icon tutorials #1 & #2
Nia | likealight asked how I do my cut-out icons with solid background, as well as how I make my icons "shiny". And since I usually combine the two things together, it was just easier to create a new icon and tutorial for it. :D
Original Screencap
With doing cut-outs I prefer to work with icons where the subject is already clearly defined from their surrounding. I hate working around things where the subject blurs - movement is hard to cut around. Oftentimes, I go this route because I've no other ideas for the screencap but I still really want to use it. :'D
I partially prep the base. I use a screen layer (50% opacity here) and a soft light layer (30% opacity here). I select all, copy merged, and paste into a new layer. This will be the one I erase the background on.
Between the top layer and the prepping, I create a new layer. I use the eyedrop tool to pick out a color from the part of the top later that I'm not getting rid of. I'll usually create between 3 and 8 new color filled layers, varying in shade and color. For this, I end up with layers like this:
From here I'll use the eraser tool to erase the background. I use a rounded brush with opacity at 100%.
I could use layer masking at this point, but I prefer to just get rid of it all. If I make a mistake I'll CTRL+Z it away. I'll zoom in and out and change the width of the brush the closer I get towards Annie (the closer I am to the subject, the smaller I make the brush). I'll also flip through the color layers to help me be sure I've erased all the unneeded parts. I'm not a huge stickler for my lines being perfect, since that'll be mostly hidden when I put the image in icon size.
Prepped Screencap | With Background Erased
It's also usually here that I decide on a favorite~ of the color layers - but sometimes not. And in this one, I've not lol. In this case, I can't decide between the two blues.
I'll copy&merge everything and paste into a new 100x100 square. I'll do the same thing again, switching to another of the color fill layers. I'll put them down to icon size (lol this time doing a boring center crop :D).
Since I've got two layers with different blues, I create a layer mask on the top, lighter blue. I use a black/white gradient on the layer mask, creating this:
I like the way it looks BUT it needs sharpening. So copy&merge, new layer, paste and then Unsharpen Mask.
Amount: 15%
Radius: 3.5px
Threshold: 9
Then a Color Balance (-1, -2, -27) layer and a Vibrance (+27, 0) layer.
Copy&Merge&Paste everything again. I then go to Filter > Distort > Diffuse Glow, where I put the Glow Amount at 11, Clear Amount at 20. I add more brightness with a Soft Brush set to 40px (opacity 30%).
I usually start with Diffuse Glow here as it gives me a jumping off point, but you could just as easily go straight to making white blobs on the layer instead. :)
I set that layer to Soft Light and duplicate twice. I hide the first Soft Light layer for now. Sometimes I decide to go back to it, but sometimes I never end up using it. I like having it there just in case~.
The first duplicated Soft Light I use Filter > Artistic > Paint Daubs and set the brush at 5. I use layer masks on that layer to remove the blurring from Annie's face.
The top Soft Light layer I use Gaussian Blur on, setting the radius anywhere between 3 and 9 (in this one, 3.9px).
I don't usually play around with textures too much when I make icons this way, but it feels a little flat and boring to me. So I take this texture by miuwmiu and this texture by innocent_lexys on Color Burn (with layer masks) and Screen.
In the end, my layers look like this:
And my icon looks like this:
TA DA~
Nia also asked for a tutorial on this icon, which I was really happy to make (and was secretly hoping someone would ask for because yay icons! I'm really proud of this one lol).
Original screencap~
I open up the screencap and do my standard prep: screen layer, soft light layer, black/white gradient, and a color balance. For the color balance I have it as: +16, +38, -80.
After prepping, the screencap looks like this.
I then Select All, Copy Merged, and Paste into a 100x100 square.
I resize the image inside the square, leaving room at the top. Using the smudge tool (soft brush, 25px and strength of 100%) I smudge upwards, filling up the gaps in the top.
→
In a new layer I take a soft brush (about 50px, opacity around 90%) taking a green from the base image and just coloring over random bits where I want more green (I end up with a layer like this. I set that layer to Soft Light.
Next comes textures! :D
by me, rotated (Screen 40%)
by me (Soft Light 35%)
by me, smudged to look like this (Screen 100%)
by me (Screen 20%)
by me (Soft Light 71%)
by _veronique (Soft Light 100%)
I then copy everything and paste as a new layer. I use Paint Daubs (brush size 5) and then set that layer at Soft Light (opacity 30%). I create another new layer and using a soft brush (50px, 30% opacity) I make blobs here and there, using a light yellow taken from the image (which ends up looking like this)
And then that's it for this icon! :D
finished // original