I haven't made many icons in over a year, so I feel very uncertain about the ones I do make. I'm also trying to change "styles", so I'd love to hear some concrit on my newest icons (:
please note that I'm deliberately trying to go for strong colours. I'm afraid to go over the top though :| and I feel like something is missing in the first one, but I often don't know when to stop slapping textures and stuff on an icon, because it's never good enough in my opinion...
thank you so much for sharing your opinion with me! I'm surprised to read that there are only little colour changes people point out to me, but I'm glad about that, as that is easily adjustable. I'm glad to know I'm on the right path, thank you!
Note: I'm glad to see strong colors used here! Color and saturation is very underrated in my opinion.
1) The green is very different and I like the fact that it's really played with in all the icons, not just this first one. I'm not entirely sure if I would change anything, really. Maybe slightly over-sharpened, but then again this could just be my own monitor. I like it, can't lie.
2) So glad I know this fandom! :) While Aidan's face looks nice with the contrasts in the black, the pale yellow and the green seemed to make him look sickly rather than like a vampire at half-mast. Granted, it's a playful coloring, but more of yellows or orange might make this work a little more. The subtle coloring to the blood is nice.
3) Again, I like the use of the texture and coloring you did here; it really brings out an ethereal state to the icon. Makes it feel like a dream more than a scene in the show. You might play with amping up the contrast a bit, but overall, it's very nice.
strong colours seem to be "trendy", at least in the fandoms where I come from (: and I'm shamelessly following the herd, lol!
#1 - the cap was very crisp to begin with and I did sharp it a little after resizing. in my experience, grass always looks quickly oversharpened. I'll have to be more careful about that!
#2 - I admit, I was very daring with this icon. I tried to go for different colours than what my "gut" would tell me and came up with this XD and I see where you're coming from. the green might be a little over the top here.
#3 - thank you! I think none of my icons were ever described as ethereal, but I'm pleased to hear this (:
Yeah, grass can be horrible to deal with. I've been trying lately to start with the icon base, then copy the layer. I sharpen the second layer, then lower the opacity until it looks no-so-sharpened, but just ever-so-slightly. It really has changed a lot of the icons I made, or I feel it has, anyway.
Daring is always good. It may or may not work out, but you dared to do something. Always good.
Yes, definitely ethereal. Especially since it's Sam Huntington. :D
1 - I have no concrit, just praise, for you on this one. I like the color (how did you get that green? I love it!): the greens, the natural skin tones, and the pop of blue all work together nicely. The image quality is good. I find it difficult to create natural, prettily colored outdoors icons but I think that you nailed this one.
2 - I like the yellow coloring but the black of his hair has become an undifferentiated black shape on the upper right side. Also, I'd like to see the red of the blood stand out more as red against the yellow as I think it's supposed to be shocking.
3 - LOVE this image. I like the soft focus and the way that the grass is trammeled into pattern that gives a sense of movement in the background.
I find it interesting that you've chosen, for all three of these, crops/body positions that I find hard to work with: prone, lying on the ground is so hard for me to turn into anything interesting but I like very much what you did with these.
#1 - thank you! usually, I like working with outdoor scenes more than with indoor ones, because the light is, well, more natural (: the colouring was achieved with color balance and some selective colouring only. then I used a little "trick" to make it look softer: I dublicated the (coloured) base, used a strong graussian blur and added some surface blur on top, then placed it on top of the base set it to soft light and the opacity down to about 20%. I dublicated that again and set that layer to normal, opacity ca 20%. then you can use some layer masks to erase what spots look too blurry and which you want to stay sharp (:
#2 - omg :| I didn't even see the splotch of black hair until you mentioned it! that's what you get after staring at the same image for over an hour. thank you for pointing this out!
thank you, thank you! they are all icons I needed at least an hour for, so they didn't come to me easily either (: I'm very glad to read people seem to like these, overall.
#1 - The coloring on this is perfect. I think the only problem is his beard went green. It'd look nicer if his beard color matched the darker color that his hair is so maybe darkening that area or selective coloring it. As for something missing, I think text would look great on this icon but that's more of a personal preference really. I know not everyone likes text icons.
#2 - Great cropping on this one. I think the yellow/green colors in this one are too overpowering though. I know you're trying to go for strong coloring but it's made the blood around his mouth not look like blood because it's turning a dark greenish color.
