073; Ask the Maker tutorials part IV.
Ask the Maker tutorials part IV requested by riiddikulus,
teaotter, daisiestea, afastmachine and monstersinyou.
Includes these icons and advices for matte coloring.
Here we go!
I choose this promo image of Matt from Daredevil.
I start cutting the original image. And then you probably didn't notice that I choose a screencap from Jessica Jones to use in the background of this icon. This is the screencap.
Well. Crop it and let's put some curves on it to light it a bit.
Make a new gradient map layer that looks like this on normal mode 100% opacity.
Then let's add Matt to the icon. I made a boring center crop because I can't make more original crops lately. The next layers I'm gonna add are going to be clipped to Matt, so if I don't say it otherwhise clip them all so these steps won't affect the background.
Curves to light it up. Fav gradient map set to soft light 100% opacity and then another gradient map on normal mode 100% opacity that will give a vintage look.
And now, because his face was a little lost in the icon and wasn't visible at all at this point, I painted with a soft brush and a brownish color (#7f573b) just his face. Set to soft light 100% opacity and duplicate it.
And now let's color his suit. I choose a bright red (#d11a10) and just colored all the suit that needed to be red. Set to multiply 63% opacity.
And now we're done with the clipped masks!! That was the last one.
And now I added another gradient in normal mode 10% opacity.
And now for the text! I choose Tw Cent MT font to write "The of Hell's Kitchen" with a brown color (#7c5337). Everything in italics and "Hell's Kitchen" also in bold. To write "Devil" a choose Nilland font in bold and italics with a pastel red color (#af4e3b). All in 14 pt.
And since it doesn't look good on top of everything I drag it underneath Matt, so he won't be hided with the text.
I merged everything and sharpened it with a tiny bit of topaz and smart sharpen. And that's it! :)
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This one has a lot more layers and is longer that the last one, so I hope you stick around and read this boring thing xD
I choose this screencap of Jessica.
This icon was an experiment and I was actually following this and this tutorials by nadya149. So this is something I don't usually do, so have that in mind! I won't be detailing the first steps because I did exactly the same thing to lighten the icon as the first tut link. So I'll start from there. I have this from here. And then I'm just gonna follow the second tutorial I linked you and I have these layers by now.
Then I merged everything and crop it to icon size since I was working on the original size.
Paint the background with a light blue (#73d1e3). At this point the icon is so 'neutral', it's very dull and grey, so I decided to make a Brightness/Contrast layer to bring it to life. Brightness -24, contrast +100. And now a new vibrance layer with vibrance +100. And then I kept doing that thing with her hair. And then I added blue and black strands of hair. Here are the layers and the result so you can see.
For no reason aparently, I decided to merge everything, I guess just for tidy purposes. It still looks a little dull to me, her face and all so I made a new curves layer touching the RGBs a little, that looks like this.
It's time for a gradient map. I added the copper one in normal mode 16% opacity.
Another curves layer.
And another gradient. Soft light 100%. A copper one once again in normal mode 6% opacity.
And now it's time for textures! The first one is by lookslikerain and the second one I have no idea! Sorry! First one screen mode 65% and the second one in soft light 100%.
(Is a large one!)
Jessica's face is too pale at this point, so I painted her face with a semi soft brush with a pale orange color (#f6d2b8) set to multiply 60% opacity. Then I added a birds texture from unknown maker. And then another one that was larger and it seem I cutted it and now I can't find the original *sigh*. Screen mode 9% opacity.
New vibrance layer with vibrance +30. New Brightness/Contrast layer with contrast +27.
Finally, I merge all and sharpen as usual adding a tiny bit of topaz and smart sharpen. And we're freaking done!
Phew, that was long! If I didn't explain things well please, let me know so I can give you more details and help you.
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And now I'll talk a bit about matte coloring.
It's no secret that I've learn this coloring thanks to naginis' psds. They're so helpful and Ida is so kind for letting us normal mortals into the Eden Garden that is her icon process. So if you're reading this, Ida, I can't thank you enough for your kindness :)
Okay, so basically what you need to know is how to work with gradient maps. That's all really. These are the gradients that I use the most:
Okay, so those are the ones I have saved and actually use. I use almost always 1, 2 and 3 in soft light. The first one is wonderful and it's made my life better since I discovered it. It lightens a lot a screencap, A LOT! It works better with darker caps than lighter ones and it brings a lot of life. It also softens the skin and prepares it for coloring. The second and third ones are basically the same but they don't work in all the caps, those are for when the first one doesn't work xD.
And all the others are better used in normal mode from 3% to 20% of opacity. Just a very small amount gives you that flat tone you're looking for! Also vibrance is really helpful. You make those tones flat so they shouldn't look pixelated, that's why you can use vibrance as much as you like. I usually make from two to three layers per icon.
To give more that matte feeling, I sometimes paint the face of the subject to make it softer.
I don't recommed using lots of light textures since they give a deeper contrast and shadows and that kind of erase a bit that flat effect we're looking for.
I'd love anything that deals with your kind of flat but florescent coloring (especially on backgrounds) Asked by afastmachine.
I usually choose a pastel tone of the color I want for the background. Depends on the amount of light that needs the actual cap, I'd choose a dark or ligh shade of the color I want, but I try to choose it as pastel as possible. Then, that kind of florescent color is thanks to the gradient maps + vibrance. That's really it, seriously. I don't do anything especial.
All this being said, naginis posted recently a brilliant guide where you can see more clearly how to achieve that kind of effect.
And well, I think that's all for now! Please, let me know if you don't understand something or have any doubt of anything! I'll be more than happy to help you!! :)
I've finished all the requests and I think this is the first year I actually finish all of them. So I apologise for the past years, I know I'm such a mess.