| tutorial: buffy the vampire slayer
From: 
to:
program: photoshop cs5
translatable: yes, if you skip the vibrance layers
fandom: buffy the vampire slayer
requested by: kirtash_girl for ask the maker at icon_talk
kirtash_girl wanted to know about the colors in this icon, and I aim to please. :) I will say right now, that again, this icon is a complete recreation of the original. Blah blah, I don't save psds, blah blah. XD Hope that's ok. This is a little image heavy and has a lot of steps, though. You've been warned.
STEP ONE
First step's the same, cropping. I pasted the full size image of Buffy into a 100x100 and cropped it with Free-Transform.
STEP TWO
>
I duplicated the base twice and set the first copy to Screen (80%) and the second copy to Soft Light (40%). I tried setting both copies to 100% opacity, but it became too bright for my liking, so reducing the opacity of each copy was really necessary to maintain the contrast overall.
STEP THREE
>
I wanted a more natural pinkish tone for her face, so I added a bluish color fill layer (#000718) between the Soft Light and Screen layer and set it to Screen (50%).
STEP FOUR
>
I added a Levels layer for more contrast. I changed 'Custom' in the dropdown box to 'Darker'and it did the trick nicely.
STEP FIVE
>
I added this gradient:
and set it to Soft Light (55%). And then I added another Levels layer, this time changing 'Custom' to 'Increase Contrast 1'.
STEP SIX
>
Created a new layer and added some light blobs in white with a large soft 100px brush, around the edges of the icon (her hair and the grass behind her) then blurred the blobs with gaussian blur at 45px. (this was a tip I picked up from a tut by mm3butterfly).
STEP SEVEN
>
Copy-merged my layers and pasted at this point, setting the copy to Soft Light (100%). This, in my mind, kind of 'sets' everything I've added so far and makes the icon more cohesive. Or that might all be in my head, I don't know. :D
STEP EIGHT
>
It felt like I lost a little contrast with the Soft Light layer, so I added another Levels adjustment, setting 'Custom' to 'Darker'.
STEP NINE
>
Buffy's skin is too washed out for my liking, so I add another color fill layer, this time in blue/purple (#0b0615) and set it to Screen 65%.
STEP TEN
>
Copy-merged again and set to Soft Light (35%).
STEP ELEVEN
>
To enhance the colors that were lost with the new Soft Light layer, I added some adjustment layers to bring them back.
Selective Color: neutrals | blacks: +43
Vibrance: +54, 0 (opacity 23% and blend mode at Color)
Levels: 'custom' changed to 'darker'
Hue/Saturation: +12
STEP TWELVE
>
At this point, I was really not liking how washed out some elements of the icon had gotten (i.e. her hair, the grass behind her and her lips). To fix that, I decided to use a paint brush and brush over these areas with some color to enhance them more.
For Buffy's hair, I created a new blank layer and set it to Soft Light (100%). Then, with my color picker tool I selected a yellow color from Buffy's hair ->
(#edc54f). Using a small soft round paint brush, I painted over Buffy's hair in the yellow. I lowered the opacity of the layer to 75% to ease up on the intensity.
STEP THIRTEEN
>
For Buffy's lips, I chose a pinkish color ->
(#fb5579) and using the same steps above, I painted over her lips. I lowered the opacity of the layer again to around 75%. Remember that the layer must be set to Soft Light in order for this to work! I tried some other blending modes (color, multiply) and they didn't seem to work as well as Soft Light! :)
STEP FOURTEEN
>
Finally, for the grass behind her, I chose a light green ->
(#64cc1c) and again with a small soft round brush, painted over the area of grass to bring it out. I left the opacity of the layer at 100% opacity because I liked how it looked.
STEP FIFTEEN
>
To make things a little more shiny, I added another couple light blobs on a new layer (from step six above) and blurred it with gaussian blur. I copy-merged everything and set the new copy to Soft Light (53%). I blurred the Soft Light copy slightly to take the edge off the contrast.
STEP SIXTEEN
>
Another Levels layer set to 'Darker' and another copy-merge of everything. I used filter -> other -> high pass at 0.4 and set the layer to Hard Light (10%) to slightly sharpen everything.
STEP SEVENTEEN
>
To keep things from falling flat upon saving, I added a brightness/contrast layer (-5, +5) and a Vibrance layer (+20, 0) set to Color.
STEP EIGHTEEN
>
Copy-merged again. I wanted to soften up Buffy's features because all the contrast I added kind of roughed up her skin and hair a little. I used the blur tool with a small soft round brush with strength and opacity at 6% to soften up the hair and the skin. I lowered the opacity of this layer to 80%. I added another layer of light blobs (step six again!) blurred with gaussian blur to further give the overall icon a shinier softer look and lowered the opacity to 40% so it wasn't so intense. And that's it! (finally!!!)
