001 - When I look at this icon, I don't see any major flaws, but the icon is looking rather plain. Close crops look especially interesting to me when they contain certain parts/angles of a subject's face that make people go, "Wow, I never thought to crop her face that way," etc. When one has achieved that sort of crop, they have the option of going easy on the coloring and textures, 'cause the crop is the main attraction. However, when it comes to straight-on, symmetrical, center crops (like this icon), I find more attention is needed towards coloring/lighting/contrast to make icons like this stand out. If a more natural coloring is desired, what you're looking for is depth. My advice would have been to pick a light source (my choices would have been either the top right/left corner) and then give the icon some nice lighting by playing with levels (to add shadows) and curves (to add light). And then for a more dramatic effect, slap on a light texture (you have to position/modify it to match your chosen light source). I like to use the soft light/box blur method (to add contrast) when I make close crops - I find that adding a screen/box blur layer after that makes the icon more luminous. Fiddling with the opacity of both layers is key though, to make sure a) the icon isn't too blurry and b) the icon isn't too bright/dark/contrasted. I always follow up with sharpen, fade sharpen, and then modify the opacity of the sharpen layer.
002 - I love the style of coloring in this one; the shadows are there, but a little more contrast would have made them more dramatic, in my opinion (she's looking a little washed out/pale right now due to the light on her face). As for the crop, it looks just a tiny bit awkward to me - I would have moved her face to the left a little, so her other eye was more visible, and then crop there. Or, to make things more interesting, why not even a closer crop to her right eye/right side of the face? I think it would go stunningly with this coloring. The black bar on the left side of the icon is rather distracting, 1) because the black is too strong when compared to the color of her hair and just stands out, 2) because the bit at the bottom is discontinued and looks like an error. Whenever I want/have to add segments of color into an icon, I usually make sure that the color I'm adding isn't too harsh/overwhelming, so it doesn't take away from the subject of the icon. I tend to take colors from the main color palette of the icon - another way is to duplicate the subject, blur it, and then position it to cover up the empty space. I always try doing that first before adding a bar of color, just 'cause the blurred colors look more interesting than a matte block. Of course, textures are a nifty way of covering space too.
003 - This icon is my favorite of the five you posted! What a beautiful crop. ♥ The contrast isn't harsh and the icon has a grainy texture to it - Scully is looking very vintage right now. :) It didn't occur to me at first, but after a while of ogling the icon, I noticed a swirl of grayish white at the top of Scully's head/top left corner. I can't tell if it's her hair or a texture, but it looks a little too light to be her hair. It's positioned to look like bangs though! I think if it were darkened a little (by adding some shadow) it could pass off as hair and there wouldn't be any unwanted attention towards that. :)
002 - I love the style of coloring in this one; the shadows are there, but a little more contrast would have made them more dramatic, in my opinion (she's looking a little washed out/pale right now due to the light on her face). As for the crop, it looks just a tiny bit awkward to me - I would have moved her face to the left a little, so her other eye was more visible, and then crop there. Or, to make things more interesting, why not even a closer crop to her right eye/right side of the face? I think it would go stunningly with this coloring. The black bar on the left side of the icon is rather distracting, 1) because the black is too strong when compared to the color of her hair and just stands out, 2) because the bit at the bottom is discontinued and looks like an error. Whenever I want/have to add segments of color into an icon, I usually make sure that the color I'm adding isn't too harsh/overwhelming, so it doesn't take away from the subject of the icon. I tend to take colors from the main color palette of the icon - another way is to duplicate the subject, blur it, and then position it to cover up the empty space. I always try doing that first before adding a bar of color, just 'cause the blurred colors look more interesting than a matte block. Of course, textures are a nifty way of covering space too.
003 - This icon is my favorite of the five you posted! What a beautiful crop. ♥ The contrast isn't harsh and the icon has a grainy texture to it - Scully is looking very vintage right now. :) It didn't occur to me at first, but after a while of ogling the icon, I noticed a swirl of grayish white at the top of Scully's head/top left corner. I can't tell if it's her hair or a texture, but it looks a little too light to be her hair. It's positioned to look like bangs though! I think if it were darkened a little (by adding some shadow) it could pass off as hair and there wouldn't be any unwanted attention towards that. :)
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