tutorial: hero jaejoong

wow, it's been a while since i made a tutorial, but here goes. this will be working with selective color, curves and color balance layers, so if your program doesn't have that, i don't know how to help you.

we're turning this: to this


grab your base, to start with. if it looks a little faded or worn, go to image>>adjustments>> auto levels. see if that helps to clean up the image a bit. if it looks too contrasted afterwards, go to edit>>fade auto levels and fiddle until it looks like an even mix between the two. then, what i usually like to do with any base is duplicate it and set it to either soft light or screen. for this one, i chose soft light, because it makes jaejoong bolder. makes him pop, as it were ;D SO, duplicate your base, set to soft light 100% and then you've got this:



for step two, we're going to do a selective color layer. i really like the reds in my icons to stand out. now, keep in mind that every picture is going to color differently, and what works for my icon, may not work for yours. but here are the numbers i got. fiddle around and see what works for you.

REDS:
cyan: -100
yellow: +100

don't change anything else but the cyan and yellow. after that, jaejoong looks like this:



now, he looks oversaturated and there's too much red. he's also a bit more contrasted than i like, so we're going to do a curves layer. again, here are my numbers for guidance, but fiddle around and see what looks better for your particular image.

RGB:
input: 17
output: 22

input: 235
output: 229

now, what i do for my RGB curves is weird. i don't usually pay attention to the numbers, at all. i always bring the bottom of the line up just a bit first, which is where the first set of numbers comes from. then, it looks even more contrasted, so i go to the top part of the line (the second set of numbers) and pull it down just a bit, making a very, very slight 's' figure on the graph. screencap of my RGB curves palette

now, still on the curves layer, go to the greens and at the middle of the line, pull it up just a bit. my numbers:

GREEN:
inout: 159
output: 164

and finally, the blues. for this one, i do almost the same thing as i did with my RGB. pull the bottom of the line up a little, then go to the top and pull it UP, this time, just a little. after that, go to the middle and pull it down. screencap of blue curves palette and my numbers:

BLUE:
(bottom)
input: 21
output: 30

(middle)
input: 112
output: 118

(top)
input: 228
output: 244

and you're done with curves, resulting in this:



now for the very last layer. i still feel jaejoong's a bit redder than i'd like, so we'll do a color balance layer. my numbers:

MIDTONES:
-31
+16
+13

HIGHLIGHTS:
0
0
+40

SHADOWS:
+15
+18
-4

and you end up with the finished icon:



pretty simple coloring, really. heh. that's actually what i do for most of my icons, but with some fiddling around with the numbers. if you have any questions, feel free to ask away and i'll do my best to answer them.