tutorials for "ask the maker 3.0"
This is my first time making a tutorial/guide thing so I'm actually kinda nervous lol
➝katy_111 requested for a general guide on how I make wallpapers.
Haha I actually made a really small guide on this once at a previous "ask the maker" thing over here, but I'll make another one now (and hopefully this one makes better sense c:) I'm not really sure on how I make wallpapers I usually just shift stuff around on photoshop and hope it works out so I hope I know what I'm doing lol
01. PREP
I'm kidding there's not much to be done tbh. But before I make wallpapers I do try to look out for nice images or art that I think would be easy to extract, because wallpapers are big and horrible edges can be pretty obvious on a huge canvas. For the sake of this guide though, I will be using the image below as an example.
02. COMPOSITION
Idk this is pretty dependent on the image you're using. For me though I have a thing for centre crops so nearly all my wallpapers have the images in the centre oops. This man's left arm is kinda cut off, so I decided to flush it to the right so that I don't have to do any fancy blending or blurring or something. I also set the background colour of the wallpaper to match the one in the art, so that it looks more or less seamless.
Something to remember though, is that the art shouldn't be too big or too small on the canvas. Making wallpapers are in most ways like making icons, just that it's not 100x100. There is no need to fill up every corner of the wallpaper, and there should still be a little bit of negative space. If you are looking at your wallpaper at a 50/75% view on photoshop and your image looks small, do keep in mind that once it's blown up full screen on your desktop the image might turn out looking huge instead.
03. COLOURING
I did my usual colouring on the image, as I usually do on my icons. (Selective Colouring, Hue/Sat, Brightness, Vibrance etc etc.) Have as much fun fiddling around with this until you're satisfied haha. I try not to make the colouring too bizarre because I want the image to pop with the textures, not so much on the colours. And also because I like my work simple lol
04. TEXTURING
It gets fun about here, haha. This is when you can let your creativity flow and do anything you want with your image. I usually add a more or less patterned-type texture at the back, like a paper or square tiled one, just to get more depth into the wallpaper (?? what am I saying) Sites like these few may be useful if you are searching for seamless background textures. For now though, I just added a couple of paint splatters here and there using photoshop brushes. Not sure why I did that though. I tried to make the splatters behind and in front of the character, because it won't look as flat that way I guess.
05. ANYTHING ELSE/TOUCH UPS
lulz and as if that wasn't enough, I also added some text to the wallpaper, to fill up some extra space around. Clean up wherever necessary- (colouring, position of stuff??, sharpening?) If I'm still not satisfied though, maybe I'll add more textures here and there. It's like iconning, really. On a big big canvas.
I hope this helped! I have no idea really on how to make an actual wallpaper guide, considering it's my first time trying to do this haha. Everyone has their own way of making things, really, so I hope I'm not offending anyone with my style lol
➝kayable requested for composition tips in
I don't know much about composition I just like colours and crops lol I just hope I know what I'm saying-
TIP1: I....... really like centre crops. I usually try to make the character fit in about one-third to halfway up the icon, so the character doesn't look too huge or small in the middle. I kinda like how the character is now literally the center of attention, and textures I pile on after that usually surround the character, complimenting it.
TIP2: CROPS PART 2. I have this small theory which I usually use haha, but I'm not sure how correct it is or something. And I'm not sure how to explain it so here are some kinda derpy drawings which hopefully explain what is in my brain-
TIP3: I play around with symmetry a lot. In the green icon, my textures are nearly identical on opposite sides and text extend about equal lengths out. (The picture frame in the background was a little random though, one of the main reasons I'm not a big fan of this icon lol. I placed it there just to throw off the balance a little, and also I just wanted something grungy in the background.) And even in the other red icon, the text, the clock & the image were all aligned.
TIP4: Don't clutter. Try not to add too many elements and textures in it. I usually have gradients and light/faint textures in the bg, a hard texture to blend the image into the bg, and text to fit into the theme of my icon.
