#132 (HAHA I'M AN IDIOT)
HAHAHAA. I accidentally deleted the first part, so THANKFULLY I kept it on my journal. Sorry that the 2nd part is over a week. Work's been zapping me of energy, sorry about that. Anyway, here it is. For the first part, check here. Keep in mind this won't work with every image, but I doubt it's nothing a Selective Color layer can't fix! ;P
This tutorial will be split up into at least two parts. It is one of the largest icons I've made (layers wise) and therefore I beg you to bare with me here.
First off, I stared off with this cap:
I adore Romola and this cap is just so beautiful, this brief moment where she tries to calm her mind. I want her to stand out from the background while keeping it looking natural (ish).
Before I get into specifics I want to take a brief detour to talk about achieving the pale/pastelish coloring. At fir this came really difficult to me---and with come caps it's still a bitch. However, I found a PSD that as taught me a great deal, which I can only praise and hope you will enjoy and learn from to. The maddeningly talented slayground posted this psd and when learning your own way it can offer you some tips and relief when frustrated. That being said, I still do my own thing, I've learned and I cannot say enough about using a PSD to learn.
We will be using a number of textures. To make this a little easier on us all, I made a zip file which ca be found here.
*****EDIT******* Since writing this, the lovely and talented Slayground had left Tumblr. I uploaded the psd to mediafire, however, STILL CREDIT HER. If anyone has any other ideas on a better way to credit her, I'm open.
We're starting off with this:
As usual I duplicated the layer and went to Auto Contrast, duplicated again, then Auto color...etc. After fiddling with the opacities on each I selected all, and copy merged it onto a new layer setting it to Screen.
Going in I knew I wanted to do a more pastelish coloring so I added a Gradient Map. I use this one regularly and I recommend you keep it, it's a handy tool!
#fbebd9 >>> #000000
After some playing, I ended up lowering the Fill, I usually end up with it under 50%, but it depends on the quality of the image you are dealing with.
Next I saw that it needed some lightening and to be made a little softer. In this case I used a Curves layer. This is approx the numbers, I end up moving them when I tried to look, so just play and see what you like.
RGB >> 140, 125
Blues >> 255, 240 // 145, 125
At this point, she's a wee bit too blue so this time I opened up a Levels layer and fiddled with everything except the RGB. I will again give rough numbers--I really want you to fiddle here folks!
R >> 10, 1, 240
G >> 10, 1, 230
B >> 10, 1, 250
I'm well aware that just sort of underminded the blues--but I had a reason for it. I think. Maybe. Meh. Going to add some color depth to the shadows so it's time to open up everyone's favorite---Selective Color!
Reds: 10, 5, 20, 20
Okay, first texture of many to come! I have no idea what it's from--I had to get rid of a lot of my textures to make space on my computer so if you recognize it TELL ME. Anyway I too this and set it to Darken on 40% Fill. Then I added a layer mask and brushed it off of Romola.
Next we're going to cool her off a bit so I opened up a Photo Filter (Cyan) set to Density: 25.
This step is mostly for me, but I opened up a Color Balance layer to heighten the cool blues.
Midtones: -5, 0 , 5
Next I opened another Gradient Map with a personal favorite color combo of mine. This will seem odd, but I like it. #8bc4c1 >> #ebe8dd (keep this color combo, it will be reused). At this point I copy merge onto a new layer (you can delete the Gradient map if you want, we don't really need it anymore) and go to Auto Contrast. I set the layer to Soft Light, and lower the Opacity and Fill to about 40%.
The reason I'm doing this is because I want the texture to seem more natural than it is...I think.
Now, she looks a little frostbitten so let's start warming her back up with a Selective Color layer.
Reds: -70, 15, 100, -40
Yellows: -20, 0, 0, 100
Greens: 100, 100, -80, 100
Cyans: 80, -2, 20, 15
Blues: -25, -40, 100, 50
Open up a fill layer and pick a really dark purple (I used 241c25), set it to Screen at 40%.
So you remember that teal to light yellow gradient map? Well, now make a Gradient Fill with it, and set it to Softlight, I lowered the Fill to 50%.
Another Selective Color layer. Something about her hair in this really just--I like it. So this will help keep it a bit yellow.
