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A tutorial requested at ask the maker at [livejournal.com profile] icon_talk. :)


18 steps
Using Photoshop CS5



As usual;
I almost always work with a 200x200 canvas, and since the psd is saved as 100x100, I had to re-create the step by step images, but the outcome should be somewhat the same. :)

The base:

I absolutely love this cap and everything about it.

01. It's too dark, so let's duplicate the base and set it to screen 61%.


02. Too get that monotone coloring later, we need to make it b&w first to preserve the contrast. I use a black&white gradient map.


03. And as (almost) always, I love me some glow. So let's stamp the layers (ctrl+shift+alt+e) and use gaussian blur 14px. Set the layer to soft light.


04. I want more depth in the icon. Gradient fills are great for this. Pick a black&white gradient and set the angle to -164,05 and the layer to soft light. Add a layer mask and erase over her left eye, we don't want it to look like she's got a black eye (but hey, it's Lost).


05. More glow! Repeat step #3.


06. It's time to sharpen. I use paint daubs with both settings on 1 and brush type simple. Re-size the icon to 100x100px.


07. The right side of her neck (lower left corner in the icon) looks too bright to me. Make a new layer and pick a soft edge brush and black color and paint over it. Set the layer to soft light 100%. I also think the upper right corner is a bit too dark, so let's do the same thing but with a white color and the layer on soft light 50%.


08. Now onto the grungy part. Stamp the layers and set it to multiply. Stamp them again, but this time set the layer to screen 49%. See what nice contrast we got now? :)


09. Time to add some color. My favorite way of adding color to b&w icons is through gradient maps. And this is one of my favorite gradient maps: #2f082e on the left and #c33f42 on the right.


10. I think it's too dark, add a brightness/contrast layer with brightness +70.


11. I want it more blue. And because I love variations, let's use it! Click once on more cyan.


12. To make things more interesting, add this texture by [livejournal.com profile] raiindust. Set it to soft light.


13. The colors are bit dull, we'll fix that by repeating step 3 again.


14. I think it's too pink, so I'm using variations again (remember to stamp your layers first). Click once on more cyan and once on more green.


15. I want to add another gradient because I think it's pretty. :P Choose a b&w gradient, set the angle to 172 and the layer to soft light. And let's throw in a brightness/contrast layer with brightness +40 as well, as the icon had become a bit dark.


16. It's a teensy bit too bright on the far left side, so pick a soft edge brush, black color and paint over. Set the layer to soft light 50%. (This is just me nit-picking, you can probably just skip this step.)


17. A final brightness/contrast layer with brightness +35. Erase over her right eye.


18. Now I just want a little bit more sharpness. I use high pass (filter>>other>>high pass) 1,5 px. Set the layer to soft light 30%.


And finito!

Date: 2013-08-14 05:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vapor.livejournal.com
Thank you so much for doing this! ^_^

Date: 2013-08-14 09:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nottiem.livejournal.com
that Juliet icon is super pretty and i love the contrast between the sadness at her face and the brightness at the icon.
thank you so much !

Date: 2013-09-01 04:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wandererjulia.livejournal.com
oh dear
this is absolutely stunning i can't wait to get crazy with gradient maps :D

Date: 2014-01-21 03:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bangel-4e.livejournal.com
I love this tutorial, it's helping so much with monochrome icons. Thank you so much for sharing!
Can I ask something? in step 9, do we set the gradient map to color?

Date: 2014-01-21 08:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bangel-4e.livejournal.com
Thanks :)

Date: 2016-03-12 09:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mylengrave.livejournal.com
Thank you, this is great! However, how can I set gradient's angle? Cannot finf it anywhere and google does not want to help me:(