I wish I had a good answer for that, Beth, but I really don't. I've just always enjoyed experimenting with textures ever since I began making icons back in '08, and I think countless hours of setting all different kinds of textures on various modes (Screen, Soft Light, and Color Burn being most used) just helped me practice. It can definitely lead to tons of frustration, especially when you're dead set on using a specific texture that just won't work for your image. However, when you nail that perfect combo of image and texture, it gives you the most satisfying feeling!
One thing to keep in mind is what vibe or emotion you want to convey in your icon. In the following icon from my latest post, I knew I wanted to evoke devastation and pain and invisibility, so I hunted through my folders for a texture that would obscure a great portion of the subject's face. Luckily, I found one by 24-amends that I felt would be just right, and I set it to Screen, masked away the small bit that covered up too much of her face, and threw a B/W gradient map over all the layers for maximum dramatic impact. --->
Of course, it's more likely the case that I'll have no clue whatsoever about what texture to utilize, so I just comb through my folders blindly (literally clicking the mouse with my eyes closed) until I stumble upon one that catches my eye for one reason or another. In one of my fave pieces that I've made this year, I didn't know what the hell composition I could create using the Hardison image I had in mind. I randomly clicked through my folders until I saw an innocent-lexys texture with colors that I liked. I set it to Screen, and BOOM! I got a blocking composition going! I found another Hardison image, colored it similarly to the first one, and rotated it to fit the block left empty after screening the texture. --->
Recently, I've relied heavily on setting B/W textures on Screen or Soft Light for glowy lighting purposes, like in the next icon. I'm absolute balls at those lighting blobs that lots of people can use so effectively, so I resort to using people's glowy textures to light my icons. In this case, I cropped part of a large texture by slayground (renowned Tumblr texture maker), and set it to, you guessed it, Screen! slayground --->
That was probably more than you bargained for, but that's my overall approach to texture use, so hopefully, it'll be helpful to you, hon! :)
One thing to keep in mind is what vibe or emotion you want to convey in your icon. In the following icon from my latest post, I knew I wanted to evoke devastation and pain and invisibility, so I hunted through my folders for a texture that would obscure a great portion of the subject's face. Luckily, I found one by 24-amends that I felt would be just right, and I set it to Screen, masked away the small bit that covered up too much of her face, and threw a B/W gradient map over all the layers for maximum dramatic impact.
--->
Of course, it's more likely the case that I'll have no clue whatsoever about what texture to utilize, so I just comb through my folders blindly (literally clicking the mouse with my eyes closed) until I stumble upon one that catches my eye for one reason or another. In one of my fave pieces that I've made this year, I didn't know what the hell composition I could create using the Hardison image I had in mind. I randomly clicked through my folders until I saw an innocent-lexys texture with colors that I liked. I set it to Screen, and BOOM! I got a blocking composition going! I found another Hardison image, colored it similarly to the first one, and rotated it to fit the block left empty after screening the texture.
--->
Recently, I've relied heavily on setting B/W textures on Screen or Soft Light for glowy lighting purposes, like in the next icon. I'm absolute balls at those lighting blobs that lots of people can use so effectively, so I resort to using people's glowy textures to light my icons. In this case, I cropped part of a large texture by slayground (renowned Tumblr texture maker), and set it to, you guessed it, Screen!
slayground --->
That was probably more than you bargained for, but that's my overall approach to texture use, so hopefully, it'll be helpful to you, hon! :)
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