Yellows: 100, -99, 100, -100
Greens: 100, 0, 0 , 0
Cyans: 70, -5, 0, 100
Blues: 70, 70, 100, 90
Another 2 textures--no idea where from. First a pale pink set to Darken at 30% Fill. Then this blue texture set to Screen with the Fill lowered below 50%.
We're gonna warm her up some more with another Photo Filter, using #ec8a02.
These next few steps we're going to be using Selective Color layers to sort of distribute the warmth with another Selective Color...weird I know.
Reds: -60, 0, 100, 100
Cyans: 80, 75, 80, 100
Blues: 100, 100, 100, 100,
Magentas: -100, 100, 100, 0
////
Whites: +46, +14, -19, +37
Copy Merge onto a new layer and go to filter then Angled Strokes, set Direction Balance to 100, and Stroke length anywhere from 9-11. Keep the Sharpness on 0. Add a mask layer and brush away everything on Romola.
Alrighty so I want her to pop more from the background. There is more than one way to do this. I decided to copy merge again and go to Image >> Adjustments >> Variations and make sure it's on Mid-tones before clicking Darker 3 times. Then click okay.
Okay, so here's the fun part! Copy merge onto a new layer again, and using the Clone Stamp Tool I got rid of that pesky dark window frame.
Use the 1st copy that you made and mask out Romola, setting the layer to Screen. Then Copy Merge onto a new layer.
****Duplicate this layer and put it aside for now.****
Using the newly made copy go to Gaussian Blur set to 1.5 and lower the Fill to 50% but keep it on Normal. Then Copy Merge onto a new layer.
Using another copy got to Motion Blur, angle set to: -39, distance: 10.
Copy merge once more and set it to Multiply. Add a layer mask and lightly erase some of the highlighted areas.
Now add a curves layer, this is just to add more light, so you don't need to get too picky.
Mine is about O: 150 I: 100
So, you remember that layer you duplicated and set aside? Bring it up top, and inverse the mask layer (command + I)
Add another Curves layer to brighten it up.
Now we're cooking with gas! I don't know, I just wanted to say that. ANYWAY...we're going to be adding textures 4-6 now.
texture 4: Darken. Opacity: 30%, Fill: 50%
texture 5: Screen. Opacity: 100%, Fill: 60%
texture 6: Screen. Opacity: 50%, Fill: 46%
****Copy merge this layer and put it aside for now.****
It's really too bright right now, way too pale. I know, I know. So crack open another Curves layer.
Output: 94
Input: 157
Now she's looking too, I don't know icky. Time to add another Selective Color layer.
Reds: -5, -42, -48, -10
Yellows: -43, -23, +2, +21
Cyans: -100, +100, +40, -93
Whites: -50, -26, -52, -34
Neutrals: -9, +4, -13, -11
Now we're going to boost the color here a wee bit. If you have Vibrance open up a layer and set the Vibrance to +65. If you don't have it use yourself a Hue/Saturation layer.
Hue/Saturation: 0, 25+, 0
Now she's looking a little too magenta, yes? Crack yourselves open another Curves Layer.
RGB: O- 140 I- 124
Blue: O- 137 I- 152
We're going to boost the yellows a bit more now with a Selective Color.
Yellows: -64, -45, +36, +41
Greens: +100, +100, +100, +100
Remember that layer we copy merged and put aside? Well drag that puppy up and set it to Multiply, lowering the Opacity to 50%.
We're going to end that here for now, because, well I'm exhausted. And this is a lot to cover.
When we left off, we had this:
Now I want to make the background a little most separated from her, so I opened up a color filter and after fiddling I ended up using Cyan at 40% Fill set to Screen.
At this point I wanted to bring out more of the yellow in her hair so yes, you guessed it! Another Selective Color layer!
Yellows: -58, -80, +24, +68
Next I added texture #7 to bring more of a foggy soft look to it. I set it to Screen and lowered both Opacity and Fill to below 50%.
Still not enough, so I pasted on texture #8 as set it to Screen lowering the Fill to 50%.
After this I thought it looking a little too light and that I was losing contrast. Upon typing this up I realized I forgot a texture! I used this (the original version of texture #7, before auto contrast) and set it to Softlight at 100%.
Better but not enough. So I duplicated texture # 8 brought it to the top and set it to Softlight, lowering the Opacity to 40%.
Now I set to work on the shadows. I wanted more color depth to the black so I opened up yet another Selective Color layer.
