Thanks heavens for Photoshop

I’m sorry for the bombardment of posts this week, but I really want to share this while it is still relevant.

So I’ve been feeling a little nervous about my plans to extend the length of Pickle’s body, so much so that at lunchtime, and considering my day-job is all about computer graphics, I did a little photo-editing.

First, I removed the background from this photo taken after my most recent sculpting session:

Then I de-saturated it (made it black and white), mirrored it (thanks to Morgen for the tip) and got to work on the image until I had something I was much more happy with, then I mirrored it back and this is the result.

What do you think?  A good way to see the changes is to go here, then hit the right and left arrows on your keyboard to flick between the two.

I confirmed some things that I thought were out on the model (short back, short back legs, thick legs etc.) but also discovered a few things that surprised me as I worked on the image, comparing it as I went with some photos I’ve been using for reference.  I discovered that the whole shoulder and chest area were set too high and the withers too small, the top line and belly line have been adjusted too.  The front legs weren’t as fat as I was worrying about but they will still need slimming down a touch, especially towards the bottom.  I’m thrilled about this process on many levels though; considering I have been working from eye only until this point Pickle isn’t too far from my vision.

I can’t wait to get home and get some more work done on Pickle tonight now, I have renewed enthusiasm and fresh energy from my night off last night and I’m very excited at the possibility of creating something similar to that of my edited image, above.