#137 - Tutorial!
The very lovely tor_na_do, asked how I made my icons so dramatic, like in my last post with The White Queen and The Hour. I'm going to do my best with this, because I've never really done a general guide.
First thing first, is the choice of cap. In the examples given, I chose one myself and the other was chosen by another amazing user for a icon battle. I find that using images from dramatic/emotional scenes to be best. It heightens what's already there.
The main thing I did is keep a heightened contrast of light and dark. When picking caps, I try to keep that in mind. Using caps with a significant amount of light is doable, just a little more difficult (I find). Here are some that I've used/examples, that make for great dramatic crops.
Looking at the Hannibal cap, there is a lot of opportunity to play with light and contrast. The first step, is figuring out where you want the light to be. With this cap I see 3 different cropping options for where the light could be:
Each option allows for different lighting option, it just depends on what you prefer. The arrows denote possible areas to use as the lightened areas.
I personally find the last one most appealing, I like the little blob of unfocused furniture in the corner. Now, it's just a matter of bringing in the focus. It's a matter of layering textures, tweaking colors and gradient maps. Here's what I ended up with:
Okay, so I know there are a lot of steps missing there. But the next part will cover that, promise!
Here's sort of a general coloring tutorial, a start off point if you will. I'm going to use a brighter cap for the walk through, so you can see the sort of difference I'm talking about when it comes to bright light filled images.
So for this I'm going to play with a new cap from Arrow.
I picked out a cap where Oliver is all broody, partially in shadow.
Some people resize first and some last. I let the image/what I want for my icon to dictate this (ie: focus on negative space around the subject, or a close up...etc)
Do whatever you normally do to prep, (I auto contrast, duplicate then auto color & tone and fiddle with the opacity of each layer until I'm happy) In this cap I wasn't sure whether I wanted to focus on the light or the dark so I fiddled with the image size and canvas size and got it down. After copy and merging the base I pasted the image four times. Set the first one to Multiply, the next two to Screen and the last to Softlight 40%.
1.
1 >>>
2
In case of confusion this is what the Layers Palatte looks like.
2. Next I added a Gradient Map [#21212b to #ffffff] to neutralize the colors a bit, lowered the opacity to below 50%.
3. Okay, so we're gonna make it darker before we add more light and contrast, so bare with me here. Next I added a Color Fill Layer (#cbcbcb) and after fiddling with the opacity. I usually start with 50% and fiddle with it from there, depending on the image. This time around I settled on 40%.
4. Another Color Fill Layer is next, seeing as Oliver is the Green Arrow I decided to use a dark green, #25390b. I wanted to keep the shadow but add a but more color to it.
5. We're going to start to add a bit of light back, I create a new layer and fill it with black. Then take a large soft brush, I used one on 200 px and lowered the brush Opacity to 40% and the Fill to 30%. Place the brush off to the left, literally off the palette so the white brush lightens up just the corner of the image. Set it to Screen.
>>>
6. It's a slow process, but it's process! Now we're going to kick it into medium gear, let's call it. Open yourself up a Gradient Layer [black to white] and play with the angle until the white is over the same area as the white brush. In this case it's -120.26 and set the layer to Softlight.
7. To add to the contrast we added another gradient layer, a light grey to dark grey [#bebebe to #363636] angle set to 0. I also wanted to pump the color a but so I added a vibrance layer set to 56+. If you don't have Vibrance, you can use a Hue/Saturation Layer the saturation set to +25, the lightness set to -2.
8. We're going to add our first texture [audience applauds loudly] Yes, I know, very exciting! Okay, so I don't remember who did this, so if you know please tell me! Set it to Screen, but I played around with the Opacity to 50% and the Fill to 40-30%. I wasn't satisfied with the color situation so I added another Vibrance layer set to +47.
9. Time to kick it up a few notches with a Levels Layer to add more contrast and add some more color. There are a few ways to do this (Curves, Brightness/Contrast/ Black & White Filters) but I like playing with Levels so..Levels it is.
Red: 0, 1.00, 206
Green: 0, 1.00, 198
Blue: 0, 1.00, 191
10. You remember the last Gradient Map we used? The pinkish one? Well, we're going to duplicate it and set it to Softlight, lowering both the Fill & Opacity to 50-55%. For this icon, I chose to use a pinker skin base, but you could use a more yellow/tan one. My go to one is #353028 to #e0d3bf, you can also sub out the darker color for black. I keep both gradients saved and use them a lot.
11. I want to keep the all over colors as is but the high saturation of yellow on his cheekbones is getting to me. So I made a new layer, chose a color already there (#cdc3a0) and brushed over the area, setting the layer to Color. It's a handy little trick I use to get color to pop, among other things.
