W10 Using Gimp to Enhance Facial Portraits

As an utter novice, how do you learn what to do, where things are in such a short period of time - especially if you're a person who has zero patience with non-intuitive software tools? On-line manuals just tell you what's under the menu and what it does, not how to do X. Instead I searched for video tutorials on what I wanted to do.

How to remove face wrinkles:

http://revver.com/video/1215400/how-to-remove-facial-wrinkles-from-photo-gimp-26/

- uses heal tool. Select non-wrinkled face near wrinkle and click to cover wrinkle with this selection.

How to enhance eye colour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6qBts7qZ6I

- uses ellipse tool to select pupil and Colours, Hue Saturation to play with colour.

How to cover facial hair, scars and blemishes:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1385102/gimp_26_photo_software_covers_unwanted.html?cat=15

Create a new layer and set to transparency.

Return to the original layer and chose the Colour Picker Tool - in clear skin near the unwanted thing. Select Air brush tool - larger the brush the more diffuse and natural the result. Use the colour and airbrush on the transparent layer to cover the blemish. Keep re-picking colour as you move over the face. Reduce opacity in brush to cover non-blemished areas.

How to change hair colour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6WPkDQtsbE&feature=PlayList&p=454D0EC9D954EAF2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37 - uses path tool. Move around hair and select its edge carefully. Select, From Path. Colours, Colour Balance. Adjust settings as desired.

How to remove face shine:

Use Colour Picker to select skin near the area.

Choose Airbrush and increase Scale, Reduce opacity - lower means more natural look, but more brushing required - and choose a fuzzy brush.

How to increase eye whiteness:

Choose Path Tool. Select around the white of the eye. Click Selection from Path. Click Colours and Brightness-Contrast. Adjust both to increase whiteness so it still looks natural. I also blurred the edges by picking the colour of the eye white and using a fuzzy air-brush with low opacity.