beelikej | This is how I spend my nights [a tutorial]

For my job I often have to browse through random photo-collections (I know: my life, so hard). A couple of weeks ago I came across an image that just begged to be fiddled with at home. So I did. I had a lot of fun with Photoshop and I would like to share the experience, so I documented the process with screencaps. Behind the first cut you'll find a step by step explanation of what I did. I also included goodies at the end. I hope the teasers don't freak anyone out... Does this already fall into the not-safe-for-work-category? *bites lip*

Before:

After:

This is the original picture:

Made by Louise. Sadly I do not know the model.

Step 1: tattoo removal

Since most of the skin around the area had the same tone I used the stamp-tool to cover the tattoo.

Step 2: from color to black and white

The image was a bit too red for my liking, so I copied the original (tattoo-free!) layer
and lowered the RGB-input levels from 0/1,00/255 to 0/1,00/27.

I set the layer to 'Hue' and lowered the opacity to 65% to give it a little warmth (see below)

Step 3: changing ratio to ~~distort~~ correct (body)image

After staring at the picture during step 1 and 2 I felt something was off and I decided to shorten the lower-arms. I selected the area that seemed too long and adjusted the height (and width) until it made sense.

I also lowered the belly button with the stamp-tool:)

Step 4: jeans

I made an empty layer and painted over the jeans, then set the layer to 'Soft light'.

Step 5: background

I tested darker colors, but ended up with green for the background. In an empty layer I painted the area, then set the layer to 'Color'. (I usually just try all the options to see what works best;)