mundodefieras | Ask The Maker 2024

FROM	TO

asked by:

tinny and

themeparks

MADE IN: Adobe Photoshop 2021

DISCLAIMER: Obviously every screencap is different and there's no one way to do vibrant coloring, but the basics are the same. I tried to keep this pretty simple, but most of the time I do merge some layers in between, delete parts of textures/layers, add some subtle selective coloring/color balance to the base to match it better with the background etc., but in the end vibrant coloring result is the same.

DISCLAIMER 2: When you try to do this step by step, maybe it won't make sense to you :D That's because I don't do these things in the same order here, sometimes I go back and add layers at the beginning, or in the middle, or wherever it gets me the result I want at the end.

That being said, let's finally get to it! :)

After I've chosen my screencap, for this icon it's from Good Trouble, I make a new 100x100 canvas and go to Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Solid Color and I chose #c6510a
Resize the cap, paste it above the color fill layer and move it how you want in, I generally go with a center crop. Cutout the subject, I do that with the Eraser Tool and now I have my base.
Duplicate the base layer and set it to Screen (Opacity: 20%). Duplicate the base layer again, set it to Soft Light 100% and then Filter -> Other -> High Pass. Repeat that step once again, but this time set it to Soft Light (Opacity: 50%)
Add this texture by lookslikerain, rotate it 180° and set it Screen (Opacity 20%)
Add this texture and set it Soft Light (Opacity: 70%)
Add this texture by wolfofmidnight and set it Soft Light (Opacity: 30%)
Next step is Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Brightness/Contrast (set Brightness to 150 & Contrast to 3), Opacity 50% and we're finally going somewhere yay
After that, add a Curves layer with these settings, or whatever works for you
Now he looks like an albino, let's bring that yellow/orange back Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Vibrance (set Vibrance to 100 and Saturation to 4)
Go to Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Solid Color and choose #fdc025, set to Soft Light, Fill 17%
Next up is Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Selective Color with these settings Red -6 +4 +2 0 and Yellows -4 +1 +3 0
Go to Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Solid Color and choose #fa62b4 set to Soft Light, Fill 17%
Go to Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Color Balance with these settings: Midtones -5 -9 -5, Shadows +2 +13 +26, Highlights +2 +1 -2
Somehow is still not vibrant enough for me, let's do again Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Vibrance (set Vibrance to 100 and Saturation to 4)
Okay, but now the reds are too vibrant, let's bring it down a notch with Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Color Balance Midtones: -42 0 0
Add this texture and set it to Screen (Opacity: 21%) and we're done with the coloring. At this point the icon looks like this
But somehow it still looks unfinished to me, so we're going back to the beginning. That's where I added this texture by lookslikerain on Screen, then duplicated it and rotated it to 180°. After that I added some brushes with black color set on Soft Light to bring more orange at the bottom part, where the subject is darker.
Hmm, it seems still a bit unfinished. Let's add some text. The fonts I used are Aliens and Cows & Summer Pisces, but I'll talk a bit more about Text and Fonts in my next guide

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

tinny

omg how could i have forgotten to reply to your tutorial? /o\

I saw the notification, rushed here, gobbled it up, and have since been trying to apply steps to my process. It's been great fun and very interesting! The main thing I notice is the lot of color layers and textures, and the use of Soft Light at low opacity. (I'm always using a hammer, subtlety is beyond me.... Vibrance to 100, I do that! :D)

Thank you very much for writing it up! <3

p.s.: oh, and I got the two fonts, too. I didn't have either of them yet.

Edited Date: 2024-07-12 05:37 am (UTC)