Tutorial: James Dean
- I did an Icon Evolution post on my journal last week, if anyone's interested!
- fahrbot asked me about this set of Bullitt icons I made, and apparently this means doing it at 3am. I don't have the Bullit caps anymore so the end result won't be exactly the same, but I picked a similarly colored movie - James Dean in Giant, cap thanks to cjmarlowe. Our James Dean love, let us show you it.
So! We are going from this gorgeous baby to this icon:
The following is image heavy, and you can click the smaller images for the full screencap. This is just one way of how I approach icons. I don't really care if you copy this exactly, it's a pretty simple coloring guide. Have fun and experiment, is all I ask!
For the record, this is all done in Adobe Photoshop 7. It's the only program I've ever used since I discovered it eons ago.
1. First, I brighten the screencap. I'll duplicate the background layer, and change that layer to screen. Most of the time this washes the cap out a bit, so I usually up the saturation - just hit Ctrl+U, and everything you do will affect the layer itself, which is what I want. Then I'll take that layer and duplicate it. Sometimes that makes it took bright, sometimes it's not bright enough. Two screen layesr was enough for this, and I turned the opacity on the layer down to about 82%. Play around with the layers for what looks right.
You should have two layers and the background now.
2. Create a new layer, and fill that with a dark blue set to exclusion. Turn the opacity down a bit so the blues in the shadows don't overwhelm the color.
The image is washed out, but I'll correct that later.
3. Make two new layers, and pick a yellowish cream color - I used #FAF3E1. Fill the first and set that layer to Multiply, then turn the opacity down. Mine looked good around 65%.
For the second new layer, fill it again with the same color, and set it to Color Burn. Turn the opacity down again, but a bit lower - Color Burn is a stronger effect than Multiply.
4. Create a new layer, and fill it with a light green color - I used #E4FAE1. Set it to Color Burn and turn the opacity waaaay down so it's not all green.
Now, this is where experimentation comes in. My image doesn't look quite right, so I'm going to end up adjusting the four fill layers I just made. I ended up just upping the opacity on the blue Exclusion layer to counteract the greens, and a little bit on the two yellows.
It's a very subtle change, but looks better. Just adjust things, play around until it looks the way you want it to.
5. Now comes the fun part! At least for me, anyway. :D On the layers palette, there's a small black/white circle for Adjustment Layers. Click on it, then choose what you want to play around with - for me, it's Selective Color. A little box will pop up for you to play with - I usually hit okay first without doing anything, just so my layer is there in the palette. Then I'll double click on it so the box comes up again, and now I'll work.
The thing about Selective Color is that no two images are the same. You can't take someone else's numbers, input them into an image you're working on and expect the same results. You have to play around with it, get a feel for what colors are affected. The easiest way is to make sure the preview box is checked, then just play with the sliders - move them to each extreme, see what areas of the image are affected, etc etc.
Blacks are my only constant for whatever images I work on. It's the first I pick out of the drop down menu to adjust. I'll only hit the blacks slider, and usually I'll add about three to seven points. Nothing drastic, just enough to darken the image's shadows a bit and give it depths.
6. After adjusting the Selective Color, I created a new layer. Now, I can go into Layer > Merge Visible to work on the image as a whole again once all the smaller steps are completed, but that will flatten all my layers, which I don't want. The shortcut for this is Ctrl+Shift+E. What I do is Alt+Ctrl+Shift+E - this does Merge Visible, but on the new layer only. This way, I can work on the whole image, new coloring and all without losing my previous layers in case I don't like what I'm doing.
(It actually took me a minute to find the Merge Visible again, the shortcut is second nature by now and I totally forgot where it was. >_>)
7. Now, the image still looks a little dark to me (on my laptop, at least), so I'm going to hit screen on this new layer and turn the opacity down. I even upped the Saturation a tiiiiny bit.
8. It's getting a little too warm now, so I just add a new layer, fill it with a light blue - I used #E1E6FA - and Color Burn. Then turn the opacity down, 36% in this case.
9. New layer, Alt+Ctrl+Shift+E again to merge everything on that new layer only. Now, the High Pass filter is an interesting one I learned about from another tutorial. It basically adds contrast, depth and sharpens the image all at once, which I find extremely handy.
With that new merged layer still selected, go to Filter > Other > High Pass. When the box pops up, change the radius to around 30, then hit OK.
Now, change that layer to Soft Light, and voila. Instant contrast, depth and sharpening. Just adjust the opacity a bit so it's not overwhelming.
Sometimes this might wash out the whites a bit, but all you have to do is add a yellow/cream Multiply layer to a very low opacity - usually around 20-30% to warm them up again. Or whatever looks good.
Looking at the finished icon here and the Bullit icons, I left a lot more of the blue Exclusion layer in. The difference in the caps themselves also affects how different the two came out.
After that, do what you will with the image. Crop, add textures, whatever! Photoshop is your oyster, play around.
