icon tutorial: 004 feat. fernando llorente
•icon tutorial 004: vivid coloring
»so, i figured it’s time for another tutorial; I’ve been gone long enough! It’s, yet again, not one that’s terribly hard to make, the tricky thing with it is that this specific type of coloring might be hard to apply to just any icon. It’s much about the original image’s cropping and your sense of placement. But never mind, I’m just here to lay out the grounds for you, not do the actual icons, haha! I hope you guys enjoy.
coloring 004: feat fernando llorente
»
program/translatable: icon done in photoshop cs4 extended, and the original one includes a selective coloring layer, but it's not really all that necessary. so should work in gimp, psp etc etc without that!
.psd: if requested. :)
difficulty: 9 steps, i'd say easy, actually. the steps isn't the hard part, this tutorial requires you having great patience though, so only really that.
first step should practically be excluded, it’s not like you don’t get this already. But cropping. 200*200 base icon, resize your image and drop it into the 200*200 and play around with it until you see it fit is still the way I roll. This one, however, as you’ve undoubtedly noticed, is the same image divided into three parts. There I’ve done the same was as I usually do with the icon (see above) but fitted it thrice. So this isn’t hard to achieve, for those of you who might wonder how the hell to get it right, haha. Just, drop the image into your base twice/thrice/seven times, move them around over each other until you’re happy, and ctrl+alt+E the layers! This will merge all of them into one layer, which really is to prefer while working with double layers like this, trust me.
second step – screen layer. Basically, duplicate your base and set it to screen. 100% opacity + fill, if you only have opacity, still nothing changed. The original image is quite dark, and to get this effect, that’s not what we want. No soft lights etc, while it might look like it does come with a soft light layer, it doesn’t.
without straying now, this is more like it. The screen layer really helps here, not brightening Fernando’s face to the point where the whites in his cheeks stand out horribly, or where it makes the green too bright and grainy, which might work for some icons, but in this one, smoothness is preferred! Tip: stray from the screen layers, if you’re strictly using those. My first version of this icon included a curves layer instead. I did however, remake it with a screen, and I decided it fit better. But that was just because my settings didn’t work. Curves is great once you get the hang of it, just remember what Photoshop 101 taught you as the nr 1 rule: don’t overdo it!
yeah, like I mentioned in the previous step – curves is a great tool! Because that’s what the third layer is, haha. It’s a curves layer, and whilst I could’ve just as easily just duplicated my screen layer and set it to, oh I don’t know, 25% maybe? Curves are the way to go. This layer does little, it brightens the icon further, but since the second point is curved ever so slightly downwards, it does deepen the colors too, more than it would’ve done if I’d just upped the brightness point. So curves – accomplishes soft light/screen in one, without getting it messy!
settings:
input: 58
output: 64
Ah, layer four, introducing my new favorite ever tool to use. Here we’ve got a black and white gradient layer on, and err, Adobe would’ve been stupid to not include this from the beginning of this franchise, so I do think you all have access to such a thing?
anyhow, this layer plays a major part in almost every icon I make nowadays. To put the effect simple, it’s kind of… flattening, the colors? I realize flattening sounds kind of unattractive, but that’s the best way for me to put it I guess. The layer makes the vividness of the colors even out a little, and often goes well to give skin a more natural look (i.e. not vivid pink/orange, for example) so yeah, I really like to use it. So this is the way to go with this: layer>new adjustment layer>gradient map>black/white>tick the reverse box>soft light 30%
Yeah, it is, however, important to think about opacity/fill here. Too much won’t look very good, so play around with a lower percentage when doing gradient map layers!
next up is a layer i know everybody doesn’t use/has access to – the infamous (and overused) selective color tool! This layer only really adds some more reds/pinks/oranges to Fernando’s skin tone, and gives the background some warmer colors. The greens used in it does also give the background a bit colder tone. But to be honest, looking between the finished version with SE versus looking at it without the SE layer, it’s not really all that necessary. I always give .psds so you can get it from there if you really want it, but if you’d exclude it in pictures that doesn’t have lots and lots of reds compiled in it? then no, you won’t really need it. I didn’t test this out with another layer instead of the SE one, but I’m sure it can be fixed with a fill layer. It’s not that hard getting the exact same tone without using SE. Anyhow, settings go as following:
reds: -46, +31, +34, +39
yellows: -26, +21, +2, 0
greens: +100, +100, -15, -19
arriving at perhaps one of the most coloring layers used – the first fill layer. it’s a pink one, tone #f1d0d0, set to opacity 100%/fill 60% (only opacity then it should be 60%). This layer does a lot for the finished result, so do not exclude this, if there is something you would want to exclude, haha. For now, the layer mainly gives the icon a very pinkish tint, whereas it previously was, essentially, what we started working with, though a bit brighter. In the end, this’ll be the layer that makes the icon as bright as it is, and also makes the hue warmer/richer.
