Round 17 - Challenge 01 - Results (2)
ROUND 17 - CHALLENGE 01 - RESULTS (2)
ICON VOTES
laxiryaPOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ The soft lighting is great and makes the icon really shine.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I like the shiny yellow gradient, very fitting for the theme. I like the background image in general, it surrounds the character really well. The only strange thing is that the hair of the character seems to blur with the tree, and in some places the tree is just as dark as the hair, making it look like she's got huge black dreadlocks. I suggest setting her apart from the background in some way. You could pull the yellow gradient lower so the tree gets much lighter than the hair. You could add a separating texture behind her head - maybe in the same color as her clothing. Or you could add text behind her head, which would also provide a separation and make the outline of her hair more visible.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice centre crop & use of light, really like how you darkened parts of the cap. The subject's face looks a bit too bright however, making facial features (mouth&nose) look washed out
+ I just love the colors and lighting. The background has a vaguely mysterious feel to it with the play of light and shadow which goes nicely with the nearly non-existant facial features of the subject. My only suggestion would be to partially erase the lighting that overlaps onto her hair to give her some distinction from the background.
+ wonderful center crop and cap selection! The coloring is vibrant yet muted, and works very well with cap. Her face is a little too bright, and it causes her features to because washed out; trying darkening the original cap before coloring and it will help retain her features
+ This is a really nice simple icon, with beautiful soft lighting. Looking the the cap, the icon looks quite similar to it, but sometimes that's enough when the cap is that pretty already.
thyla87POSITIVE VOTES
+++ I love the warmth of the icon and the lighting.
+++ The bright coloring and glowy effect of the lighting make this icon particularly stunning. I love that the lightest points of the icon are an off-white, it gives such a warm, inviting tone to the overall icon.
++ The cropping maybe is not unusual but its so pretty and the yellows in her hair makes the icon so dynamic, the lights are also great and in the rightest place.
++ The yellow coloring on the hair is so vibrant and gorgeous. Using a similar color for the background fits really well with the contrast of her face next to it. The lighting is also well done, and blends well with the side of her.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ All the yellows make the icon look like a ray of sunshine:D
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I think you did a great job with crop and coloring the subject on this icon, but I would love to see a bit more variation of color. Right now it's almost a monochrome look but it's not really committed to monochrome, so everything kind of blends together a bit. I think making the background a different color would help, and maybe making her face/skin a bit less yellow either by masking out some adjustment layers there or adding some other adjustment layers masked out everywhere but there. Or there's the option of going monochrome and working more with light & shadow to shape your icon and draw contrast, but this one just looks like it wants to be full color to me!
+ I like the crop and soft lighting of this. I think the subject is a bit washed out though. I think some shadow(s) added to the subject would bring them out better and pull the icon together better.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love the lighting on this one, and the crop, so much, but I do feel like there is something missing in the colouring.
+ fantastic golden coloring! Clarke's hair is super beautiful! Her face is a little monotone, what with it being all beige, but it also works with this icon since it seems like Clarke's golden locks are the star. The lighting is also wonderful and perfectly fitting!
+ I really like the way you colored her hair! Nice job with cutting her out too, from a cap that looks like a nightmare to cut, given her curls. This icon looks a bit blurry to me though, especially on her face, I'd sharpen it more to give her more definition.
+ I love that you chose to make the hair the primary focus of the icon. The colouring really sets it off and makes it look very soft and glowy. While I do like the lighting on the left side of the icon, I feel as if the other side of the icon looks a little un-balanced. I think a b&w gradient set to softlight would have created a nice balance of light and dark and emphasized the colour of her hair even better.
starkwarsPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ I love how muted and soft the colors are but the 'shine' theme is still so apparent! It's glowy and soft and still the subject's face is beautifully sharpened. Just perfect.
+++ I love how crisp this icon is, without beeing oversharpened. The colours are subtle but distinct, and I really like how the focus is drawn to the blood/cut on his mouth.
+ Great coloring and lighting.
+ I believe the coloring and lighting look really interesting in this.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ The pastel colors are amazing.
+ The pastel coloring is really nicely done! The subtle way you've treated the lighting is stunning as well, I just wish I could vote for one more favorite
+ amazing crop and coloring! The blues and pinks work so wonderfully together, and the overall brightness and airy-ness of this icon feels fresh and clean.
+ His face looks quite pale & blueish, you could play with selective colouring (cyan especially) to sort that. However I do like how sharp his features are, it works very well here
+ Beautiful pastelly coloring here, and the sharpening is flawless. The pale colors of the shirt and background sort of blend together a bit, I think a slightly darker sky blue would look even nicer on the background so that his shirt and face would be the brightest areas and therefore more in focus, but this is just nitpicking, it's a gorgeous icon.
john_scorpyPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ The composition with the text framing the subject and the diamond in the background is very well done. The colors also look very pretty.
+++ The composition is really smart, fits the theme perfectly and is well-executed, on a technical level. Every detail stands out, from the subject to the text. The red/cyan colour scheme works well, and the diamond texture is a nice twist on the "shine" theme.
++ Nice mix of colors and text composition.
++ I love the texture use here, and overall all the elements come together for a very nice effect. However, I do think the text could use a bit of tweaking - "sparkling" isn't the easiest to read because the combination of white over bright turquoise is a bit rough on the eyes, so maybe a drop shadow would help? I also think "the" would stand out more if it were over with "they called her" because right now it almost gets lost in the corner since it is also red.
++ I am absolutely in love with the combination of colors here! The reds and the blues are in perfect balance, and you chose just the right shades that complement each other instead of clashing, like vibrant colors put together sometimes do. The typography is lovely too, readable, but also very fanciful. Also, the way you used the text to make an extension of her dress and hide the edge of the screencap is really creative!
++ Love love love the text! It was the first thing that stood out to me in the icon! I love the positining of the text and how it blends in so well with the subject. Also, I love the use of the diamond in the background. It is the perfectly complements the text. Lastly, fabulous colouring!
