Icon Recipe
avidrosette wanted to know how I made a particular icon. I'm always happy to talk icons and process so here's how I went from:
to
Credits and links are at the end.
I approached this icon differently from my normal operating procedure because I was trying to push outside of my comfort zone. Instead of my organic "who knows what this will be" approach, I set out to make a particular kind of icon:
- I wanted a "small-ish figure" with 50%+ negative space for drama,
- I wanted it to have a sense of action, and
- I wanted to play with merging the subject with textures so that the final icon looks "organic" rather than Photoshopped.
1. Crop the image to 100x100 pixels at 100 pixels/inch.
Choosing a crop takes me forever. I cropped this maybe 5 or 6 times before I eventually decided I wanted a crop that included all of the gun, even though it put John in the center of the icon.
2. Sharpen, smooth, and mask out oversharpened pixels.
I described in somewhat agonizing detail how I get clarity in icons in a previous post so I won't bore you with those details again.
3. Gradient Map, SOFT LIGHT 100%:
+
=
This increases the contrast and warms his skin tone.
4. Add a copy of the base from Step #2, SOFT LIGHT 100%:
This restores the details from the original image and, again, increases contrast.
5. Get rid of the ugly background, NORMAL 100%
+
=
Obviously, I masked off the parts that covered John. I tried an amazing number of textures in my search for the "perfect" texture. I wanted something a bit rough and tumble looking and then I stumbled onto this texture and chose it because it gave me that "god-like" glow behind his head. ;)
OK, not bad but right now he looks like he has been cut out and plonked on top of the background, which is not at all what I wanted. I wanted to play with merging him into the background so...
6. Another copy of the background on top, NORMAL 78%.
+
=
This lets me see John so I can erase the bits I need to and it's my favorite trick for blending a person into a texture. When the overlying texture is exactly the same as the background below, it's easier to blend because I don't have to worry about the background peeking through and I can adjust the opacity to reveal or hide more of the edges of the figure.
7. Add a mask to the overlying texture and partially erase.
+
as a mask on Step #6 =
I use soft edged brushes set at less than 100%. It looks to me as if I used a soft mechanical brush, which is one of the basic Photoshop presets, set at 50%. I erased over John's figure once and then returned to his face and torso to erase a little bit more. Looks to me as if I used a small, hard brush set at 100% to make certain his face wasn't obscured.
Much better, but John is still a tad shinier and newer looking than the background is, so...
8. Add a new texture to better blend and unify coloring between background and subject, MULTIPLY 100%:
+
=
OK, more as I was envisioning it but I don't really like that straight line going across the bottom. I want to disguise that.
9. Add a scratchy texture, MULTIPLY 83%:
+
=
I played with opacity to obfuscate the line but hopefully not obscure John too much. I have an image that I want but it has gotten a bit dark and dingy under all those textures. I want to brighten it a tad without compromising the mood.
10. Add a curves layer, RGB INPUT/OUTPUT = 119/139
+ Curves Layer =
On the RGB curve, I grabbed it in the middle and tugged it upwards ever so slightly. I didn't fiddle with the Red, Green, or Blue curves because I was happy with the color.
I have an image that I'm happy with but now that I'm at "the end," I'm regretting my crop. I can't see the gun barrel any more and the centered crop really isn't helping this icon. It's boring. One "cheap" way to add interest and throw off the centered look is to repeat the image. This is especially useful to me here because I'm going for an indistinct and grungy melding of subject and texture.
11. Add a new layer and stamp visible, OVERLAY 68%.
I offset it to the right a little and erased any parts over the original John and any part on the left side of the icon.
Voila! Done.
~~**~~
Some people voting in the LIMS thought the texture overpowered John while some thought it balanced. That's a matter of personal preference, but emphasizing John more would be fairly simple: lower the opacity in Step #6, lower the opacity of the scratchy texture, and maybe a little more aggressive brightening with the curve layer. Maybe, maybe the addition of a screened layer at a greatly reduced opacity under the gradient map.
If you have any questions or if I wasn't clear on a step, don't hesitate to ask!
~~**~~
Resource Credits/Links:
a. The original image is from the lantis_lims and is here.
b.
by oxoniensis and available in her skin tones gradient set
c.
by unmasked_icons from her "Old Book" set of textures
d.
by oxoniensis and available here in one of my favorite sets
e.
by tihana from her glorious, scratchy textures
to
Credits and links are at the end.