Blacks: -10, 0, 0, +1
I wanted to bring out more shadows so I cracked open a Gradient Map (Black & White) and set it to Softlight, fiddling with the Fill between 50-40%.
The final texture!! I wanted to bring back more of the purple/pink colors so I pasted the final one in. First I set it on Screen and lowered the Opacity & Fill to 70-50%.
I found it washed her out and defeated the purpose of playing with the shadows so I duplicated the layer and set it to Softlight, lowering the Opacity to about 50%. I also brushed out a few areas lightly.
Time to make it a bit darker. Open up another Selective Color layer.
Reds: -43, +25, +17, +14
Yellows: -28, -40, +60, -4
Magentas: -25, +38, -35, +43
Blacks: 0, 0, 0, +23
One of my favorite things about this image is her hair. So open up another Selective COlor layer. Hey! HEY! No sighing, open it it.
Yellows: -52, +25, +27, -12
Magentas: +18, +37, +41, -6
Okay, so I don't remember why I did this. But I like it. So duplicate the last layer, move it to the top and desaturate it. Make sure it's set to 100% Opacity and Fill.
Time to kick up the yellows some more. Don't worry, it's a Color Balance layer this time. Too much yellow all over, so I brushed it out, so that her hair is the main focus.
Midtones: 0, 0, -30
>>>
I want to bring back that pale quality to it so another Selective Color layer.
Reds: +12, -34, -24, +7
Lets add on another layer of paleness. Second to last Selective Color layer!
Reds: +28, +11, +1, -11
Okay, copy merge onto a new layer. Then go to Images >> Adjustments >> Variations. Make sure it's on Midtones and click Lighten once. Then click Highlights, then Lighten and Yellow. Lower the Opacity to 60%.
LAST SELECTIVE COLOR LAYER.
Yellows: -94, -75, +31, +29
Whites: -20, -35, +75, -19
The background was too yellow, so I masked out the background with a hard brush with the Opacity and Flow to 100%. Then I took a softer edged brush, lowered the Opacity and Flow to 50%.
>>
And that's all she wrote.
Original /// Remake
>>>
If you have any questions, don't hesitate, I'll do my best to explain anything I failed to already. And don't forget if you want to know anything about other stuff, feel free to ask here:
Ask The Maker 4.0 || My Thread
This tutorial will be split up into at least two parts. It is one of the largest icons I've made (layers wise) and therefore I beg you to bare with me here.
First off, I stared off with this cap:
I adore Romola and this cap is just so beautiful, this brief moment where she tries to calm her mind. I want her to stand out from the background while keeping it looking natural (ish).
Before I get into specifics I want to take a brief detour to talk about achieving the pale/pastelish coloring. At fir this came really difficult to me---and with come caps it's still a bitch. However, I found a PSD that as taught me a great deal, which I can only praise and hope you will enjoy and learn from to. The maddeningly talented slayground posted this psd and when learning your own way it can offer you some tips and relief when frustrated. That being said, I still do my own thing, I've learned and I cannot say enough about using a PSD to learn.
We will be using a number of textures. To make this a little easier on us all, I made a zip file which ca be found here.
*****EDIT******* Since writing this, the lovely and talented Slayground had left Tumblr. I uploaded the psd to mediafire, however, STILL CREDIT HER. If anyone has any other ideas on a better way to credit her, I'm open.
We're starting off with this:
As usual I duplicated the layer and went to Auto Contrast, duplicated again, then Auto color...etc. After fiddling with the opacities on each I selected all, and copy merged it onto a new layer setting it to Screen.
Going in I knew I wanted to do a more pastelish coloring so I added a Gradient Map. I use this one regularly and I recommend you keep it, it's a handy tool!
#fbebd9 >>> #000000
After some playing, I ended up lowering the Fill, I usually end up with it under 50%, but it depends on the quality of the image you are dealing with.
Next I saw that it needed some lightening and to be made a little softer. In this case I used a Curves layer. This is approx the numbers, I end up moving them when I tried to look, so just play and see what you like.
RGB >> 140, 125
Blues >> 255, 240 // 145, 125
At this point, she's a wee bit too blue so this time I opened up a Levels layer and fiddled with everything except the RGB. I will again give rough numbers--I really want you to fiddle here folks!
