[Tutorial #11] Painted Close-up Yuna

[aurora_amethyst]

Going from this: to this:

Requested by tinny @ Ask the Maker 2023 @ icontalking


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I started with this close crop of Yuna from her Dior photoshoot.



To get rid of some of the shadows and brighten her skin, I added the copper gradient map (one of the preset gradient maps) and set it on soft light, 40% opacity. This gradient map is one of the two main ones I use to get the matte look.



I wanted to add a pinkish tone, so I added a gradient map layer (e6b224 to ae0052) and set it to normal, 12% opacity.



Next, I added another gradient map layer (ad98c1 at 0%, d19ecd at 20%, ffcff1 at 38%, dd9493 at 55%, efedff at 85%, and eea1d2 at 100%) and set it to hue, 100% opacity. Setting a gradient map layer to hue is a great way to change the overall coloring of an icon!



But I wanted a little more contrast, so I added a black and white gradient map and set it to soft light, 100% opacity.



There were some pixelated spots, so I copy-merged and pasted the layer into the icon (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E or CTRL+SHIFT+CMD+E) then smoothed out those spots with the blur tool.




Next, I wanted to give the icon more depth, so I copy-merged and pasted the layer into the icon (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E or CTRL+SHIFT+CMD+E). Then I used the Cutout filter (Filter>Filter Gallery>Artistic>Cutout) with the following settings: Number of levels: 8, Edge Simplicity: 4, Edge Fidelity: 3. I set the layer to soft light, 100% opacity.



Next, I wanted to sharpen the icon, so I went with my favorite technique: paint daubs. so I copy-merged and pasted the layer into the icon (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E or CTRL+SHIFT+CMD+E). Then I used the following settings for the paint daubs filter (Filter>Filter Gallery>Artistic>Paint Daubs): Brush Size: 1, Sharpness 1. Then I set the layer to normal, 60% opacity.



I wanted to add a little color to the highlights, so I added a gradient map layer (6915b7 at 0%, d341c7 at 30%, f113b0 at 48%, f50300 at 55%, 9d92f1 at 92%, and 3b3597 at 100%), masked out everything except for the highlights, and set the layer to color, 100% opacity.



I wanted to brighten the highlights just a tad, so I added a new layer of deabab and painted over the highlights, setting the layer to normal, 30% opacity.



I also added a new layer of 28131f and painted over the loose part of Yuna's bracelet.



Her bracelet wasn't bright enough, so I added this texture from my Woven and Spun set and set to it to hue, 100% opacity. I masked out everything except for the gold parts of the bracelet.



But the gold wasn't golden enough, so I added another texture from my Woven and Spun set, masked out everything except the bracelet, and set it to lighten, 30% opacity.



There were some pixelated spots, so I copy-merged and pasted the layer into the icon (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E or CTRL+SHIFT+CMD+E) then smoothed out those spots with the blur tool.



But I wanted to add some color to the shadows, so I added this texture by midnight_road and set it to screen, 40% opacity.


Voila!

There you have it!

.psd

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Comments

[tinny]

Very cool! The cutout filter does the heavy lifting here, and the colored highlights - they both make the icon look painted. I've never used the cutout filter in this way (I usually use gaussian blur) - I should try it!

I love that you colored the bracelet separately, too. The golden shine is really beautiful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write up this tutorial!

[aurora_amethyst]

I love using the cutout filter now! I can't remember which tutorial I discovered it from, but I'm always using it now or at least giving it a try! ^^ You should definitely give it a try! It's fun to work with, even with different layer modes too!

The colored highlights is something I kind of took from adriftingsea and longerthanwedo. I've always loved and been inspired by their painted icons.

Gold is such a hard color to work with, so I usually color with gold textures or golden gradient maps. I find that coloring gold separately with textures/gradient maps provides a shinier look.