Icon Tutorial
Okay, like I promised, a tutorial to make this: 
Please use your own picture, you will learn better that way, and don't be afraid to tweak opacities and such to better complement the picture you're using. Don't mass produce off of this, that's lame. And have fun! :D
1. I start with this loverly picture of Emma Watson at the world premiere for "The Weddding Crashers" movie. (picture compliments of MuggleThai Galleries) I crop it and resize it to 100x100, then use the polygonal lasso tool to select everything not containing Emma. I desaturate the selected area and lower the brightness and contrast.
2. I then sharpen the picture and use my standard technique to make my picture into a base. (tutorial on this here) I then merge the layers and do auto levels and then auto contrast before fooling around with the curves a bit.
3. I make a new layer and fill it with color #000023 (dark blue) and set it on screen at 100%.
4. Another layer, filled with color #00FFFF (neon blue), set on color burn at 50%.
5. I make a third new layer, which I fill with color #FACB99 (peach) and set on overlay at 50%.
6. Almost done! To tone down the colors, I duplicate the original picture, drag it to the top, sharpen, and lower the opacity down to 30%.
7. I duplicate the top layer, set it on saturation at 60%, and carefully erase the parts covering Emma. And it's done!
I'd be thrilled to know what you thought and to see anything you made following this, so comment away! :D
Please use your own picture, you will learn better that way, and don't be afraid to tweak opacities and such to better complement the picture you're using. Don't mass produce off of this, that's lame. And have fun! :D
1. I start with this loverly picture of Emma Watson at the world premiere for "The Weddding Crashers" movie. (picture compliments of MuggleThai Galleries) I crop it and resize it to 100x100, then use the polygonal lasso tool to select everything not containing Emma. I desaturate the selected area and lower the brightness and contrast.
2. I then sharpen the picture and use my standard technique to make my picture into a base. (tutorial on this here) I then merge the layers and do auto levels and then auto contrast before fooling around with the curves a bit.
3. I make a new layer and fill it with color #000023 (dark blue) and set it on screen at 100%.
4. Another layer, filled with color #00FFFF (neon blue), set on color burn at 50%.
5. I make a third new layer, which I fill with color #FACB99 (peach) and set on overlay at 50%.
6. Almost done! To tone down the colors, I duplicate the original picture, drag it to the top, sharpen, and lower the opacity down to 30%.
7. I duplicate the top layer, set it on saturation at 60%, and carefully erase the parts covering Emma. And it's done!
I'd be thrilled to know what you thought and to see anything you made following this, so comment away! :D