I'd appreciate feedback, especially if I'm unclear on something, as this will eventually be archived on a high-traffic site and I'd rather contribute something that makes sense. Also, I'm going to be writing a few coloring tutorials for the same site and they will reference this with the shorthand, "prepare your base." Thanks!This is a tutorial for achieving a clear, crisp base to make into an icon. The degree of clarity needed depends on the subject and crop. It's most critical in a close-up and less so in scenery icons. I have a personal "tried & true" method for making bases of people and several tricks for others.
Part I. The extreme close-up
From

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I first learned about base preparation from
this excellent tutorial written by
icon_ascension. I highly recommend it. Over time, I've adapted my own version that allows me to control every single pixel. Quite probably there's a faster and easier method out there that can get reasonably close results but this gives me the quality base that I want.
( How I get a crisp, clear image )Part II. The scenic icon
Examples:
( This one's a lot less time intensive... )Hope some of that was helpful. Feel free to ask any questions you want. I can't guarantee that I know the answer but I'll happily answer any that I do!