➝and also to aya88 who claims I am great
i rabu you
Ask The Maker || My Thread
➝katy_111 requested for a general guide on how I make wallpapers.
Haha I actually made a really small guide on this once at a previous "ask the maker" thing over here, but I'll make another one now (and hopefully this one makes better sense c:) I'm not really sure on how I make wallpapers I usually just shift stuff around on photoshop and hope it works out so I hope I know what I'm doing lol
01. PREP
I'm kidding there's not much to be done tbh. But before I make wallpapers I do try to look out for nice images or art that I think would be easy to extract, because wallpapers are big and horrible edges can be pretty obvious on a huge canvas. For the sake of this guide though, I will be using the image below as an example.
02. COMPOSITION
Idk this is pretty dependent on the image you're using. For me though I have a thing for centre crops so nearly all my wallpapers have the images in the centre oops. This man's left arm is kinda cut off, so I decided to flush it to the right so that I don't have to do any fancy blending or blurring or something. I also set the background colour of the wallpaper to match the one in the art, so that it looks more or less seamless.
Something to remember though, is that the art shouldn't be too big or too small on the canvas. Making wallpapers are in most ways like making icons, just that it's not 100x100. There is no need to fill up every corner of the wallpaper, and there should still be a little bit of negative space. If you are looking at your wallpaper at a 50/75% view on photoshop and your image looks small, do keep in mind that once it's blown up full screen on your desktop the image might turn out looking huge instead.
03. COLOURING
I did my usual colouring on the image, as I usually do on my icons. (Selective Colouring, Hue/Sat, Brightness, Vibrance etc etc.) Have as much fun fiddling around with this until you're satisfied haha. I try not to make the colouring too bizarre because I want the image to pop with the textures, not so much on the colours. And also because I like my work simple lol
04. TEXTURING
It gets fun about here, haha. This is when you can let your creativity flow and do anything you want with your image. I usually add a more or less patterned-type texture at the back, like a paper or square tiled one, just to get more depth into the wallpaper (?? what am I saying) Sites like these few may be useful if you are searching for seamless background textures. For now though, I just added a couple of paint splatters here and there using photoshop brushes. Not sure why I did that though. I tried to make the splatters behind and in front of the character, because it won't look as flat that way I guess.
05. ANYTHING ELSE/TOUCH UPS
lulz and as if that wasn't enough, I also added some text to the wallpaper, to fill up some extra space around. Clean up wherever necessary- (colouring, position of stuff??, sharpening?) If I'm still not satisfied though, maybe I'll add more textures here and there. It's like iconning, really. On a big big canvas.
I hope this helped! I have no idea really on how to make an actual wallpaper guide, considering it's my first time trying to do this haha. Everyone has their own way of making things, really, so I hope I'm not offending anyone with my style lol
➝kayable requested for composition tips in
I don't know much about composition I just like colours and crops lol I just hope I know what I'm saying-
TIP1: I....... really like centre crops. I usually try to make the character fit in about one-third to halfway up the icon, so the character doesn't look too huge or small in the middle. I kinda like how the character is now literally the center of attention, and textures I pile on after that usually surround the character, complimenting it.
TIP2: CROPS PART 2. I have this small theory which I usually use haha, but I'm not sure how correct it is or something. And I'm not sure how to explain it so here are some kinda derpy drawings which hopefully explain what is in my brain-
TIP3: I play around with symmetry a lot. In the green icon, my textures are nearly identical on opposite sides and text extend about equal lengths out. (The picture frame in the background was a little random though, one of the main reasons I'm not a big fan of this icon lol. I placed it there just to throw off the balance a little, and also I just wanted something grungy in the background.) And even in the other red icon, the text, the clock & the image were all aligned.
TIP4: Don't clutter. Try not to add too many elements and textures in it. I usually have gradients and light/faint textures in the bg, a hard texture to blend the image into the bg, and text to fit into the theme of my icon.
➝and also to aya88 who claims I am great
i rabu you
Ask The Maker || My Thread