up next is another fill! The color used is a very dark grey, tone #262626. What’s so useful about the dark grey fill layer, is that it’s very useful, and in different situations. This particular layer is set to soft light (opacity 100%/fill 35% or opacity 35%) and used to darken the colors slightly, give it a richer impression. (Instead of a soft light layer, basically, lol) but it’s more commonly used as an exclusion layer.
when set to exclusion it, it’s kind of like pulling a semi translucent curtain over the icon, yeah? Exclusion layers, I also like to work with, they’re often a nice touch at the end, to achieve special types of colorings, or if you think the colors are too bright but all the same want to keep them. Then it’s a great tool to use for toning them down.
so, we’re almost at the end! Next up is my usual – shift+ctrl+alt+E, or simply a copy merge layer. It merges all your current layers and puts it cleanly on top of the other layers. From there I usually work with filters, and of course that’s what we do today as well. Formula: copy merge»filters»blur»gaussian blur»radius 6.0»soft light»100% opacity and fill or 100% only opacity. That should do it, giving the icon the whole glowish effect!
last step, then I’ll stop rambling, haha. While I usually round up with some small touches, this one’s actually the thing that completely does the icon. It’s a heavily blurred out white blob, looking like something my three year old brother would blotch down on a sketchpad. Everything about this icon is this finishing layer, so when trying this coloring out, you should really think about where you put the blob. Usually they’re used as a soft wisp of cloud, often at the top of the subject’s head. This is not one of those. This one is set slightly to the left of Fernando’s head, grazing his cheek, but not right in the middle, and set to overlay 100% opacity/fill/only opacity. The colors suddenly go from soft and glowing to hard and vivid. The blob would normally distract, but in this icon, it’s supposed to be there. To put this in a few words instead of one hundred: this layer is all about your sense of placement. This layer is probably not going to work at the first try, nor is the white blob probably not going to be of any use to you, but here it is outlined.
and there you have it!
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, i figured it’s time for another tutorial; I’ve been gone long enough! It’s, yet again, not one that’s terribly hard to make, the tricky thing with it is that this specific type of coloring might be hard to apply to just any icon. It’s much about the original image’s cropping and your sense of placement. But never mind, I’m just here to lay out the grounds for you, not do the actual icons, haha! I hope you guys enjoy.
coloring 004: feat fernando llorente
»program/translatable: icon done in photoshop cs4 extended, and the original one includes a selective coloring layer, but it's not really all that necessary. so should work in gimp, psp etc etc without that!
.psd: if requested. :)
difficulty: 9 steps, i'd say easy, actually. the steps isn't the hard part, this tutorial requires you having great patience though, so only really that.
first step should practically be excluded, it’s not like you don’t get this already. But cropping. 200*200 base icon, resize your image and drop it into the 200*200 and play around with it until you see it fit is still the way I roll. This one, however, as you’ve undoubtedly noticed, is the same image divided into three parts. There I’ve done the same was as I usually do with the icon (see above) but fitted it thrice. So this isn’t hard to achieve, for those of you who might wonder how the hell to get it right, haha. Just, drop the image into your base twice/thrice/seven times, move them around over each other until you’re happy, and ctrl+alt+E the layers! This will merge all of them into one layer, which really is to prefer while working with double layers like this, trust me.
second step – screen layer. Basically, duplicate your base and set it to screen. 100% opacity + fill, if you only have opacity, still nothing changed. The original image is quite dark, and to get this effect, that’s not what we want. No soft lights etc, while it might look like it does come with a soft light layer, it doesn’t.
without straying now, this is more like it. The screen layer really helps here, not brightening Fernando’s face to the point where the whites in his cheeks stand out horribly, or where it makes the green too bright and grainy, which might work for some icons, but in this one, smoothness is preferred! Tip: stray from the screen layers, if you’re strictly using those. My first version of this icon included a curves layer instead. I did however, remake it with a screen, and I decided it fit better. But that was just because my settings didn’t work. Curves is great once you get the hang of it, just remember what Photoshop 101 taught you as the nr 1 rule: don’t overdo it!
