Invitation Tutorial, Challenge 02, by megathy27
Thanks so much for the invitation! Here goes...
Going from
to 
Made with Photoshop CS, probably applicable to other versions. Uses Selective Color.
1.
Duplicate the base layer three times. Sharpen the second layer and set it to an opacity of 40%, set the third to Screen at 100%, and set the top layer to Soft Light at 100%. I like to leave the original layer alone, so that I can duplicate it and use it again if I want to. This is my standard start to an icon; from here I determine what I want to do with it.
2.
I wanted to really focus on the blues and somewhat the magentas. Create a Hue/Saturation Layer by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Hue/Saturation..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Hue/Saturation). These are the settings for each color in the drop-down menu:
Reds:
Saturation: -32
Yellows:
Saturation: -100
Greens:
Saturation: -100
3.
Now to darken it a bit and up the contrast. Create a Curves layer the same way as the Hue/Saturation layer and click on the diagonal line in two places to add two points:
Input: 32 Output: 15
Input: 218 Output: 219
You can just as easily use brightness/contrast, levels, or some other method for the same effect if you prefer.
4.
Now make a Selective Color layer, again the same way as the Hue/Saturation layer. I used the following settings:
Select "Reds" from the drop-down menu at the top and set the colors to the following values:
Cyan: +70%
Magenta: +100%
Yellow: -89%
Black: 0%
Now select "Yellows":
Cyan: -48%
Magenta: +47%
Yellow: -37%
Black: +61%
Greens:
Cyan: +58%
Magenta: +15%
Yellow: -24%
Black: +10%
Cyans:
Cyan: +24%
Magenta: +31%
Yellow: -30%
Black: 0%
Blues:
Cyan: +5%
Magenta: +27%
Yellow: +65%
Black: 0%
Whites:
Cyans: +61%
Magenta: -24%
Yellow: +23%
Black: 0%
Neutrals:
Cyan: +20%
Magenta: +20%
Yellow: -20%
Black: -7%
The point of this layer is to emphasize the blues and purples in the image. If you don't feel like using Selective Color, play around with textures or solid colors and you should be able to approximate the results.
5.
Now add this texture by 
lookslikerain as a new layer: 
. Set it to Soft Light at 25%.
6.
Select the Gradient Tool and make sure your foreground color is white. Select the gradient that goes from white on the left to transparent on the right and select the Radial Gradient option. Click the center of the area you want to show (in this case, the peacock's head) and drag to an edge or so.
7.
Add this texture by 
silverque as a new layer: 
. Set it to Color Dodge at around 89%.
8.
I wanted the red to be a little less intense, so I created another Hue/Saturation layer, selected "Reds" from the drop-down menu, and set saturation to -65.
9.
I got a little nitpicky here.. I decided I wanted the icon to be ever so slightly off-white, so I added this (slightly color-modified) texture by noisettee and set it to Multiply at 3%: 
.
10. Last step! Add this texture by stripped_s0cks as a new layer and set it to Hard Light: 
.
Whew! All done. Please comment if you have questions, problems, ideas, or anything else!
Going from
to Made with Photoshop CS, probably applicable to other versions. Uses Selective Color.
1.
Duplicate the base layer three times. Sharpen the second layer and set it to an opacity of 40%, set the third to Screen at 100%, and set the top layer to Soft Light at 100%. I like to leave the original layer alone, so that I can duplicate it and use it again if I want to. This is my standard start to an icon; from here I determine what I want to do with it.2.
I wanted to really focus on the blues and somewhat the magentas. Create a Hue/Saturation Layer by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Hue/Saturation..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Hue/Saturation). These are the settings for each color in the drop-down menu:Reds:
Saturation: -32
Yellows:
Saturation: -100
Greens:
Saturation: -100
3.
Now to darken it a bit and up the contrast. Create a Curves layer the same way as the Hue/Saturation layer and click on the diagonal line in two places to add two points:Input: 32 Output: 15
Input: 218 Output: 219
You can just as easily use brightness/contrast, levels, or some other method for the same effect if you prefer.
4.
Now make a Selective Color layer, again the same way as the Hue/Saturation layer. I used the following settings:Select "Reds" from the drop-down menu at the top and set the colors to the following values:
Cyan: +70%
Magenta: +100%
Yellow: -89%
Black: 0%
Now select "Yellows":
Cyan: -48%
Magenta: +47%
Yellow: -37%
Black: +61%
Greens:
Cyan: +58%
Magenta: +15%
Yellow: -24%
Black: +10%
Cyans:
Cyan: +24%
Magenta: +31%
Yellow: -30%
Black: 0%
Blues:
Cyan: +5%
Magenta: +27%
Yellow: +65%
Black: 0%
Whites:
Cyans: +61%
Magenta: -24%
Yellow: +23%
Black: 0%
Neutrals:
Cyan: +20%
Magenta: +20%
Yellow: -20%
Black: -7%
The point of this layer is to emphasize the blues and purples in the image. If you don't feel like using Selective Color, play around with textures or solid colors and you should be able to approximate the results.
5.
Now add this texture by lookslikerain as a new layer: . Set it to Soft Light at 25%.6.
Select the Gradient Tool and make sure your foreground color is white. Select the gradient that goes from white on the left to transparent on the right and select the Radial Gradient option. Click the center of the area you want to show (in this case, the peacock's head) and drag to an edge or so.7.
Add this texture by silverque as a new layer: . Set it to Color Dodge at around 89%.8.
I wanted the red to be a little less intense, so I created another Hue/Saturation layer, selected "Reds" from the drop-down menu, and set saturation to -65.9.
I got a little nitpicky here.. I decided I wanted the icon to be ever so slightly off-white, so I added this (slightly color-modified) texture by noisettee and set it to Multiply at 3%: .10.
Last step! Add this texture by stripped_s0cks as a new layer and set it to Hard Light: .Whew! All done. Please comment if you have questions, problems, ideas, or anything else!