12. Alright, I want to brighten up the colors, but keep them still within a more neutral range, so I cracked open a Selective Color layer. Messing with the Reds and Magentas. The end result was a bit much so I lowered the opacity to 50%.
13. Next, we're going to lighten up the green, while giving a wee boost to the reds. I used another Selective Colors layer for this. In this case I kept the fiddling to the Reds and Greens only.
14. Okay, so I want more red and a bit more light. I'm in love with this texture by innocent_lexys, and use it a lot. It's a great one to flip around, desaturate, darken etc...ANYWAY, I set it to Screen at 100%.
15. Another Gradient--yaaaay! Last one, black and white, keeping the black in the top right corner. The white is a bit too bright so I lowered the opacity to about 60%.
16. Final real color tweaking here. I wanted to keep the red/yellow up in the highlights so I opened up a final Color Balance layer, playing with the midtones and highlights, slightly amping up the reds and yellows. (all with 10/-10 on each side. We're talking slight change.)
17. Okay, so texture time! I have no idea who made this one, if you do to tell me. I desaturated it, and flipped it horizontally before setting it to Softlight at 50%.
18
18. This next one I use a lot, and got it so long ago I didn't grab the maker. Again, I desaturated it (you'll notice a pattern here) and set it to Screen, fiddling with the Opacity and keeping it to about 50%. I then duplicated it and set the top one to Softlight, the Opacity lowered to 40-50%. I find it's a nice way to get some all over directional contrast.
19. Final one! Again, I desaturated this texture by (?), and set it to Softlight lowering both the opacity and Fill to 40-50%. I tend to end with a minor sharpening of the icon so, copy merge it onto a new layer. I vary on the how, but this time I used Smart Sharpen,
amount set to 42%, Radius set to 0.4px.
Viola!
I get my textures all over, besides the ones previously used in the tutorial I tend to have favorites then change them over. So here are some old tried and trues.
naushika | raiindust | blue_emotion | lookslikerain | mdreamelis |
midnight_road | erzsebet | deternot | innocent_lexys | jasoncourtney
fuuurs | tinebrella |
Other texture makers I frequent:
notherndawn
slayground (she has left tumblr, but her textures have been kept up)
novakhouse
I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions, or I was unclear at any point please let me know!
If anyone else has any questions or quieries, feel free to post:
Ask The Maker 5.0 || My Thread
First thing first, is the choice of cap. In the examples given, I chose one myself and the other was chosen by another amazing user for a icon battle. I find that using images from dramatic/emotional scenes to be best. It heightens what's already there.
The main thing I did is keep a heightened contrast of light and dark. When picking caps, I try to keep that in mind. Using caps with a significant amount of light is doable, just a little more difficult (I find). Here are some that I've used/examples, that make for great dramatic crops.
Looking at the Hannibal cap, there is a lot of opportunity to play with light and contrast. The first step, is figuring out where you want the light to be. With this cap I see 3 different cropping options for where the light could be:
Each option allows for different lighting option, it just depends on what you prefer. The arrows denote possible areas to use as the lightened areas.
I personally find the last one most appealing, I like the little blob of unfocused furniture in the corner. Now, it's just a matter of bringing in the focus. It's a matter of layering textures, tweaking colors and gradient maps. Here's what I ended up with:
Okay, so I know there are a lot of steps missing there. But the next part will cover that, promise!
Here's sort of a general coloring tutorial, a start off point if you will. I'm going to use a brighter cap for the walk through, so you can see the sort of difference I'm talking about when it comes to bright light filled images.
So for this I'm going to play with a new cap from Arrow.
I picked out a cap where Oliver is all broody, partially in shadow.
Some people resize first and some last. I let the image/what I want for my icon to dictate this (ie: focus on negative space around the subject, or a close up...etc)
Do whatever you normally do to prep, (I auto contrast, duplicate then auto color & tone and fiddle with the opacity of each layer until I'm happy) In this cap I wasn't sure whether I wanted to focus on the light or the dark so I fiddled with the image size and canvas size and got it down. After copy and merging the base I pasted the image four times. Set the first one to Multiply, the next two to Screen and the last to Softlight 40%.
1.
1 >>>
2
In case of confusion this is what the Layers Palatte looks like.
2. Next I added a Gradient Map [#21212b to #ffffff] to neutralize the colors a bit, lowered the opacity to below 50%.
3. Okay, so we're gonna make it darker before we add more light and contrast, so bare with me here. Next I added a Color Fill Layer (#cbcbcb) and after fiddling with the opacity. I usually start with 50% and fiddle with it from there, depending on the image. This time around I settled on 40%.
