Tutorial #1 +psd
Helen Magnus icon tutorial requested by deaniebtvs in this icon post.
From this
to this
This icon was make for the latest round at abnormal20in20 and the theme was yellow.
Please note, this is the first time I ever done a tutorial and I'm not the best at explaining my thought process, so I hope this is understandable. :)
Once you have opened your image, the first thing that needs to be done is to crop and resize. For this image, I wanted Magnus to be the central focus so I chose a centre crop. Then I resized to 100x100.
Open up a curves layer and use the following settings:
RBG - output: 119, input: 69
This now lightens the image and also give a little bit of depth.
Now I add a vibrance layer to enhance the caps natural colour with the settings:
VIBRANCE: 100%
SATURATION: 13%
As you can see, the yellows and greens have been enhanced and now there is some colour to the icon.
Since the theme of the icon was yellow, I wanted to add more yellow to the canvas. After a lot of texture trial and error, I finally chose this texture by lemonpunch
Next add a colour balance layer with the settings;
SHADOWS: +30, -1, -31
MIDTONES: -1, -6, -9
I can't exactly remember why I chose to do this, put I liked the effect it had.
Then I decided to add a selective colour layer. I wanted to make the yellow stand out more.
REDS: -86, 0, +61, 0
YELLOWS: -49, 0, +48, 0
NEUTRALS: -12, +6, +20, -2
BLACKS: 0, 0, 0, +6
Then I decided to run a motion blur filter though it (yet again it was just experimenting and I liked how it turned out).
MOTION BLUR: angle - 45 degrees, distance - 247
And then using a layer mask, mask out Magnus and set to Hard Light 100%
Next, I added a levels layer. This has made Magnus pop, and also enhanced (if that's the right word) the background colour.
Now I noticed the the icon is lacking contast slightly, so I use a brightness/contast layer with the settings;
BRIGHTNESS: -5
CONTRAST: 13
Now things are starting to look good.
One thing I tent to do on almost all my icons is run a gaussian blur fitler through them. I find it softens the image while enhancing the colours. I create a clone stamp of my layers, set to soft light and run the filter....usually with a radius of 2-4. The adjust the opacity. I left this one at 100%.
Finally, just to even out the colour, I open a colour balance layer and use the settings;
SHADOWS: -12, -9, +6
MIDTONES: -15, -5, -2
AND WE'RE DONE!
I hope this is understandable and most of all useful. :)
And if you're interested, you can download the PSD.
From this
to this
This icon was make for the latest round at abnormal20in20 and the theme was yellow.
Please note, this is the first time I ever done a tutorial and I'm not the best at explaining my thought process, so I hope this is understandable. :)
Once you have opened your image, the first thing that needs to be done is to crop and resize. For this image, I wanted Magnus to be the central focus so I chose a centre crop. Then I resized to 100x100.
Open up a curves layer and use the following settings:
RBG - output: 119, input: 69
This now lightens the image and also give a little bit of depth.
Now I add a vibrance layer to enhance the caps natural colour with the settings:
VIBRANCE: 100%
SATURATION: 13%
As you can see, the yellows and greens have been enhanced and now there is some colour to the icon.
Since the theme of the icon was yellow, I wanted to add more yellow to the canvas. After a lot of texture trial and error, I finally chose this texture by lemonpunch
Next add a colour balance layer with the settings;
SHADOWS: +30, -1, -31
MIDTONES: -1, -6, -9
I can't exactly remember why I chose to do this, put I liked the effect it had.
Then I decided to add a selective colour layer. I wanted to make the yellow stand out more.
REDS: -86, 0, +61, 0
YELLOWS: -49, 0, +48, 0
NEUTRALS: -12, +6, +20, -2
BLACKS: 0, 0, 0, +6
Then I decided to run a motion blur filter though it (yet again it was just experimenting and I liked how it turned out).
MOTION BLUR: angle - 45 degrees, distance - 247
And then using a layer mask, mask out Magnus and set to Hard Light 100%
Next, I added a levels layer. This has made Magnus pop, and also enhanced (if that's the right word) the background colour.
Now I noticed the the icon is lacking contast slightly, so I use a brightness/contast layer with the settings;
BRIGHTNESS: -5
CONTRAST: 13
Now things are starting to look good.
One thing I tent to do on almost all my icons is run a gaussian blur fitler through them. I find it softens the image while enhancing the colours. I create a clone stamp of my layers, set to soft light and run the filter....usually with a radius of 2-4. The adjust the opacity. I left this one at 100%.
Finally, just to even out the colour, I open a colour balance layer and use the settings;
SHADOWS: -12, -9, +6
MIDTONES: -15, -5, -2
AND WE'RE DONE!
I hope this is understandable and most of all useful. :)
And if you're interested, you can download the PSD.