applepips16 has requested 2 icon tutorials from my thread @ Ask the Maker,so tonight I'm sitting my butt down and getting the first one done!

I started out with this gorgeous picture of Cara Delevingne.I added a little topaz to it,but it's optional and actually doesn't make a big difference.Some sharpening would give you the same results in this case.

1.
I chose a close crop to bring all focus on Cara's beautiful face.

my topaz-ed base // natural base
I'll be recreating this icon from the natural base for users who don't have Topaz.

2.
The black outlines on the sides of her face bothered me,so I just used a small white Hard round brush and painted over them (same w/ Topaz-ed version)

The image is a little washed-out,and I want the details of Cara's face to be more sharp and clear,so let's do that first.
Duplicate base.Set on Multiply 25%.Filter->Sharpen->Sharpen,then Edit->Fade Sharpen to 60%.
Add a Vibrancy layer and boost it up 'til you're happy.I pulled this to +35.

3.
*Since this icon was for a Teen Wolf gender swap set,I colored the jacket's neck red to represent the Beacon High school colors.But that's irrelevant here so I'll just skip over that step.*

Daniel Sharman has gorgeous blue eyes,and I wanted to bring that out in this icon.Add a New layer.Use a Hard round brush with #4772dc blue to color over the eyes,then set to Soft Light 60%.

4.
Any textures would only be distracting to the main subject in such a close cropped icon,so I chose a plain yellow background as to complement the blue eyes and make the icon pop.
Paint over the background with #fe5a1e orange, set to Hard Light 60%.Why not just use yellow you ask? I honestly have no idea lol I just like doing things the hard way I guess.I might have considered using an orange background at first,but then saw it on yellow hard light was more fitting.IDK IDK moving on.

5.
Having to re-locate the textures I used is my least favorite step in making tutorials /SOBS/ my folder is a huge disorganized mess.
Set this texture by

fuuurs (with Saturation reduced to 60% and Contrast -35) on Soft Light 60%

6.
Add a Brightness/Contrast Layer and amp up the contrast by 10.
Add a Vibrance Layer with +75 Vibrancy

7.
Set a copper gradient layer on Soft Light to give the icon a right lighting source.

8.
Duplicate the gradient layer,but erase the majority of the top right corner so it wouldn't get washed out on that side, and add more shadow to the left.Set on Soft Light 40%

9.
Duplicate the copper gradient from step 7 and flip it horizontally.Erase most of the bottom left,set on Soft Light 50%

10.
I wanted just a little bit more of shadowing on the right side to bring out the smirk and the cheekbones before calling it good.So once again, I duplicate the copper gradient from the last step and erase most of it except for that area.Set on Soft Light 100%

AND WE'RE DONE.
I hope that was helpful and easy to understand:)

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