+ I love that the skirt of the character is text and maybe that was not intentional but super creative. My eye goes from top to bottom and the word diamond is an extension of her dress and with the other text placement, just reads as very unique and well thought out.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ I love the original way of interpreting the theme 'shine'! The composition is awesome, and the colour co-ordination between the ribbon on her hat, her dress, and the bottom section works so well! Not so sure about the font of 'they called her' as it doesn't quite fit with the other fonts, but overall I love it!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The composition and the text are so nice. But in my opinion her dress and the hat band are way too saturated and they get all the attention in the icon. Her face is over smoothed while her dress is over sharpened and I think there should be some balance, maybe try smoothing but not too much, topaz could be a great friend if you know how to use it properly or with some patience using the smoothing brush. I'm not too good at text but I would've added a shadow or something in the "sparkling" word, so it would be much more highlighted in the icon.
+ I love the cropping and the diamond behind her suits the shine challenge smartly. I am only a bit unsure about the text. Maybe keeping only the 'The Sparkling Diamond' part of the text would have keep the whole centric effect on this icon much stronger. Other than that, it's a pretty interesting icon.
+ Love the composition, how it looks like her dress turns into text! I think the sharpening needs a bit more work though: on my monitor, Satine's hat&dress look really sharp but her face a bit too blurry, her facial features seem washed out. As for the text, not sure about the font for "they called her", had a bit of trouble reading it at first. To be honest, I think the icon would work with just "The Sparkling Diamond"!
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Text skill are stunning and the composition of icon amazing!
+ The typography in your icon is what really grabs me. I love the play of shapes and different colors especially.
+ Diamonds! Of course, so shiny. I love the colors used and the cutout and stock use! I only wanted to comment on the text- I love the colors you chose, but placement I think could do a little work as they don't read 'together' well, i.e. I didn't even notice the word "the" on the right side. I think moving that next to 'Sparkling' and running a 5% blur tool over the words--also possibly needing to make the lines bolder--would help bring together the text better!
+ cute composition and coloring! The red and cyan work very well together and compliment each other perfectly. The typography is also wonderfully executed and the diamond texture in the background is a wonderful finishing touch!
marcasitePOSITIVE VOTES
++ I love the soft mistiness of the 'shine' here! I think it's super easy to just do light blobs for this theme but I think the line of shimmery light is genius and perfect.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The lighting and soft coloring is beautiful, but the crop seems a bit random. If it was cropped centered or further away it would maybe look better as a whole.
+ Although the coloring is really great, the subject is a bit washed out by the light texture on top. I'd recommend to add a contrast layer on top of it, or merge all the layers -> duplicate the merged icon and set it to soft light.
+ I really like the use of color but on my screen her entire face seems to be lit in a way that makes it hard to see her features so the overall effect is blurry. Either more sharpness or contrast would help, for example you could try a merged layer on soft light, or just sharpening her face more.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Love the negative space. Can't tell if it's a cut-out without the cap, but if so it's impressively well done! I think the subject needs a bit more shade, her face looks too bright & washed out on my monitor
+ I love the cool-toned blues of the icon! It gives it a very muted and melancholy feel. However, I do find the white strip of light a little distracting, especially as it obscured the details of the top of her head. I think darkening that particular area or masking away the bit the covers the top of the head would prevent the white line from being distracting.
+ The monochrome coloring here works nicely and I like the way she's swimming in the light, it gives the icon a dreamy look. The crop is a bit off, I think - it's almost a center crop but not quite, I'd either moive it dead center or even more to the side.
+ Pretty monochrome colours, but the random horizontal line of line looks a little odd and out of place. Also, I think the icon would benefit from being either a centre positioning of the subject, or a more extreme side-crop, because at the moment it's not really either.
+ The soft, misty look is amazing, your play on soft and sharp shapes is nicely applied, and I love the obscurity you've achieved by keeping her features in the haze.
+ love the negative space around Bobbi! The blue coloring works great with the cap, and the hazy effect is a nice touch and gives the icon a dream-like quality.
novindalfPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ What stands out for me is the way your eye is drawn left to the lights but then you realize that the character is on the right. To me that is a fabulous crop cause I don't focus in on one thing but get to see the whole icon visually.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ No reason given.
+ The cap is amazingly bright! The colors work well together, too, going from brighter to darker without loosing vibrancy. The crop is splendid as well.
+ This is a lovely scene and definitely captures the Shine theme! Plus it's also super shiny
+ This icon just embodies the theme in all kinds of ways - the cap is full of shiny lights and then there's the beautiful extra shiny lighting added to the icon. Clever and well executed icon with a lovely fairytale vibe - even the color scheme seems to reflect the theme!
+ Using the lanterns as another expression of the theme is great, and I love the way you made this relatively dark cap shine brightly.
+ To me, this icon embodies the theme 100%. The crop is fantastic and a great choice for the theme and the lighting is gorgeous! The only feedback I’d give is that the icon is quite dark on my screen and a tad on the blurry side. Just very slightly. I think lightening it up a little would probably have helped the maker spot and sharpening issues as well :). That’s being said, kudos for producing such stunningly vibrant icon!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The coloring is nice but the icon lacks of focus. It's really hard to tell what is the subject because the characters are really in the bottom and it's really dark and the lamps are at the center and really bright taking all the attention. A crop closer to the characters and where we would see only the bottom of the lamps would help make the icon look more balanced.
+ I really like the lighting in your icon and I believe it works perfectly for this theme. The coloring looks a bit too saturated on my screen though. The colors seem overall a bit overwhelming, stealing the focus from the subject. Maybe you could have solved this problem lowering the vibrancy on the whole icon or at least on the magenta hues on the lower part of the icon which looks like the most distracting color in the palette you've used here to me.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice interpretation of the theme & use of light! Resizing made Rapunzel's face a bit odd though (her facial features look like dots on my screen), Try duplicating your cap & sharpening the top layer before resizing, then playing with opacity until you get the right result
+ Great interpretation, but I feel that the characters get a swallowed up by the background a bit too much. Perhaps adding a little more contrast, or maybe lowering the saturation of the boat would help them pop.
