Full Icon Tutorial: Kate Moennig (2)

You know I adore Kate, so this is yet another Kate icon explained:

I started with a cap of Kate I took from the Stream Of Consciousness promo, which I cropped and resized.

I duplicated the layer and set the top layer on Screen, 100% opacity.

Now, I checked out in my caps and found the second cap I wanted to use. I cropped it and resized it, before putting a 2 pixel border around it. I put it on top of the other two layers.

After doing this, I went to Edit, then, copy merged and I pasted it on top of the other three layers. You need to do that, so please do it.

I decided to go with the faded 'pink-ish' look for this icon too, so I grabbed this texture from Inxsomniax (Thia), ex dorky_duck on LJ

I put the layer on Screen, 100% opacity. Moved it around a bit until I found what I really wanted. Makes a nice little light effect on the icon, and recolors it nicely.

I thought it wasn't colored/textured enough, so I grabbed a base from Angel Elf Icons, that I rotated:

I put it on top of the others, and set it to Lighten, 100% opacity. The coloring was much better, but still, it was too light.

Now, this is why you needed to copy merged/paste the layer before. You go back to that layer and duplicate it, then put it on top of all the others. You set it to Saturation (Legacy), at 100% opacity.

Much better! Now, I was satisfied with the "base", so I thought "Hey, text!". As with the Laurel one, I decided to simply go with the basics.

Forget them and stay true to yourself

I used Century Gothic at 4 or 3 points. Something small, decorative.

You convert the text layer to a raster layer, so that you can put the brush and the text on the same layer.

Next, I needed a brush, something tiny and decorative, so I chose to go with a brush from Love Theories on LJ. She really has some very nice brushes.

I set this layer on Hard Light, 54% opacity.

I looked at it, and felt that it was missing something, so I grabbed a light texture from FloorShow on LJ

I took it and put it over the others, fiddled with it a bit, then set it on Screen, 100% opacity. And that's it.

Feel free to comment and request any other tutorial. Also, duh, don't make exactly the same icon. And, don't snag this icon/tutorial as your own and tell people you made it. Thanks, and if you used this tutorial, feel free to show me what you made with it. Enjoy!