R >> 10, 1, 240
G >> 10, 1, 230
B >> 10, 1, 250
I'm well aware that just sort of underminded the blues--but I had a reason for it. I think. Maybe. Meh. Going to add some color depth to the shadows so it's time to open up everyone's favorite---Selective Color!
Reds: 10, 5, 20, 20
Okay, first texture of many to come! I have no idea what it's from--I had to get rid of a lot of my textures to make space on my computer so if you recognize it TELL ME. Anyway I too this and set it to Darken on 40% Fill. Then I added a layer mask and brushed it off of Romola.
Next we're going to cool her off a bit so I opened up a Photo Filter (Cyan) set to Density: 25.
This step is mostly for me, but I opened up a Color Balance layer to heighten the cool blues.
Midtones: -5, 0 , 5
Next I opened another Gradient Map with a personal favorite color combo of mine. This will seem odd, but I like it. #8bc4c1 >> #ebe8dd (keep this color combo, it will be reused). At this point I copy merge onto a new layer (you can delete the Gradient map if you want, we don't really need it anymore) and go to Auto Contrast. I set the layer to Soft Light, and lower the Opacity and Fill to about 40%.
The reason I'm doing this is because I want the texture to seem more natural than it is...I think.
Now, she looks a little frostbitten so let's start warming her back up with a Selective Color layer.
Reds: -70, 15, 100, -40
Yellows: -20, 0, 0, 100
Greens: 100, 100, -80, 100
Cyans: 80, -2, 20, 15
Blues: -25, -40, 100, 50
Open up a fill layer and pick a really dark purple (I used 241c25), set it to Screen at 40%.
So you remember that teal to light yellow gradient map? Well, now make a Gradient Fill with it, and set it to Softlight, I lowered the Fill to 50%.
Another Selective Color layer. Something about her hair in this really just--I like it. So this will help keep it a bit yellow.
Yellows: 100, -99, 100, -100
Greens: 100, 0, 0 , 0
Cyans: 70, -5, 0, 100
Blues: 70, 70, 100, 90
Another 2 textures--no idea where from. First a pale pink set to Darken at 30% Fill. Then this blue texture set to Screen with the Fill lowered below 50%.
We're gonna warm her up some more with another Photo Filter, using #ec8a02.
These next few steps we're going to be using Selective Color layers to sort of distribute the warmth with another Selective Color...weird I know.
Reds: -60, 0, 100, 100
Cyans: 80, 75, 80, 100
Blues: 100, 100, 100, 100,
Magentas: -100, 100, 100, 0
////
Whites: +46, +14, -19, +37
Copy Merge onto a new layer and go to filter then Angled Strokes, set Direction Balance to 100, and Stroke length anywhere from 9-11. Keep the Sharpness on 0. Add a mask layer and brush away everything on Romola.
Alrighty so I want her to pop more from the background. There is more than one way to do this. I decided to copy merge again and go to Image >> Adjustments >> Variations and make sure it's on Mid-tones before clicking Darker 3 times. Then click okay.
Okay, so here's the fun part! Copy merge onto a new layer again, and using the Clone Stamp Tool I got rid of that pesky dark window frame.
Use the 1st copy that you made and mask out Romola, setting the layer to Screen. Then Copy Merge onto a new layer.
****Duplicate this layer and put it aside for now.****
Using the newly made copy go to Gaussian Blur set to 1.5 and lower the Fill to 50% but keep it on Normal. Then Copy Merge onto a new layer.
Using another copy got to Motion Blur, angle set to: -39, distance: 10.
Copy merge once more and set it to Multiply. Add a layer mask and lightly erase some of the highlighted areas.
Now add a curves layer, this is just to add more light, so you don't need to get too picky.
Mine is about O: 150 I: 100
So, you remember that layer you duplicated and set aside? Bring it up top, and inverse the mask layer (command + I)
Add another Curves layer to brighten it up.
Now we're cooking with gas! I don't know, I just wanted to say that. ANYWAY...we're going to be adding textures 4-6 now.
texture 4: Darken. Opacity: 30%, Fill: 50%
texture 5: Screen. Opacity: 100%, Fill: 60%
texture 6: Screen. Opacity: 50%, Fill: 46%
****Copy merge this layer and put it aside for now.****
It's really too bright right now, way too pale. I know, I know. So crack open another Curves layer.