#3 - The lighting and coloring on this one is gorgeous. I think my only issue with it is the crop. It cuts off at a strange place. I feel like the icon looks unbalanced because of it. I'd lower the image so that it maybe cuts off below his arm? Or make the image smaller and show his whole body.
1)The colour, crop and contrast are flawless. However the overall sharpness of the background and character both vie for attention, try blurring the grass in the background a little so the focus of the icon is drawn solely to the character.
2)The crop and strong colour make this a very striking icon. A little of the detail has been lost around the mouth and jawline though. Reducing the contrast a little and adjusting the highlights would help bring the detail back into focus.
3)Again, the crop and colour is flawless. The character and background are vying for attention though rather than the focus being drawn to the character. Increasing the contrast of the character would make him stand out and really make the icon pop.
I hope this was understandable, and helpful in some way. (:
please note that I'm deliberately trying to go for strong colours. I'm afraid to go over the top though :| and I feel like something is missing in the first one, but I often don't know when to stop slapping textures and stuff on an icon, because it's never good enough in my opinion...
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(The comment has been removed)
I'm surprised to read that there are only little colour changes people point out to me, but I'm glad about that, as that is easily adjustable. I'm glad to know I'm on the right path, thank you!
Reply
1) The green is very different and I like the fact that it's really played with in all the icons, not just this first one. I'm not entirely sure if I would change anything, really. Maybe slightly over-sharpened, but then again this could just be my own monitor. I like it, can't lie.
2) So glad I know this fandom! :) While Aidan's face looks nice with the contrasts in the black, the pale yellow and the green seemed to make him look sickly rather than like a vampire at half-mast. Granted, it's a playful coloring, but more of yellows or orange might make this work a little more. The subtle coloring to the blood is nice.
3) Again, I like the use of the texture and coloring you did here; it really brings out an ethereal state to the icon. Makes it feel like a dream more than a scene in the show. You might play with amping up the contrast a bit, but overall, it's very nice.
Reply
#1 - the cap was very crisp to begin with and I did sharp it a little after resizing. in my experience, grass always looks quickly oversharpened. I'll have to be more careful about that!
#2 - I admit, I was very daring with this icon. I tried to go for different colours than what my "gut" would tell me and came up with this XD and I see where you're coming from. the green might be a little over the top here.
#3 - thank you! I think none of my icons were ever described as ethereal, but I'm pleased to hear this (:
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Daring is always good. It may or may not work out, but you dared to do something. Always good.
Yes, definitely ethereal. Especially since it's Sam Huntington. :D
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2 - I like the yellow coloring but the black of his hair has become an undifferentiated black shape on the upper right side. Also, I'd like to see the red of the blood stand out more as red against the yellow as I think it's supposed to be shocking.
3 - LOVE this image. I like the soft focus and the way that the grass is trammeled into pattern that gives a sense of movement in the background.
I find it interesting that you've chosen, for all three of these, crops/body positions that I find hard to work with: prone, lying on the ground is so hard for me to turn into anything interesting but I like very much what you did with these.
Reply
#2 - omg :| I didn't even see the splotch of black hair until you mentioned it! that's what you get after staring at the same image for over an hour. thank you for pointing this out!
thank you, thank you!
they are all icons I needed at least an hour for, so they didn't come to me easily either (: I'm very glad to read people seem to like these, overall.
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#2 - Great cropping on this one. I think the yellow/green colors in this one are too overpowering though. I know you're trying to go for strong coloring but it's made the blood around his mouth not look like blood because it's turning a dark greenish color.
#3 - The lighting and coloring on this one is gorgeous. I think my only issue with it is the crop. It cuts off at a strange place. I feel like the icon looks unbalanced because of it. I'd lower the image so that it maybe cuts off below his arm? Or make the image smaller and show his whole body.
Reply
1)The colour, crop and contrast are flawless. However the overall sharpness of the background and character both vie for attention, try blurring the grass in the background a little so the focus of the icon is drawn solely to the character.
2)The crop and strong colour make this a very striking icon. A little of the detail has been lost around the mouth and jawline though. Reducing the contrast a little and adjusting the highlights would help bring the detail back into focus.
3)Again, the crop and colour is flawless. The character and background are vying for attention though rather than the focus being drawn to the character. Increasing the contrast of the character would make him stand out and really make the icon pop.
I hope this was understandable, and helpful in some way. (:
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