Transformation Tuesday

“Transformation Tuesday” is a weekly hashtag—primarily used on Instagram—where users post before and after photos for a variety of industries like fitness, skincare, cosmetology, home remodeling, etc. I don’t often see a Photoshop #TransformationTuesday but perhaps I can one day get those posts to the top of the ‘trending now’ list.

Today’s ‘Transformation Tuesday’ post is of my audiobook cover design for ‘Country Girls 3’. 👩🏼‍🎨 When I’m creating an audiobook cover (for my day job) I don’t always find the “perfect” model, so that causes me to create one myself! 😛👩‍💻 For ‘Country Girls 3’, I needed a woman with Southern charm, but a serious face. The model with the adorable outfit was just a bit too cheery for the tone of this book, so I had to swap out her smile for a more “I mean business” glare. 😁➡️🤨 Her hand was also holding her hat, which didn’t work with my layout, so I had to clone her left arm and place it on her hips instead. This completed the ‘sassy woman’ look I wanted to achieve.

Here’s a snapshot of my Layers window. Aside from major change,s like giving her a new face and right arm, there was some minor tweaking that needed to be done as well. You’ll see I had to adjust the Color Balance and Brightness/Contrast of her face, add a darker ‘lipstick’ to her lips, and then adjust the skin tone  and “coloring” of her neck, arms and hair so everything matched. The original photo’s orange background was also masked out so the dark wood could serve as a backdrop. Lastly, I added some shadows (rectangle 2) to the bottom and left sides to create a more dramatic effect and place the viewer’s focus on the woman as opposed to the background or her outfit.

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Today’s TIP: Aside from creating a dramatic effect, shadows are great for covering areas that are less than ‘perfectly Photoshopped’—when you don’t want to hide them completely.

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I hope you enjoyed this ‘Transformation Tuesday’ Before & After. 🤗

Are you Photoshop savvy? I’d love to see your favorite Photoshop before & after project. (Scroll to the ‘leave a comment’ link at the top of this post, and share the link to your design.)

You’re Never Too Old to Make Your Parents Proud

Since we just celebrate Father’s Day, I thought I’d share a sweet story about my dad.

My dad is a hard worker, and was/is always proud of my sister and I’s accomplishments. One reminder of that came when I was packing up my room last year to move out, just before I married. As I was taking my certificates off the wall I noticed there was a staggering difference in levels of accomplishment. All grouped together on my wall, my dad had hung up my Bachelor and Associate Degrees alongside my certificates for fourth grade choir, various art awards, cheerleading, and even my participation in my elementary school’s peer mediation group. Nothing was too small to be proud of. Every award we received got a frame and went up on our wall. It was a bittersweet reminder to me of how loved I am as I packed up to finally “leave the nest”.

Because I’ve always pursued a career that showcases my talent, versus one that simply pays the bills, my dad has always shown interest in what I’m “working on”. (I actually owe my career to him as he’s the one who showed me the listing for the design job I’ve had since college, but that’s a post for another day.) Anytime we’re on the phone, or I stop by for a visit, the first thing he asks is, “How’s work? What are you working on now?” So just last week I happened to be designing an audiobook cover based on events about my dad’s faaaaavorite president, Ronald Reagan. After it was complete, I decided to send him an email with my design attached. I wrote, “I designed this cover today at work. Thought you would appreciate it”—which he did! He wrote back saying it was “1st class terrific” and that he was going to “show it around the office”.

That made my heart smile big. It was the adult equivalent way of presenting him with a crayon drawing I wanted him to hang on the fridge. His response was great and made my day.

I guess you’re never too old to make your parents proud after all …

Do you have a story to share of a time when you, as an adult, made your parents proud? (We’re never too old, right?) Share them below. I’d love to read them.