Killian (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
setsuntamew) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
killiansicons2024-10-28 09:35 pm
setsuntamew) wrote in killiansicons2024-10-28 09:35 pm
Entry tags:
Halloween Icon Tutorial
Apparently I've been bitten by the urge to write icon tutorials again...which is only really surprising because I'm not procrastinating anything today XD I wanted to bust this out before Halloween, so let's get to it!
Made in Photoshop 2020, but you can probably recreate it in as far back as CS2-ish (since I still use the same sort of techniques I've been using since then, lmao). Not sure how well it translates to other graphics software, because I downloaded Photoshop in 2004 and never looked back XD
Since there's a lot of extra text & etc on this, I knew I'd be cropping it pretty close. I started with a blank 100x100 canvas, pasted the original image in, and then resized + rotated it until I liked the composition/crop.
First up, I wanted to get some cobwebs in here (for Halloween!), but didn't want them to overwhelm the whole icon. I used a texture from![[deviantart.com profile]](https://i.deviantart.net/icons/favicon.png)
lookslikerain, set to Lighten, and rotated it a bit before erasing anything covering his face.
→ 
Next, I used another texture fromlookslikerain and set it to Darken. There's a lot of green in the images for this event and I wanna pull some of that back into the icon, since it most got cropped out.
→ 
Time for light textures!!! I used a bunch in this icon~ I started with one fromlookslikerain (can you tell I love their resources?), rotated it, and set the layer to Lighten, before deciding that it was too harsh. I used a small, soft brush set to 30% Opacity to erase most of the texture from his face, as well as softening the edges of the light.
→ 
→ 
The next few light textures are kinda subtle, but overall add to the icon. I'd say sometimes less is more, but I'm a maximalist at heart XD For the next few steps, just assume that the light textures were rotated/resized/moved/etc as I saw fit. I used yet another texture fromlookslikerain, set to Lighten, and tucked in the bottom right corner.
→ 
This light texture fromSanami276 is also set to Screen. I moved it around to get just a bit of orange in the top left corner- gotta keep those Halloween colors in there!! :D
→ 
I wanted some more depth/texture in the upper left corner, so I decided to use part of a texture fromSanami276.
However, it's way to harsh to just throw in there like that...at least not for my purposes. I decided to invert the colors and recolor the black parts orange. My go-to method is with a Gradient Map adjustment layer. The easiest place to find it is in the Adjustments window.
I then used these colors for the gradient itself: #e7b676 at 0% and #ececec at 100%.
And it left the texture looking appropriately orange! I then pasted it into the actual icon, moved it so the rectangles were in the upper left corner, and set the layer to Darken.
→ 
Now for more light textures!! I used a couple fromianthinae, set them to Lighten, and went to town. I cut them up, moved them around, rotated them...just about anything to make them fit where I wanted. I love playing with light textures in general, and I find that even when I use similar ones a lot, they can look very different depending on how they're place.
+ 
→ 
Finally, I used part of a large grunge-y texture that I've unfortunately lost the source to D: I inverted it and set the layer to Multiply, before moving it around a bunch until I found a spot that looked good. And with that, it's done!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and I'll answer as best I can- as long as it's not about making icons in other software D: I only know Photoshop (and Paint Shop Pro, but I don't think anyone uses that anymore). If there are any other icons of mine you're interested in seeing tutorials for - or even just specific techniques! - just lemme know. I love helpin' :D
Made in Photoshop 2020, but you can probably recreate it in as far back as CS2-ish (since I still use the same sort of techniques I've been using since then, lmao). Not sure how well it translates to other graphics software, because I downloaded Photoshop in 2004 and never looked back XD
Since there's a lot of extra text & etc on this, I knew I'd be cropping it pretty close. I started with a blank 100x100 canvas, pasted the original image in, and then resized + rotated it until I liked the composition/crop.
First up, I wanted to get some cobwebs in here (for Halloween!), but didn't want them to overwhelm the whole icon. I used a texture from
lookslikerain, set to Lighten, and rotated it a bit before erasing anything covering his face. → Next, I used another texture from
lookslikerain and set it to Darken. There's a lot of green in the images for this event and I wanna pull some of that back into the icon, since it most got cropped out. → Time for light textures!!! I used a bunch in this icon~ I started with one from
lookslikerain (can you tell I love their resources?), rotated it, and set the layer to Lighten, before deciding that it was too harsh. I used a small, soft brush set to 30% Opacity to erase most of the texture from his face, as well as softening the edges of the light. → → The next few light textures are kinda subtle, but overall add to the icon. I'd say sometimes less is more, but I'm a maximalist at heart XD For the next few steps, just assume that the light textures were rotated/resized/moved/etc as I saw fit. I used yet another texture from
lookslikerain, set to Lighten, and tucked in the bottom right corner. → This light texture from
Sanami276 is also set to Screen. I moved it around to get just a bit of orange in the top left corner- gotta keep those Halloween colors in there!! :D → I wanted some more depth/texture in the upper left corner, so I decided to use part of a texture from
Sanami276.However, it's way to harsh to just throw in there like that...at least not for my purposes. I decided to invert the colors and recolor the black parts orange. My go-to method is with a Gradient Map adjustment layer. The easiest place to find it is in the Adjustments window.
I then used these colors for the gradient itself: #e7b676 at 0% and #ececec at 100%.
And it left the texture looking appropriately orange! I then pasted it into the actual icon, moved it so the rectangles were in the upper left corner, and set the layer to Darken.
→ Now for more light textures!! I used a couple from
ianthinae, set them to Lighten, and went to town. I cut them up, moved them around, rotated them...just about anything to make them fit where I wanted. I love playing with light textures in general, and I find that even when I use similar ones a lot, they can look very different depending on how they're place. + → Finally, I used part of a large grunge-y texture that I've unfortunately lost the source to D: I inverted it and set the layer to Multiply, before moving it around a bunch until I found a spot that looked good. And with that, it's done!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and I'll answer as best I can- as long as it's not about making icons in other software D: I only know Photoshop (and Paint Shop Pro, but I don't think anyone uses that anymore). If there are any other icons of mine you're interested in seeing tutorials for - or even just specific techniques! - just lemme know. I love helpin' :D