good points batmic. at this stage in the game I was just glad to be able to get something creative done. I have really been struggling recently what with work and whatnot to get my head into the manipping zone.

to sell the fact that the cape is attached at the collar bone i think more of a shadow on his shoulders and his lower neck.
i appreciate what you were trying to achieve but i think the suit looks too tough for supes to wear. he's invulnerable so i guess his costume would be more lightweight.

heh, not canvas, it is actually a composite texture made up from three seperate elements - leather, faux suede, and chainmail (much reduced in size) - to try and give it some texture (similar to spidey's movie costume which I love the texture on the blue sections)

Kallisti, there is method in my madness, unfortunately it doesn't really playout that well at normal size. The cape is supposed to just disappear into the costume like that, as there are stitches holding it in place there .

As for my method, I have two versions of it depending on my base image:

1: Images with low/subtle muscle definition

I create a layer with my chosen texture, colorized to fit the specific costume. The texture is applied at various angles to match the body shape. I then mask of the extra leaving the areas that would be the suit. With masking complete, I duplicate this layer twice. the original layer's mode was set to color. the second layer's mode was set to burn at 25% opacity. the third layer's was set to multiply at 75% opacity (I used this method with Valkyrie where Rebecca Romjin has quite a smooth body shape)

2: 1: Images with good/high muscle definition

As with method 1, I create a layer with my chosen texture, colorized to fit the specific costume. The texture is applied at various angles match the body shape. I then mask of the extra leaving the areas that would be the suit. Using the same mask I duplicate the original model layer, tweaking the muscles and smoothing/smudging where necessary. this layer is then duplicated again with the original layer's mode was set to multiply and the second layer's mode set overlay. Opacity settings depend on the source image (I used this method with Supes here cos Marcus has a fairly defined body that I wanted to keep)

I then do the usual seams (if I think they would show up) and wrinkles (which I'm still trying to find a method I like for all pics)

Cool \Superman/ Shirt looks to be made of canvas?

I really like the costume! Tell us more about your usual texture method...

hmmm, this looks great except for where the cape meets his shoulders? it just sort of disappears into the fabric of his suit. other than that, i like this piece alot.