My kid could Photoshop that. Wait, what?

December 7, 2010 9:13 AM

Desaturated Santa. Brody Qat uses a gray santa suit, contact lenses, and makeup to stand out in a crowd of Santas (previously). She explains here. More pics. Via Neatorama.
posted by condour75 (37 comments total)

I am in love.
posted by mykescipark at 9:18 AM on December 7, 2010

Schindler's Santa.
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:26 AM on December 7, 2010 [5 favorites]

I don't think anyone has ever gone to so much trouble to look like they're badly photoshopped into reality. I applaud.
posted by Kattullus at 9:32 AM on December 7, 2010 [12 favorites]

Brilliant.
posted by JtJ at 9:44 AM on December 7, 2010

Also, no beard.
posted by General Tonic at 9:46 AM on December 7, 2010

I saw a YouTube video around Halloween of someone who dressed up as a black-and-white movie star, and the job she did was similarly effective and nifty.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:48 AM on December 7, 2010

Brilliant execution, but I'm having a harder time with the beardlessness than I'd like to admit. Is it because it would rub off the makeup or something?
posted by Scoo at 9:53 AM on December 7, 2010

I don't think anyone has ever gone to so much trouble to look like they're badly photoshopped into reality. I applaud.

Seriously. I saw this linked out of context somewhere yesterday and shrugged: someone knows how to draw a clean mask in Photoshop? So?

That this is a practical effect is a revelation. Really fantastic work. That first shot really doesn't do it justice.
posted by cortex at 9:57 AM on December 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, that's fun! She really put a lot of thought and effort into how to do it right, and the results are amazing. Which is to say, the photos look totally photoshopped!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 9:59 AM on December 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is fantastic. I can't believe how effective it is.
It reminds me of a time when I was 9 or so and drawing pictures of tanks or battles or something in pencil with some school chums, and I was trying to explain to them that a particular tone of grey I was shading was actually red (blood, probably). But they just didn't get it and were looking at me like I was crazy, and I didn't understand how they couldn't see this shade of grey as red.
posted by Flashman at 10:03 AM on December 7, 2010

Are we sure she isn't actually a time traveler?
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:13 AM on December 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

This reminds me of my Halloween costume. I went out with friends in D.C. and got a really big response.
posted by jefeweiss at 10:15 AM on December 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

This is the second year she's done this, and this is the second year Reddit has said she's just photoshopped the pictures. Someone even went to the trouble of colorizing her pictures to try and prove it.
I dunno, it's neat and all, but it really comes off as "lookit me!" too much.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 10:17 AM on December 7, 2010

I dunno, it's neat and all, but it really comes off as "lookit me!" too much.

Have you seen the Internet?
posted by cortex at 10:18 AM on December 7, 2010 [33 favorites]

Have you seen the Internet?

Not since it escaped from the lab back in '87, no. Reward if found.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 10:19 AM on December 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

but it really comes off as "lookit me!" too much

I dislike showboating as much as anyone, and value understatement a great deal in aesthetic matters, but you are just wholly wrong here.
posted by everichon at 10:21 AM on December 7, 2010 [8 favorites]

This is art. A brilliant idea beautifully executed.
posted by i_cola at 10:22 AM on December 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Or vice versa
posted by i_cola at 10:24 AM on December 7, 2010

it really comes off as "lookit me!" too much.

She's marching in a parade--how can any "Lookit me!" be "too much"?

I think this is totally awesome. And freaky; it is so hard for my mind to get around this in pictures--I can't imagine what it's like in person.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:25 AM on December 7, 2010

Alert the Pleasantville police.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:27 AM on December 7, 2010 [7 favorites]

At first I thought Santarchy was cool, then I thought it was obnoxious, now I'm kind of thinking it's cool again. Or at least this is cool.
posted by JoanArkham at 10:52 AM on December 7, 2010

It's disorienting to look at, even though I know how she did it. Or maybe especially because I know how she did it. Or both. I dunno. Wicked cool, in any case.
posted by rtha at 10:53 AM on December 7, 2010

In the flickr comments, someone suggested a photonegative version. And oh my goblins and rainbows, yes. I want to be Nega-Santa.
posted by Eideteker at 11:31 AM on December 7, 2010

While I applaud the use of creativity, I will continue to condone the Santarchy.
posted by wcfields at 11:44 AM on December 7, 2010

Very cool. But for me it was via reddit several days ago.
posted by Decani at 11:54 AM on December 7, 2010

Photos don't do it justice because you've seen plenty (altered) photos like this. I saw her on Saturday and the effect is really amazing in real life, because you've got this walking, talking shop that you can tell by the pixels.
posted by danny the boy at 12:00 PM on December 7, 2010 [5 favorites]

I don't think anyone has ever gone to so much trouble to look like they're badly photoshopped into reality.

Don't forget this guy.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:22 PM on December 7, 2010 [4 favorites]

In this one you can see a bit of red in the corner of her eyes, and when she smiles you can see her gums and teeth in colour. Really cool!
posted by auto-correct at 12:57 PM on December 7, 2010

This is brilliant.
posted by maxwelton at 1:10 PM on December 7, 2010

She's really talented. I've seen a few, and I think she does a better job than anyone at getting exactly the right colors and shades.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 2:04 PM on December 7, 2010

The Grayscales (via)
posted by Horace Rumpole at 2:23 PM on December 7, 2010

auto-correct: "In this one you can see a bit of red in the corner of her eyes, and when she smiles you can see her gums and teeth in colour. Really cool"

For my costume I ate black licorice to make the inside of my mouth dark gray and my teeth a bit light gray. I don't usually wear contacts, though, so by time time I got back to my hotel at 3am or so my eyes were pretty red.
posted by jefeweiss at 3:30 PM on December 7, 2010

I saw her walking off the ferry Saturday morning - pretty cool to see the effect in real life. Also less disorienting, somehow. The photos have a real sense of wrongness to me that the real life version didn't have.
posted by pombe at 3:37 PM on December 7, 2010

GenjiandProust: "Are we sure she isn't actually a time traveler"

Pretty sure they had colour in the past.
posted by bwg at 5:46 PM on December 7, 2010

Pretty sure they had colour in the past.

Only in Commonwealth countries.
posted by mr_roboto at 6:17 PM on December 7, 2010

This is awesome. All the gray reminded me of my other favorite cosplay story, the DragonCon Weeping Angel.
posted by brookedel at 2:42 AM on December 8, 2010 [2 favorites]

Pretty sure they had colour in the past.

You miss my point. Save up all your visual memories very carefully; you will want something to look back on when the Greybomb goes off in a few...

I have said too much.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:59 AM on December 8, 2010 [1 favorite]