+ I love the colors in your icon, but I think it could use a bit more depth - right now everything looks kind of flat, and rather than the subjects and the two big lanterns standing out, all of the icon calls for your attention the same amount. I've found that adding shadows to less important parts can guide the eye in the the subjects to really give the icon some focus.
tiptoetwirlPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ This icon is spectacular. I'm totally floored by how amazingly, eye-catchingly bright and vibrant it is! The sharp look, the extreme brightness and vibrancy all work here and were the reasons why this icon was the first to grab my attention and keep it the longest. The yellow hair looks fantastic against the bright green, and the background texture is visually interesting but since it's only one color, it doesn't take too much attention away from the character. Also, A+ job on making a somewhat blurry and LQ cap look so good. I wish I knew the subject to better evaluate the background stock choices - if I knew that they somehow reflect the character I'd appreciate this icon even more but even if they're just randomly chosen pretty images, well, they still look good so this icon is definitely my favorite in the voting
++ The color combinations here is great, the blonde hair works perfectly with the textured green background.
+ When I see the screencap used, I am really impressed with the coloring achieved. Making her hair so yellow suits the green background. The colors chosen are solid with each other.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ I love the bright colouring of the icon! The green of the background contrasts very well with the bright yellow of her hair. Also, I really like the texture used in the background. The subject seems so lighthearted but the texture gives it a little extra edge!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ Her face and hair feel a little washed out. Adding some contrast to them, or using a different lighting technique might help the details in the face/hair look clearer. The composition and background and coloring work well overall though.
+ I absolutely love the boldness of the yellow and the center crop you have here is perfect for that. The green background is a bit strong, especially with the lighting you have coming from the left of the icon and the way it meshes with the bright yellow. I also see tinges of green at the bottom of her dress which could be contributing to the overall impression of "green" instead of yellow. I think a levels layer would help create some depth as well as a black/white gradient set low opacity to help with tone.
+ The cutout and composition are really nice but the screencap looks like it's been brighten too much, making it loose it details and making her face looks too white. Maybe duplicating your base screencap on top on soft light would help bringing back some details and softening the white. A selective color layer masked everywhere except her skin with the yellows a bit down, would also help her skin look more natural.
+ I actually like the use of texture on the background in this, I believe it matches well with the subject, but the sharpening looks definitely high, expecially on the subject. It is hard to transform such a dark screencap into a bright icon and I think you need to be very careful when you do it, it's higliy likely that you might have overly-contrasted the subject during the process.
+ the color combination on this icon rocks! The shade of yellow perfectly matches the greens in the icon, and the texture in the background is subtle enough that it adds nice visual interest. However, the icon is a little oversharpened, causing the edges of the subject and the details in the background to seem sharp. Experiment with sharpening techniques (high pass, auto sharpen, paint daubs), play around with opacity levels, and don't be afraid to erase parts that are extra sharp after sharpening
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Very creative background, however I feel like there's too much yellows, it's fine for your subject's hair but makes her skin look a bit odd, especially her torso. Use selective colouring to balance it out?
+ I love your colors, but this icon is super sharp on my screen. I would suggest lowering the opacity of the sharpening layer you used.
+ I really like how the subject stands out so starkly against the background. It's very graphic and looks amazing against the toxic green. My only crit is that she seems a little over-sharpened on my monitor.
+ I really like the negative space background decorations, but the whole icon is a bit too bright on my monitor, and some of the detail (especially on her face, hand and hair) is lost in the brightness. Maybe add a layer on Soft Light or Multiply with low opacity to add a bit more contrast there?
+ I love the background texture, and she contrasts really well with it. The color choice is gorgeous. The yellow and green work well together, being on the same level of brightness and saturation.
+ Love the colors and background! My only comment is that the lines look quite jagged and oversharpened to my eye, a bit of the blur tool at 5% would help smudge out the jagged bits.
applepips16POSITIVE VOTES
++ The simplicity of this icon suits the animated subject. I'm also impressed by the fact that Mabel is not over-sharpened or too blurry, which I know is sometimes difficult to achieve with animated shows.
++ Really like your work on colours & how shiny & bright it all looks. Good use of light!
++ Even though I think it's a little too bright on the right side, the coloring and negative space is gorgeous.
+ Great job using a simple icon to convey the theme, and I love the way the background color works with the bit of color on her shirt.
+ All these misty shiny icons are amazing! I love the soft shiny quality of this icon while leaving the subject sharp! Color scheme is also very lovely and striking
+ A lovely simple composition with great use of colours and lighting! Could do with a bit more contrast on her face to stop her eyes blending into the white light, but overall great work.
+ I love how simple this icon looks, but the shininess is definitely there with the lighting. The pink and blue hues are vibrant but not overpowering. The icon has a glowy feel but is not blurry. Well done!
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Very pretty, very shiny icon. All the glow makes her look a bit blurry thoigh, so I'd recommend sharpening the character a bit more, but the coloring, negative space and lighting are all super lovely!
+ It's so shiny! Great use of highly contrasting colors to get that radiant look, that's such a good idea.
+ great cap and great coloring! Mabel is so wonderfully bright and the colors work so well together! This icon is just so happy! :D The cut around Mabel seems a little sharp on the left side, and her face seems a little blurry, so play around with sharpening and don't be afraid to mask multiple layers with different sharpening settings
adriftingseaPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ The coloring and lighting in this icon are amazing! The warm colors work perfectly with the the fire-red hair of Clary.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I really enjoy the lighting on the left side of the icon and the overall orange colouring, but overall this icon appears too sharp to me. There are parts of the icon -- the subject's mouth, nose, the right side of her hair, and one dot on her throat stands out quite a bit -- that appear much too sharp. I would suggest blurring out those bits -- on a copied merged-all layer, at a low opacity -- or perhaps smudging them in the same way. If sharpening is done first for you, I would suggest doing it last in order to avoid this over-sharpened effect.
