For this exercise I used a black and white photo of Megan Fox. The original image can be found here.

Step 1

Open the image file.

Step 2

Without having used any tools just yet, your workspace should look like this:

Step 3

You can do this step, using either one or more of these tools. For my own personal use, I used a combination of the tools depending on the area I was working on. The wand, , lets you select large areas, such as the background if you were to work with that. Next, is the lasso,  , which lets you select particular areas you want to work with specifically. Then, there’s the Quick Mask mode, , this tool allows you to see areas that you’ve selected or would like to deselect using the paint (Black = Remove area, White = Add area) swatches.

Step 4

I chose to color her skin first because it is the most exposed part of her body. Having used the tools mentioned, it should look something like this. The image below is shown in Quick Mask mode.

Step 5

After having selected her skin, I used the Selection Menu found under the Select > Save Selection menu located at the top of your workspace. It’s important to do this because any mistakes you might make later on will make it easier to select the area you’ve already done without having to re-do it again. It’s also a good thing to name it after the areas you’ve selected, for instance, skin.

Step 6

Here, you will open up the Image tab > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation > Colorize in order to put some color on her skin. Right now, she looks pinkish in shade.

Step 7

To color correct her skin, adjust the following tabs. Hue, Saturation, Lightness. For this particular piece, Megan’s skin is set to Hue: 23, Saturation: 37, Lightness: +6.

Step 8

For her hair and dress, follow the same steps using your tools and set them accordingly. As for her lips, she’s more likely to have a natural shade to her lips than bright red lipsticks. Select her lips, save the selection (lips), and fill them with color. The hair is the done the same way.

Step 9

The eyes are a little different because it requires you to use the Elliptical Marquee tool, , found under Rectangular Marquee tool (Hold + click).

Step 10

Fill it with color using the Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation settings. Her eyes are green.

Final Piece

It should look something like this when you’re done. The dress here is optional as I left it as is—grey.