Photoshop Tutorial: Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth - that elusive magical location where the old turn young, the young turn younger, and Zoiberg turns into a lavae. Watch your face wither and age no longer, as Rich Gentlemen Hide has found the fountain of youth, and it’s right here in your own computer! Due to popular demand I’ve expanded this outline into a full Pro Photoshop Tutorial. Let me know if there are any areas you’re unsure of, and I’ll try to expand upon these in future tutorials.


I’m getting a lot of you mat cats from del.icio.us. Welcome to Rich Gentlemen Hide. Enjoy the article, and afterwards be sure to check out the comic! Don’t be a stranger now y’hear, leave us a comment and let us know what’s on your mind… I’m here for you - Bitcloud



Welcome Digg Users! I’ve received a lot of good feedback re: this tutorial, so thanks for your input. I’ve taken some of these on board and updated the “final” image. I plan on making the next tutorial a little more in depth, as this has been requested numerous times. As always, comments are welcome.

Accelerated decrepitude

Our aim here is to return an old, though by no means unattractive, woman to her former glory. She may not have walked the catwalks in her youth, but by the end of this tutorial she just might.

Start with a decent, Hi Resolution photograph of an older woman.

Facial Reconstruction

For the first step, you’ll want to open the liquify tool. Duplicate the layer and then select Filter > Liquify

Begin by lifting areas that have sagged with age - The cheeks, lips, brow & ears. The nose and ears keep growing throughout life, so you’ll want to neaten these up a little.

The Skin-Job

The next step we are going to begin replacing the skin. Though I’ve used a slightly different technique here, I’ll generally start by duplicating the layer, running a strong dust and scratches or blur filter over the image, and then selectively erasing the details. You’ll only want the dust and scratches layer to be about 30% opacity to soften the skin tone.

In this instance I’ve found several skin samples and brush colourised them to match the skin, replacing areas panel by panel. I’ve tried not to lose too much of the original skin texture, so while the pores and wrinkles are minimised & softened, the character of the face remains.

Say “Kiss me”

I’ve done a heap of painting around the lips to plump them up, and allow them to catch the light. I’ve also selected the existing hightlights and enhanced them with Image > Adjust > Brightness/Contrast. I’ve then colourised them a little to give a slight gloss lipstick appearance.

You Nexus, huh? I design your eyes!

"If only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes."

The first step I always take with eyes and teeth, is to desaturate them with the Sponge Tool They’re never white, so careful not to overdo it, but removing yellowed or red eyes is vital. You might also choose to soften or smudge parts of the white to give it a healther look.

With skin grafts & extensive painting, piece by piece I’ve replaced the skin around the eyes to get rid of the “hollowed” look that comes with age. You’ll need to burn or dodge areas to get them just right, but with a bit of persistence, you should be able to get something halfway decent.

Having done that you’ll want to paint some eyelashes in one by one, and rework any age damage done to the eyebrows.

You might choose to enhance this beyond strict realism by making the eyes themselves a little more engaging. I’ve chosen to do this by adding a slight blue hue to the eyes. This is a subtle effect, and shouldn’t be overdone.

The Prodigal Daughter Returns!

And voila. The finished result, ready to strut her stuff down the catwalks of Uganda & snort cocaine with Pete Doherty.

Roll over the image to see the original

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Pro Photoshop Tutorial Leave us a comment or two if you are unsure about any part of the process. I’d love to see your results! Update: So now you’ve made your grandmother into a young woman, see what your girlfriend will look like when she’s an old lady with this tutorial on aging people from the Photoshop Lab!

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