+ I really like the coloring and the painted look of her hair. There's just one thin yellow line on the shadow side of her head which is a little distracting. It looks like a sharpening artifact, because the way all the light is coming from the left side of the icon, there should not be any glow on that side of her head. I suggest smoothing it out so it blurs better with the background or even completely removing it.
+ Good job with the light but Clary looks oversharpened on my monitor. You could lower that sharp layer on her hair and edges a little bit, maybe use a blur tool (low opacity) on the rest of her face (cheeks&forehead) to make it look smoother
+ I love the colouring and the lighting of the icon. It is very warm and pretty! However, I think the sharpening got very harsh in a few places, especially on the darker side of the icon. After sharpening, to tone down the sharpening in certain parts of the icon, you can zoom in on the icon and blur those pesky pixels away. In this icon, it seems like the hair is painted, so alternatively, you can also smudge the over-sharpened parts so that they blend in better with the waves of the hair.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Just a fan of the colors and use of light.
+ I love the painted effect and the depth of the coloring, but the subject looks really over-sharpened on my monitor, especially the facial features.
+ I really like the coloring and the cropping, the light in this icon is so nice and very well placed.
+ The contrast is perfect my screen and the colors fit together so well.
+ This icon fascinates me - I can't quite tell if there are painted parts on her hair, if it's a filter or if the sharpness gives them a painty look but either way I quite like the effect, and how sharp this icon is in general. The lighting is very subtle for a shine theme, and the sharp look paired with toned down coloring gives it an almost gritty vibe, so I'm not sure how well it reflects the challenge, but I really like this icon nevertheless. You did a great job flattening and coloring the busy-ish background so that she stands out better.
nightbulbsPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ I'm very impressed by the coloring here - both original screencaps were very muted, but you've managed to draw out some lovely vibrant colors from them. But my favorite thing about this icon is that there are no unnecessary elements here - every part of the composition has a place and purpose, and everything works together without any element drawing too much focus or being lost in the background. One little suggestion I'd make would be to either move Clara a bit to the right, or make here a bit smaller - I don't think the composition would suffer, but the very tip of her nose wouldn't be (infuriatingly) cut off.
+++ The blending here is working perfectly. The yellow lightning on the back goes so well with the blue of the Doctor.
+++ I really like the composition in this. The contrast between the near crop on Clara's face and the far crop on the Doctor works perfectly and the text looks really on point!
++ I love the more complex composition and how both subjects are lit differently.
++ Such a nice composition and I love how the light comes from the right side, making it seem like, when she comes in, the light follows her.
++ Really beautiful coloring and composition here. Coloringwise, evething is so eye-catchingly vibrant and the yellow glow on the right complements the blues on the left nicely and I love the deep blues on the Doctor's clothes. And the composition is in such great balance, with Clara's profile on the left and the glowy parts giving equal visual weight to the right. I also love the choice of putting rotated text behind the Doctor. So many interesting visual parts all in perfect harmony!
+ I really love the fresh, festive vibe of the high contrast colors and extreme lighting in your icon. The crops, blending, and composition are all very nicely executed.
+ The composition is so nice and the icons looks so smooth and the two images used really fit with each other, the text use is awesome too.
+ Good coloring and lighting.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ Wonderful use of lighting and the colors.
+ The light texture on the side and the light on each of the individual reads shine to me.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The coloring and composition in this is great but there are a few issues I feel could be fixed. Clara's nose has a bit too much cut off. I suggest sizing down (or moving to the right) the image a little so it's either right at the edge of the icon or is a bit farther away from the edge. I also suggest some blending to the color texture on the right a bit, the greenish yellow at the bottom doesn't fit in as well with the warmer coloring of the rest of the icon and the brightness in the upper right corner is too bright, at least on my monitor. I suggest using Gaussian Blur (if you use photoshop) to blend out the brightness a little more.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love the composition and colouring so much! I just think the cropping of the end of her nose looks a bit weird and distracts from the rest of the icon.
+ fantastic coloring! The blending is fantastic, as well, and the typography is just the perfect touch to the icon. The color you pulled from Clara's cap is phenomenal as well!
+ I really really like this icon! It was quite in the running for top 3 for me, the only reason why I didn't add it in, was because the contrast between the lighing of the right vs the left side felt too stark. I do love love the colors, I just feel like it could use a bit more brightness to even it out with the shiny light on the right.
+ Nice cut-out & blending, but I think the composition needs a bit more work. The crop cuts off Clara's nose which looks a bit odd, you could bring her a bit more to the left. Not sure the texture on the right is necessary, the white/yellow blob appears quite distracting & clashes with the rest . I think the text is fine, but again I'd move it a bit to the left so that it doesn't get on Clara's face too much & take focus away from the Doctor
+ Very cool blend you have going on here! I know this is a nitpicky sort of thing, but it does bug me that the very end of her nose is chopped off by the crop - I would just scoot her back a few pixels, or make her a little bit smaller, so her whole face is on the icon. I also can't help but notice that her skin is kind of washed out at some points. If you're using PS, playing with selective color or color balance layers may help a bit, as they both allow you to select the highlights and tweak them individually. I've also found that getting a soft brush, grabbing skin color from the image, and painting over the light spots on a new layer helps. I then just play around with layer modes/opacities and duplicate the painted layer as many times as I need to get it to blend (I typically end up with one on multiply/darken, one on hue, and on on luminosity) to make it seem like all parts of a cap had the same lighting when they came to me. It takes a bit of time but it does keep brighter parts of a cap from getting washed out, and also allows you to brighten the rest of a cap past what you may have been able to do previously.
