Anne of Green Gables Paint Shop Pro Tutorial #1

[ever_maedhros]

Made at the request of msantimacassar. I think you'll be pleased to hear GIMP tutorials for icons featuring Romola Garai are also in the works, since I couldn't figure out a way to translate this particular icon to GIMP. :)

Okay, today I'll show you how I changed this: into this:

I had no idea how involved making this particular icon was, until I tried to explain it. This probably clocks in at the intermediate level, at the very least.



1. Crop your base. I wanted to focus on both Anne and Diana's expressions and dresses in the center of attention, so I cropped just inside the edges of their shoulders, and just along Anne's sash at the bottom and just above Diana's head at the top.

Result:

2. Brighten your image. I duplicated my base twice and set both duplicates to Screen 100.

Result:

But now Anne's pale blue dress is almost too bright for us to appreciate all the pretty frills and lacework, so I created a Mask Layer



and applied it to only one of the duplicates, to tone down Anne's dress just a little.

Result:

3. Tweak the coloring. First, I wanted to bring more pale blue and green into the picture, so I created a Color Balance layer and set it to

Midtones: -63
-24
-10

Result:

Second, a dramatic orange-red. I filled a New Layer with #d45502 and set it to Burn 37.

Result:

Third, brighter colors with more pale blue and green. I created a Channel Mixer Layer and set it to

Green:
R: 8
G:100
B: 6

Blue:
R: 0
G: 21
B: 100

Result:

Fourth, MOAR ORANGE. New Layer filled with #f79873 and set to Burn 14.

Result: .

Fifth, a little purplish-blue. New Layer filled with #c0c0f4 and set to Burn 36.

Result: .

Sixth, a wee bit o' green. New Layer filled with #04bc20 and set to Burn 14.

Result: .

Seventh, last call for orange. New Layer filled with #f59c8b and set to Burn 27.

Yeah, there's a lot of tiny tweaks. I love to complicate things for myself. XD But put all together, those tiny tweaks go a long way, at least for me.

Result: > > > .

4. Bump up contrast and color. First, I adapt a tip I learned in a tut I saw a long time ago and haven't been able to find again. I create a New Layer, fill it with #e7d1f5, and set it to Luminance (Legacy) 100.

It makes the icon itself look like this: .

Now I hit Copy-Merged and Paste, which captures that funny image in a new layer on top of all the other layers. I set duplicate that new layer and set the upper duplicate to Hard Light 20 and the lower duplicate to Burn 20. Finally, I delete the layer filled with #e7d1f5, so that it's out of the way.

Result:

Next, I hit Copy-Merged again, and this time I hit Paste twice. I leave the lower of these two new layers, but I apply a Colorize to the upper layer, with the settings Hue: 72 and Saturation: 41.

The lower layer should look like this:

And the upper like this:

Set the lower to Soft Light 79 and the upper to Soft Light 52.

Result:

5. Hang in there, almost done. Now for light blobs to brighten and soften stuff up at the same time.

First, I set this one



to Screen 17,

this one



to Screen 36,

and this one



to Screen 23.

Result:

Then I Copy Merged again, hit Paste, and then moved the new layer down beneath the layers that look like this:



I set it to Multiply 36.

Result:

Finally, I hit Copy Merged and Paste, hit Sharpen, and set this last layer on top to Normal 43.

Result:

There! It is finished.

Comments

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

I LOVE YOU! *runs off to try*

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

I LOVE YOU, TOO! Hope your result(s) live up to your expectations!

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

Okay, so it didn't turn out quite as I had hoped, stupid Gimp is missing so many features! At least now it has made me think about getting PSP or Photoshop...

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

I know! I've got a GIMP tutorial up now, though, if you're interest . . . :)

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

You are so speedy! Must catch up on some comments first! *collapses from too much internet at once*

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

I am very slowly typing my comment so as to allow you a breather . . . :)

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

LOL! Thank you ;)

[welshgater.livejournal.com]

This is cool, great work :)

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

It's always so fascinating to get a peek at what other makers' techniques are!!!

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

It is, indeed! Glad you're fascinated. I was beginning to wonder if I rambled too much in the tutorial to hold even a patient reader's attention. :)

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

LOL I haven't even attempted to write a tutorial of my own to share techniques like this; most of what I do is so "fiddly" and YOU talk about rambling!! This is probably what each step of mine would read like:

"I chose to go with the darker, more subdued coloring in order to cooincide what is going on with this particular scene. The mood is so sombre, and that's also echoed in my choice of a smoky, gritty texture on the bottom right area...negative space also adds a "quiet" element of solemnity that I felt contributed to the overall mood I was attempting to achieve..."

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

I'd love to read a tutorial like that! XD

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, thank you! I'm afraid you'd be the only, however. LOL!

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

*cough* I hate to elbow in, but I would love a tutorial like that! Often I find mainstream tutorials lacking because they don't explain why the maker chose to go with a certain coloring or texture. I would love to get a lesson on the maker's mind and creative process as well as technicalites.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Your "elbow" is more than welcome--and I'm actually flattered that anyone would be even remotely interested in reading my prattlings about my artistic choices! LOL! It's such a personal and mood-related thing for me, I'm not sure it'll translate to tutorials, but I'll definitely give it some thought! :D Thanks for the encouragement. ;)

[lady_turner]

Love your tutorial! I'll try it soon! :D

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks!