How to go from
this to
Using Adobe Photoshop CS2. Enjoy!
It's a very simple tutorial, mostly for beginners, but I think it could be useful even with experienced artist. No particular techniques involved, only blend modes and only a regulation level.
1. I started with
this picture of Daniel frome Ugly Betty's episode 1x18 "Don't ask, don't tell. Oh, what a look :P
2. Crop it, resize to 100. When I cropped, I pay attention to place Daniel on the right. So, place the main subject of your icon in a strategical position.
3. Duplicate your base and set to Screen 68%. Playing with opacity depends of your image.
->
4. Duplicate again and set to Soft Light 89%. Now you can sharpen, if you want.
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5. Create a new layer, fill with #000000 (black) and set to Saturation 100%
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6. Create a new Brightness/Luminosity layer and put Brightness +13, Luminosity +5
->
A little better, isn't it?
7. Merge all and duplicate; you can also select all, and copy merged - than paste. Set the new layer to Screen 68%
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8. Duplicate again, set the layer to Soft Light 100%
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9. Put your text. I've used TrashHand, 15 pt, and played a lot with other parameters in Character window. I've also rotated a bit to right and reduced the opacity to 85%
->
It is done! (*Wilhemina's diabolic laugh mode on*)