>>1255862Some people get "addicted" to how-to/training programs/books. I think they feel like they're learning and growing even though that part really comes from experience. It's strange, he pre-orders every retouching training dvd as soon as their announced and gets so excited when they're about to arrive, then watches them, then instead of really applying that knowledge he fixates on the next thing. I know he's watched every single "retouchpro live" on youtube (and on the website), he subscribes to all of the photoshop magazines, watches all the new videos on Lynda and Kelby, scowers the internet for new tutorials, subscribes to all kinds of relevant youtube channels, and spends more time reading forums than actually working. Before I met him I thought I overdid it with research/tutorials, I can't even come close to the amount of stuff he watches.
Even with all this training, there are many retouchers on /p who I think could beat him in a retouch-off. Maybe it's because all the info just flows in flows out - he doesn't give it time to stick. I think he's actually posted for critique here a couple time that I missed and said you guys don't know what you're talking about (he sounded butthurt) so now he doesn't read this forum. I feel sorry for him in a way, but it's awesome for me because I get to tap into his massive resources whenever I want. I've quite a few tricks from his stuff, but these days it isn't very common that I read about something that gets me excited like frequency separation or Jacob's ladder. With time I've learned the "secret" to retouching is generally applying the more basic techniques with art theory/composition in mind.
Maybe you know someone who's like this with photography - they'd rather read about it than do it. Personally I love reading about retouching/photography, but I couldn't do it MOST of the time. I'm more of a 25/75 study to application ratio.