Icon Tutorial #01 (PSP 9)

Now, my first tutorial, which was for a blend, was somewhat of a disaster for some people, so this time, I provide you with a 100x100 icon which I made entirely on my own with the help of gradients and brushes from other people whom I will credit.

So learn how to go from this to this

So you want to learn how to go from this (taken from the wonderful Harry Potter Lexicon) to this ? I'll show ya! But firist of a few pointers:

- You are allowed to use my final icon but you must credit me.

- This tutorial is image-heavy. Sorry!

- When you follow these steps try to vary with a few things since five identical icons get kinda boring.

- I'm using PSP 9, but I'm sure this method could be easily translated to other programs. Here's my workspace:

Tutorial #01

Step 1:

I took that poster and resized the entire thing to 300 pixels in width and 425 pixels in height. Then I cropped out a 100x100 section that features Harry's eye and scar like so:

Step 2:

Now, we need to give the image some touch-ups. So, what I do is I apply the One Step Photo Fix. Go to Adjust>>One Step Photo Fix:

I guess this Photo Fix on PSP 9 is equivalent to the sharpening and duplicating and "screening" etc, that you do to an image to fix it up. There are many "touch-up" tutorials in the Archives of this community. Look through them to know what to do here. Anyways, here's the result of the Photo Fix.

Now, the background isn't exactly white and I want it to be completely white so I use the Fill Tool to do so:

 (It might not seem completely white here, but that's because I don't use really high quality for these intermediate pictures.)

Step 3:

Now, I'm afraid the scar isn't imposed as well as I want it to be. So what did I do? Using the Lasso/Freehand Selection Tool, I outlined the top part of the scar (above that hair lock) and the lower part (below the hair lock) after it, like so:

     and    

Now, I want to point out that, during the selection, I really zoomed in to the scar so that I can outline it well.

When I outlined the top part of the scar, I went to Adjust>>Brightness and Contrast>>Brightness and Contrast and set the Brightness at zero and Contrast at 25:

Then do the same to the lower part of the scar, and the result is:

Step 4:

Now duplicate this base layer setting the duplicated layer to "Overlay" at 100% opacity. If for any reason you have more than one layer, flatten the image and then duplicate it, setting the duplicated layer to "Overlay" at 100% opacity.

Then duplicate that layer again, this time setting it to "Darken" at 60% opacity.

Step 5:

Now, gradient time. I had recently seen an icon made by firithel_icons  with a good combination of gradients so I'll be borrowing the beginning of that. (all gradients made by pocket_icons )

- I used this gradient at "Colour", with Opacity 60%

 -->

- Then I used this gradient at "Overlay", with Opacity 50%

 -->

- Then I used this gradient at "Darken", with Opacity 70%

 -->

Step 6:

Now here comes the tricky part. I will color the eyes in green, since Harry's eyes are supposed to be green, not blue as this poster shows. You can do it blue if you like.

So, you flatten all the layers and then duplicate the merged layer. Now, create a new layer.

On the new layer, use the brush tool. I chose a bright green color (#40ff40). I moved exactly above the eye with the shape of the brush in a simple circle of size 10. You use whatever size covers the eye perfectly. Then, on this new and blank layer, color in the eye like so (you may want to zoom in for this):

Wierd, yea? So, what did I do? I made the layer "Colour" with Opacity 70%.

Now, I did the same kind of thing, on a new layer, on the scar, but with the red (#c00000) and I set the layer at "Soft Light" 50% opacity.

Step 7:

Now that I'm done with this stuff, it's time to goof off! I used the splatter brush and text brush of someone who I lost the username of. I feel terrible so if anyone recognizes the splatter or the text, please let me know. What I did, was I created a new layer at "Normal" 100% opacity. And used the splatter brush to make that big splatter on the side and two small ones at the top. I don't have a cap for that so just imagine the icon without the text. Both with the color (#c00000)

Then, on another layer I used the text brush with the text "EMPTINESS swallows this town" and moved it so you could only see the top half of EMPTINESS as you can see. Use white for this brush then lower the opacity to 70%.

Then, I cropped out Harry's 22x22 eye and copied it then pasted it as a new layer at the top and positioned it as shown.

Then, with the Preset Shape Tool, I formed a white rectangle around that eye snippet on a layer that was below the "eye" layer and the "splatter" layer. Make sure the width of the rectangle is 4.00.

Hope you like it!! Please Comment with feedback or the icon you've made with this tutorial, if you do follow it. ;)!