Program: Paint Shop Pro X2 Ultimate.
Difficulty: Intermediate?
Translatable: Unknown.
Techniques Used: Negative Space, Mask Layer, Channel Mixer, Hue/Saturation/Lightness, Luminance (Legacy).
From this:

To this:

rhoda_rants asked me how I achieved the background of this icon featuring Genesis Rhapsodos, so I thought I'd make a tutorial on it! Just be forewarned: it's very long and detailed, probably a little too overwhelming for beginners, though I've included a lot of extra explanation with beginners in mind. For those of you in a hurry, the essentials are in bold, so you can skip the rest. :)
( On to the tutorial . . . )