I like both of these icons. I love the coloring of both the subject and the background. The only thing I have to say about these two is that they would pop more if they had a little bit more contrast. The subject would be more pronounced and it would direct the eye at her even more so.
Thank you - I will try to add contrast - there is something with the lightening in the first that have been driving me crazy, so maybe that could solve it :)
I agree with the previous poster about the contrast on the first one. I like the way the lines on the texture set the focus by drawing you toward the woman on the second one. Nice composition.
I've never asked for concrit but I feel like I really need some. So here I am! I made a couple of these today, and the rest about two days ago. /nervous
001 - I really like the composition in this icon; it seems really thought through. The off-center cropping of Amy's face would have looked awkward if not for the typography you added, which occupies the empty space and balances everything. The subdued coloring and smoky texture give the icon a faded, vintage look, which I love! However, parts of the texture sort of stick out in the icon and, dare I say, take away from the overall quality of the icon. For instance, when I first looked at the icon, my eyes were drawn to the white blob at the bottom center and top right corner (over her eye). The blob in the top right corner is particularly distracting, as it makes only half of Amy's face appear white and grainy, the other remaining peach and smooth. I think those parts of the texture could have been erased a little; not completely though (just slightly, by using an eraser brush of lower opacity, to give her face a more uniform look
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Thank you! I really appreciate all the points you made. I completely agree with them. I still have the psds for the first two (which i'm doing for a 20in20 anyway), so maybe I'll continue to change and edit those. Thanks a lot because your detailed assessment of the icons really pointed out strengths/weaknesses that I hadn't noticed before.
I really like your compositions and blending in most of these. I think all of these would be improved if they were more sharp and contrasted. In the first icon the whiteness of the texture washes out their faces a bit too much. A gradient to counter that would be nice. I really like the colors in the second icon, but feel too much of the icon is blurred. I think it would be lovely if her hair remained blurred but her face was sharpened a bit. The crop on the third icon is so cool and interesting. I wish you played with contrast here to bring out the shadows around his eyes, and maybe tried to enhance the blood on his forehead. The composition of the fourth one is really good, but the man in the foreground looks too stark and separate from the rest of the icon. I think maybe making his coloring more muted would help. But besides that the blend is really excellent. The blend on the last icon is also very interesting, but I feel like it is a touch to blurry and needs a bit of contrast. I hope this was helpful :)
Thank you! As a result of this, I checked my monitor settings and realized the contrast setting was high, so I think that's why they looked more constrasted to me than they actually were. After changing the settings, I see what you mean. I think all your points are helpful and I'm going to try playing around with the .psds and seeing what the results are. Thanks for the feedback for the third crop as well. I wasn't sure about it but went with it because I liked the wrinkled brow and including more of his face by shrinking the cap more meant they stood out less.
001 - When I look at this icon, I don't see any major flaws, but the icon is looking rather plain. Close crops look especially interesting to me when they contain certain parts/angles of a subject's face that make people go, "Wow, I never thought to crop her face that way," etc. When one has achieved that sort of crop, they have the option of going easy on the coloring and textures, 'cause the crop is the main attraction. However, when it comes to straight-on, symmetrical, center crops (like this icon), I find more attention is needed towards coloring/lighting/contrast to make icons like this stand out. If a more natural coloring is desired, what you're looking for is depth. My advice would have been to pick a light source (my choices would have been either the top right/left corner) and then give the icon some nice lighting by playing with levels (to add shadows) and curves (to add light). And then for a more dramatic effect, slap on a light texture (you have to position/modify it to match your chosen light source). I like to use the
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004 - The overall icon looks sort of like two smaller icons were pasted on a pastel blue texture. This icon looks a little awkward, I have to say. Mainly because one crop is cut off at the center and the one right next to it is a full head shot. I'm not sure, but is the crop on the right cut out and then pasted on a separate background? I notice bits of dark blue surrounding Mystique's hair. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you used the same image twice, except one is inverted. Whenever I do blocking, I always make it a point to pick different images/angles of the subject, just so the blocking doesn't look redundant. I can't pretend to know what your intentions were, but I'm guessing you moved the images of Mystique lower (rather than center) because you didn't want the icon to look too symmetrical? There seems to be a bit of an empty space in the top half of the icon - adding another two images above the current two would have filled it up pretty nicely, I think. If you want some of the blue background to be visible,
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#1: I think something more could have been done to this icon. I love that it's a close crop of the face, but I think it might have been too close, and I can't really tell if anything else has been to it. I think you could have played around with colorings and contrasts and lighting and vibrancies and all that to really make something a bit more dramatic
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1. ugh, you are so right about the coloring around Black Widows' eyes. it makes her seem almost zombie-like :(
2. It's from Picnic at Hanging Rock. It's not too pale? that was my biggest concern.
3. the way you suggest cropping the top image is actually how it's shot originally. John Ford's The Searchers. It's this famous scene where it starts off with a wide shot and then zoooom to the close up of John Wayne's face. ICONIC. but I digress. I was just trying to capture that feel with a still icon.
4. yeah, the white text is defiantly jarring now that you point it out. will work on that.
5. This was a hard icon to color. the caps come from such differently lit points :( less yellow. got it.
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Thanks a lot because your detailed assessment of the icons really pointed out strengths/weaknesses that I hadn't noticed before.
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2. It's from Picnic at Hanging Rock. It's not too pale? that was my biggest concern.
3. the way you suggest cropping the top image is actually how it's shot originally. John Ford's The Searchers. It's this famous scene where it starts off with a wide shot and then zoooom to the close up of John Wayne's face. ICONIC. but I digress. I was just trying to capture that feel with a still icon.
4. yeah, the white text is defiantly jarring now that you point it out. will work on that.
5. This was a hard icon to color. the caps come from such differently lit points :( less yellow. got it.
You've given me a lot to think about, thanks!
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