4. Another Color Fill Layer is next, seeing as Oliver is the Green Arrow I decided to use a dark green, #25390b. I wanted to keep the shadow but add a but more color to it.
5. We're going to start to add a bit of light back, I create a new layer and fill it with black. Then take a large soft brush, I used one on 200 px and lowered the brush Opacity to 40% and the Fill to 30%. Place the brush off to the left, literally off the palette so the white brush lightens up just the corner of the image. Set it to Screen.
>>>
6. It's a slow process, but it's process! Now we're going to kick it into medium gear, let's call it. Open yourself up a Gradient Layer [black to white] and play with the angle until the white is over the same area as the white brush. In this case it's -120.26 and set the layer to Softlight.
7. To add to the contrast we added another gradient layer, a light grey to dark grey [#bebebe to #363636] angle set to 0. I also wanted to pump the color a but so I added a vibrance layer set to 56+. If you don't have Vibrance, you can use a Hue/Saturation Layer the saturation set to +25, the lightness set to -2.
8. We're going to add our first texture [audience applauds loudly] Yes, I know, very exciting! Okay, so I don't remember who did this, so if you know please tell me! Set it to Screen, but I played around with the Opacity to 50% and the Fill to 40-30%. I wasn't satisfied with the color situation so I added another Vibrance layer set to +47.
9. Time to kick it up a few notches with a Levels Layer to add more contrast and add some more color. There are a few ways to do this (Curves, Brightness/Contrast/ Black & White Filters) but I like playing with Levels so..Levels it is.
Red: 0, 1.00, 206
Green: 0, 1.00, 198
Blue: 0, 1.00, 191
10. You remember the last Gradient Map we used? The pinkish one? Well, we're going to duplicate it and set it to Softlight, lowering both the Fill & Opacity to 50-55%. For this icon, I chose to use a pinker skin base, but you could use a more yellow/tan one. My go to one is #353028 to #e0d3bf, you can also sub out the darker color for black. I keep both gradients saved and use them a lot.
11. I want to keep the all over colors as is but the high saturation of yellow on his cheekbones is getting to me. So I made a new layer, chose a color already there (#cdc3a0) and brushed over the area, setting the layer to Color. It's a handy little trick I use to get color to pop, among other things.
12. Alright, I want to brighten up the colors, but keep them still within a more neutral range, so I cracked open a Selective Color layer. Messing with the Reds and Magentas. The end result was a bit much so I lowered the opacity to 50%.
13. Next, we're going to lighten up the green, while giving a wee boost to the reds. I used another Selective Colors layer for this. In this case I kept the fiddling to the Reds and Greens only.
14. Okay, so I want more red and a bit more light. I'm in love with this texture by innocent_lexys, and use it a lot. It's a great one to flip around, desaturate, darken etc...ANYWAY, I set it to Screen at 100%.
15. Another Gradient--yaaaay! Last one, black and white, keeping the black in the top right corner. The white is a bit too bright so I lowered the opacity to about 60%.
16. Final real color tweaking here. I wanted to keep the red/yellow up in the highlights so I opened up a final Color Balance layer, playing with the midtones and highlights, slightly amping up the reds and yellows. (all with 10/-10 on each side. We're talking slight change.)
17. Okay, so texture time! I have no idea who made this one, if you do to tell me. I desaturated it, and flipped it horizontally before setting it to Softlight at 50%.
18
18. This next one I use a lot, and got it so long ago I didn't grab the maker. Again, I desaturated it (you'll notice a pattern here) and set it to Screen, fiddling with the Opacity and keeping it to about 50%. I then duplicated it and set the top one to Softlight, the Opacity lowered to 40-50%. I find it's a nice way to get some all over directional contrast.
19. Final one! Again, I desaturated this texture by (?), and set it to Softlight lowering both the opacity and Fill to 40-50%. I tend to end with a minor sharpening of the icon so, copy merge it onto a new layer. I vary on the how, but this time I used Smart Sharpen,
amount set to 42%, Radius set to 0.4px.
Viola!
I get my textures all over, besides the ones previously used in the tutorial I tend to have favorites then change them over. So here are some old tried and trues.
naushika | raiindust | blue_emotion | lookslikerain | mdreamelis |
midnight_road | erzsebet | deternot | innocent_lexys | jasoncourtney
fuuurs | tinebrella |
Other texture makers I frequent:
notherndawn
slayground (she has left tumblr, but her textures have been kept up)
novakhouse
I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions, or I was unclear at any point please let me know!
If anyone else has any questions or quieries, feel free to post:
Ask The Maker 5.0 || My Thread