Icon Progression Post; 2013
So, basically, this is my best of 2013...or what little bit of it I spent making icons after starting to adjust to life with a little one and being a full-time, stay-at-home mommy.
There are just a handful of icons for each month, plus links to their corresponding icon posts for that month so that you can view them all. I hope you guys enjoy them!
Snag all that you want, and if you're new to the community, then welcome! We're glad to have you! We hope you had a fantastic year, and that the next one will be even better! ♥
The month of August was basically my comeback to LJ after about two years of being away, thanks to work. I pretty much spent this month reminding myself how to make a basic icon. A lot of my colorings were the same, after two and a half years of preparing photos for a rental housing publication, virtual tours, event graphics and other random things. A lot of my icons were also over-sharpened, but I like to think I still turned out a handful of decent icons. Maybe. lol.
August Icon Posts
.016 - 137 Multi-Fandom Icons
The beginning of the month of September was a lot of me being like an old lady, set in her ways of iconning. I started getting back into icontests, but there weren't many left on LJ, so I just kind of settled into a routine of tinkering about. I also joined back up at legendland, so that gave me an excuse to go back and start iconning Legend of the Seeker again. A lot of my icons from 2013 were focused on LotS because of legendland. :D September was, though, the month that I started looking for a little variation in my iconning style. I wanted those super-saturated and bright colors, so I started tinkering around with different ways to achieve it and FINALLY started to see minimal results with that endeavor. September was also the month that I acquired Topaz Clean and Pixel Bender, so I started playing around with those effects in my icons.
I also started up lightthe_way, a weekly icontest for NBC's Revolution, in September. We're currently on holiday hiatus, but will start back up after the first of the year. ;)
September Icon Posts
.017 - 27 Legend of the Seeker icons; Episode 2x11, Torn
.018 - 116 Multi-Fandom Icons
.019 - 33 Legend of the Seeker icons; Episode 2x12, Hunger
In October, I started toying with text and textures again. A lot of the copy use in my icons for this month was absolutely horrible, but I needed the practice. There is such a vast difference in using typography on large-scale graphics vs. small-scale things such as icons, that it's basically a whole other world. I still haven't perfected my text work, but I'm working on it.
I finally, FINALLY, made a couple of posts of icons (.021 and .022) that I am absolutely proud of in October. The coloring was more what I had been looking to achieve, and the icons were no longer incredibly oversharpened. Everything seemed to be falling into place this month, and for the first time in a very long time, I felt like I was improving in my iconning.
October Icon Posts
.020 - 24 Haven icons; Episode 4x03, Bad Blood
.021 - 33 Legend of the Seeker icons; Episode 2x13, Princess
.022 - 39 Legend of the Seeker icons; Episode 2x14, Bound
.023 - 49 multifandom icons + Legend of the Seeker wallpaper
November was a very prolific month for me, in the strides that I took in my iconning skills. I experimented a LOT. I tried out using text like I haven't before, and making more complex icons than I have in years...some of which turned out rather neat, some not so much. I got back to using my drawing tablet a little bit, which I haven't used in a rather long time (save for using it to erase or clone out things at work that required a delicate touch). I also tried to do more masking off of the focus of my icons, which has freed me up to be more creative in my iconning. Yay!
November Icon Posts
.024 - 26 Legend of the Seeker icons; Episode 2x15, Creator
.025 - 121 Multi-Fandom Icons
December was such a CRAZY busy month, and yet I still managed a BUNCH of icontest entries! My icons for 2x16 of Legend of the Seeker are pretty much lacking, both in quality and quantity, but with Christmases all over the place, the Christmas party for our church's youth group and all of the baking that went along with it, I was a little lacking for time. I fully intend to go back and finish iconning that episode in the future...even if I'm not sure when I'll get the time. lol
I feel like I'm settling into a bit of a routine with this iconning style right now, which makes me happy. I am really enjoying being experimental with my icons and continuing to grow as a maker. :)
December Icon Posts
.026 - 10 Legend of the Seeker icons; Episode 2x16, Desecrated
.027 - 70 Multi-Fandom Icons
So there we are! That is my 2013 in a nutshell!
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the evolution of my iconning style, and I'm looking forward to 2014 and the changes it will bring!
I hope you guys will stick around for what's to come in 2014, and I wish you a VERY happy new year! ♥