I've seen this effect used quite a lot recently and I can't for the life of me work it out.

Do you see how the image looks almost as if it's been painted? I've tried quite a few effects out but nothing has replicated it.
I've seen the exact same effect used on quite a few graphics so I'm inclined to believe it's a premade photoshop action rather than the result of some obscure tutorial.

Any help is appreciated <3

Oh and I'm using photoshop!

Hi. 
So I wanted to make gif in PS CS5 like here: http://icon-tutorial.livejournal.com/11186922.html#cutid1
but when I open movie file I have a white box instead. :(

I have installed the latest Quick Time version and K-Lite Codec Pack.