As you can imagine, this was a lot to compile. Please let me know if you notice any errors.
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ICON VOTES
laxiryaPOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ The soft lighting is great and makes the icon really shine.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I like the shiny yellow gradient, very fitting for the theme. I like the background image in general, it surrounds the character really well. The only strange thing is that the hair of the character seems to blur with the tree, and in some places the tree is just as dark as the hair, making it look like she's got huge black dreadlocks. I suggest setting her apart from the background in some way. You could pull the yellow gradient lower so the tree gets much lighter than the hair. You could add a separating texture behind her head - maybe in the same color as her clothing. Or you could add text behind her head, which would also provide a separation and make the outline of her hair more visible.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice centre crop & use of light, really like how you darkened parts of the cap. The subject's face looks a bit too bright however, making facial features (mouth&nose) look washed out
+ I just love the colors and lighting. The background has a vaguely mysterious feel to it with the play of light and shadow which goes nicely with the nearly non-existant facial features of the subject. My only suggestion would be to partially erase the lighting that overlaps onto her hair to give her some distinction from the background.
+ wonderful center crop and cap selection! The coloring is vibrant yet muted, and works very well with cap. Her face is a little too bright, and it causes her features to because washed out; trying darkening the original cap before coloring and it will help retain her features
+ This is a really nice simple icon, with beautiful soft lighting. Looking the the cap, the icon looks quite similar to it, but sometimes that's enough when the cap is that pretty already.
thyla87POSITIVE VOTES
+++ I love the warmth of the icon and the lighting.
+++ The bright coloring and glowy effect of the lighting make this icon particularly stunning. I love that the lightest points of the icon are an off-white, it gives such a warm, inviting tone to the overall icon.
++ The cropping maybe is not unusual but its so pretty and the yellows in her hair makes the icon so dynamic, the lights are also great and in the rightest place.
++ The yellow coloring on the hair is so vibrant and gorgeous. Using a similar color for the background fits really well with the contrast of her face next to it. The lighting is also well done, and blends well with the side of her.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ All the yellows make the icon look like a ray of sunshine:D
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I think you did a great job with crop and coloring the subject on this icon, but I would love to see a bit more variation of color. Right now it's almost a monochrome look but it's not really committed to monochrome, so everything kind of blends together a bit. I think making the background a different color would help, and maybe making her face/skin a bit less yellow either by masking out some adjustment layers there or adding some other adjustment layers masked out everywhere but there. Or there's the option of going monochrome and working more with light & shadow to shape your icon and draw contrast, but this one just looks like it wants to be full color to me!
+ I like the crop and soft lighting of this. I think the subject is a bit washed out though. I think some shadow(s) added to the subject would bring them out better and pull the icon together better.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love the lighting on this one, and the crop, so much, but I do feel like there is something missing in the colouring.
+ fantastic golden coloring! Clarke's hair is super beautiful! Her face is a little monotone, what with it being all beige, but it also works with this icon since it seems like Clarke's golden locks are the star. The lighting is also wonderful and perfectly fitting!
+ I really like the way you colored her hair! Nice job with cutting her out too, from a cap that looks like a nightmare to cut, given her curls. This icon looks a bit blurry to me though, especially on her face, I'd sharpen it more to give her more definition.
+ I love that you chose to make the hair the primary focus of the icon. The colouring really sets it off and makes it look very soft and glowy. While I do like the lighting on the left side of the icon, I feel as if the other side of the icon looks a little un-balanced. I think a b&w gradient set to softlight would have created a nice balance of light and dark and emphasized the colour of her hair even better.
starkwarsPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ I love how muted and soft the colors are but the 'shine' theme is still so apparent! It's glowy and soft and still the subject's face is beautifully sharpened. Just perfect.
+++ I love how crisp this icon is, without beeing oversharpened. The colours are subtle but distinct, and I really like how the focus is drawn to the blood/cut on his mouth.
+ Great coloring and lighting.
+ I believe the coloring and lighting look really interesting in this.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ The pastel colors are amazing.
+ The pastel coloring is really nicely done! The subtle way you've treated the lighting is stunning as well, I just wish I could vote for one more favorite
+ amazing crop and coloring! The blues and pinks work so wonderfully together, and the overall brightness and airy-ness of this icon feels fresh and clean.
+ His face looks quite pale & blueish, you could play with selective colouring (cyan especially) to sort that. However I do like how sharp his features are, it works very well here
+ Beautiful pastelly coloring here, and the sharpening is flawless. The pale colors of the shirt and background sort of blend together a bit, I think a slightly darker sky blue would look even nicer on the background so that his shirt and face would be the brightest areas and therefore more in focus, but this is just nitpicking, it's a gorgeous icon.
john_scorpyPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ The composition with the text framing the subject and the diamond in the background is very well done. The colors also look very pretty.
+++ The composition is really smart, fits the theme perfectly and is well-executed, on a technical level. Every detail stands out, from the subject to the text. The red/cyan colour scheme works well, and the diamond texture is a nice twist on the "shine" theme.
++ Nice mix of colors and text composition.
++ I love the texture use here, and overall all the elements come together for a very nice effect. However, I do think the text could use a bit of tweaking - "sparkling" isn't the easiest to read because the combination of white over bright turquoise is a bit rough on the eyes, so maybe a drop shadow would help? I also think "the" would stand out more if it were over with "they called her" because right now it almost gets lost in the corner since it is also red.
++ I am absolutely in love with the combination of colors here! The reds and the blues are in perfect balance, and you chose just the right shades that complement each other instead of clashing, like vibrant colors put together sometimes do. The typography is lovely too, readable, but also very fanciful. Also, the way you used the text to make an extension of her dress and hide the edge of the screencap is really creative!
++ Love love love the text! It was the first thing that stood out to me in the icon! I love the positining of the text and how it blends in so well with the subject. Also, I love the use of the diamond in the background. It is the perfectly complements the text. Lastly, fabulous colouring!