Compared to the original:
I hope this was helpful in some way. Feel free to ask any questions.
to:
program: photoshop cs5
translatable: yes, if you skip the vibrance layers
fandom: buffy the vampire slayer
requested by: kirtash_girl for ask the maker at icon_talk
kirtash_girl wanted to know about the colors in this icon, and I aim to please. :) I will say right now, that again, this icon is a complete recreation of the original. Blah blah, I don't save psds, blah blah. XD Hope that's ok. This is a little image heavy and has a lot of steps, though. You've been warned.
STEP ONE
First step's the same, cropping. I pasted the full size image of Buffy into a 100x100 and cropped it with Free-Transform.
STEP TWO
>
I duplicated the base twice and set the first copy to Screen (80%) and the second copy to Soft Light (40%). I tried setting both copies to 100% opacity, but it became too bright for my liking, so reducing the opacity of each copy was really necessary to maintain the contrast overall.
STEP THREE
>
I wanted a more natural pinkish tone for her face, so I added a bluish color fill layer (#000718) between the Soft Light and Screen layer and set it to Screen (50%).
STEP FOUR
>
I added a Levels layer for more contrast. I changed 'Custom' in the dropdown box to 'Darker'and it did the trick nicely.
STEP FIVE
>
I added this gradient:
and set it to Soft Light (55%). And then I added another Levels layer, this time changing 'Custom' to 'Increase Contrast 1'.
STEP SIX
>
Created a new layer and added some light blobs in white with a large soft 100px brush, around the edges of the icon (her hair and the grass behind her) then blurred the blobs with gaussian blur at 45px. (this was a tip I picked up from a tut by mm3butterfly).
STEP SEVEN
>
Copy-merged my layers and pasted at this point, setting the copy to Soft Light (100%). This, in my mind, kind of 'sets' everything I've added so far and makes the icon more cohesive. Or that might all be in my head, I don't know. :D
STEP EIGHT
>
It felt like I lost a little contrast with the Soft Light layer, so I added another Levels adjustment, setting 'Custom' to 'Darker'.
STEP NINE
>
Buffy's skin is too washed out for my liking, so I add another color fill layer, this time in blue/purple (#0b0615) and set it to Screen 65%.
STEP TEN
>
Copy-merged again and set to Soft Light (35%).
STEP ELEVEN
>
To enhance the colors that were lost with the new Soft Light layer, I added some adjustment layers to bring them back.
Selective Color: neutrals | blacks: +43
Vibrance: +54, 0 (opacity 23% and blend mode at Color)
Levels: 'custom' changed to 'darker'
Hue/Saturation: +12
STEP TWELVE
>
At this point, I was really not liking how washed out some elements of the icon had gotten (i.e. her hair, the grass behind her and her lips). To fix that, I decided to use a paint brush and brush over these areas with some color to enhance them more.
For Buffy's hair, I created a new blank layer and set it to Soft Light (100%). Then, with my color picker tool I selected a yellow color from Buffy's hair ->
(#edc54f). Using a small soft round paint brush, I painted over Buffy's hair in the yellow. I lowered the opacity of the layer to 75% to ease up on the intensity.
STEP THIRTEEN
>
For Buffy's lips, I chose a pinkish color ->
(#fb5579) and using the same steps above, I painted over her lips. I lowered the opacity of the layer again to around 75%. Remember that the layer must be set to Soft Light in order for this to work! I tried some other blending modes (color, multiply) and they didn't seem to work as well as Soft Light! :)
STEP FOURTEEN
>
Finally, for the grass behind her, I chose a light green ->
(#64cc1c) and again with a small soft round brush, painted over the area of grass to bring it out. I left the opacity of the layer at 100% opacity because I liked how it looked.
STEP FIFTEEN
>
To make things a little more shiny, I added another couple light blobs on a new layer (from step six above) and blurred it with gaussian blur. I copy-merged everything and set the new copy to Soft Light (53%). I blurred the Soft Light copy slightly to take the edge off the contrast.
STEP SIXTEEN
>
Another Levels layer set to 'Darker' and another copy-merge of everything. I used filter -> other -> high pass at 0.4 and set the layer to Hard Light (10%) to slightly sharpen everything.
STEP SEVENTEEN
>
To keep things from falling flat upon saving, I added a brightness/contrast layer (-5, +5) and a Vibrance layer (+20, 0) set to Color.
STEP EIGHTEEN
>
Copy-merged again. I wanted to soften up Buffy's features because all the contrast I added kind of roughed up her skin and hair a little. I used the blur tool with a small soft round brush with strength and opacity at 6% to soften up the hair and the skin. I lowered the opacity of this layer to 80%. I added another layer of light blobs (step six again!) blurred with gaussian blur to further give the overall icon a shinier softer look and lowered the opacity to 40% so it wasn't so intense. And that's it! (finally!!!)
Compared to the original:
I hope this was helpful in some way. Feel free to ask any questions.