Let's see how hard this really is.
I've had a few requests as to how I made this icon over at 
farscape_chorus, mainly the coloring technique used.
However, since I didn't save the PSD file, let's see how well I can recreate it.
First, I start off with the image below which I found over at Farscape-Caps.
Didn't really like the lighting, so I went to Image/Adjustments/Auto Contrast. Then Image/Adjustments/Auto Color. Liking what I have now, it's time to crop the image to 100 pixels by 100 pixels. Usually after I crop, I tend to think that the image is blurry, so I sharpen the image by going to Filter/Sharpen/Sharpen. I did this once for this image, but it's a personal call as to what you think looks best. Now, you should have something looking like this.
Now comes the fun part. Start off with adding a blue exclusion layer. I do this by going to Layer/New Fill Layer/Solid Color. A new window should open titled New Layer. In the Mode pulldown, select Exclusion and hit okay. Now, select a blue that gives the image a somewhat faded effect. In my case, I used #001744, but once again, this is a personal preference. Go with what you like. You should now have something like this.
Now, duplicate Layer 1 by right clicking on it and selecting Duplicate Layer. Now, move this copy so it's on top of your exclusion layer. Once you've done this, make sure you've got Layer 1 copy highlighted and go to Image/Adjustments/Desaturate. In the layer palette, change the pulldown menu from Normal to Overlay. You'll notice that your dark image has become darker. We'll fix this by going to Image/Adjustments/Hue/Saturation. Once this window comes up, look to the lower right and you'll see a radio box Colorize. Select this and note what happens to your image. Move the saturation slide to 100, and the Hue slide to somewhere in the orange to yellow range. I'm using 43, but once again this is a personal preference. The reason for this step is to allow for the skintones to come through the additional layers that will be added later.
But now, John and Aeryn are all orange looking. So, go back to Layer 1 in your Layer palette and duplicate it once again. Move this new copy (Layer 1 copy 2) to the top, selecting the Screen blend mode. You should now be left with the following.
Now it's time to incorporate the gradients. I got mine from
crumblingwalls, using her three color set. Going to Layer/New Fill Layer/Gradient, you'll get another window. From here, select the three color gray gradient at an offset. I usually go with something in the range of -145 to -155 depending on the lighting of the gradient. Set this gradient layer to Overlay. Now, duplicate this layer and place it on top. Set this one to Soft Light. Duplicate this new layer and place it on top. Set this one to Color. If you've done everything correctly, your icon should now look like this.
Pretty drab,eh? No worries, cuz it's time to color in the lines. Remember that layer we set to screen way back when (Layer 1 copy 2)? Well, you need to duplicate that and move it to the top of the three gradients you currently have. From here, go to Layer/New Fill Layer/Solid Color and choose a blue you want to work with. I ended up using #93C4FF, but like I've said many times, it's personal preference. Set this layer to Color blend mode. You should now have something like this.
Now, pat yourself on the back. You've colored your icon. Now, it's just a matter of prettying it up. In this case, I used the Blur tool to soften John and Aeryn since they seemed rather pixelated. As for the background, I used the Smudge tool to bring John and Aeryn more into focus. From there, I created a new layer and added my border. Then, it's just a simple matter of adding the text. I'm using Arial Black 9 pt for the white text with a 1 pixel stroke and a shadow drop. For the black text, I'm using Suwa 8 pt after rotating the canvas 90 degrees CW. After inserting the necessary text and rotating back 90 degrees CCW, what you're left with is the final product.
Note that the coloring for this one differs from the initial icon since I most likely didn't use the same blue as before. However, the method is sound. So, that does it for my first tutorial. Hope you've enjoyed it as much as I did writing (and recreating) it. Feel free to ask questions if you have trouble following. I'll do my best to help.
farscape_chorus, mainly the coloring technique used.However, since I didn't save the PSD file, let's see how well I can recreate it.
First, I start off with the image below which I found over at Farscape-Caps.
Didn't really like the lighting, so I went to Image/Adjustments/Auto Contrast. Then Image/Adjustments/Auto Color. Liking what I have now, it's time to crop the image to 100 pixels by 100 pixels. Usually after I crop, I tend to think that the image is blurry, so I sharpen the image by going to Filter/Sharpen/Sharpen. I did this once for this image, but it's a personal call as to what you think looks best. Now, you should have something looking like this.
Now comes the fun part. Start off with adding a blue exclusion layer. I do this by going to Layer/New Fill Layer/Solid Color. A new window should open titled New Layer. In the Mode pulldown, select Exclusion and hit okay. Now, select a blue that gives the image a somewhat faded effect. In my case, I used #001744, but once again, this is a personal preference. Go with what you like. You should now have something like this.
Now, duplicate Layer 1 by right clicking on it and selecting Duplicate Layer. Now, move this copy so it's on top of your exclusion layer. Once you've done this, make sure you've got Layer 1 copy highlighted and go to Image/Adjustments/Desaturate. In the layer palette, change the pulldown menu from Normal to Overlay. You'll notice that your dark image has become darker. We'll fix this by going to Image/Adjustments/Hue/Saturation. Once this window comes up, look to the lower right and you'll see a radio box Colorize. Select this and note what happens to your image. Move the saturation slide to 100, and the Hue slide to somewhere in the orange to yellow range. I'm using 43, but once again this is a personal preference. The reason for this step is to allow for the skintones to come through the additional layers that will be added later.
But now, John and Aeryn are all orange looking. So, go back to Layer 1 in your Layer palette and duplicate it once again. Move this new copy (Layer 1 copy 2) to the top, selecting the Screen blend mode. You should now be left with the following.
Now it's time to incorporate the gradients. I got mine from
crumblingwalls, using her three color set. Going to Layer/New Fill Layer/Gradient, you'll get another window. From here, select the three color gray gradient at an offset. I usually go with something in the range of -145 to -155 depending on the lighting of the gradient. Set this gradient layer to Overlay. Now, duplicate this layer and place it on top. Set this one to Soft Light. Duplicate this new layer and place it on top. Set this one to Color. If you've done everything correctly, your icon should now look like this.Pretty drab,eh? No worries, cuz it's time to color in the lines. Remember that layer we set to screen way back when (Layer 1 copy 2)? Well, you need to duplicate that and move it to the top of the three gradients you currently have. From here, go to Layer/New Fill Layer/Solid Color and choose a blue you want to work with. I ended up using #93C4FF, but like I've said many times, it's personal preference. Set this layer to Color blend mode. You should now have something like this.
Now, pat yourself on the back. You've colored your icon. Now, it's just a matter of prettying it up. In this case, I used the Blur tool to soften John and Aeryn since they seemed rather pixelated. As for the background, I used the Smudge tool to bring John and Aeryn more into focus. From there, I created a new layer and added my border. Then, it's just a simple matter of adding the text. I'm using Arial Black 9 pt for the white text with a 1 pixel stroke and a shadow drop. For the black text, I'm using Suwa 8 pt after rotating the canvas 90 degrees CW. After inserting the necessary text and rotating back 90 degrees CCW, what you're left with is the final product.
Note that the coloring for this one differs from the initial icon since I most likely didn't use the same blue as before. However, the method is sound. So, that does it for my first tutorial. Hope you've enjoyed it as much as I did writing (and recreating) it. Feel free to ask questions if you have trouble following. I'll do my best to help.