icon tutorial 003: feat. fernando torres
•icon tutorial 003: saturated/pinkish/orangeish coloring
»so, here comes another tutorial rollin' down the lane! actually, this was, incidentally, one of the first icons i really felt like experimenting with colors on, in a looong time. once again it is, by no means hard, but it does have a lot of steps, and the finish off is a selective coloring layer (which, truthfully, this icon could've stood without, but oh well), so be aware of that! okay, let's roll, this is gonna be a long one, lmao.
coloring 003: feat fernando torres
»
program/translatable: icon done in photoshop cs4 extended, and the original ones does finish up with a selective color layer, but it's not really necessary, imo. so should work in gimp, psp etc etc without that!
.psd: if requested. :)
difficulty: 11 steps, i'd say medium, but you need to find your way around color balance, curves, fill layers and, if you choose to, selective coloring.
»okay so first step is, of course, to crop and move your base about until you like it. as usually here, if you've read any other tutorials i might've written, i like to use the 200*200 method, and just move my base picture into the square and move it around until i see it fit. it's a really good method, and often goes way quicker than cropping might do. simply do a ctrl + N, set both width and height to 200 pixels, and then you're off!
»our second step is, since the base picture is both relatively dull and dark, to give it more life. dublicate the base and set it to soft light, 100% on both opacity and fill/only opacity, if that's what you have. this step is, first off, to bring more light into the picture. i myself usually prefer to keep soft light layers, such as these (aka base duplictes) to a minimum. they are useful, that's not what i'm saying. but since soft light serves as both brightening and deepening colors, overuse easily just gives you over exponation and a not so satisfying result. working with these types of bases though, they're lifesaves. this bring out fernando's freckles, the pinkish in his lips, and generally just blows more life into the icon. much funnier to work with, something that doesn't look like you borrowed the tones from a funeral, haha.
»third step is an easy one. just duplicate your soft light layer, don't touch the settings, and everything'll be fine! yeah, that about me not liking soft light? just, forget i said that, at least for this tutorial, lol. but see how much it does for this particular image? it accentuates the colors and gives it a nice contrast that we'll be thankful for later on. i'd say i kind of emptied all my thoughts on this particular tool on the second step, so i'll just skip onto the next step and keep this relatively short.
»now, after this you might wonder, why did we need those soft light layers in the first place, they don't show after this? but relax, they all play a part in the result, needless to say. duplicate your base, drag it to top and set it to screen 100% on both fill and opacity/opacity. while this step definitely gives the image a more bleak look, it does brighten it up considerably, and we'll definitely want that. you may want to play around with the opacity here though. this particular image is fine with 100%, but be careful, don't let the brightness take over your icon. tip: set it to an even number, say like 50-70%, or a full 100%. and after you're done with the coloring, you can go back and change your settings then. i like to do that, if there's just something about it that feels off. it's too bright, it's too red, it's too unbalanced etc etc. you get the point!
»up next is a color balance layer. this is where we really start on the coloring part in the process. this layer serves to even out the screen layer, since it did wash out a lot of color, and put it right back in. but nicer than our original base, haha. settings are:
midtones: +57, +7, -2 (the almost overuse of red in midtones gives us a more saturated skin tone, and more color to freckles and lips. just, be wary when using this tool; don't overuse settings. this icon might've needed the high setting, but most bases only require smaller numbers.)
shadows: +12, -6, -15 (shadows here also deepens the red tones we acquired in midtones, and the -6 and -15 settings gets rid of greens and blues, which, at this stage, isn't what we want. we're ultimately looking for that warm, bright reddish finish so.)
highlights: 0, 0, 0 (i've put nothing on highlights, and didn't deem it especially necessary to go back and mixture with them after the finish of the icon, but feel free here. even if it's this particular .psd you're fiddling around with, by all means, i'd love to see your take on on the same image!)
