icon tutorial #001
A very late tutorial requested by 
lu_hesperia.
--> 
My sincere apologies for the super lateness of this, Lu. orz I've just realized that it has been more than a year since I said I'll post it immediately. ;____; I'm so very sorry. I'm also sorry for the utter noob-ness of this post. My first ever icon tutorial... if there's anything that's unclear, please tell me?
01. Started with this
image of Sumeragi Subaru; I removed the background and cropped it then placed it on the right corner of the icon. I adjusted the color and brightness using Levels, Color Balance and Brightness/Contrast. (Layer >> Adjustments >> Levels / Color Balance / Brightness/Contrast).
02. Under the layer of the image, I filled the background with c77d06. This will serve as the "base" of the background.
03. I then pasted this texture by bttrflykiss on top of the "base" background on Soft Light, Opacity 100%.
04. Next, I went back to the image. To get that blurred effect, I duplicated it and then smudged the corners of the top layer using the Smudge Tool. Once that was done, I erased some portion of the smudged image (focused on the corners). I then duplicated the original layer of the image (again) and placed it on top of the smudged one; set it on Soft Light, Opacity 11%.
05. I pasted another texture by bttrflykiss on top of everything and set it on Soft Light, Opacity 100%. After this, I smudged the left side a bit and erased some parts on Subaru's face.
06. Then, I duplicated the texture and set it to Screen. Subaru looked really bright and yellow, so I erased most of the middle part leaving only the top and the bottom-left side.
07. Next, I added this texture, also by bttrflykiss, on Multiply, Opacity 100%. Just like in the previous step, I erased the parts on Subaru, so that only the top and left side remained.
08. It looked rather dark, so I used this texture (by bttrflykiss again) on Soft Light, Opacity 100%. Of course, I erased the parts on Subaru's face.
09. I then pasted this texture by bttrflykiss, of course XDD;; and set it on Screen, Opacity 100%; erased the middle part leaving only the sides.
10. It became rather washed out, so I used this texture by dustymemories on Color Burn, Opacity 100%; smudged it a bit to smoothen out the grunge-y effect of the texture.
11. Next, I pasted this texture by sanctuarylight on Soft Light, Opacity 32%; erased some parts on the four corners.
12. Then, I used this texture (I'm not sure who made it, so if you know, please tell me, so I can give proper credit to the maker) to lighten the colors. It looked a bit washed out/distracting, so I ended up erasing some parts around Subaru.
13. Now for the text! I got the phrase "saw the sunset in the east" from the 7th opening song of Hitman REBORN! 'Funny Sunny Day' by SxOxU. I typed each word separately and rotated them.
For 'saw' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 14, height: 120%, color: fdfdfd); for 'the' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 12, height: 120%, color: fdfdfd); for 'sunset' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 14, height: 120%, color: c23402); for 'in' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 12, height: 120%, color: c23402); and for 'east' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 30, height: 120%, color: fdfdfd). Then, I duplicated 'east' and blur it (Filter >> Blur >> Motion Blur >> Angle: 25, Distance: 70 pixels).
It's up to you if you still want to erase some of the lines on the sides. :)
Aaannnnd here's the end result
lu_hesperia. --> My sincere apologies for the super lateness of this, Lu. orz I've just realized that it has been more than a year since I said I'll post it immediately. ;____; I'm so very sorry. I'm also sorry for the utter noob-ness of this post. My first ever icon tutorial... if there's anything that's unclear, please tell me?
01. Started with this
image of Sumeragi Subaru; I removed the background and cropped it then placed it on the right corner of the icon. I adjusted the color and brightness using Levels, Color Balance and Brightness/Contrast. (Layer >> Adjustments >> Levels / Color Balance / Brightness/Contrast).
02. Under the layer of the image, I filled the background with c77d06. This will serve as the "base" of the background.
03. I then pasted this texture by bttrflykiss on top of the "base" background on Soft Light, Opacity 100%.
04. Next, I went back to the image. To get that blurred effect, I duplicated it and then smudged the corners of the top layer using the Smudge Tool. Once that was done, I erased some portion of the smudged image (focused on the corners). I then duplicated the original layer of the image (again) and placed it on top of the smudged one; set it on Soft Light, Opacity 11%.
05. I pasted another texture by bttrflykiss on top of everything and set it on Soft Light, Opacity 100%. After this, I smudged the left side a bit and erased some parts on Subaru's face.
06. Then, I duplicated the texture and set it to Screen. Subaru looked really bright and yellow, so I erased most of the middle part leaving only the top and the bottom-left side.
07. Next, I added this texture, also by bttrflykiss, on Multiply, Opacity 100%. Just like in the previous step, I erased the parts on Subaru, so that only the top and left side remained.
08. It looked rather dark, so I used this texture (by bttrflykiss again) on Soft Light, Opacity 100%. Of course, I erased the parts on Subaru's face.
09. I then pasted this texture by bttrflykiss, of course XDD;; and set it on Screen, Opacity 100%; erased the middle part leaving only the sides.
10. It became rather washed out, so I used this texture by dustymemories on Color Burn, Opacity 100%; smudged it a bit to smoothen out the grunge-y effect of the texture.
11. Next, I pasted this texture by sanctuarylight on Soft Light, Opacity 32%; erased some parts on the four corners.
12. Then, I used this texture (I'm not sure who made it, so if you know, please tell me, so I can give proper credit to the maker) to lighten the colors. It looked a bit washed out/distracting, so I ended up erasing some parts around Subaru.
13. Now for the text! I got the phrase "saw the sunset in the east" from the 7th opening song of Hitman REBORN! 'Funny Sunny Day' by SxOxU. I typed each word separately and rotated them.
For 'saw' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 14, height: 120%, color: fdfdfd); for 'the' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 12, height: 120%, color: fdfdfd); for 'sunset' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 14, height: 120%, color: c23402); for 'in' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 12, height: 120%, color: c23402); and for 'east' (font face: Baskerville Old Face, font size: 30, height: 120%, color: fdfdfd). Then, I duplicated 'east' and blur it (Filter >> Blur >> Motion Blur >> Angle: 25, Distance: 70 pixels).
It's up to you if you still want to erase some of the lines on the sides. :)
Aaannnnd here's the end result