Every which colour
So I totally failed at sticking to six icons for my icon colouring game. Which means I have to post them separately, seeing as I'd better stick to my own rules! If you're going to play the game (you've got about 19 hours to go), but haven't done so yet, no peeking behind the cut-tag!!
I've made rough notes on what I did, but if you want to see exactly what I did, I can upload a .psd file or two, if you use Photoshop.
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I like the colouring on Supernatural when it comes to watching the show, but the desaturated effect of most scenes isn't that great for icons, so I simply aimed to create a natural colour. I used a curves adjustment layer (mostly lightening the RGB channel, but I also lifted the red and tweaked the green a little), then on a series of adjustment layers I increased the saturation by 26, increased brightness by 19, contrast by 12, then I increased the saturation again, by 22.
And a black and white version - I just added a black layer set to colour on the brightened version above, then used levels to add a bit of extra contrast.
to
or
I wanted to keep the blue background, but make John's colouring natural. The main alterations came via a curves adjustment layer again - I darkened it on the RGB channel, then added a lot more red, a little green, and decreased the blue. Another adjustment layer - increased saturation. Then I played around with a selective colour adjustment layer, increasing the yellows in several hues, decreasing the magenta, and increasing the black on the neutral channel. Then I added two layers of pale beige (FDEAD4), one set to multiply on 76% opacity and one set to colour burn - the one set to multiply is the only one I didn't mask over the background, as I liked the shade of blue it produced. Finally I applied a black-to-white gradient set to soft light, to create some shadow in the bottom right and lighten the top left.
I wasn't really wild about the final result though (his lips still look cold in the first version, and the second is too yellow), and I didn't feel like adjusting it any more), so I played with black and white, and a gradient map or two...
... and ended up with these.
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Lex with a gun - dangerous! Hence the red and black. This was simple: I brightened the icon up with a curves adjustment layer, then masked the sky as I didn't want that lightening. Then I applied a black to red gradient map adjustment layer.
This was my reject attempt - I wanted to make the colours rich but slightly smoky, but the quality of the cap at the side of Lex's face didn't allow for it. If I'd been making the icon properly, I would have cropped it differently so I could make this colouring work.
to
Not wildly satisfactory - I brightened it up a lot with the ubiquitous curves adjustment layer, then increased the saturation a little because I like the bright pink in the jacket and added a black and white gradient set on soft light to alter the shading.
When I don't like the colouring, there's always black and white...
to
I just wanted natural colouring again, so it was the usual adjustment layers: curves, saturation (increased) and brightness (increased). I also increased the green just on the background, just to make that a little richer.
to
A pretty, pink Donna. Curves, increased saturation, then a gradient to emphasise the light from below.
to
I wanted this to be deep, hot colours, to keep the feel of being under the African sun. So I brightened it up (usual way), then added a pale blue layer set to colour burn, then a beige layer set to multiply, and finally, to cover the background only, a beige layer set to colour burn.
to
I loved the colouring on this cap so much, all I did was brighten it, and add a bit of shading in the bottom right so it didn't look too flat, colour-wise.
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Somebody stop me now!
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Hmm, none of these work at all well. I think the first is the best, though the pink one might work if I tweaked it a bit more. I'm too tired though - I only did this one because I didn't want to leave Bailey out! And it can be interesting to see the rejects, which is a good thing, as there are more rejects than successes in this post!
If anyone wants to use any of these, help yourself. Just leave a comment to say you're saving them though.
I've made rough notes on what I did, but if you want to see exactly what I did, I can upload a .psd file or two, if you use Photoshop.
to
I like the colouring on Supernatural when it comes to watching the show, but the desaturated effect of most scenes isn't that great for icons, so I simply aimed to create a natural colour. I used a curves adjustment layer (mostly lightening the RGB channel, but I also lifted the red and tweaked the green a little), then on a series of adjustment layers I increased the saturation by 26, increased brightness by 19, contrast by 12, then I increased the saturation again, by 22.
And a black and white version - I just added a black layer set to colour on the brightened version above, then used levels to add a bit of extra contrast.
to
or
I wanted to keep the blue background, but make John's colouring natural. The main alterations came via a curves adjustment layer again - I darkened it on the RGB channel, then added a lot more red, a little green, and decreased the blue. Another adjustment layer - increased saturation. Then I played around with a selective colour adjustment layer, increasing the yellows in several hues, decreasing the magenta, and increasing the black on the neutral channel. Then I added two layers of pale beige (FDEAD4), one set to multiply on 76% opacity and one set to colour burn - the one set to multiply is the only one I didn't mask over the background, as I liked the shade of blue it produced. Finally I applied a black-to-white gradient set to soft light, to create some shadow in the bottom right and lighten the top left.
I wasn't really wild about the final result though (his lips still look cold in the first version, and the second is too yellow), and I didn't feel like adjusting it any more), so I played with black and white, and a gradient map or two...
... and ended up with these.
to
Lex with a gun - dangerous! Hence the red and black. This was simple: I brightened the icon up with a curves adjustment layer, then masked the sky as I didn't want that lightening. Then I applied a black to red gradient map adjustment layer.
This was my reject attempt - I wanted to make the colours rich but slightly smoky, but the quality of the cap at the side of Lex's face didn't allow for it. If I'd been making the icon properly, I would have cropped it differently so I could make this colouring work.
to
Not wildly satisfactory - I brightened it up a lot with the ubiquitous curves adjustment layer, then increased the saturation a little because I like the bright pink in the jacket and added a black and white gradient set on soft light to alter the shading.
When I don't like the colouring, there's always black and white...
to
I just wanted natural colouring again, so it was the usual adjustment layers: curves, saturation (increased) and brightness (increased). I also increased the green just on the background, just to make that a little richer.
to
A pretty, pink Donna. Curves, increased saturation, then a gradient to emphasise the light from below.
to
I wanted this to be deep, hot colours, to keep the feel of being under the African sun. So I brightened it up (usual way), then added a pale blue layer set to colour burn, then a beige layer set to multiply, and finally, to cover the background only, a beige layer set to colour burn.
to
I loved the colouring on this cap so much, all I did was brighten it, and add a bit of shading in the bottom right so it didn't look too flat, colour-wise.
to
Somebody stop me now!
to
Hmm, none of these work at all well. I think the first is the best, though the pink one might work if I tweaked it a bit more. I'm too tired though - I only did this one because I didn't want to leave Bailey out! And it can be interesting to see the rejects, which is a good thing, as there are more rejects than successes in this post!
If anyone wants to use any of these, help yourself. Just leave a comment to say you're saving them though.