» curves layer coming forth, make place! not a huge change or anything, as usually i don't really make drastic changes to a coloring if i use curves. i guess that's my personal preference, haha. this one deepens the colors a little, the RGB (red, green, blue) setting removing a little bit of brightness and adding to colors, instead. i suppose there's nothing much to say about this, since there's not much it does. do, however, experiment. curves is (god i'm getting repetitive in everything i say, i feel) a great tool, and do have a lot of assets to add to a coloring in progress.
input: 127
output: 112
»next up is a hue/saturation layer. that well, it does things to the icon, haha. it turns up the oranges a lot, and right now, not really what we want. but don't worry, there're a solid four steps until finish, you won't have to live with it looking like someone poured solid pumpin colored (bikini briefs, for those of you in the supernatural fandom) paint over fernando. alternatively you could skip out on this layer and go for a color balance/continue on your previous curve layer here. those two alternatives gives you a chance to alter the colors even more to your liking. just remember though that it's supposed, here, to look a little exaggerated, if you want the exact finished result! settings:
hue: 0
saturation: +35
(lightness: 0, if that's what floats your boat!)
»so, next up is a fill layer! color here is a sort of middle blue, called #678ff7. set the layer to overlay at 25% opacity, 100% fill/only 25% opacity. you could turn up the opacity here, if you want. the reason i chose to keep it at 25% was however, that the slightly neutral tint it brings to the icon, wouldn't overwhelm it. it also turns up the white areas since it's blue, so not too much, but enough that it's visible and whitens out the orange slightly. what's good is that it doesn't make it bleak, and mostly we keep what we've got so far.
»i know; always with the merged copy layer soft light's hanna! can't be helped, i love using them, and they are useful, lol. this one though, isn't the finish layer. would it be, just, no, it wouldn't. as you might know by now, the copy merge layer (ctrl + alt + shift + E) copies all the layers, puts them on top of the original layers, and from there goes something along the lines of this: copy merge»filters»blur»gaussian blur»radius 6.0»soft light»100% opacity and fill/only opacity. the reason this is done is usually to put a finishing glow to the icon in question. here it, well, it does what it does, more color and you know the dance. might want to play around with the opacity though, this is a pretty varying layer, and 100% on soft light isn't what i'd recommend to everyone, haha.
»alright, we're in for the finishing touches. this one is another fill layer, color #292525 and set to a 50% exclusion layer. see, exclusion layers are also really good tools. this one tones down the way over the top brightness we got thanks to the layer prior to this one. take it easy however, don't let them overwhelm the coloring too much, unless that's what you're really going for. (i think i should put caution signs on my tutorials: warning, only proceed if you're okay with taking it easy when you're doing this. no?)
»oh god, what is it with me and putting everything on soft light in this icon. i hadn't even realized it myself until i looked through the .psd file, lmao. well, no matter, here goes. WHITE BLOB. you might've skimmed my first tutorial, which consisted largely of six step of tutorial, and a huge essay on brushes, or white blobs, as they're also commonly called. i'm not going to launch into that speech again, you've gotten it once, no need to get it twice. except that yes, this is another variation of a white blob brush, and used for this icon specificially. it's blurred out as to give another glow and effect than a sharper one might've done, but eh, make your own white blob and play around instead. i'll assure you it's the best way to go!
anyway, continuing: we're using this white blob, and putting it on soft light 100% opacity and fill/only opacity. i hardly think i need to elaborate on this one any more than i've done. but this layer, because of the center position of the blob, centers the glow, darkening out the corners ever so slightly. so here it goes from looking like this, to this. which really, imo, gives it a much better look.
so, really, you could leave it at this step. since the last layer is a selective color layer, and only really there because i wanted a slightly colder tone to it. it's not necessary, imo, but here's to y'all who wants the selective coloring settings as well:
reds: +100, +3, 0, -13
yellows: -100, 0, 0, 0
neutrals: -8, +5, -16, -1
aaaaand here's the finished thing, once again, for y'all!
note: please direct all comments/questions/etc to the original post, here! it'll be easier for me to access and answer to everything there! .psd requests are also requested there!
