// tutorial
Go from
to 
All of the resources in this tutorial can be found here.
Start with this picture taken from getty images. I like the coloring in the picture already; I'm a sucker for blues and greens. But the image is blurry, we'll get to that later. Crop the green lilies and the cat out of the picture.
Go to Image > Levels > Change 1.00 to 1.37 and sharpen. It looks a little light and flat now, but we're going to fix that right now.
Duplicate the sharpened layer and set it to soft light at 100%.
Create a new adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer) choose color balance. For midtones it should look like this and for highlights it should look like this. Keep the preserve luminosity checked for both.
Create a new rasher layer and fill it with #040121 and set it to exclusion at 100%.
Create another new rasher layer and fill it with #DBF8FA and set that layer to color burn at 100%.
Take this gradient and paste it on top of everything and set that layer to soft light at 100%. I like the way this lightens and darkens various parts of the icon that I thought needed it.
Take this base and paste it on top of everything and set that layer to soft light at 100%. I like the way this brings out a dark spot in the lower left of the icon and the brown in the cats fur.
Make a new rasher layer on top of everything and fill it with #F9DFB6 and set that layer to color burn at 100%.
Make a new rasher layer on top of everything and fill it with #07B6FF and set that layer to soft light at 63%.
Yes, yes, I know I love soft light and color burn, but they're so great and easy to work with. (Not to mention I'm still new to the fashionable icon making.)
Paste
on top of everything (this was made by 
my_givenchy) and set it to multiply at 100%.
And you're done!
I hoped this helped some of you. If you have any questions, just ask me and I'll help you as best I can.
Feel free to friend me for more icons and tutorials.
Go from
to All of the resources in this tutorial can be found here.
Start with this picture taken from getty images. I like the coloring in the picture already; I'm a sucker for blues and greens. But the image is blurry, we'll get to that later. Crop the green lilies and the cat out of the picture.
Go to Image > Levels > Change 1.00 to 1.37 and sharpen. It looks a little light and flat now, but we're going to fix that right now.
Duplicate the sharpened layer and set it to soft light at 100%.
Create a new adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer) choose color balance. For midtones it should look like this and for highlights it should look like this. Keep the preserve luminosity checked for both.
Create a new rasher layer and fill it with #040121 and set it to exclusion at 100%.
Create another new rasher layer and fill it with #DBF8FA and set that layer to color burn at 100%.
Take this gradient and paste it on top of everything and set that layer to soft light at 100%. I like the way this lightens and darkens various parts of the icon that I thought needed it.
Take this base and paste it on top of everything and set that layer to soft light at 100%. I like the way this brings out a dark spot in the lower left of the icon and the brown in the cats fur.
Make a new rasher layer on top of everything and fill it with #F9DFB6 and set that layer to color burn at 100%.
Make a new rasher layer on top of everything and fill it with #07B6FF and set that layer to soft light at 63%.
Yes, yes, I know I love soft light and color burn, but they're so great and easy to work with. (Not to mention I'm still new to the fashionable icon making.)
Paste
on top of everything (this was made by my_givenchy) and set it to multiply at 100%.And you're done!
I hoped this helped some of you. If you have any questions, just ask me and I'll help you as best I can.
Feel free to friend me for more icons and tutorials.