (ok ok, so i cant win... but it was so fun making this!)

but my goodness the work i put into this... and im going to be thorough cos people seem to appreciate it when an artist shares their techniques

well, lets start with the base photo! not sparing many details - you are excused from reading if you already accept i worked hard on this!)
firstly let my just say how much planning went into it! first i put down some initial sketches late one night last week trying to outline what i wanted to get from the photo
next i had to scour eBay, find and bid on and win the scallop shells, necklaces, and the pearls for my hair
once all the items had arrived, i gather everything i needed for the shoot, which included finding out my old face paints.. that night i washed my hair and tied it back in french plaits
i got up early the next day to make sure i had enough time to get ready before the midday sun hit (cos i cant afford proffesional studio equipment so i have to rely exclusively on the sun)
doing my hair took the longest. first i undid the plaits which had given my hair nice waves, i then took section from the front side of my head and plaited right across the top, gathering up my fringe as i went.
next i had to weave the long pearl strand across my whole head, so i secured the main pearl at the front and plaited the pearl strands back.
next i severly backcombed my hair (and girls who have done this will sympathise about how difficult that is too take out...!), took my hair into two sections at the back and used the remains of the pearl strands hanging down to tie my hair into two bunches
finally (and this is after awhile of trying because i had to repeat each step over and over because it was so hard to do well myself!) and finally i added extra beads and a long feather to the bunches (which i dont think you can actually recognise in this photo. but check my stocks, its there!)
right, so when id battled with the hair enough i started on the make up, which, and i'l try and keep it short, involved silver, grey, white and black face paints and brown eyeliner with a few lashings of mascara. and after much experimentation with lips colours (silvers, blues, blacks, reds..) i finally decided on 'coral'
next came fixing on the shells, which you will wince to know i did so with copious amounts of duck tape...
after slipping on a skirt, the necklaces id won on eBay, and tieing ribbons to my arms, i was done with the costume.
now i had to set up where i was planning to shoot the photos, which (and i'l say this quick) involved speading a sheet out on the floor, using a mirror to help reflect light back at me, and precariously balencing my tripod on top of my coffee table with the legs at full extention..
the next half hour was spent setting a timer, jumping into position, posing, getting back up, checking the photo, re-setting the timer, jumping back into position and so on until i was quite exhausted!
when i had filled my memory card, not forgetting to shoot some stocks for you guys too, i uploaded my images to the computer.

i dont really log what i do when i photomanip, but it was about 7 hours work (because im new at this and dont have a tablet)
the final image is a mix of photography, digital rendering (original done by the wonderful ~sadestock ) , textures, brushes and painting by hand - or rather by mouse
getting that tail right was sooo difficult, it has ended up a mix of 3 of ~sadestock 's renders, but i editted them so much, it doesnt realy resemble any of them no more!
the wondeful watery textures are part of resurgere's Flood pack (fantastic work guys! i think it was actually `wroth who made that pack so extra kisses to him! )
the hair is mainly my own, but i enhanced the lower right hand side with the help of ~trisste-brushes
then after alot of hues changing, cloning, burning, dodging, painting, rotating, and finishing with a splatter of brushes, i was done
( face close up - [link] )

so there you go, my first ever try with textures and digital renders

hope you all enjoy the final outcome!

resources:
[link] [link] [link] [link] [link]