IconzIcons Coloring Tutorial:
♥~~ Aqua-Peach Color Bomb! ~~♥
BEFORE // AFTER
 STEP 01:  After cropping your base, duplicate it. You're going to leave the bottom-most base alone for right now, so just leave it there at the bottom. STEP 02: Duplicate this second layer again. I KNOW, I KNOW, you're thinking "But why?!" It will aaaall make sense later. Just trust me and do it! Now you should have three identical layers. Ignore the bottom-most layer--we will be working with the top two in the next step! STEP 03:  You need to adjust the Levels in the top layer (the one we made in step 2). Go to IMAGE // ADJUSTMENTS // LEVELS. Now, this is a very delicate process. You will see three little triangles. The left one controls SHADOWS. The middle controls MIDTONES. The right one controls LIGHT TONES. What you want to do is fiddle with these. Bring the SHADOWS slightly to the right. Bring the LIGHT TONES to the left. Twiddle the MIDDLE TONES around. The settings will change from picture to picture, so there are no exact settings to use. The more you play with this feature, the more you will understand how it works and the better you will be at it. BUT!! For now, We are aiming for something like the picture you see above.  Here is what Levels look like. HANDY LEVELS TIPS: The blacks should be DARK--NOT GRAINY. The whites should be very light, the mid-tones should be bright enough so that they appear smooth and clean. In most cases (not all) you can use the peaks on the Levels graph as a guide. Practice practice practice! If there is any choppiness to the edges of your image, chances are you are being too heavy-handed with the settings. Try to be subtle and finesse it! LESS IS MORE. Again, the more you play with Levels, the better you will be! STEP 04:  Now, take the layer we just made and bring down the Opacity ever so slightly. Juuuust barely, so that the subtle details of the layer below it (the one we haven't touched yet) begin to show through. I have brought mine down to about 75%. You may want to bring yours down even less. This depends on the picture. Just go with what looks the best.  Here is where you change the Opacity. Once you have it the way you like it (use the above picture as an example) MERGE the top two layers. Now you should have two layers--your untouched base, and the layer we adjusted and merged. STEP 05:  Duplicate the bottom (untouched) layer, and pull it to the top. Again, we will be working with Levels. But this time, it will be easier! Go to IMAGE // ADJUSTMENTS // LEVELS. Now, instead of doing it all ourselves, start out by clicking the AUTO button! *BING!* We're almost done. Now, you just want to nudge the levels around slightly, just to tweak it if the darks aren't dark enough or the lights aren't light enough. The Auto Levels might work perfectly and you may not need to do this--but it's always a good idea to scoot things around a little and see if you can't make them look just a little better. GET RID OF THE GRAIN, if you see it, by bringing up the darks and lights. Grain is your ENEMY, so try anything you can to make sure you don't see any. STEP 06:  Set this layer to SCREEN and bring the Opacity down. I've brought mine down to 72%, but you want to eyeball it. Bring it down until the subtle details from the layer below it begin to show through. This layer should appear very bright with very dark darks. There shouldn't be much in the way of mid-tones--see the above example. STEP 07:  Create a new layer. Fill this layer with #F18D80, a dusky rose color. Set this layer to MULTIPLY and bring the Opacity down to 34%. STEP 08:  Create a new layer. Fill this layer with #8DDBE4, a bright aqua color. Set this layer to SOFT LIGHT and bring the Opacity down to 34%. STEP 09:  Go to LAYER // NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER // HUE/SATURATION. Bring the Saturation up to 40%. STEP 10:  Go to LAYER // NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER // SELECTIVE COLOR. Now, plug in the following settings: REDS ] Cyan: -100% / Yellow: +100% YELLOWS ] Cyan: -45% / Yellow: -100% NEUTRALS ] Cyan: +72% / Yellow: -23% STEP 11:  Go to LAYER // NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER // HUE/SATURATION. Bring the Saturation up to 25%. STEP 12:  Go to LAYER // NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER // SELECTIVE COLOR. Now, plug in the following settings: REDS ] Cyan: -74% / Yellow: +28% YELLOWS ] Cyan: -100% / Yellow: -23% NEUTRALS ] Cyan: +33% / Yellow: -18% BLACKS ] Black: +100% Set this layer to 20% Opacity. **** You might choose to stop here! Sometimes, the tutorial can produce a really cool result at this step!! :D STEP 13:  Create a new layer. Fill this layer with #BC7835, a medium sienna brown color. Set this layer to DARKEN and bring the Opacity down to 52%. Yes, it looks crazy right now. TRUST ME, it will all come together in the end. STEP 14:  Create a new layer. Fill this layer with #F3ECD2, a VERY pale brown. Set this layer to MULTIPLY and leave the Opacity at %100. STEP 15:  Go to LAYER // NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER // SELECTIVE COLOR. Now, plug in the following settings: REDS ] Cyan: +9% / Magenta: +4% / Yellow: +4% / Black: -2% CYANS ] Cyan: -1% / Yellow: +8% / Black: -7% BLUES ] Cyan: +3% / Magenta: +3% / Yellow: -7% / Black: -10% NEUTRALS ] Cyan: -8% / Yellow: -7% / Black: -1% BLACKS ] Cyan: +1% / Magenta: +3% / Yellow: +4% STEP 16:  Go aaaaall the way back down to your base. Remember why we left it alone? This is why! Duplicate it and drag the new copy to the very top of your layers! STEP 17:  Go to IMAGE // ADJUSTMENTS // LEVELS. Click the AUTO button and continue your adjustments, following the handy tips I already gave you. Your goal here is to make it look very dynamic. Blacks are VERY BLACK. Whites are VERY WHITE. Refer to the above example. STEP 18:  Bring the Opacity of the Layer we just worked on down to 25%. STEP 19:  Create a new layer. Fill this layer with #000226, a very dark and dusty navy blue color. Set this layer to EXCLUSION and bring the Opacity down to 35%. CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE FINISHED THE TUTORIAL! Flatten your image, and enjoy your results!  It's also a good idea, at this point, to do some slight doctoring. Get in there with your Blur Wand and clean up blotchy areas. Sharpen if you want! Use Radial Blurs and Textures and Brushes! Slap some clever text on there! Go nuts! Hopefully, this tutorial will leave you with an awesome icon that EXPLODES with color. Impress your friends! ♥ Remember to hang onto the UN-FLATTENED PSD file as a template--so the next time you want to make icons, you can just plug your bases in! It saves you a bunch of tedious work, especially with the adjustment layers and selective coloring. This makes everything go a LOT faster, especially when making big batches of icons (like I do)! I have all my favorite coloring tutorials saved as PSD files in a folder on my desktop! They're like icon cheat-sheets! :D |
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