Before I got really busy with work, I had some free time outside of the 8-5 that I was normally working. My favorite thing to do, other than Yahoo! Graffiti, was to practice my photoshop skills. Earlier this year, (or was it last year?) I stumbled upon (seriously, I was using my “Stumbled Upon” random site browser) a site called Worth 1000, where photoshop artists and photographers could compete in an assortment of challenges. I got addicted immediately, but haven’t played as much as I wanted to because to really contribute something that had a chance, I would have to invest a lot of time in an entry. But I have entered several contests, so every once in a while I’ll share with you my contest entries so you can check ‘em out. It’s a pity that I’ve been so busy lately, because doing this stuff gives me so much joy (yeah, I know what you’re thinking, “Why don’t you get a job doing it?” It’s complicated, OK?)

Anyway, here’s my submission for the “Detouching” challenge, where you take a celebrity photograph and do the opposite of retouching - manipulate the photo to be the “before” picture. This was a lot of fun to do…

Here’s the “After” picture:

Here is the “Before” (the original) picture:

I don’t like Denise Richards much, so this was a very enjoyable challenge. I gave her some acne, dark circles under her eyes, muted down her hair color, and jacked up her teeth. I came in 12th out of 77 entries, so I think I did pretty well…my goal is to make the top three, but I still have a lot to learn if I’m to place that high. Hopefully, life will start slowing down a little and I’ll get to play more often!

Tags: Photoshop //