Icon Appreciation Month - Activity #5 - Question & Answers Session

[raiindust]

Comments

[library_of_sex]

Who are some of your fave texture makers? I always love discovering new ones!

Right now, some of my faves are fuuurs @ aquatilitis, poshing @ a_darkdesign, and lemonpunch, who posts textures and graphics in her journal.

[tinebrella]

another_trauma @expose42 and @DA
cookiestome @DA and @satin_resonance
deny1984 @midnight_road
drankmywar @defaultsettings
emonet25 @grafixed_art and @DA
ina_ami @true_fellings
innocent_lexys @infinite_muse
lemonpunch @lemonpunch
mayush17 @light_fumes
nivani @thest_one
nokitas @aube_des_arts
ohfreckle @oh_freckle and DA
pandavirus @welt_herrschaft
spooky_window @spooky-window
xscintillatex @fupunu

I made a post about my favourite texture makers just a few days ago!
And I was thinking... is there something like iconpraise for texture makers? I think it would be great to have a place to praise outstanding texture makers!

[wickedgrdn]

That's a great idea for a post. You mind if I borrow that idea for my comm?

[tinebrella]

Sure, go ahead! I'd love to read it :)

[library_of_sex]

What effects/styles/techniques do you wish you could get a better grasp on?

I keep trying the blocking technique that people, like prettybutt, are masters at, but I completely suck at it. I'm also not great at soft, muted coloring. My icons are just so scorchingly bright most of the time, and I wanna try to branch out to more subtle and quiet colorings, but I can't get a good handle on any. My results are usually so dull or washed out.

[library_of_sex]

I think I just don't try hard enough. I get so lazy and don't feel like cropping a bunch of different caps or images, so I just recycle one a bunch of times, and it looks so ugly and redundant in an icon.

[longerthanwedo]

I can never do blocking unless I'm cropping from larger graphics. And I'm the same way as you in terms of coloring; soft, muted icons look great when other people do them, but when I attempt it I end up adding five more vibrancy layers because I feel like it's not bright enough.

[longerthanwedo]

Anyone have links to screencap galleries with "most viewed" buttons?

I love the "most viewed" button, it makes me happy, but the only ones I know of are rawr-caps, homeofthenutty, the-medusa-cascade (for Doctor Who), and lost-media (for LOST). Do you know of any others? I'm always in need of more screencaps.

[raiindust]

Leavemethewhite & screencap-paradise are both galleries with 'most viewed' buttons.

inadream_caps, shadowofreflect and likesototallyme all have galleries attached to the communities with 'most viewed' buttons as well :)

[wickedgrdn]

I like 'most viewed' and the 'random files' button. I've made some of my best icons just from finding caps with the 'random files' button.

[longerthanwedo]

I look for the colorful ones too, generally. But really the ones I vote for are those where the color is uniform, where the coloring of the subject matches/compliments the color of the background, and where the coloring doesn't deteriorate the quality of the cap.

[misskitty373]

I was just about to ask a similar question!
I know that my criteria has changed over time, I used to look for the most unique colouring, then I started looking for the best kind of contrast, and lately I've been picking out more natural/earthy coloured icons.

I guess you kind of have to base your vote on personal preference because it's a very subjective thing, and that's why it's important to have lots of people vote, so that majority wins.

Or else, you could look for what you think works well in relation to the rest of the icon; eg. if it's like, an image capturing a tender moment, would it be more suitable to use a subtle soft colouring rather than something vibrant and out there? But that can be a matter of opinion too ;P

[firstillusion]

I generally think of it as 'best use of color' and approach it from that angle. So I look not for the most colorful but the icons where color has been used the best way. For example, someone has used a light effect to bring depth into hair or someone has a black and white icon with a splash of color that is really interesting.

It is true that the colorful ones often draw my attention and are often the ones that I vote for but it's not the way I approach the voting.

[raiindust]

What do you do to get yourself out of an icon making funk? Are there any particular ways you try to inspire yourself? Any default techniques/styles you go back to?

[tinebrella]

I usually wander through the inspiring graphics comms I have in my bookmarks - I prefer bookmarks because my friend page is a mess. :D
I look at my favourite makers' work and search for some kind of technique/style/coloring I haven't already mastered, and then I try to incorporate new elements in my own style.

Sometimes I go to coloring_help, see if someone needs help with a coloring/whatsoever and then replicate the icon and post the tutorial for the result I got. It can be quite challenging, it's fun and it's always nice to be of any help :)

Other times I look for interesting themes in icontest comms I'm participating in, and try to come up with something for the current challenge.

[raiindust]

I totally hadn't considered taking on a technique I hadn't mastered. I think this will have to be one of my go-to things when I get a working computer back.

[wickedgrdn]

I sign up for icontests or LIMS to get myself out of a funk. Or I just look through the icons of other makers that inspire me. I like to wander through icon_tutorial or coloring_help for ideas too.