Enlarging the head is a piece of cake. Just duplicate the Background layer and enlarge the whole thing, then add a mask and carefully mask the helmet.
Not sure about what filter was used for the painted effect, sorry.
Ok. In that case, it's time to get your lab's profile and soft-proof with it.
That is SUCH a tricky question.
I've generally found that directly overhead is best.
Taking a photo to try to show comparison between a print and a screen never works, I'm afraid. They always look dreadfully different!
This is great news. Close enough for you to live with, do you think?
Can you expand on this question for me?
However, there is another option. You've got yourself a couple of pretty rubbish screens there. Maybe you could consider replacing one of them with a better screen, and going for the cheaper calibrator?
Honestly, no. They really are neck-and-neck. I find the X-Rite perhaps a little easier to use, but the Spyder slightly more feature-rich. You'd be happy with either one, so go with the one that you can find for the best price.
If it didn't have the beads all over it, it would be a fairly simple matter of Channel Mixer or even Hue/Saturation.
But the beads will make it a heck of a lot more difficult.
I think you should find a forest photo that you can put behind your subjects. That's the only way you'll make this work.
https://www.facebook.com/graystarphotography/photos/a.427923724420188/853741078505115/
Open it with liquify, which will stretch the iris all weirdly. But that's ok. Once you've liquified the eyelid to where you like it, you'll copy the other iris across and mask it in.