Resources
I use PaintShopPro9 to make my graphics. I rarely have as much time to play as I used to, but it is still an enjoyable past time.
I like to make icons from a variety of things, but the things I focus on the most are:
:: Fantasy tales such as Lord of the Rings or Ancanar.
:: Historical Costume Dramas such as Anne of Green Gables, Pride & Prejudice (2205), North & South, or Little Women.
:: Paintings from artists such as John William Waterhouse, or James Jacques Joseph Tissot.
:: Vintage inspired icons of classic actresses, actors, movies, or vintage pictures.
If you use my graphics:
Please remember to: Comment | Credit | Do not alter | Do not hotlink.
Here is a list of resources for the tools I use to create my icons. All resources that I have used are credited, unless their journal or website has been deleted.
♥ = Favorites or used often.
D = Decorative (mask brushes included)
P = Patterns
T = Textures
W = Words (Tiny text included)
Brushes and Textures:
:: chiffonwings : D, W
:: fragile_silver ♥ : T
:: iconisms/_blisse ♥ : D, T, W
:: ingenu0us ♥ : D, W
:: inishmaan ♥ : D, T
:: tinuviel428 : D, T
:: Living Color Large Textures : T
:: mata090680: T, W, D
:: elanordh: T
:: essoicons : T
:: eternalphoenix_ : T
:: big_rock_show : D
:: colorfilter ♥ : P, T
:: eightyfour__ : D
:: even_art ♥ - Soft Swirls : D, T
:: elliptica ♥ : T
:: outside_icons : D
:: petticoatrow : D
:: teh_indy's light textures : T
:: 77words : D, P, T
:: amethystia100 : D, W
:: rainharbour : T, D
:: ashke_icons : T
:: any_otherday : T
:: ewanism : D, T
:: silverqe : T
:: graphic_affair : T, D
:: dungeonesque : T
:: cielo_icons ♥ : T
:: iconseeyou : T
:: volt4itca : T
:: _iconographer : T
:: babliz : T
:: ownthesunshine : T
:: chaoticfae@dustypaper/moody_muse ♥ : T
:: phaantasia@dustypaper : T
:: innocent_lexys@ serene_infinity/dustypaper/infinite_muse : T
:: nokitas@serene_infinity : T
:: banquier@serene_infinity : T
:: lovelydecoy@ serene_infinity : T
:: crazydelight@serene_infinity : T
:: midnighticons68 ♥ : T
:: endelyn : T
:: tearjerkericons : T
:: tralala_icons : T
:: loveicon : T
:: djalina : T, Bases
:: tomycoffee : T, Bases
:: tearjerkericons " T, Bases
:: orangessky : T, Bases
:: evangelinevio : T
:: photographis : T
:: talipuu@mirrorskies : T
Picture Sources:
:: otto_daily ♥
:: Miranda-Otto ♥
:: Cate Blanchett.net
:: Cate-Blanchett.org
:: Lovely Liv Tyler ♥
:: Art Renewal Center - Paintings ♥
:: MorgueFile - Christmas Stock pictures. I no longer use pictures from here.
:: Veer - My only stock source outside of icontests.
:: mata090680 - Various Actresses and Actors: Mostly LOTR and Twilight
:: thephotobox - Actresses/Actors
:: Shootastic - Actresses/Actors, Movies (Costume movies in particular)
:: tempest_icons - North and South Screencaps
:: desert_sky @ Longbourn - P&P05
:: _jems_ @ Leavemethewhite - P&PO05, S&S
:: janine83 @homeofthenutty/ homeofthenutty - Twilight, Half Blood Prince, others
:: innocent_lexys - Stock Icon Bases
:: angelfish_icons - Mansfield Park (2007) and Sense and Sensibility (2008) screencaps.
:: itshysteric - New Moon Screencaps
:: the_happyplace - Stock
:: rarw_caps - Emma (2009)
:: enchantedfleur - Doctor Who: Season 5, Sherlock, Marie Antoinette
:: killcolor - LOTR, Harry Potter, Merlin
:: My Various Tumblr's - I have several tumblr's with gorgeous pictures I've reblogged from other tumblr's and I thought some of them would make really pretty icons. Feel free to contact me if you see your photo used and wish for me to remove it. Either leave a comment, or email me at teacupsandrain @ gmail . com - the comment will probably have a quicker response time though, as I check the email attached to my journal account more often.
Vintage Sources:
:: iconisms
:: finger_painter
:: _sentimentality/theoldvicarage/pierrotmedia - Vintage and Misc. images ♥
:: Doctor Macro's High Quality Classic Movie Scans. ♥
:: Simply Classics ♥
:: Silent Ladies & Gents
Screencaps from other websites:
:: Annon nan Galadh - LOTR Screencaps ♥
:: The Lord of the Rings Screencap Library - Mainly for the unused scenes.
:: LMM Gallery - Anne of Green Gables Gallery
My own:
:: Photography: Taken with my Canon PowerShot A60 digital camera.
:: Movies: Personal screenshots, unless otherwise specified.
:: Little Women Screenshot Gallery. Please be sure to read the rules.
Other Resources:
:: Fonts: My font guide.
:: Icon table Generator ♥
Tutorials I really like:
:: chiffonwings | List of Tutorials
:: tinuviel428 | List of Tutorials
:: autumnroad | Eowyn Tutorial
:: tempest_icons | White background style | Colouring Tutorial (Cyan/Pinks)
:: angel_elf_icons | My variation of their icon - same steps - different colors and textures.
:: grrliz_icons | Guide to making text only icons
:: samiicons | Pink Stock Tutorial
:: enchantedfleur | Bright & Pale - One of my current favorites - I even created a script for it, however it should be noted that I had to modify this with an additional color balance layer so it would work with PSP.