+ I love that the skirt of the character is text and maybe that was not intentional but super creative. My eye goes from top to bottom and the word diamond is an extension of her dress and with the other text placement, just reads as very unique and well thought out.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ I love the original way of interpreting the theme 'shine'! The composition is awesome, and the colour co-ordination between the ribbon on her hat, her dress, and the bottom section works so well! Not so sure about the font of 'they called her' as it doesn't quite fit with the other fonts, but overall I love it!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The composition and the text are so nice. But in my opinion her dress and the hat band are way too saturated and they get all the attention in the icon. Her face is over smoothed while her dress is over sharpened and I think there should be some balance, maybe try smoothing but not too much, topaz could be a great friend if you know how to use it properly or with some patience using the smoothing brush. I'm not too good at text but I would've added a shadow or something in the "sparkling" word, so it would be much more highlighted in the icon.
+ I love the cropping and the diamond behind her suits the shine challenge smartly. I am only a bit unsure about the text. Maybe keeping only the 'The Sparkling Diamond' part of the text would have keep the whole centric effect on this icon much stronger. Other than that, it's a pretty interesting icon.
+ Love the composition, how it looks like her dress turns into text! I think the sharpening needs a bit more work though: on my monitor, Satine's hat&dress look really sharp but her face a bit too blurry, her facial features seem washed out. As for the text, not sure about the font for "they called her", had a bit of trouble reading it at first. To be honest, I think the icon would work with just "The Sparkling Diamond"!
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Text skill are stunning and the composition of icon amazing!
+ The typography in your icon is what really grabs me. I love the play of shapes and different colors especially.
+ Diamonds! Of course, so shiny. I love the colors used and the cutout and stock use! I only wanted to comment on the text- I love the colors you chose, but placement I think could do a little work as they don't read 'together' well, i.e. I didn't even notice the word "the" on the right side. I think moving that next to 'Sparkling' and running a 5% blur tool over the words--also possibly needing to make the lines bolder--would help bring together the text better!
+ cute composition and coloring! The red and cyan work very well together and compliment each other perfectly. The typography is also wonderfully executed and the diamond texture in the background is a wonderful finishing touch!
marcasitePOSITIVE VOTES
++ I love the soft mistiness of the 'shine' here! I think it's super easy to just do light blobs for this theme but I think the line of shimmery light is genius and perfect.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The lighting and soft coloring is beautiful, but the crop seems a bit random. If it was cropped centered or further away it would maybe look better as a whole.
+ Although the coloring is really great, the subject is a bit washed out by the light texture on top. I'd recommend to add a contrast layer on top of it, or merge all the layers -> duplicate the merged icon and set it to soft light.
+ I really like the use of color but on my screen her entire face seems to be lit in a way that makes it hard to see her features so the overall effect is blurry. Either more sharpness or contrast would help, for example you could try a merged layer on soft light, or just sharpening her face more.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Love the negative space. Can't tell if it's a cut-out without the cap, but if so it's impressively well done! I think the subject needs a bit more shade, her face looks too bright & washed out on my monitor
+ I love the cool-toned blues of the icon! It gives it a very muted and melancholy feel. However, I do find the white strip of light a little distracting, especially as it obscured the details of the top of her head. I think darkening that particular area or masking away the bit the covers the top of the head would prevent the white line from being distracting.
+ The monochrome coloring here works nicely and I like the way she's swimming in the light, it gives the icon a dreamy look. The crop is a bit off, I think - it's almost a center crop but not quite, I'd either moive it dead center or even more to the side.
+ Pretty monochrome colours, but the random horizontal line of line looks a little odd and out of place. Also, I think the icon would benefit from being either a centre positioning of the subject, or a more extreme side-crop, because at the moment it's not really either.
+ The soft, misty look is amazing, your play on soft and sharp shapes is nicely applied, and I love the obscurity you've achieved by keeping her features in the haze.
+ love the negative space around Bobbi! The blue coloring works great with the cap, and the hazy effect is a nice touch and gives the icon a dream-like quality.
novindalfPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ What stands out for me is the way your eye is drawn left to the lights but then you realize that the character is on the right. To me that is a fabulous crop cause I don't focus in on one thing but get to see the whole icon visually.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ No reason given.
+ The cap is amazingly bright! The colors work well together, too, going from brighter to darker without loosing vibrancy. The crop is splendid as well.
+ This is a lovely scene and definitely captures the Shine theme! Plus it's also super shiny
+ This icon just embodies the theme in all kinds of ways - the cap is full of shiny lights and then there's the beautiful extra shiny lighting added to the icon. Clever and well executed icon with a lovely fairytale vibe - even the color scheme seems to reflect the theme!
+ Using the lanterns as another expression of the theme is great, and I love the way you made this relatively dark cap shine brightly.
+ To me, this icon embodies the theme 100%. The crop is fantastic and a great choice for the theme and the lighting is gorgeous! The only feedback I’d give is that the icon is quite dark on my screen and a tad on the blurry side. Just very slightly. I think lightening it up a little would probably have helped the maker spot and sharpening issues as well :). That’s being said, kudos for producing such stunningly vibrant icon!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The coloring is nice but the icon lacks of focus. It's really hard to tell what is the subject because the characters are really in the bottom and it's really dark and the lamps are at the center and really bright taking all the attention. A crop closer to the characters and where we would see only the bottom of the lamps would help make the icon look more balanced.
+ I really like the lighting in your icon and I believe it works perfectly for this theme. The coloring looks a bit too saturated on my screen though. The colors seem overall a bit overwhelming, stealing the focus from the subject. Maybe you could have solved this problem lowering the vibrancy on the whole icon or at least on the magenta hues on the lower part of the icon which looks like the most distracting color in the palette you've used here to me.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice interpretation of the theme & use of light! Resizing made Rapunzel's face a bit odd though (her facial features look like dots on my screen), Try duplicating your cap & sharpening the top layer before resizing, then playing with opacity until you get the right result
+ Great interpretation, but I feel that the characters get a swallowed up by the background a bit too much. Perhaps adding a little more contrast, or maybe lowering the saturation of the boat would help them pop.
