How to go from
to
Done in PS7, but should translate to just about anything.
Before I start: This is just a walkthrough of how I made this specific icon and isn't meant to be a catch-all technique. If you change any of these steps even slightly, you will get a different result. IMO, that's a very good thing. It allows for a lot of experimentation.
In other words, this tutorial is a springboard for a lot of different colouring options. It just depends on how much you play with it.
This tutorial assumes that you're pretty comfortable with Photoshop. But if you don't understand something, just leave a comment and I'll try to help.
Here be the base. If yours is too dark, duplicate it and set it to screen, then fiddle with the opacity. Try and get the lighting close to this image.
1. Duplicate your base and set the duplicate to soft light at 100%
2. Make a new layer, fill it with #A77A56. Put the layer on soft light, 100%
3. New layer again. Fill with #2E36DC. Set to colour at 34%.
At this point we've achieved the basic effect, so if you're feeling lazy, the tut can end here. But if you'd like to experiment and fine-tune the colouring, read on.
4. Another new layer, fill with #C189BB. Linear dodge, 30%
5. Take this texture from
brevet, put it on a new layer.
Open up the hue/saturation dialog and enter these settings: hue -148; saturation -22.
Set the blend mode of the texture layer to colour burn, 50%. It is a very subtle change, but it did make a difference for me later on. But it's just a preference thing, so feel free to omit the entire texture step. Or do it differently. Or whatever you want, lol.
6. Duplicate the base again, bring it to the top of your layers palette. Set it to soft light, 50%
7. Time to increase the reds a bit to get the skin looking a tad more natural. Above all the layers, make a colour balance adjustment layer. In midtones, slide the red up and down until you're satisfied. I used +18 for mine, but you may prefer a bit more (or less) than that.
And you're done! I continued fiddling a bit after step seven, but for all intents and purposes, this tut is over. Hooray! *waits for people to throw rotten food at her*
PS: The icon base came from
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