With Learning how to Paint Animals class starting in a few weeks at Paw Prints Studio one of the questions asked by students is about smudge painting, which by the way is not covered in this class for I do not feel the need to teach a class...you really just need to practice to get the hang of it..It really is very easy once you practice a few times.
The above was a demo that took about 10-15 minutes to complete….you of course would take your time and do a much better job of it then I ;-) This was just a very quick demo.
Corel Painter was not at all used fr this quick demo, just PS....both software can be used for a more orignal painting.In Photo-shop make your adjustments, after making a duplicate of course….I wanted the above to be soft….so I sharpened (usm)….just not a lot…..adjusted contrast, saturation, levels. Then clicked on the smudge tool and chose my brush. Very important once started to to vary brush size, strength…lighten, darken in those areas that need it (you can even add color).

I know so many that do the eyes this way as well….I just blacken them and paint in what I want.You can smudge the background….or just paint on layers with several different colors…adjusting the opacity along the way. It is soooo important to make sure you cover the entire image….push those pixels around. I mainly paint using Corel, however use smudge painting when I am short on time and need to show a proof, or for retouching an image…or just want an overall softness to an image. There are so many wonderful examples on the net….really the best way to learn is to practice, practice and more practice.The above image was taken with a Nikon 5200 a couple of years ago.