Alison Icon Tutorial - Black/White & Coloring
Alison (from A Fine Frenzy) Icon Tutorial
How to make
or
Program Used: Photoshop CS2
Color Balance & Selective Coloring Used
01. Start with your base. This tutorial works well with saturated or dark images. Anything with lots of red in it, low saturation or really bright images won't look very good. However, don't be afraid to try it if your image does have these characteristics. There are certain steps you can skip or tone down to make yours work.
02. Copy your base and set it to Screen 100%.
You can always go back later and lower the opacity or skip it entirely if yours doesn't look good.
03. New Layer: Color Balance.
Set Midtones to -28, -15, -16.
04. New Layer: Hue/Saturation.
Set Master Saturation to +17. If that's too much, you can lower it.
05. New Layer: Color Fill. #c1ccf5
Set to Color Burn 100%. This is really going to affect your coloring later, so you can always go back and lower the opacity if it doesn't look good.
06. New Layer: Selective Coloring.
Red: C:-29, Y:+12, B:+15
Yellow: C:-35, Y: -29
Cyans: C:+14, Y:+9
Neutrals: C:+26, Y:+5
Feel free to fiddle around with these settings. My icon has red hair, but it works with this. Anything else and it might end up too red for your taste.
07. New Layer: Color Fill. #bdbdbd
Set to Screen 100%. This is going to wash out your image a lot but don't worry; the next step will take care of that problem.
08. Copy your base and bring it to the top. Set it to Vivid Light 100%.
09. Now, your icon might look good here.
The original image I used here had enough saturation and low red coloring to keep the icon from looking too washed out or shocking. If you want to go back and fiddle around with the previous layers and settings, do so now. If you can find something that works, good. But if nothing is working, consider adding another layer.
10. New Layer: Gradient Map.
One color should be #bdbdbd and the other should be black.
You can also just go with plain black and white coloring here; it doesn't affect the final image that much. This is what I came up with.
And now you're done. If your icon is still too bright or dark, try adding a Levels layer or going back and lowering the opacity on the Screen Layer or deleting it all together. There are some more examples below. I twinged with the settings on the final two icons to make the images work better with the tutorial, adding a Curves layer & lowering the red saturation. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I'm always happy to help. I've also included a .psd link.
.PSD DOWNLOAD
How to make
or
Program Used: Photoshop CS2
Color Balance & Selective Coloring Used
01. Start with your base. This tutorial works well with saturated or dark images. Anything with lots of red in it, low saturation or really bright images won't look very good. However, don't be afraid to try it if your image does have these characteristics. There are certain steps you can skip or tone down to make yours work.
02. Copy your base and set it to Screen 100%.
You can always go back later and lower the opacity or skip it entirely if yours doesn't look good.
03. New Layer: Color Balance.
Set Midtones to -28, -15, -16.
04. New Layer: Hue/Saturation.
Set Master Saturation to +17. If that's too much, you can lower it.
05. New Layer: Color Fill. #c1ccf5
Set to Color Burn 100%. This is really going to affect your coloring later, so you can always go back and lower the opacity if it doesn't look good.
06. New Layer: Selective Coloring.
Red: C:-29, Y:+12, B:+15
Yellow: C:-35, Y: -29
Cyans: C:+14, Y:+9
Neutrals: C:+26, Y:+5
Feel free to fiddle around with these settings. My icon has red hair, but it works with this. Anything else and it might end up too red for your taste.
07. New Layer: Color Fill. #bdbdbd
Set to Screen 100%. This is going to wash out your image a lot but don't worry; the next step will take care of that problem.
08. Copy your base and bring it to the top. Set it to Vivid Light 100%.
09. Now, your icon might look good here.
The original image I used here had enough saturation and low red coloring to keep the icon from looking too washed out or shocking. If you want to go back and fiddle around with the previous layers and settings, do so now. If you can find something that works, good. But if nothing is working, consider adding another layer.
10. New Layer: Gradient Map.
One color should be #bdbdbd and the other should be black.
You can also just go with plain black and white coloring here; it doesn't affect the final image that much. This is what I came up with.
And now you're done. If your icon is still too bright or dark, try adding a Levels layer or going back and lowering the opacity on the Screen Layer or deleting it all together. There are some more examples below. I twinged with the settings on the final two icons to make the images work better with the tutorial, adding a Curves layer & lowering the red saturation. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I'm always happy to help. I've also included a .psd link.
.PSD DOWNLOAD