Output: 94
Input: 157
Now she's looking too, I don't know icky. Time to add another Selective Color layer.
Reds: -5, -42, -48, -10
Yellows: -43, -23, +2, +21
Cyans: -100, +100, +40, -93
Whites: -50, -26, -52, -34
Neutrals: -9, +4, -13, -11
Now we're going to boost the color here a wee bit. If you have Vibrance open up a layer and set the Vibrance to +65. If you don't have it use yourself a Hue/Saturation layer.
Hue/Saturation: 0, 25+, 0
Now she's looking a little too magenta, yes? Crack yourselves open another Curves Layer.
RGB: O- 140 I- 124
Blue: O- 137 I- 152
We're going to boost the yellows a bit more now with a Selective Color.
Yellows: -64, -45, +36, +41
Greens: +100, +100, +100, +100
Remember that layer we copy merged and put aside? Well drag that puppy up and set it to Multiply, lowering the Opacity to 50%.
We're going to end that here for now, because, well I'm exhausted. And this is a lot to cover.
When we left off, we had this:
Now I want to make the background a little most separated from her, so I opened up a color filter and after fiddling I ended up using Cyan at 40% Fill set to Screen.
At this point I wanted to bring out more of the yellow in her hair so yes, you guessed it! Another Selective Color layer!
Yellows: -58, -80, +24, +68
Next I added texture #7 to bring more of a foggy soft look to it. I set it to Screen and lowered both Opacity and Fill to below 50%.
Still not enough, so I pasted on texture #8 as set it to Screen lowering the Fill to 50%.
After this I thought it looking a little too light and that I was losing contrast. Upon typing this up I realized I forgot a texture! I used this (the original version of texture #7, before auto contrast) and set it to Softlight at 100%.
Better but not enough. So I duplicated texture # 8 brought it to the top and set it to Softlight, lowering the Opacity to 40%.
Now I set to work on the shadows. I wanted more color depth to the black so I opened up yet another Selective Color layer.
Blacks: -10, 0, 0, +1
I wanted to bring out more shadows so I cracked open a Gradient Map (Black & White) and set it to Softlight, fiddling with the Fill between 50-40%.
The final texture!! I wanted to bring back more of the purple/pink colors so I pasted the final one in. First I set it on Screen and lowered the Opacity & Fill to 70-50%.
I found it washed her out and defeated the purpose of playing with the shadows so I duplicated the layer and set it to Softlight, lowering the Opacity to about 50%. I also brushed out a few areas lightly.
Time to make it a bit darker. Open up another Selective Color layer.
Reds: -43, +25, +17, +14
Yellows: -28, -40, +60, -4
Magentas: -25, +38, -35, +43
Blacks: 0, 0, 0, +23
One of my favorite things about this image is her hair. So open up another Selective COlor layer. Hey! HEY! No sighing, open it it.
Yellows: -52, +25, +27, -12
Magentas: +18, +37, +41, -6
Okay, so I don't remember why I did this. But I like it. So duplicate the last layer, move it to the top and desaturate it. Make sure it's set to 100% Opacity and Fill.
Time to kick up the yellows some more. Don't worry, it's a Color Balance layer this time. Too much yellow all over, so I brushed it out, so that her hair is the main focus.
Midtones: 0, 0, -30
>>>
I want to bring back that pale quality to it so another Selective Color layer.
Reds: +12, -34, -24, +7
Lets add on another layer of paleness. Second to last Selective Color layer!
Reds: +28, +11, +1, -11
Okay, copy merge onto a new layer. Then go to Images >> Adjustments >> Variations. Make sure it's on Midtones and click Lighten once. Then click Highlights, then Lighten and Yellow. Lower the Opacity to 60%.
LAST SELECTIVE COLOR LAYER.
Yellows: -94, -75, +31, +29
Whites: -20, -35, +75, -19
The background was too yellow, so I masked out the background with a hard brush with the Opacity and Flow to 100%. Then I took a softer edged brush, lowered the Opacity and Flow to 50%.
>>
And that's all she wrote.
Original /// Remake
>>>
If you have any questions, don't hesitate, I'll do my best to explain anything I failed to already. And don't forget if you want to know anything about other stuff, feel free to ask here:
Ask The Maker 4.0 || My Thread