(Used GIMP) How to make a good glow effect.

[Anachron]

Welcome to the small howto tutorial:

How to make a good glow effect.

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I use GIMP. (You can choose whatever you want)
So yeah, lets start.

Step 1:
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Create a new image with the size of 512*512px.

Something like that:

Step 1

Step 2:
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Select the smooth brush and select any color you want.

Step 2

Step 3:
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Select the smooth brush and select any color you want.

Step 3

Step 4:
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Select another color and overdraw it a bit.

Step 4

Step 5:
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Do the same again in the middle.

Step 5

Step 6:
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Smudge it.

Step 6

Step 7:
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Select the burn tool

Step 7

Step 8:
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Create some lightning from the middle out of the image.

Step 8

Step 9:
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Overdraw those with bigger brush size.

Step 9

Step 10:
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Smudge those as well.

Step 10

Step 11?!:
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Recolour the glow.

Step 11

I have made a little icon with it, but only a speeddraw, however, it isn't that bad I think.

Fullsize:

(Yes actually the re-colouring did that, I made contrast higher. But that doesn't matter)

Small Version:

 

[Dentothor]

what did you use to recolour?
it looks kinda blocky and sharp.

 

[Pyritie]

I don't really like the results

 

[Anachron]

blocky and sharp because i wanted it to do so, it looks better in small sized icons.

 

[Darkness-4ever]

Good for starting off, but the end result isn't desirable as I'd like, still no reason we can't exhume this rotting carcass of a tutorial and toss it in the face of the people that are supposed to be moderating it.

 

[kola]

i dont feel like its a good glow effect.

 

[ap0calypse]

The bigger picture looks a bit chubby indeed, but the small (normal) sized icon's glow is okay and that's what matters.
You can also make the shape different with the smudge, burn and/or the lightning, so you can try to make a completely different glow with the same technique, which is also a good point.

Though everything 'till step 10 is easy, I don't really get what tool you used for the last step
"Recolouring"... :/

Fast sketch