Have you ever

[Mitze]

Have you ever spend two hours on a pic ,that is finished, messing around with Auto levels, Auto Contrast, Auto Colours , Colour Balance and Hue saturation. Each time thinking that looks better only to find that you have gone around in a circle and it looks just the same as when you started.

I have also gone over with airbrush on real low opacity on a pic, thinking that looks good yeah i am blending that in. Only to find i have been painting on the wrong layer and nothing has been changed it has been all in my mind.

Excuse me i am a bit drunk.

[drewfarr]

Haha, I can totally relate with the second one x]. Like when I spend 20 minutes painting something(for real, not just in my head) on the wrong layer and lose all that control from keeping them separated.

Or when Photoshop just crashes on me, and I realize I havent saved the portrait Ive been painting for the last 15-45 minutes... :wtf:

[Alex Chow]

Happened to me quite a lot. I'm now strictly against using "auto" features because I've wasted a billion years trying to polish crap only to end up with polished crap with such features. I always end up going full circle or making something worse.

[Musselfarmstudios]

Reminds me of a recurring dream that I have when I'm painting or working on a project and I finish it in the dream. Only to wake up and find that the project is in the same state as the night before.

But yeah, the same stuff has happened to me with Photoshop.

[Rabid]

I do my levels and other adjustments and then like to view my piece on a really light monitor and a dark one to see how they compare before I'm done with the thresholds.

[AsaB]

I've had the second thing happen to me several times, always rather embarrassing :/

Otherwise I try not to use all them filters and adjustments too much in PS, more fun and challenging to acheive the same results by yourself, only armed with the brush.

[Ilaekae]

Have you ever had work on a piece extend so long before it was finished...if ever...that you couldn't remember what the hell you were doing in the first place?

[I work on multiple pieces at once, and get constantly interrupted with things that "require my presence/tools/back/just-few-minutes", so things have to be put aside...]

[Stoat]

Oof! Working on the wrong layer is something I do *all* the time, and hate myself for it. And, yes, I've frequently convinced myself I was subtly dodging or burning something, when I was on a totally different layer and not doing squat.

Reminds me of that story about Michelangelo. Somebody told him David's nose was too big, so he climbed up the ladder, made some chiseling sounds and blew some dust down, and his visitor said, "now it's perfect."

Personally, I've always doubted that story. Michelangelo sounds more like someone who would brain a critic with his hammer, instead.

Have you ever flipped something you were working on so often that you got jaded to BOTH versions?

[ALH]

I dont usually tweak myself round into a circle- ive never managed it with levels/colours- that really is bizarre to think of x_x!

What i've done a lot of in the past is duplicate the layer, ususally twice, tweak past the point of no return, delete the layer, duplicate a copy of the tweaked layer, use it as an overlay, duplicate that and desaturate it, get sick of it all and delte it...then realise what i have left is a 5 day old sketch full of flaws which needs re-tweaking.

Photoshop is an EVIL temptress.

I'm pretty good for avoiding that nowadays- particularly with work that has a deadline. 'half finished' is always better than half ruined.

The last pic i did got a bit crazy with repainting areas though.

I tweaked a part, didnt like it, deleted the layer, then tweaked it again..then deleted the layer..then tweaked it again. The same tweaks every time...D: