1wonderment | [Tutorial #23] Complex Pink and Purple

From this:

and this:

to this:

Requested by

chocolatefrogs

I started out with my subject. I had already cut her out and resized her.

I knew I was going for a pink icon at this point, so I added a color layer of dd7f81 for my background. I think I pulled a color from her face or lips and tweaked it to come out with a brighter, more vibrant color that still matched her.

Next, I wanted to get more contrast in the icon. I added a brightness-contrast layer with the following settings: brightness: 1, contrast: 71.

I wanted a little more contrast in my icon, so I added a levels layer with the following settings: 13, .95, 243. The output levels stayed the same at 0 and 255.

At this point, I decided I wanted to smooth out the icon. Normally, I would do it towards the end of the process or if I wanted to do some shading. Anyway, I copy-merged and pasted the layer into the icon (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E or CTRL+SHIFT+CMD+E). First, I added a diffuse filter (Filter>Stylize>Diffuse) with the mode set to anisotropic. Then I took the blur tool and blurred out the pixelated parts of the icon. Lastly, I set the layer to normal, 20% opacity, to soften the icon.

Now for a gradient maps. I knew I wasn't going to go for a natural coloring. Instead I want to use pinks and purples, so I added a gradient map going from 7446d0 to fdcee4 (light purple to light pink) and set it to hue, 100% opacity, to bring out the shading from the previous steps but with pink and purple tones.

I wanted to darken the edges while bring some lighting to her face, so I added this texture by lookslikerain and gaussian blurred it at a radius of 6.0. I set the layer to soft light, 100% opacity.

Next, I wanted to add a bit of texture and sparkle, so I added this texture by lookslikerain and set it to screen, 100% opacity.

I also wanted to add a bit of color because there was still so much white in the icon. I added this texture by j-k-icons and set it to multiply, 100% opacity.

Now for some text! I added the following text in Neou for the font, ffcdf5 for the color, and 14 pt for the size: love of mine my one & only. I intentionally cut off "only" for my text.

The icon was still a little dark and needed a little more texture, so I added this texture by jaejunggim and set it to screen, 100% opacity.

I wanted to add vibrant colors to the icon and to add a different style of text, so I added a color fill layer of 7143ca and pasted this texture by crazydelight into the layer mask (2nd images is what it looks like being pasted into the layer mask) then inverted the texture (3rd image).

Next, I added my 2nd subject which I already cut out and resized separately before pasting it in the icon.

Now to color the 2nd subject! For the coloring, I was going for a little more subtle look. To cool down the colors of my subject, I added a gradient map from fractured-simplicity from her sky set (#2 in the set), clipped it to the 2nd subject's layer, and set it to hue, 100% opacity.

Another gradient map! This is the same as the one from earlier: 7446d0 to fdcee4. I clipped it to the previous layer and set it to color, 20% opacity. This one is very, very subtle, so if you wanted to skip it, it would probably still look the same.

Now for the punch of color! I added a photo filter in violet (9b1dea) with a density of 50%. I also checked the box for preserving the luminosity.

Next, I'm going to add some color to my main subject's hair. First, I added some strands in ce8af8. The layer was set to normal, 100% opacity.

To add some contrast, I added some more strands but in d3b6e5. The layer was set to normal, 100% opacity as well.

Now for more textures. I felt like the icon was still feeling too warm toned, so I added this texture by lookslikerain, gaussian blurred it at a radious of 6.0, and set it to soft light, 100% opacity.

The icon still felt a little dark, so I added a texture by lookslikerain and set it to screen, 100% opacity.

But the icon still felt a little light, so I added a vibrance layer and set it to color, 100% opacity: vibrance: 100, saturation: 100. You could set it on normal (1st image), but in this icon, the colors came out better with the layer being set on color (2nd image).

Now to soften the icon! I copy-merged and pasted the layer into the icon (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E or CTRL+SHIFT+CMD+E). Then I added a diffuse filter (Filter>Stylize>Diffuse) with the mode set to anisotropic, blurred it (like before), and set the layer to normal, 30% opacity.

Now for a bit of shading! I copy-merged and pasted the layer into the icon (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E or CTRL+SHIFT+CMD+E). Then I added a cutout filter (Filter>Filter Gallery then Artistic>Cutout) with the following settings: Number of levels: 8, Edge Simplicity: 1, Edge Fidelity: 3. I set the layer to soft light, 60% opacity. (I think I may have hidden layers or something because this layer didn't look quite right when I tried recreating it)

Of course, you can fiddle with the settings and layer modes to best fit your icon. I sometimes use multiply or screen instead of soft light when I'm using the cut out filter.

Now for the sharpening! I copy-merged again and pasted the layer into the icon (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E or CTRL+SHIFT+CMD+E) and then used the paint daubs filter (Filter>Filter Gallery>Artistic>Paint Daubs) with the following settings: Brush Size: 1, Sharpness: 1, Brush Type: Simple.

I felt like the icon needed to be a little darker and grungier. I added this texture by lookslikerain and set it to soft light, 100% opacity, to make the icon darker.