I approached this icon differently from my normal operating procedure because I was trying to push outside of my comfort zone. Instead of my organic "who knows what this will be" approach, I set out to make a particular kind of icon:
- I wanted a "small-ish figure" with 50%+ negative space for drama,
- I wanted it to have a sense of action, and
- I wanted to play with merging the subject with textures so that the final icon looks "organic" rather than Photoshopped.
1. Crop the image to 100x100 pixels at 100 pixels/inch.
Choosing a crop takes me forever. I cropped this maybe 5 or 6 times before I eventually decided I wanted a crop that included all of the gun, even though it put John in the center of the icon.
2. Sharpen, smooth, and mask out oversharpened pixels.
I described in somewhat agonizing detail how I get clarity in icons in a previous post so I won't bore you with those details again.
3. Gradient Map, SOFT LIGHT 100%:
+
=
This increases the contrast and warms his skin tone.
4. Add a copy of the base from Step #2, SOFT LIGHT 100%:
This restores the details from the original image and, again, increases contrast.
5. Get rid of the ugly background, NORMAL 100%
+
=
Obviously, I masked off the parts that covered John. I tried an amazing number of textures in my search for the "perfect" texture. I wanted something a bit rough and tumble looking and then I stumbled onto this texture and chose it because it gave me that "god-like" glow behind his head. ;)
OK, not bad but right now he looks like he has been cut out and plonked on top of the background, which is not at all what I wanted. I wanted to play with merging him into the background so...
6. Another copy of the background on top, NORMAL 78%.
+
=
This lets me see John so I can erase the bits I need to and it's my favorite trick for blending a person into a texture. When the overlying texture is exactly the same as the background below, it's easier to blend because I don't have to worry about the background peeking through and I can adjust the opacity to reveal or hide more of the edges of the figure.
7. Add a mask to the overlying texture and partially erase.
+
as a mask on Step #6 =
I use soft edged brushes set at less than 100%. It looks to me as if I used a soft mechanical brush, which is one of the basic Photoshop presets, set at 50%. I erased over John's figure once and then returned to his face and torso to erase a little bit more. Looks to me as if I used a small, hard brush set at 100% to make certain his face wasn't obscured.
Much better, but John is still a tad shinier and newer looking than the background is, so...
8. Add a new texture to better blend and unify coloring between background and subject, MULTIPLY 100%:
+
=
OK, more as I was envisioning it but I don't really like that straight line going across the bottom. I want to disguise that.
9. Add a scratchy texture, MULTIPLY 83%:
+
=
I played with opacity to obfuscate the line but hopefully not obscure John too much. I have an image that I want but it has gotten a bit dark and dingy under all those textures. I want to brighten it a tad without compromising the mood.
10. Add a curves layer, RGB INPUT/OUTPUT = 119/139
+ Curves Layer =
On the RGB curve, I grabbed it in the middle and tugged it upwards ever so slightly. I didn't fiddle with the Red, Green, or Blue curves because I was happy with the color.
I have an image that I'm happy with but now that I'm at "the end," I'm regretting my crop. I can't see the gun barrel any more and the centered crop really isn't helping this icon. It's boring. One "cheap" way to add interest and throw off the centered look is to repeat the image. This is especially useful to me here because I'm going for an indistinct and grungy melding of subject and texture.
11. Add a new layer and stamp visible, OVERLAY 68%.
I offset it to the right a little and erased any parts over the original John and any part on the left side of the icon.
Voila! Done.
~~**~~
Some people voting in the LIMS thought the texture overpowered John while some thought it balanced. That's a matter of personal preference, but emphasizing John more would be fairly simple: lower the opacity in Step #6, lower the opacity of the scratchy texture, and maybe a little more aggressive brightening with the curve layer. Maybe, maybe the addition of a screened layer at a greatly reduced opacity under the gradient map.
If you have any questions or if I wasn't clear on a step, don't hesitate to ask!
~~**~~
Resource Credits/Links:
a. The original image is from the lantis_lims and is here.
b.
by oxoniensis and available in her skin tones gradient set
c.
by unmasked_icons from her "Old Book" set of textures
d.
by oxoniensis and available here in one of my favorite sets
e.
by tihana from her glorious, scratchy textures