[bleachn]

Hey all, I was wondering if there is a technique to make an image darker and dirtier. I was thinking of something along the lines of McKean, and his illustrations, where they have what seems to be a layer over them bringing them a melencholoy mood, etc. If anyone has any help, or tips, that would be great... cheers,
bleachn

[E-z]

mmm I'm not sure to see what you mean sorry. But I found tutorials (Photoshop) to make pictures look older.

I think that could be a good start :

http://www.spoono.com/photoshop/tutorials/tutorial.php?id=37

http://www.spoono.com/photoshop/tutorials/tutorial.php?url=painted_images

[edit] I really like the one with Anna

[bleachn]

Well I was trying to make this image look darker, dirtier. In a way I guess older. I didn't want to portray love as a nice warm, happy thing, well this is what I came up with. any ideas, comments, crits...?

[Tinusch]

More texture, more grit. Looks too polished right now. Less saturation, definitely, if you want it to look older and washed out. The fonts should be a little less even and straight, and a little more sporadic. Finally I think you just have too many colors in there, try to nail down an atmosphere.

[fukifino]

You do know that McKean does exactly that, right? Stacks layer upon layer of images/photos/paintings/etc.. to get that layered look. He spends a lot of time building up the stock of images he's going to use on a piece and playing with how they work with each other, including painting over pieces of them, etc... I doubt there's one magic layer he slaps over everything to get that look. Of course, he also has a long background of doing the exact same stuff without the computer. I think most of his early work was photocollage based.

So, just experiment, experiment, experiment and keep at it. You might also try taking scanned bits of things in, whether they be individual objects or more photo collages. Also, consider taking pictures of things with interesting textures (concrete and rocks for example) and using them as subtle overlays. Even a fairly simple texture (a close of up a lawn/blades of grass) can be used if layered over each other or turned at an unusual angle.

*edit*

As for your image, might I suggest toning down the contrast? It looks too burned out in the dark areas and too overexposed in the bright areas. Consider making those dark areas a bit more interesting with a subtle texture. You can keep the focus on the central area with values like you've done, but add some interest to the darker areas too. It's a great area to add subtle emotional cues too in the images you choose to put there.