a tear - a full PS tutorial
learn to make icons like these:
okay so....this
magically transformed to this 
...
first to say....i don't know what is whose as i had these all saved as numbers (i know i USCK BIG TIME) but i keep crediting ppl in my userinfo so be sure to check those links out theer are some great links there
ahm..first we have our base image....it's actually a promo screencap
(yea i know it's huge i gto it from some polish website...isn't it awesome???!!!)
now...without resizing anything, crop in squeare the part you want your icon to be of....
after cropping, resize to.....700x700
apply smart blur, as much as you feel it's good, and then use the blur tool to blur teh sharpened edges...
here's my thing...
***adding the tear...
now from what i've found using all kinds of face altering brushes (tears, make up, blood-with modifications) always use it as burn tool...
now you need to get the teardrop set from someone
mine is pretty blood5 set from pretty brush....
now select the tear you want to add, and stamp it a few times using the burn tool (just stamp it like 4 times, you'll need it later!!!)
here's what i got
now make your base really light...almost desaturated...
here i duplicated base layer, set to screen at 100%, desaturated, then merged
duplicated again and set to overlay or soft light 100%
now....adding the effects...first i croped obi wan out (i can't stand him he tried to kill ani :( - no offense obidala fans)
and got a bigger base fo her face, cause that's what we want, her face upclose so the tear is visible...resize to 100x100
now adding the effects...
new layer, fill it with this gradient, set to linear burn, opacity 40%
---> 
a little ddark but we're getting there...
now add thsi gradient....set to color, 40%
---> 
add this light texture..set to lighten, 30%
---> 
now, add this texture...soft light 20%
---> 
then this texture...overlay, 50%
---> 
now this one....color, 50%
---> 
and that's it for the textures...
now duplicate base and pull it to the top, set to soft light, 100%
now, make new layer on the top and fill it with #003663, set to exclusion, 30%
now...just add the text and a border iff you like those...experiment if they look better undeneath or over the exclusion layer
the text i used is strike of truth, written in Century Gothic and LainieDay, and the border i used is by insomniac from one of her icon brush sets
so there's your tear avatar....
and here's another alternative...without the exclusion layer
oh i totally forgot...NOTE: i didn't use this technique to make "tears in heaven" avatar or the "kind but sad" one...it's not about what i did to them, btu what you do to the image (grads, brushes, blend modes, textures) after adding the tear to amek it stand out...now you can amke this exact image btu what's the joy of recreating something that's already made...
and don't take those two first icons, i made them for myself :)
any comments, questions, or anythign is welcome...
STAY CREATIVE PPL....
okay so....this
first to say....i don't know what is whose as i had these all saved as numbers (i know i USCK BIG TIME) but i keep crediting ppl in my userinfo so be sure to check those links out theer are some great links there
ahm..first we have our base image....it's actually a promo screencap
(yea i know it's huge i gto it from some polish website...isn't it awesome???!!!)now...without resizing anything, crop in squeare the part you want your icon to be of....
after cropping, resize to.....700x700
apply smart blur, as much as you feel it's good, and then use the blur tool to blur teh sharpened edges...
here's my thing...
***adding the tear...
now from what i've found using all kinds of face altering brushes (tears, make up, blood-with modifications) always use it as burn tool...
now you need to get the teardrop set from someone
mine is pretty blood5 set from pretty brush....
now select the tear you want to add, and stamp it a few times using the burn tool (just stamp it like 4 times, you'll need it later!!!)
here's what i got
now make your base really light...almost desaturated...
here i duplicated base layer, set to screen at 100%, desaturated, then merged
duplicated again and set to overlay or soft light 100%
now....adding the effects...first i croped obi wan out (i can't stand him he tried to kill ani :( - no offense obidala fans)
and got a bigger base fo her face, cause that's what we want, her face upclose so the tear is visible...resize to 100x100
now adding the effects...
new layer, fill it with this gradient, set to linear burn, opacity 40%
now add thsi gradient....set to color, 40%
add this light texture..set to lighten, 30%
now, add this texture...soft light 20%
then this texture...overlay, 50%
now this one....color, 50%
and that's it for the textures...
now duplicate base and pull it to the top, set to soft light, 100%
now, make new layer on the top and fill it with #003663, set to exclusion, 30%
now...just add the text and a border iff you like those...experiment if they look better undeneath or over the exclusion layer
the text i used is strike of truth, written in Century Gothic and LainieDay, and the border i used is by insomniac from one of her icon brush sets
so there's your tear avatar....
and here's another alternative...without the exclusion layer
oh i totally forgot...NOTE: i didn't use this technique to make "tears in heaven" avatar or the "kind but sad" one...it's not about what i did to them, btu what you do to the image (grads, brushes, blend modes, textures) after adding the tear to amek it stand out...now you can amke this exact image btu what's the joy of recreating something that's already made...
and don't take those two first icons, i made them for myself :)
any comments, questions, or anythign is welcome...
STAY CREATIVE PPL....