Comments | iconsecrets: (Nit)Pick Me!

mm3butterfly in iconsecrets

(Nit)Pick Me!

Feb 19, 2011 23:55

Another meme to keep your spirits up. Ever made an icon you loved but not many cared about? Why did that happen? Which kind of style you dabble with your watchers like better? What's your best icon, steel cage match style? Let's find out. This meme can work in many ways, post and see.

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tinebrella February 20 2011, 10:06:54 UTC

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tinebrella February 20 2011, 10:15:16 UTC

My favorite would have to be 3 because the crop is just fantastic, and the coloring is so deep and subtle. It's got such simple elegance.

(I also love 1 because of the contrast in the backgrounds between the beige and the black. Plus, it looks so soft and fairy tale-like.)

My least favorite, though it's by no means bad at all, is 4. I'm not sure if it's my screen, but the top of the icon looks rather oversharpened all around the hat. And the yellows in her skin are lovely, but I think a screen layer with lowered opacity could help brighten it up a bitand really bring the piece to life. Still, it's a great piece with your usual elegance in it!

tinebrella February 20 2011, 10:23:52 UTC

Aw, thank you so much! All of them are icons I'm a little unsure of, so it's great to get feedback&concrit :)
I don't know what happened with 4, I didn't sharpen at all, so maybe the cap was already a bit crisp and I didn't notice! :)

tinebrella February 20 2011, 10:49:34 UTC

All of your samples are quite lovely, so it wasn't exactly easy to pick a fave or least fave. You should be very proud of your work!

tinebrella February 20 2011, 10:55:31 UTC

Well, sure you made me proud of my work with your comments :D
Thank you ♥

tinebrella February 20 2011, 11:03:48 UTC

Everyone deserves to take pride in their work! I have no doubt that many people will comment to let you know what they love about your samples!

ex_absolute February 20 2011, 11:57:44 UTC

I definitely agree that #3 is your best of this set. The extreme close up works fantastically well. It looks as if it should be awkward, but somehow that works in this icon's favor. I also really love the sharpness and clarity of the icon. It is something I find difficult to do one close ups, but you? You've done it fantastically here. I love the coloring as well. I'm a sucker for icons that have the obvious tones, but then that extra something. And I like the little bits of red and green that compliment the natural color scheme really well ( ... )

tinebrella February 20 2011, 13:00:17 UTC

You are a priceless concriter!

For #3, I'm glad to know that the crop is working as well as the sharpness: it looked a tad over-sharpened to me, and I'm always a bit unsure about my close crops. :)

For #4, the problem is that I didn't noticed the sharpness of the hat at all! I often blur over-sharpened edges, but I also often fail at noticing them so this is something I have to pay more attention to, from now on.
I do however love the light on the hair. It really stands out as a focal point; although I'm not sure that's what you were going for in terms of focus.
Somehow, it was. I wanted to add some interest to the obvious center crop, so I added some light on her hair.
For the coloring, I didn't realize how dark it was, actually!

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ex_absolute February 20 2011, 13:12:35 UTC

Holy crap yes! That is leaps and bounds better already. The coloring works a million times better with some extra light/hues added in. I like the contrast it created between her lips and her skin tone as well. It's very striking. And it balances out with the hair while still allowing the hair to shine (erm, metaphorically and in reality, haha).

But, yeah, I totally get what you mean about sharpness. It's really hard to judge because you've got your own preferences, everyone else's, and the monitor differences on top of something that's just difficult to balance just right anyway. But I like what you've done with the edges of the hat. The top right corner has a softness to it now that adds a dreamy quality to the light and contrasts nicely with the sharper lines of her face.

And I'm glad you found some of my comments helpful. ♥

tinebrella February 20 2011, 13:28:50 UTC

Your comments are super-helpful!
You write very detailed and exhaustive concrits and you're amazingly sharp at noticing flaws and pointing them out! ♥

tinebrella February 20 2011, 15:53:03 UTC

favorite: 01. This icon is all about balance to me, which is probably why it's so beautiful. The contrast between the light background on the left, and the dark background on the right is very visually interesting, as is the fact that her face has been split in two and moved to two opposing sides. The subtle warm coloring and the beautiful sense of light really make this icon look polished and perfected!

least favorite: 02. The crop leaves something to be desired. While the coloring and sense of light are absolutely perfect, the crop feels rushed. Rather than having thick yellow bars take up almost half of the icon, it might have been more harmonious to extend the background. As of right now the bars are just distracting and make it hard to focus on what is going on in the middle.

+ your icons are beautiful, i always find myself admiring your entries in contests. :)

tinebrella February 20 2011, 16:22:00 UTC

Thank you for your feedback!

For #1, I couldn't choose between the two backgrounds, so I ended up putting them both. :D And I'm glad you like the lightning, because it seemed a bit too bright to me!

For #2, I didn't know how to crop the picture, so I settled for the obvious crop :) Thanks for the concrit on the yellow bars: memonechan told me the same thing when I showed her the icon, I should have listened to her!

+ your icons are beautiful, i always find myself admiring your entries in contests. :)
This is a lovely thing to say, thank you so much! ♥

raiindust February 20 2011, 20:54:48 UTC

favourite: Has got to be #1. The composition is lovely - I really love the use of double image, the cropping is magnificent. The way you've managed to separate the icon without making the focal point the center is amazingly. And the texture use is flawless. It compliments the icon without overwhelming the images. And the soft colours used on the image and the background are so incredibly complimentary. I do think it's a touch over-sharpened though, but not to the point of it becoming distracting or taking away from the image.

least favourite: I think is #2, just because I think the yellow bars framing the image are a little too contrasted with the actual image (where as the bars work in #5, which I was tossing up with... although neither are in any way 'bad' icons!). I think the negative space for this image is important - because it captures the moment, but I maybe would have suggested just using the original image and extending the background. The brown at the top of the image is a little more cohesive for me than the stark yellow ( ... )

tinebrella February 20 2011, 21:36:14 UTC

Aw, thank you so much for your great concrit! ♥
I remade the #2 extending the background as you and the previous anon commenter suggested:

( ... )

raiindust February 20 2011, 21:41:23 UTC

Oh, that looks wonderful! And I think now that I can see it with the background extended, the crop looks perfect all the same. I think it all just seems to flow on from each other, and the negative space is now so flawless, the characters really are the focal point of the icon. It's wonderful. And IDK if I mentioned the colouring, but it's lovely, and really pops now as well!

tinebrella February 20 2011, 21:48:25 UTC

I'm glad it looks fine now!
Thank you for your feedback, your concrit is very helpful and your appreciation means a lot to me! :)

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