gothrockrulz (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gothrockrulz) wrote2012-06-02 08:28 pm
gothrockrulz) wrote2012-06-02 08:28 pm
Yasu Icon Tutorial #1
From this: 
to this: 
Program: Paint Shop Pro X2 Ultimate
Difficulty: Intermediate
1. I cropped my base as desired to 100 by 100 pixels, making sure to keep Yasu's head as the focal point near the upper left corner.
Result:
2. First off, I wanted to deepen the shadows and contrast in the image, and give it a blue-green shade at the same time, so I created a Color Balance Layer and, making sure the Preserve Luminance box was checked, set it to
Midtones:
Red: -25
Green: 35
Blue: 42
As you can see from the image of the Layer Properites window, I relied heavily on cyan, green, and blue for the Midtones.
The blue-green shade had been achieved, but I still needed those shadows. So I selected the Shadows button and, still with Preserve Luminance checked, set it to
Shadows:
Red: 30
Green: 0
Blue: 0
Nothing like a bit of red to darken those shadows.
Result:
3. I wanted those shadows to be just a little darker and greener, so I created two fill layers, filled the lower layer with #e6f4be and the upper with #f8e4f8, and set them each to Burn 34. Burn is my best buddy when it comes to fill layers. Love the dark vibrancy.
Result:
4. Now that I finally got the shadows I wanted, it was time to bump up the colors and make them pop out, bright and strong. So I used two methods, one to simply brighten the lighter colors, the other to simultaneously brighten and deepen all the colors at the same time. First, I created a Hue/Saturation/Lightness Layer and set it to
Hue: 0
Saturation: 57
Lightness: 0
Now I didn't want it anywhere near that bright and colorful, so I lowered the opacity to Normal 26. It's a good idea to whip up Hue/Saturation/Lightness layers with way too much color, so you can have a greater range to toy with in order to achieve your desired look.
Second, I used a trick I adapted from an old tutorial that I still haven't been able to find again. I filled a New Layer with #f6daef and set it to Luminance (Legacy) 100. I clicked Copy Merged (Edit>Copy>Copy Merged) and then pasted two new layers (Edit>Paste as New Layer, or simple Ctrl + V).
I set the upper layer to Hard Light 10 and the lower layer to Burn 35.
Result:
5. At the last minute, I decided to add some more shadows and a pretty light blob. So I hit Copy Merged again, but this time, I moved the layer down beneath the three layers created in step 4. Then I set it to Soft Light 55.
Then I took a small brush (Size: 10, Hardness: 0, Step: 1) with white (#ffffff) selected and scribbled a bit in the spot just between Yasu's head and hand, a tad closer to his head than his hand. For the most part, I like my light blobs to catch part of the subject's face and part of the negative space right next to the subject. It's a nice balance.
I blurred my light blob by clicking Adjust>Blur>Glaussian Blur and setting the field to 13, and then repeating that stroke (Ctrl + Y).
If I were to make a texture with a black background of that light blob, this is what it would look like:
I set that light blob layer to Normal 66. I wanted the light to be just visible enough to soften the overall look of the icon, but not enough to wash out the details and make you squint as this bright thing jumping out and distracting you from the rest of the icon.
Result:
6. Sharpen at will. I did so by simply clicking Adjust>Sharpness>Sharpen and then Adjust>Sharpness>High Pass Sharpen and entering
Radius: 10.00
Strength: 20
Blend Mode: Hard Light
That was a little too sharp for my taste, so I toned it down by setting the Opacity to Normal: 15.
Result:
And . . . finished! :)
to this: 
Program: Paint Shop Pro X2 Ultimate
Difficulty: Intermediate
1. I cropped my base as desired to 100 by 100 pixels, making sure to keep Yasu's head as the focal point near the upper left corner.
Result:
2. First off, I wanted to deepen the shadows and contrast in the image, and give it a blue-green shade at the same time, so I created a Color Balance Layer and, making sure the Preserve Luminance box was checked, set it to
Midtones:
Red: -25
Green: 35
Blue: 42
As you can see from the image of the Layer Properites window, I relied heavily on cyan, green, and blue for the Midtones.
The blue-green shade had been achieved, but I still needed those shadows. So I selected the Shadows button and, still with Preserve Luminance checked, set it to
Shadows:
Red: 30
Green: 0
Blue: 0
Nothing like a bit of red to darken those shadows.
Result:
3. I wanted those shadows to be just a little darker and greener, so I created two fill layers, filled the lower layer with #e6f4be and the upper with #f8e4f8, and set them each to Burn 34. Burn is my best buddy when it comes to fill layers. Love the dark vibrancy.
Result:
4. Now that I finally got the shadows I wanted, it was time to bump up the colors and make them pop out, bright and strong. So I used two methods, one to simply brighten the lighter colors, the other to simultaneously brighten and deepen all the colors at the same time. First, I created a Hue/Saturation/Lightness Layer and set it to
Hue: 0
Saturation: 57
Lightness: 0
Now I didn't want it anywhere near that bright and colorful, so I lowered the opacity to Normal 26. It's a good idea to whip up Hue/Saturation/Lightness layers with way too much color, so you can have a greater range to toy with in order to achieve your desired look.
Second, I used a trick I adapted from an old tutorial that I still haven't been able to find again. I filled a New Layer with #f6daef and set it to Luminance (Legacy) 100. I clicked Copy Merged (Edit>Copy>Copy Merged) and then pasted two new layers (Edit>Paste as New Layer, or simple Ctrl + V).
I set the upper layer to Hard Light 10 and the lower layer to Burn 35.
Result:
5. At the last minute, I decided to add some more shadows and a pretty light blob. So I hit Copy Merged again, but this time, I moved the layer down beneath the three layers created in step 4. Then I set it to Soft Light 55.
Then I took a small brush (Size: 10, Hardness: 0, Step: 1) with white (#ffffff) selected and scribbled a bit in the spot just between Yasu's head and hand, a tad closer to his head than his hand. For the most part, I like my light blobs to catch part of the subject's face and part of the negative space right next to the subject. It's a nice balance.
I blurred my light blob by clicking Adjust>Blur>Glaussian Blur and setting the field to 13, and then repeating that stroke (Ctrl + Y).
If I were to make a texture with a black background of that light blob, this is what it would look like:
I set that light blob layer to Normal 66. I wanted the light to be just visible enough to soften the overall look of the icon, but not enough to wash out the details and make you squint as this bright thing jumping out and distracting you from the rest of the icon.
Result:
6. Sharpen at will. I did so by simply clicking Adjust>Sharpness>Sharpen and then Adjust>Sharpness>High Pass Sharpen and entering
Radius: 10.00
Strength: 20
Blend Mode: Hard Light
That was a little too sharp for my taste, so I toned it down by setting the Opacity to Normal: 15.
Result:
And . . . finished! :)