thank you! :)
»so, here comes another tutorial rollin' down the lane! actually, this was, incidentally, one of the first icons i really felt like experimenting with colors on, in a looong time. once again it is, by no means hard, but it does have a lot of steps, and the finish off is a selective coloring layer (which, truthfully, this icon could've stood without, but oh well), so be aware of that! okay, let's roll, this is gonna be a long one, lmao.
coloring 003: feat fernando torres
program/translatable: icon done in photoshop cs4 extended, and the original ones does finish up with a selective color layer, but it's not really necessary, imo. so should work in gimp, psp etc etc without that!
.psd: if requested. :)
difficulty: 11 steps, i'd say medium, but you need to find your way around color balance, curves, fill layers and, if you choose to, selective coloring.
»okay so first step is, of course, to crop and move your base about until you like it. as usually here, if you've read any other tutorials i might've written, i like to use the 200*200 method, and just move my base picture into the square and move it around until i see it fit. it's a really good method, and often goes way quicker than cropping might do. simply do a ctrl + N, set both width and height to 200 pixels, and then you're off!
»our second step is, since the base picture is both relatively dull and dark, to give it more life. dublicate the base and set it to soft light, 100% on both opacity and fill/only opacity, if that's what you have. this step is, first off, to bring more light into the picture. i myself usually prefer to keep soft light layers, such as these (aka base duplictes) to a minimum. they are useful, that's not what i'm saying. but since soft light serves as both brightening and deepening colors, overuse easily just gives you over exponation and a not so satisfying result. working with these types of bases though, they're lifesaves. this bring out fernando's freckles, the pinkish in his lips, and generally just blows more life into the icon. much funnier to work with, something that doesn't look like you borrowed the tones from a funeral, haha.
»third step is an easy one. just duplicate your soft light layer, don't touch the settings, and everything'll be fine! yeah, that about me not liking soft light? just, forget i said that, at least for this tutorial, lol. but see how much it does for this particular image? it accentuates the colors and gives it a nice contrast that we'll be thankful for later on. i'd say i kind of emptied all my thoughts on this particular tool on the second step, so i'll just skip onto the next step and keep this relatively short.
»now, after this you might wonder, why did we need those soft light layers in the first place, they don't show after this? but relax, they all play a part in the result, needless to say. duplicate your base, drag it to top and set it to screen 100% on both fill and opacity/opacity. while this step definitely gives the image a more bleak look, it does brighten it up considerably, and we'll definitely want that. you may want to play around with the opacity here though. this particular image is fine with 100%, but be careful, don't let the brightness take over your icon. tip: set it to an even number, say like 50-70%, or a full 100%. and after you're done with the coloring, you can go back and change your settings then. i like to do that, if there's just something about it that feels off. it's too bright, it's too red, it's too unbalanced etc etc. you get the point!
»up next is a color balance layer. this is where we really start on the coloring part in the process. this layer serves to even out the screen layer, since it did wash out a lot of color, and put it right back in. but nicer than our original base, haha. settings are:
midtones: +57, +7, -2 (the almost overuse of red in midtones gives us a more saturated skin tone, and more color to freckles and lips. just, be wary when using this tool; don't overuse settings. this icon might've needed the high setting, but most bases only require smaller numbers.)
shadows: +12, -6, -15 (shadows here also deepens the red tones we acquired in midtones, and the -6 and -15 settings gets rid of greens and blues, which, at this stage, isn't what we want. we're ultimately looking for that warm, bright reddish finish so.)
highlights: 0, 0, 0 (i've put nothing on highlights, and didn't deem it especially necessary to go back and mixture with them after the finish of the icon, but feel free here. even if it's this particular .psd you're fiddling around with, by all means, i'd love to see your take on on the same image!)