If anyone is ever interested in how I made an icon, you're always free to ask. It's flattering. :>
- fahrbot asked me about this set of Bullitt icons I made, and apparently this means doing it at 3am. I don't have the Bullit caps anymore so the end result won't be exactly the same, but I picked a similarly colored movie - James Dean in Giant, cap thanks to cjmarlowe. Our James Dean love, let us show you it.
So! We are going from this gorgeous baby to this icon:
The following is image heavy, and you can click the smaller images for the full screencap. This is just one way of how I approach icons. I don't really care if you copy this exactly, it's a pretty simple coloring guide. Have fun and experiment, is all I ask!
For the record, this is all done in Adobe Photoshop 7. It's the only program I've ever used since I discovered it eons ago.
1. First, I brighten the screencap. I'll duplicate the background layer, and change that layer to screen. Most of the time this washes the cap out a bit, so I usually up the saturation - just hit Ctrl+U, and everything you do will affect the layer itself, which is what I want. Then I'll take that layer and duplicate it. Sometimes that makes it took bright, sometimes it's not bright enough. Two screen layesr was enough for this, and I turned the opacity on the layer down to about 82%. Play around with the layers for what looks right.
You should have two layers and the background now.
2. Create a new layer, and fill that with a dark blue set to exclusion. Turn the opacity down a bit so the blues in the shadows don't overwhelm the color.
The image is washed out, but I'll correct that later.
3. Make two new layers, and pick a yellowish cream color - I used #FAF3E1. Fill the first and set that layer to Multiply, then turn the opacity down. Mine looked good around 65%.
For the second new layer, fill it again with the same color, and set it to Color Burn. Turn the opacity down again, but a bit lower - Color Burn is a stronger effect than Multiply.
4. Create a new layer, and fill it with a light green color - I used #E4FAE1. Set it to Color Burn and turn the opacity waaaay down so it's not all green.
Now, this is where experimentation comes in. My image doesn't look quite right, so I'm going to end up adjusting the four fill layers I just made. I ended up just upping the opacity on the blue Exclusion layer to counteract the greens, and a little bit on the two yellows.
It's a very subtle change, but looks better. Just adjust things, play around until it looks the way you want it to.
5. Now comes the fun part! At least for me, anyway. :D On the layers palette, there's a small black/white circle for Adjustment Layers. Click on it, then choose what you want to play around with - for me, it's Selective Color. A little box will pop up for you to play with - I usually hit okay first without doing anything, just so my layer is there in the palette. Then I'll double click on it so the box comes up again, and now I'll work.
The thing about Selective Color is that no two images are the same. You can't take someone else's numbers, input them into an image you're working on and expect the same results. You have to play around with it, get a feel for what colors are affected. The easiest way is to make sure the preview box is checked, then just play with the sliders - move them to each extreme, see what areas of the image are affected, etc etc.
Blacks are my only constant for whatever images I work on. It's the first I pick out of the drop down menu to adjust. I'll only hit the blacks slider, and usually I'll add about three to seven points. Nothing drastic, just enough to darken the image's shadows a bit and give it depths.
6. After adjusting the Selective Color, I created a new layer. Now, I can go into Layer > Merge Visible to work on the image as a whole again once all the smaller steps are completed, but that will flatten all my layers, which I don't want. The shortcut for this is Ctrl+Shift+E. What I do is Alt+Ctrl+Shift+E - this does Merge Visible, but on the new layer only. This way, I can work on the whole image, new coloring and all without losing my previous layers in case I don't like what I'm doing.
(It actually took me a minute to find the Merge Visible again, the shortcut is second nature by now and I totally forgot where it was. >_>)
7. Now, the image still looks a little dark to me (on my laptop, at least), so I'm going to hit screen on this new layer and turn the opacity down. I even upped the Saturation a tiiiiny bit.
8. It's getting a little too warm now, so I just add a new layer, fill it with a light blue - I used #E1E6FA - and Color Burn. Then turn the opacity down, 36% in this case.
9. New layer, Alt+Ctrl+Shift+E again to merge everything on that new layer only. Now, the High Pass filter is an interesting one I learned about from another tutorial. It basically adds contrast, depth and sharpens the image all at once, which I find extremely handy.
With that new merged layer still selected, go to Filter > Other > High Pass. When the box pops up, change the radius to around 30, then hit OK.
Now, change that layer to Soft Light, and voila. Instant contrast, depth and sharpening. Just adjust the opacity a bit so it's not overwhelming.
Sometimes this might wash out the whites a bit, but all you have to do is add a yellow/cream Multiply layer to a very low opacity - usually around 20-30% to warm them up again. Or whatever looks good.
Looking at the finished icon here and the Bullit icons, I left a lot more of the blue Exclusion layer in. The difference in the caps themselves also affects how different the two came out.
After that, do what you will with the image. Crop, add textures, whatever! Photoshop is your oyster, play around.
If anyone is ever interested in how I made an icon, you're always free to ask. It's flattering. :>