+ I love the colors in your icon, but I think it could use a bit more depth - right now everything looks kind of flat, and rather than the subjects and the two big lanterns standing out, all of the icon calls for your attention the same amount. I've found that adding shadows to less important parts can guide the eye in the the subjects to really give the icon some focus.
tiptoetwirlPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ This icon is spectacular. I'm totally floored by how amazingly, eye-catchingly bright and vibrant it is! The sharp look, the extreme brightness and vibrancy all work here and were the reasons why this icon was the first to grab my attention and keep it the longest. The yellow hair looks fantastic against the bright green, and the background texture is visually interesting but since it's only one color, it doesn't take too much attention away from the character. Also, A+ job on making a somewhat blurry and LQ cap look so good. I wish I knew the subject to better evaluate the background stock choices - if I knew that they somehow reflect the character I'd appreciate this icon even more but even if they're just randomly chosen pretty images, well, they still look good so this icon is definitely my favorite in the voting
++ The color combinations here is great, the blonde hair works perfectly with the textured green background.
+ When I see the screencap used, I am really impressed with the coloring achieved. Making her hair so yellow suits the green background. The colors chosen are solid with each other.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ I love the bright colouring of the icon! The green of the background contrasts very well with the bright yellow of her hair. Also, I really like the texture used in the background. The subject seems so lighthearted but the texture gives it a little extra edge!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ Her face and hair feel a little washed out. Adding some contrast to them, or using a different lighting technique might help the details in the face/hair look clearer. The composition and background and coloring work well overall though.
+ I absolutely love the boldness of the yellow and the center crop you have here is perfect for that. The green background is a bit strong, especially with the lighting you have coming from the left of the icon and the way it meshes with the bright yellow. I also see tinges of green at the bottom of her dress which could be contributing to the overall impression of "green" instead of yellow. I think a levels layer would help create some depth as well as a black/white gradient set low opacity to help with tone.
+ The cutout and composition are really nice but the screencap looks like it's been brighten too much, making it loose it details and making her face looks too white. Maybe duplicating your base screencap on top on soft light would help bringing back some details and softening the white. A selective color layer masked everywhere except her skin with the yellows a bit down, would also help her skin look more natural.
+ I actually like the use of texture on the background in this, I believe it matches well with the subject, but the sharpening looks definitely high, expecially on the subject. It is hard to transform such a dark screencap into a bright icon and I think you need to be very careful when you do it, it's higliy likely that you might have overly-contrasted the subject during the process.
+ the color combination on this icon rocks! The shade of yellow perfectly matches the greens in the icon, and the texture in the background is subtle enough that it adds nice visual interest. However, the icon is a little oversharpened, causing the edges of the subject and the details in the background to seem sharp. Experiment with sharpening techniques (high pass, auto sharpen, paint daubs), play around with opacity levels, and don't be afraid to erase parts that are extra sharp after sharpening
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Very creative background, however I feel like there's too much yellows, it's fine for your subject's hair but makes her skin look a bit odd, especially her torso. Use selective colouring to balance it out?
+ I love your colors, but this icon is super sharp on my screen. I would suggest lowering the opacity of the sharpening layer you used.
+ I really like how the subject stands out so starkly against the background. It's very graphic and looks amazing against the toxic green. My only crit is that she seems a little over-sharpened on my monitor.
+ I really like the negative space background decorations, but the whole icon is a bit too bright on my monitor, and some of the detail (especially on her face, hand and hair) is lost in the brightness. Maybe add a layer on Soft Light or Multiply with low opacity to add a bit more contrast there?
+ I love the background texture, and she contrasts really well with it. The color choice is gorgeous. The yellow and green work well together, being on the same level of brightness and saturation.
+ Love the colors and background! My only comment is that the lines look quite jagged and oversharpened to my eye, a bit of the blur tool at 5% would help smudge out the jagged bits.
applepips16POSITIVE VOTES
++ The simplicity of this icon suits the animated subject. I'm also impressed by the fact that Mabel is not over-sharpened or too blurry, which I know is sometimes difficult to achieve with animated shows.
++ Really like your work on colours & how shiny & bright it all looks. Good use of light!
++ Even though I think it's a little too bright on the right side, the coloring and negative space is gorgeous.
+ Great job using a simple icon to convey the theme, and I love the way the background color works with the bit of color on her shirt.
+ All these misty shiny icons are amazing! I love the soft shiny quality of this icon while leaving the subject sharp! Color scheme is also very lovely and striking
+ A lovely simple composition with great use of colours and lighting! Could do with a bit more contrast on her face to stop her eyes blending into the white light, but overall great work.
+ I love how simple this icon looks, but the shininess is definitely there with the lighting. The pink and blue hues are vibrant but not overpowering. The icon has a glowy feel but is not blurry. Well done!
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Very pretty, very shiny icon. All the glow makes her look a bit blurry thoigh, so I'd recommend sharpening the character a bit more, but the coloring, negative space and lighting are all super lovely!
+ It's so shiny! Great use of highly contrasting colors to get that radiant look, that's such a good idea.
+ great cap and great coloring! Mabel is so wonderfully bright and the colors work so well together! This icon is just so happy! :D The cut around Mabel seems a little sharp on the left side, and her face seems a little blurry, so play around with sharpening and don't be afraid to mask multiple layers with different sharpening settings
adriftingseaPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ The coloring and lighting in this icon are amazing! The warm colors work perfectly with the the fire-red hair of Clary.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I really enjoy the lighting on the left side of the icon and the overall orange colouring, but overall this icon appears too sharp to me. There are parts of the icon -- the subject's mouth, nose, the right side of her hair, and one dot on her throat stands out quite a bit -- that appear much too sharp. I would suggest blurring out those bits -- on a copied merged-all layer, at a low opacity -- or perhaps smudging them in the same way. If sharpening is done first for you, I would suggest doing it last in order to avoid this over-sharpened effect.
