This is my first tutorial post here, for this icon:
No brushes needed, not too many layers, and hopefully pretty simple (using PS7). :)
If you'd like to use the original icon, please do! Only credit me in keywords/comments. :)
...
I started with this picture from the Screencap Paradise archives:
It looks a bit dark. Let's brighten it up a bit with the adjustments options (this works well for screengrabs, which
are usually a bit murkier image quality):
>> Image >> Adjustments >> Auto Contrast
then
>> Image >> Adjustments >> Auto Color
Next hit >> Filter >> Sharpen >> Sharpen. Then crop it, and resize to 100x100 pixels. Then do
>> Filter >> Sharpen >> Sharpen once more, and we have our base image of Willow:
Next with the layering!
Duplicate the base image. Press Ctrl-Shift-D to desaturate the duplicated layer. Move it to the top layer and set the blend mode to Screen:
>> 
Next, the blue exclusion layer. Create a new layer above your Screen layer, and flood fill with a dark blue. Set the blend mode to Exclusion:
>> 
This made it a bit too yellowy, so I reduced the opacity on the blue layer to 78%:
The image still looks a bit washed out. Now, duplicate your base layer again, and move the duplicate to the top layer (Ctrl-]). Change the blend mode to Overlay, and bring the opacity down to 70%:
Looking much better!
Now, some colouring and textures. At this point I often play around with different gradients and fill layers and just see what works out well.
This one, I wanted to keep simpler, but it still needed a bit of texture.
Duplicate the base layer again, and bring it to the top. Go to: Filter >> Artistic >> Colored Pencil. Change the settings to:
Which ends up like this:
Change the blend mode on the Colored Pencil layer to Overlay, and reduce the opacity to 90%:
Nice texturing going on! The only thing that didn't quite look right was the sharpness around Willow's face, so I created a layer mask, and with the eraser tool, just clicked around her eyes and chin:
Better! Nice and soft. :)
For the next steps of colouring, I used the eyedropper tool to lift a dark peachy color and a grey-blue color from the icon:
Press Ctrl-Shift-N to make a new layer above your Colored Pencil layer. Fill this with the grey-blue:
I wanted to make a part of Willow's face stand out with the coloring, so I took the selection tool and drew out a rectangle over one portion:
This took me a couple tries to make sure I got the right area, but I ended up with:
Press Ctrl-D to de-select your empty rectangle, and with the Paint Bucket tool, fill the empty space with the peachy color we lifted before:
Change the blend mode of this layer to Color:
The last thing I did was to use the line tool to add a smaller block of color at the side of Willow's face, with a lighter icy-blue color, and a 20px line:
Reduce the opacity of the line to 42%:
One last step! For bordering, I wanted a soft effect again to fit with the look of the icon so far. To do this I used a great tip from [info]icon_tutorial!
Create a new layer on top. With the selection tool, draw a square in the middle of the icon:
Go to Select >> Inverse or Ctrl-Shift-I to invert the selection. Then go to Select >> Feather. Set the feather amount to 20px.
Take your Paint Bucket with the same light icy blue color we drew the line with, and fill in the area outside the circle:
Next, last step! - Text.
For the text I used the grey-blue color from earlier:
"packed away our": Font = Georgia 6pt, Blend Mode = Linear Burn
"sorrows": Font = Aquiline 11pt, Blend Mode = Linear Burn
And we're done! :)
The finished layer palette:
No brushes needed, not too many layers, and hopefully pretty simple (using PS7). :)
If you'd like to use the original icon, please do! Only credit me in keywords/comments. :)
...
I started with this picture from the Screencap Paradise archives:
It looks a bit dark. Let's brighten it up a bit with the adjustments options (this works well for screengrabs, which
are usually a bit murkier image quality):
>> Image >> Adjustments >> Auto Contrast
then
>> Image >> Adjustments >> Auto Color
Next hit >> Filter >> Sharpen >> Sharpen. Then crop it, and resize to 100x100 pixels. Then do
>> Filter >> Sharpen >> Sharpen once more, and we have our base image of Willow:
Next with the layering!
Duplicate the base image. Press Ctrl-Shift-D to desaturate the duplicated layer. Move it to the top layer and set the blend mode to Screen:
>> Next, the blue exclusion layer. Create a new layer above your Screen layer, and flood fill with a dark blue. Set the blend mode to Exclusion:
>> This made it a bit too yellowy, so I reduced the opacity on the blue layer to 78%:
The image still looks a bit washed out. Now, duplicate your base layer again, and move the duplicate to the top layer (Ctrl-]). Change the blend mode to Overlay, and bring the opacity down to 70%:
Looking much better!Now, some colouring and textures. At this point I often play around with different gradients and fill layers and just see what works out well.
This one, I wanted to keep simpler, but it still needed a bit of texture.
Duplicate the base layer again, and bring it to the top. Go to: Filter >> Artistic >> Colored Pencil. Change the settings to:
Which ends up like this:
Change the blend mode on the Colored Pencil layer to Overlay, and reduce the opacity to 90%:
Nice texturing going on! The only thing that didn't quite look right was the sharpness around Willow's face, so I created a layer mask, and with the eraser tool, just clicked around her eyes and chin:
Better! Nice and soft. :)
For the next steps of colouring, I used the eyedropper tool to lift a dark peachy color and a grey-blue color from the icon:
Press Ctrl-Shift-N to make a new layer above your Colored Pencil layer. Fill this with the grey-blue:
I wanted to make a part of Willow's face stand out with the coloring, so I took the selection tool and drew out a rectangle over one portion:
This took me a couple tries to make sure I got the right area, but I ended up with:
Press Ctrl-D to de-select your empty rectangle, and with the Paint Bucket tool, fill the empty space with the peachy color we lifted before:
Change the blend mode of this layer to Color:
The last thing I did was to use the line tool to add a smaller block of color at the side of Willow's face, with a lighter icy-blue color, and a 20px line:
Reduce the opacity of the line to 42%:
One last step! For bordering, I wanted a soft effect again to fit with the look of the icon so far. To do this I used a great tip from [info]icon_tutorial!
Create a new layer on top. With the selection tool, draw a square in the middle of the icon:
Go to Select >> Inverse or Ctrl-Shift-I to invert the selection. Then go to Select >> Feather. Set the feather amount to 20px.
Take your Paint Bucket with the same light icy blue color we drew the line with, and fill in the area outside the circle:
Next, last step! - Text.
For the text I used the grey-blue color from earlier:
"packed away our": Font = Georgia 6pt, Blend Mode = Linear Burn
"sorrows": Font = Aquiline 11pt, Blend Mode = Linear Burn
And we're done! :)
The finished layer palette: