so three coloring tutorials.
all of these start in the same way, end is different.
so make sure to add the first five steps to every coloring : D

choose your base, crop and resize. i used pics of emily browning for these tuts ^__^

so lets start.. this is like "the base" for every coloring.

1. new color fill layer.
bright orange, #ef7c21, set to soft light 100%
this makes your base orangeis.

2. another color fill.
#a1c1be, soft light 100%

3. color fill with dark blue, #0b102c, set to exclusion 100%

4. color fill with dark red, #462a13, exclusion 54%

5. then duplicate your base and drag it to the top. set it to color 100%.
now your icon should look something like this:


now the "actual" colorings..
the first.
from: to:

this doesn't work with "blank" pictures, they will turn out badly < ___ <
for example: this isn't a good picture for this one.

6. color fill. light blue, #d2f2ff. color burn 100%

7. selective color layer.
reds: -63, 0, 44, 40
yellows: 0, 0, 54, 0
cyans: 100, 0, 0, 0
blacks: 0, 0, 0, 21

duplicate this layer.

8. color fill, #1a0608. exclusion 100%

9. curves layer.
1st point: output:77 input:75
2nd point: output:142 input:130

10. selective color layer.
reds: 0, 0, 100, 100
yellows: 0, 0, 100, 0
greens: 100, 0, 0, 0
cyans: 100, 0, 0, 0
neutrals: 7, 0, 0, 0
blacks: -10, 0, 0, 0


11. add this texture: (by who?)
set to screen 100%. move, rotate if you want.

12. i added "E" with times new roman, set to italics.

and you're doneee. (i enhanced her eyes, we'll get back to that at the end of these tutorials.)
((this may turn your icon out really yellow and ugly, edit the selective color layers and lower the yellows ^__^))

so the second coloring.
from: to:

6. selective color layer
reds: -41, 0, 100, 48
yellows: 0, 0, 100, 0
cyans: 100, 0, 0, 0
whites: 10, 0, 0, 0

7. color fill. #c8edfc. multiply 100%

8. selective color.
reds: -59, 0, 100, 0
yellows: 0, 0, 100, 0
cyans: 100, 0, 0, 0


9. color fill. #210505, exclusion 100%

10. selective color.
reds: -33, 0, 100, 51
yellows: 0, 0, 36, 0
cyans: 100, 0, 0, 0
neutrals: 0, 0, 0, -18


11. color fill, #e9ddff. set to multiply 100%

and this is ready : > (plus the enhancing to the eyess.)


so the last tutorial.
from: to:

6. color fill, #060823. exclusion 100%

7. curves layer.
1st point: output:58, input:82
2nd point: output:120, input:132


8. color fill. #fcddbe, multiply 14%

9. selective color.
reds: 10, 29, 42, 29
yellows: 0, 0, -68, 0
neutrals: 20, 0, 0, 0


10. another selective color layer.
reds; -6, 0, 16, 41
yellows: 0, 0, 68, 0
cyans: 100, 0, 0 ,0

11. i added "emily", times new roman set to italics.

and you're ready!

now, how to enhance the eyes.

create a new layer.
select a brush, soft round, size around 1px to 7px, depending on you and the size of your eye/s.
then start brushing.
choose the color you want to use and brush, i suggest you to use many colors : D it can look preet amazing.
i used for emily's eyes green, blue, cyan, brown, a bit of yellow, orange and red.

at some point, i usually blur what i've done to make it look smoother. and then i add the lighter parts.
for example, in the first tut, i added a little bit of yellow.

you can leave this layer to normal, but i suggest you to try multiply/color burn/ screen/ color dodge/ soft light/ color.
or of course you can duplicate your layer, and set them to different blending modes.
for example, in the first tut i duplicated the layers and set both to color dodge.

i guess that's it.
phew.

download .psd's at deviantart
it's a zip file including all three.

- questions? ask!
- comments make me happy : >
- you can friend me for updates.
- enjoy!

original post at my journal