+ I really like the coloring and the painted look of her hair. There's just one thin yellow line on the shadow side of her head which is a little distracting. It looks like a sharpening artifact, because the way all the light is coming from the left side of the icon, there should not be any glow on that side of her head. I suggest smoothing it out so it blurs better with the background or even completely removing it.
+ Good job with the light but Clary looks oversharpened on my monitor. You could lower that sharp layer on her hair and edges a little bit, maybe use a blur tool (low opacity) on the rest of her face (cheeks&forehead) to make it look smoother
+ I love the colouring and the lighting of the icon. It is very warm and pretty! However, I think the sharpening got very harsh in a few places, especially on the darker side of the icon. After sharpening, to tone down the sharpening in certain parts of the icon, you can zoom in on the icon and blur those pesky pixels away. In this icon, it seems like the hair is painted, so alternatively, you can also smudge the over-sharpened parts so that they blend in better with the waves of the hair.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Just a fan of the colors and use of light.
+ I love the painted effect and the depth of the coloring, but the subject looks really over-sharpened on my monitor, especially the facial features.
+ I really like the coloring and the cropping, the light in this icon is so nice and very well placed.
+ The contrast is perfect my screen and the colors fit together so well.
+ This icon fascinates me - I can't quite tell if there are painted parts on her hair, if it's a filter or if the sharpness gives them a painty look but either way I quite like the effect, and how sharp this icon is in general. The lighting is very subtle for a shine theme, and the sharp look paired with toned down coloring gives it an almost gritty vibe, so I'm not sure how well it reflects the challenge, but I really like this icon nevertheless. You did a great job flattening and coloring the busy-ish background so that she stands out better.
nightbulbsPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ I'm very impressed by the coloring here - both original screencaps were very muted, but you've managed to draw out some lovely vibrant colors from them. But my favorite thing about this icon is that there are no unnecessary elements here - every part of the composition has a place and purpose, and everything works together without any element drawing too much focus or being lost in the background. One little suggestion I'd make would be to either move Clara a bit to the right, or make here a bit smaller - I don't think the composition would suffer, but the very tip of her nose wouldn't be (infuriatingly) cut off.
+++ The blending here is working perfectly. The yellow lightning on the back goes so well with the blue of the Doctor.
+++ I really like the composition in this. The contrast between the near crop on Clara's face and the far crop on the Doctor works perfectly and the text looks really on point!
++ I love the more complex composition and how both subjects are lit differently.
++ Such a nice composition and I love how the light comes from the right side, making it seem like, when she comes in, the light follows her.
++ Really beautiful coloring and composition here. Coloringwise, evething is so eye-catchingly vibrant and the yellow glow on the right complements the blues on the left nicely and I love the deep blues on the Doctor's clothes. And the composition is in such great balance, with Clara's profile on the left and the glowy parts giving equal visual weight to the right. I also love the choice of putting rotated text behind the Doctor. So many interesting visual parts all in perfect harmony!
+ I really love the fresh, festive vibe of the high contrast colors and extreme lighting in your icon. The crops, blending, and composition are all very nicely executed.
+ The composition is so nice and the icons looks so smooth and the two images used really fit with each other, the text use is awesome too.
+ Good coloring and lighting.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ Wonderful use of lighting and the colors.
+ The light texture on the side and the light on each of the individual reads shine to me.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The coloring and composition in this is great but there are a few issues I feel could be fixed. Clara's nose has a bit too much cut off. I suggest sizing down (or moving to the right) the image a little so it's either right at the edge of the icon or is a bit farther away from the edge. I also suggest some blending to the color texture on the right a bit, the greenish yellow at the bottom doesn't fit in as well with the warmer coloring of the rest of the icon and the brightness in the upper right corner is too bright, at least on my monitor. I suggest using Gaussian Blur (if you use photoshop) to blend out the brightness a little more.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love the composition and colouring so much! I just think the cropping of the end of her nose looks a bit weird and distracts from the rest of the icon.
+ fantastic coloring! The blending is fantastic, as well, and the typography is just the perfect touch to the icon. The color you pulled from Clara's cap is phenomenal as well!
+ I really really like this icon! It was quite in the running for top 3 for me, the only reason why I didn't add it in, was because the contrast between the lighing of the right vs the left side felt too stark. I do love love the colors, I just feel like it could use a bit more brightness to even it out with the shiny light on the right.
+ Nice cut-out & blending, but I think the composition needs a bit more work. The crop cuts off Clara's nose which looks a bit odd, you could bring her a bit more to the left. Not sure the texture on the right is necessary, the white/yellow blob appears quite distracting & clashes with the rest . I think the text is fine, but again I'd move it a bit to the left so that it doesn't get on Clara's face too much & take focus away from the Doctor
+ Very cool blend you have going on here! I know this is a nitpicky sort of thing, but it does bug me that the very end of her nose is chopped off by the crop - I would just scoot her back a few pixels, or make her a little bit smaller, so her whole face is on the icon. I also can't help but notice that her skin is kind of washed out at some points. If you're using PS, playing with selective color or color balance layers may help a bit, as they both allow you to select the highlights and tweak them individually. I've also found that getting a soft brush, grabbing skin color from the image, and painting over the light spots on a new layer helps. I then just play around with layer modes/opacities and duplicate the painted layer as many times as I need to get it to blend (I typically end up with one on multiply/darken, one on hue, and on on luminosity) to make it seem like all parts of a cap had the same lighting when they came to me. It takes a bit of time but it does keep brighter parts of a cap from getting washed out, and also allows you to brighten the rest of a cap past what you may have been able to do previously.
As you can imagine, this was a lot to compile. Please let me know if you notice any errors.
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