Q and A - Answer post
It's answers time! My favorite textures, fonts and coloring tools. :)
Favorite textures
100x100 textures
aquatilitis || talipuu || pandavirus || azuremonkey || aquatilitis
lookslikerain || lookslikerain || ohfreckle || pandavirus || innocent_lexys
These are all textures I use a lot :) Some of them works best set to soft light (4, 6, 7, 8 and 10), some on screen (1 and 5) and some works best as a background. But they can all be blended in different ways, so try it out! :)
Larger textures
Also some of my favorite larger textures, some are nice for scaling down to icon seized, and some works best on larger graphics.
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
1, 2, 5 - slayground
3, 4 - blueymcphluey
Favorite fonts
Is there something special you do to get vibrant colors?
I have to admit that I don't have a clear coloring technique that I use every time. I love to experiment, and try new combinations of thing :) Every screencap is different, and every icon is different. But I figured I could go through some of my favorite tools here, and then you can try them out for your self :)
In every tool I've include an example from previously made icons, that have used this tool. I've included a .psd download for each icon so you can see for yourself. I'm more comfortable posting tutorials than psd's (and I think those are the most helpful as well), but for this one there were too many icons to do full tutorials on each. If there are any icons you want to know more about just ask! :)
Curves
As I've mentioned earlier this week, I love curves. They can be used for almost everything and they are a great way to control both color and contrast. I'm not going to go into great detail about the way curves work, others have already done it better than me, but I would encourage you all to read this tutorial by herdestiny.
The curves also have an auto option, it doesn't always work, but it can improve your icon a lot! So try that out :)
My example:
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>> .psd
Here I've used the red channel to take down the reds in the shadows, and the blue layers to control the light.
Color Balance
This is a new tool for me, but I really like it now that I've found a way it works for me :) I usually don't move the mid tones, but play with the shadows and highlights to make the colors more alive and at the same time work with the contrast.
My example:
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>> .psd
In this one the shadows are blue and magenta, and the highlights are yellow and green.
Textures
I love good textures for coloring. On soft light, or screen they can change the entire thing. Try erasing parts that doesn't work.
Good textures:
thefixedfoot || aquatilitis || blueymcphluey || lemonpunch
My example:
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>> .psd
Hue/Saturation
This is a great way to bring out the colors already in the icon. But it's also a way you can ruin your icon if you use it too much. So be careful!
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What happens if you take it too far (so don't!):
Soft Light layers
Layers set to soft light and then colored in with a soft brush with the color you want more of is really effective. This method can lower your contrast tho. In most instances I use a lighter color than the one I want, but as always you have to fit it to the image.
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>> .psd
And that's all I've got for this time. If you want more information/help or if you want a full tutorial for any icons used in this post, just let me know! :D