Q & A P T . 1: aquatilitis

fuuurs in aquatilitis

Q & A P T . 1

May 06, 2011 20:17

PART ONE | PART TWO

QUESTION → Which are the steps you always follow when making icons (as options in PS)?

ANSWER → This is the most recent process I've been using. I start off my duplicating my base, setting it to soft light and then using a small amount of gaussian blur on it (to make the highlights brighter, the shadows darker, and to make the colors more bold). From there I usually decide what coloring I want and I'll use color balance (I tend to make highlights and midtones more red and yellow, and shadows more blue), selective color (I actually use this very sparingly, and when I do use it, I usually only make very small changes), sometimes I apply a warming photo filter. After I get my basic coloring of the icon done I might apply a gradient on soft light just for some color shifts or more dramatic lighting. After that, I sharpen the icon (I copy and merge all my layers, and then I use Smart Sharpen (amount : anywhere from 15-50%; radius: .2-.3 pixels; remove: gaussian blur or lens blur).

QUESTION → And which option/s do you use to emphasize a specific color/s you want on your icon?

ANSWER → I usually use Color Balance to get the colors I want, and then if I'm not satisfied with certain colors or areas I usually paint over them with a similar color in soft light, to make them bolder. I don't know if this answers your question or not, and honestly I rarely emphasize specific colors, and I usually try to get my coloring done all at once rather than working on certain colors (if only because I am incredibly lazy).

QUESTION → Could you tell me which font it is in this icon and what is the texture/s you used in this icon?

ANSWER → I really can't remember which texture that is, but I'll try to find it! If anyone knows, please tell me in the comments! The font is Caecilia LT Std, BUT it's not a free font, I was only able to use it because of a student license (which is very near it's expiration date). I don't know of any free versions of it, but you could probably find something similar if you looked for slab serif fonts (rawengulk, alexandriaflf, slabtallx, egypt, typoslabserif-light are all somewhat similar AND free) and you probably already have rockwell installed on your computer, which could probably look just as nice. Sorry for the crap answer. :\

QUESTION → Do you have some good trick you use when making a natural coloring on an icon,if there is some?(or a color you almost always apply?)

ANSWER → There's no one thing I do for natural colorings, but if you want to get a pretty and natural looking skin tone, I guess I'd recommend using a color fill layer on softlight with a greyish-brownish-orangish color (like #a2927a for example). If that washes things out, then do the same thing except with a peachy color. TBH color fill is probably the quickest and easiest way to get a flattering skin tone!

QUESTION → How do you crop? Particularly close crops.

ANSWER → I paste my image into a 100x100 canvas, and duplicate it about 10x. Then on top of that I apply a B&W gradient map so I can be sure I'm getting a full range of values/lights/shadows/whatever you want to call it. Then I use the free transform tool and try different crops on all of the 10 duplicated layers. Then I just choose the one I like best. One thing I try to do is find something interesting (for example, if the subject is biting their nails, they're wearing sunglasses, the background is pretty, their rack is front & center...), I try to make the crop draw attention to that, or put it in a spot that feels... uncomfortable? I guess I'll just be truthful: don't ever let them see your eyes. I overuse that crop waaaaaay too much, and I'm sorry to whoever came up with this crop, I've been jockin' yo style far too long!

QUESTION → Coloring, how do you do it?

ANSWER → This would have been so much easier to answer back when I first started and didn't yet understand the evils of batch coloring! Now I pretty much just throw everything and anything at my icon, and if it looks good it stays, if it's gross it gets deleted. I guess I almost always start off with choosing if I want a pale/natural/soft coloring or a bright/vibrant/EEKITHURTS coloring.

Pale/Natural/Soft: I focus on getting the lighting right first, then I use a bunch of fleshy color fill layers on softlight, then color balance to make things warmer/cooler, then I use a gradient (IDK when I jumped on the bandwagon, but it looks so good and makes the lighting even more dramatic).

Bright/Vibrant: Duplicate my base, set it to soft light and apply a gaussian blur filter to it. Then I color balance the hell out of the thing (always having to remind myself that dark areas should have a cool blueish hue to them and light areas should be more warm and yellow-y, but OMG I NEVER DO THAT). After that I usually realize that everything looks really, really boring and so I use selective color and adjust the neutrals to try to give my icon an overall color, and when that fails I turn to gradient fills. After all that, I go ahead and cheat and use the vibrancy tool, which I realize some of you don't have due to using older versions of Photoshop. You have no idea how much I admire those of you for that, because I've had to use PS7 for making icons before, and it seems like everything takes twice as much work and effort! Back on topic. Basically, when it comes to coloring, IDK what the hell I'm doing so I do it all!

QUESTION → How do you pick your textures for your icons? Also do use your own? What are your favorite textures/texture makers?

ANSWER → Sometimes (very rarely) I see a texture up for grabs and I HAVE to use it, so I start with the texture and try to build an icon around it. Otherwise, I usually pick out a texture depending on what I can use it for (creating negative space, adding light effects, punching up the color, creating an element of focus, etc.) Textures are like lifesavers to me, I feel like they can turn the most boring icon into something interesting (and hopefully pretty.)

For a while I used only other people's textures, but as time went on I started making my own for specific icons when I couldn't find a texture I liked for it. I have very limited space on my laptop so I've pretty much stopped DL'ing textures and PSD's (and if I do DL them, they usually get deleted after I've used them once). I use my own textures pretty frequently, but I get bored of mine VERY quickly. I've stopped saving them to conserve space, but I do plan on making a few more sets in the future. I'm dying to share this one with the world, I love it so much, lol.

These are some of my favorite textures right now, I have so much more though! Maybe I'll do a texture appreciation post every year or something. Anyways:

ICON SIZE