25 icons for technique20in20

[tinnny]

This was the first challenge I signed up for this month, technique20in20, and I am still torn about all the other challenges I had to skip because of it. *sigh* The icon maker community is so active right now, and here I thought it was good last year. But this year, so many comms have come back after a hiatus of two years, this one included, and they all see high

Comments

[tinnny]

Thank you!

Sorry to hear Librarians is teetering for you - you were enjoying that so much!

Yeah, that's part of the problem. I was very invested in that, and I am still angry at, well, I don't know what exactly right now. greyathena keeps talking me back off that ledge, which is awesome, but I still have that block somewhere that tells me I haven't forgiven Flynn or the writers just yet. And I don't know if I can. New canon is nine months off, and the second season wasn't as perfect as the first one, and of course that's what happens. I just don't know yet if I'm going to lose all interest in it or if it's strong enough to weather that. So far, it is trying to stick around. We'll see.

What other communities were you thinking about? I've been playing with the idea of returning to the fold myself after several years off.

Oh, yeah, come play. It's fun!

First, I would suggest you join icontalking. You have to request membership, but everyone who does is accepted. They post a roundup of all the current challenges each Friday.

Then, it depends on what you want to do, really.

My main thing are 20in20s right now - where you make 20 icons in 20 days. If you want something inspirational, I recommend 20muses. It's a monthly challenge where you're not being compared to others (the voting is about which of your 20 icons was the best), and it has awesomely inspiring themes.

technique20in20 and character20n20 also come to mind.

Those are the best right now with the highest participation. All of those expect you to comment on other participants' icons, too, though.

So if you want to start slowly, choose one that doesn't have as many people but is still good. episodes20in20 is one of my favorites. You only need one episode of source material, which makes it easier.

If you think 20 icons in 20 days is too much, how about 10in30?

Or one of the (mostly weekly) challenges where you can enter between 2 and 4 icons, but don't have to sign up - i.e. no commitment: calendarsquares has color challenges every month and the result (a calendar of icons) is just beautiful to look at.

I don't regularly participate in any others, though, so I can't tell you which ones are best. There is a pretty comprehensive list at icontalking.

If you want something easy and low-key but long-term that you can do all by yourself, I recommend historamedy365. You pledge to make 50 (or 100) icons, and people are nice and friendly and comment on your submissions. It's definitely the least elite place I have seen around.

If you want tutorials / guides, look at my memories under icon tutorials. I got tons of them this month, and one huge roundup post as well.

http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=tinnny&keyword=icon%20tutorials%20%28by%20other%20people%29&filter=all

[seagull2eagle]

Was it the jump to the romance that put it out for you, or just overall trend in the writing? Hate it when shows lose that spark when there had been so much inspiration from them before! Or, what happens to me often, is one I like that gets canceled half-way through it's first season. But the longer a show goes, the harder it gets to stay with it. At least you had a lovely full first season for Librarians. Sometimes staying with the fanfic and ignoring the new canon keeps it going longer.

Thank you for all the links! Very cool. {runs off to explore}

Okay, joined icontalks and 20muses, and signed up on 20muses. I'm not so fond of the voting ones, really - got burnt out on that the last time around. I now know from that experience that I don't like the same things as the majority likes, and it was very frustrating to see the icons I loved (other people's, not just mine), get totally dismissed by the majority and wins go to ones that I was just scratching my head on going "why on earth did everybody like that?" Loved making them, hated the voting. I do like the idea of voting within an artist set much better. Though the ideas on the challenges on the regular 20s are definitely cool to think about for pushing techniques and boundaries. When you look at them without the voting, they're useful that way.

[tinnny]

Was it the jump to the romance that put it out for you

Did you think it had one? The Eve/Flynn was established in the pilot, and if anything, they were separated almost the whole second season.

And, no, I loved them and that fandom made me fannish in ways I had never been before. I didn't like how they tied up their conflict at the end of the season. They had a disagreement and didn't resolve it, but the writers stated in interviews that they consider it resolved (howwwww?!), which just completely put me off. Also, not a fan of Excalibur. Those two things, both happened in the finale, threw me so much that I'm not sure what to do about it. I certainly don't feel like writing happy fluff anymore. I still feel like writing at all, though, so I guess there's still hope.

But the longer a show goes, the harder it gets to stay with it. At least you had a lovely full first season for Librarians. Sometimes staying with the fanfic and ignoring the new canon keeps it going longer.

Yeah. I like to think I stick with shows, but experience shows me that I really really don't. :)

I now know from that experience that I don't like the same things as the majority likes, and it was very frustrating to see the icons I loved (other people's, not just mine), get totally dismissed by the majority and wins go to ones that I was just scratching my head on going "why on earth did everybody like that?"

Yeah. And while the hard core of the elite icon maker community has somewhat shifted to include newer makers, I often also don't see what makes some of their icons better than others. Some people are amazing, no doubt, and every single one of their icons is a work of art, but for some people, I really don't get it. And the rest just makes 50% good icons and 50% crap - which is just like mine, really. :D So I don't give that much on elite opinions, I just like iconmaking, and I like it when my flisties comment on my icons.

Though the ideas on the challenges on the regular 20s are definitely cool to think about for pushing techniques and boundaries.

Absolutely. And I don't make any icons outside of challenges, I've noticed. I have started two sets on my own, and I just never finish them. So I use those challenges to push myself, too.