yeah, like I mentioned in the previous step – curves is a great tool! Because that’s what the third layer is, haha. It’s a curves layer, and whilst I could’ve just as easily just duplicated my screen layer and set it to, oh I don’t know, 25% maybe? Curves are the way to go. This layer does little, it brightens the icon further, but since the second point is curved ever so slightly downwards, it does deepen the colors too, more than it would’ve done if I’d just upped the brightness point. So curves – accomplishes soft light/screen in one, without getting it messy!
settings:
input: 58
output: 64
Ah, layer four, introducing my new favorite ever tool to use. Here we’ve got a black and white gradient layer on, and err, Adobe would’ve been stupid to not include this from the beginning of this franchise, so I do think you all have access to such a thing?
anyhow, this layer plays a major part in almost every icon I make nowadays. To put the effect simple, it’s kind of… flattening, the colors? I realize flattening sounds kind of unattractive, but that’s the best way for me to put it I guess. The layer makes the vividness of the colors even out a little, and often goes well to give skin a more natural look (i.e. not vivid pink/orange, for example) so yeah, I really like to use it. So this is the way to go with this: layer>new adjustment layer>gradient map>black/white>tick the reverse box>soft light 30%
Yeah, it is, however, important to think about opacity/fill here. Too much won’t look very good, so play around with a lower percentage when doing gradient map layers!
next up is a layer i know everybody doesn’t use/has access to – the infamous (and overused) selective color tool! This layer only really adds some more reds/pinks/oranges to Fernando’s skin tone, and gives the background some warmer colors. The greens used in it does also give the background a bit colder tone. But to be honest, looking between the finished version with SE versus looking at it without the SE layer, it’s not really all that necessary. I always give .psds so you can get it from there if you really want it, but if you’d exclude it in pictures that doesn’t have lots and lots of reds compiled in it? then no, you won’t really need it. I didn’t test this out with another layer instead of the SE one, but I’m sure it can be fixed with a fill layer. It’s not that hard getting the exact same tone without using SE. Anyhow, settings go as following:
reds: -46, +31, +34, +39
yellows: -26, +21, +2, 0
greens: +100, +100, -15, -19
arriving at perhaps one of the most coloring layers used – the first fill layer. it’s a pink one, tone #f1d0d0, set to opacity 100%/fill 60% (only opacity then it should be 60%). This layer does a lot for the finished result, so do not exclude this, if there is something you would want to exclude, haha. For now, the layer mainly gives the icon a very pinkish tint, whereas it previously was, essentially, what we started working with, though a bit brighter. In the end, this’ll be the layer that makes the icon as bright as it is, and also makes the hue warmer/richer.
up next is another fill! The color used is a very dark grey, tone #262626. What’s so useful about the dark grey fill layer, is that it’s very useful, and in different situations. This particular layer is set to soft light (opacity 100%/fill 35% or opacity 35%) and used to darken the colors slightly, give it a richer impression. (Instead of a soft light layer, basically, lol) but it’s more commonly used as an exclusion layer.
when set to exclusion it, it’s kind of like pulling a semi translucent curtain over the icon, yeah? Exclusion layers, I also like to work with, they’re often a nice touch at the end, to achieve special types of colorings, or if you think the colors are too bright but all the same want to keep them. Then it’s a great tool to use for toning them down.
so, we’re almost at the end! Next up is my usual – shift+ctrl+alt+E, or simply a copy merge layer. It merges all your current layers and puts it cleanly on top of the other layers. From there I usually work with filters, and of course that’s what we do today as well. Formula: copy merge»filters»blur»gaussian blur»radius 6.0»soft light»100% opacity and fill or 100% only opacity. That should do it, giving the icon the whole glowish effect!
last step, then I’ll stop rambling, haha. While I usually round up with some small touches, this one’s actually the thing that completely does the icon. It’s a heavily blurred out white blob, looking like something my three year old brother would blotch down on a sketchpad. Everything about this icon is this finishing layer, so when trying this coloring out, you should really think about where you put the blob. Usually they’re used as a soft wisp of cloud, often at the top of the subject’s head. This is not one of those. This one is set slightly to the left of Fernando’s head, grazing his cheek, but not right in the middle, and set to overlay 100% opacity/fill/only opacity. The colors suddenly go from soft and glowing to hard and vivid. The blob would normally distract, but in this icon, it’s supposed to be there. To put this in a few words instead of one hundred: this layer is all about your sense of placement. This layer is probably not going to work at the first try, nor is the white blob probably not going to be of any use to you, but here it is outlined.
and there you have it!
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! :)