Invitation Tutorial, Challenge 89, by stripped

[stripped]

This icon was a lot easier to make than it seems like it should be. Writing the tutorial in a way that shows the steps is actually more complicated. :) The icon was created using Photoshop CS4.

First, I cropped the image, resized it to 400x400, did a Filter / Sharpen / Smart Sharpen, then resized it down to the 100x100 I wanted to work with.



Next, I duplicated the background into a new layer. I looked through the masks I have from Mutsie's Brushes on LJ and picked one that had a wide open space over the butterfly's wing and masked a selection, saving it so I could use it later, too.

This is what the mask looks like, against an inserted red layer for show:



Using that mask, I cranked the saturation up to 85.



I then reselected that mask on the copied background layer and used a motion blur using the mask and set that to 58% opaque.



The last step was adding an inner glow to the saturation mask layer to finish it out.



These are the layers:

Comments

[pensnest]

It's fascinating how you've got the 'texture' effect by using a mask with filter and blending layers. Very cool.

[stripped]

I think a lot of it probably has to do with the part where there are a lot of techniques I don't know how to do, so I tend to push the few I do into some really strange places by clicking until I say "oh hey NEAT." *laughs*

Thank you for asking for the tutorial on this one. I have an absurd fondness for this icon in part because of the way it came together in so few layers, and in part because I made it while sitting in the stands, waiting for time to pass at a basketball tournament so I could see my kid play. :)