to
We're starting with this:
:
The image itself is kind of dark and dull, so I created new curves layer to brighten it up. This saves time and space instead of duplicating five million screen layers.
Input: 107 Output: 149
Mmmm, I still didn't think it's bright enough, so I made yet another new curves layer. This time around I placed the settings at:
Input: 116 Output: 147
Now onto adding color! Go ahead and make a new Selective Coloring layer and upped the yellow in the reds to +34.
Following the Selective Coloring is a Color Balance layer. Once you make that, fiddle with the settings so that they match mine below:
Midtones: 0 0 -25
Highlights: 0 0 0
Shadows: +23 0 +33
Another new Selective Coloring layer, use the following:
Whites: 0 -21 -54 0
Neutrals: 0 0 +4 0
Blacks: 0 0 0 +35
Now, you can stop here if you prefer the icon without the blue tint, if not add a final
Selective Coloring layer. I used these settings:
Whites: +100 -25 -29 +12
Neutrals: 0 +1 -9 +1
And that's it! Sharpen, crop, add textures and brushes as you like!
If you're interested in the brush I used, it's really a font that you can get
here at dafont.com called Opointe, transfered into a brush and sharpened ever so slightly. <3