Progress as an icon maker
Snagging from bzzinglikeneon
So I'm tracing my icon-making skillz from 2005 to present. Always wanted to do this but...never really thought of myself as a hardcore iconmaker. Still, HERE I GO.
This post should not have taken so much time. Ignore if icon making is not of interest.
My first icon post was just over two years ago. There was a lack of Harry Potter icons, so I made some. The weirdest thing is that post probably has the most comments I ever got for icons, lol (alright, yes, that's sad)
My initial problem wasn't bad textures of fonts. It was the dozens and dozens of variations. Hundreds of crops, often just from different angles. I couldn't choose what was best so I left it up to others. I didn't know how to use textures and knew I'd suck so...I ran away from them >__> My entire series of Pride & Prejudice icons are an example of this.
One thing to note is that I discovered Photoshop long before discovering LJ - so I can't blame the software :(. When I saw Hithhiker's guide to the galaxy, I took quotes from the book and film photos and did animated icons. However, animation? Not my thing normally. This was one of only two times I've ever done it.
I finally figured out what I like to do - make bases. This is still my stand today - anyone can take my bases and change them, as long as they credit when they redistribute. When I loved something - like Pandas or sushi, and there weren't any icons at all...I felt it was a sign to iconify stuff. I didn't do much apart from crop, remove dust, sharpen and color correct.
Then came the Chibis. The Fullmetal Alchemist was crazy!love. I NEEDED to do some icons that really showed that love. I went all out - textures, text, animation. I tried everything and I tried hard. I still love 'em though it could be 'cause...who can say no to chibis?
Soon after I did a set of constellation/stars icons which could be used a textures. It was cool but...definitely a phase. I realised the potential that was in hue/saturation and levels.
Then I I discovered Supernatural and the_dean_show - and went crazy. I colored comics and did my first text!icons. Also discovered selective coloring. Around this time I got accepted at takenote_icons and I felt like an icon maker.
There was a dry spell where I joined lumos_sorting. Made text icons but focussed on sig banners. Then came the cats. The lack of cat icons killed me (no LOL cats at that time, shocking, I know) so again I tried a lot of text and borders. A bit pleased with how it went :)
The problem with early supernatural screencaps was that they went dark and dull - which to me, could only be solved by selective coloring. I'd used it a lot with Lumos sigs and I started using it more on icons. Mind you, NO ONE was using selective coloring - so I kept getting asked how my coloring was so vibrant. I also started trying out textures. Yes, one step forward, a dozen back.
I think I got burned out with that and took a break. Heroes got me making icons again though. I attempted a collection of 50 Heroes icons - failed due to a lack of internet :( BUT I went looking at other people's stuff and decided to try stuff I hadn't done before with texture and mini icons. Oh and did some bollywood!icons too XD
At this time the blue highlights/pink-white skin icons got popular. I went through a lot of tutorials (which I never bothered with before) to get similar results. I though the colors were so cool XD And then I got rejected at elite comms 'cause my icons had coloring that was too weird *sigh*
Now comes the influence of phuck - he got a new computer, hadn't made HP OOTP icons immediately, so I tried my hand at them. It was hard, cause I decided I would NOT do multiple variations. I think I'm better for it. Also did the 50-icons challenge for Hikaru no Go and fell in love with grey textures.
This fall has probably given me the most experience with icon making. Why? One word: LIMS. Normally I worried about quanity. Now the focus was to really just do one icon that pops. - So, I was forced to do new things if I wanted to impress peeps. It's been a bumpy experience. I got rejected in the first challenge in one round of a LIMS contest. BUT. I think I've got a hang of using textures and text now. Somewhat. And it only took two years.
Tagging: static_pixie, sunsetsylvia, lunacat, myrasis, phuck and...it's 4:30AM and I can't think. Go do it. Please?
So I'm tracing my icon-making skillz from 2005 to present. Always wanted to do this but...never really thought of myself as a hardcore iconmaker. Still, HERE I GO.
This post should not have taken so much time. Ignore if icon making is not of interest.
My first icon post was just over two years ago. There was a lack of Harry Potter icons, so I made some. The weirdest thing is that post probably has the most comments I ever got for icons, lol (alright, yes, that's sad)
My initial problem wasn't bad textures of fonts. It was the dozens and dozens of variations. Hundreds of crops, often just from different angles. I couldn't choose what was best so I left it up to others. I didn't know how to use textures and knew I'd suck so...I ran away from them >__> My entire series of Pride & Prejudice icons are an example of this.
One thing to note is that I discovered Photoshop long before discovering LJ - so I can't blame the software :(. When I saw Hithhiker's guide to the galaxy, I took quotes from the book and film photos and did animated icons. However, animation? Not my thing normally. This was one of only two times I've ever done it.
I finally figured out what I like to do - make bases. This is still my stand today - anyone can take my bases and change them, as long as they credit when they redistribute. When I loved something - like Pandas or sushi, and there weren't any icons at all...I felt it was a sign to iconify stuff. I didn't do much apart from crop, remove dust, sharpen and color correct.
Then came the Chibis. The Fullmetal Alchemist was crazy!love. I NEEDED to do some icons that really showed that love. I went all out - textures, text, animation. I tried everything and I tried hard. I still love 'em though it could be 'cause...who can say no to chibis?
Soon after I did a set of constellation/stars icons which could be used a textures. It was cool but...definitely a phase. I realised the potential that was in hue/saturation and levels.
Then I I discovered Supernatural and the_dean_show - and went crazy. I colored comics and did my first text!icons. Also discovered selective coloring. Around this time I got accepted at takenote_icons and I felt like an icon maker.
There was a dry spell where I joined lumos_sorting. Made text icons but focussed on sig banners. Then came the cats. The lack of cat icons killed me (no LOL cats at that time, shocking, I know) so again I tried a lot of text and borders. A bit pleased with how it went :)
The problem with early supernatural screencaps was that they went dark and dull - which to me, could only be solved by selective coloring. I'd used it a lot with Lumos sigs and I started using it more on icons. Mind you, NO ONE was using selective coloring - so I kept getting asked how my coloring was so vibrant. I also started trying out textures. Yes, one step forward, a dozen back.
I think I got burned out with that and took a break. Heroes got me making icons again though. I attempted a collection of 50 Heroes icons - failed due to a lack of internet :( BUT I went looking at other people's stuff and decided to try stuff I hadn't done before with texture and mini icons. Oh and did some bollywood!icons too XD
At this time the blue highlights/pink-white skin icons got popular. I went through a lot of tutorials (which I never bothered with before) to get similar results. I though the colors were so cool XD And then I got rejected at elite comms 'cause my icons had coloring that was too weird *sigh*
Now comes the influence of phuck - he got a new computer, hadn't made HP OOTP icons immediately, so I tried my hand at them. It was hard, cause I decided I would NOT do multiple variations. I think I'm better for it. Also did the 50-icons challenge for Hikaru no Go and fell in love with grey textures.
This fall has probably given me the most experience with icon making. Why? One word: LIMS. Normally I worried about quanity. Now the focus was to really just do one icon that pops. - So, I was forced to do new things if I wanted to impress peeps. It's been a bumpy experience. I got rejected in the first challenge in one round of a LIMS contest. BUT. I think I've got a hang of using textures and text now. Somewhat. And it only took two years.
Tagging: static_pixie, sunsetsylvia, lunacat, myrasis, phuck and...it's 4:30AM and I can't think. Go do it. Please?