» curves layer coming forth, make place! not a huge change or anything, as usually i don't really make drastic changes to a coloring if i use curves. i guess that's my personal preference, haha. this one deepens the colors a little, the RGB (red, green, blue) setting removing a little bit of brightness and adding to colors, instead. i suppose there's nothing much to say about this, since there's not much it does. do, however, experiment. curves is (god i'm getting repetitive in everything i say, i feel) a great tool, and do have a lot of assets to add to a coloring in progress.
input: 127
output: 112
»next up is a hue/saturation layer. that well, it does things to the icon, haha. it turns up the oranges a lot, and right now, not really what we want. but don't worry, there're a solid four steps until finish, you won't have to live with it looking like someone poured solid pumpin colored (bikini briefs, for those of you in the supernatural fandom) paint over fernando. alternatively you could skip out on this layer and go for a color balance/continue on your previous curve layer here. those two alternatives gives you a chance to alter the colors even more to your liking. just remember though that it's supposed, here, to look a little exaggerated, if you want the exact finished result! settings:
hue: 0
saturation: +35
(lightness: 0, if that's what floats your boat!)
»so, next up is a fill layer! color here is a sort of middle blue, called #678ff7. set the layer to overlay at 25% opacity, 100% fill/only 25% opacity. you could turn up the opacity here, if you want. the reason i chose to keep it at 25% was however, that the slightly neutral tint it brings to the icon, wouldn't overwhelm it. it also turns up the white areas since it's blue, so not too much, but enough that it's visible and whitens out the orange slightly. what's good is that it doesn't make it bleak, and mostly we keep what we've got so far.
»i know; always with the merged copy layer soft light's hanna! can't be helped, i love using them, and they are useful, lol. this one though, isn't the finish layer. would it be, just, no, it wouldn't. as you might know by now, the copy merge layer (ctrl + alt + shift + E) copies all the layers, puts them on top of the original layers, and from there goes something along the lines of this: copy merge»filters»blur»gaussian blur»radius 6.0»soft light»100% opacity and fill/only opacity. the reason this is done is usually to put a finishing glow to the icon in question. here it, well, it does what it does, more color and you know the dance. might want to play around with the opacity though, this is a pretty varying layer, and 100% on soft light isn't what i'd recommend to everyone, haha.
»alright, we're in for the finishing touches. this one is another fill layer, color #292525 and set to a 50% exclusion layer. see, exclusion layers are also really good tools. this one tones down the way over the top brightness we got thanks to the layer prior to this one. take it easy however, don't let them overwhelm the coloring too much, unless that's what you're really going for. (i think i should put caution signs on my tutorials: warning, only proceed if you're okay with taking it easy when you're doing this. no?)
»oh god, what is it with me and putting everything on soft light in this icon. i hadn't even realized it myself until i looked through the .psd file, lmao. well, no matter, here goes. WHITE BLOB. you might've skimmed my first tutorial, which consisted largely of six step of tutorial, and a huge essay on brushes, or white blobs, as they're also commonly called. i'm not going to launch into that speech again, you've gotten it once, no need to get it twice. except that yes, this is another variation of a white blob brush, and used for this icon specificially. it's blurred out as to give another glow and effect than a sharper one might've done, but eh, make your own white blob and play around instead. i'll assure you it's the best way to go!
anyway, continuing: we're using this white blob, and putting it on soft light 100% opacity and fill/only opacity. i hardly think i need to elaborate on this one any more than i've done. but this layer, because of the center position of the blob, centers the glow, darkening out the corners ever so slightly. so here it goes from looking like this, to this. which really, imo, gives it a much better look.
so, really, you could leave it at this step. since the last layer is a selective color layer, and only really there because i wanted a slightly colder tone to it. it's not necessary, imo, but here's to y'all who wants the selective coloring settings as well:
reds: +100, +3, 0, -13
yellows: -100, 0, 0, 0
neutrals: -8, +5, -16, -1
aaaaand here's the finished thing, once again, for y'all!
note: please direct all comments/questions/etc to the original post, here! it'll be easier for me to access and answer to everything there! .psd requests are also requested there!
thank you! :)