Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to get some comments. I made a v2 of the sig, with a very small amount of blur and more contrast. Which is better?
Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to get some comments. I made a v2 of the sig, with a very small amount of blur and more contrast. Which is better?
Peace.
V1 is better. The lighter contrast and lack of blur keeps the sig's raw, sketchy feel.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Well then upload me the psd so i can analyze it myself
Pwease?
If the sig in your post is the v2, I am only slightly able to tell any difference, and it's only around his hair, where it looks slightly darker. However, that could be just my mind making me see something, since you mentioned it was a v2. Either way, I don't think you should try and smooth anything out, else it loses the rough and sketchy style you wanted.
It's dangerous to go alone. Take Nep.
I will keep v1 then. Thanks for the comments as always.
Peace.
So check this out:
Testament to old school here; a style I could never quite grasp back in the day, but after some experimenting I think I got the basic hang out it. This is just a practice sig; posting for comments and criticism. It's simple, and ultimately takes less time and effort than a sig with a render, but I think the effect is simply amazing nonetheless.
A cookie to anyone that remembers this.
It's dangerous to go alone. Take Nep.
I remember seeing similar styles, just not where. Had to be from these forums I guess, as I used to browse this thread from page 1 before all the links died.
Sexy signature and sexy text by the way! =)
Made too versions; with just a slight variation in the lighting. I think the first may be too dark for the forums and the idea I had for it.
Thoughts?
Last edited by Lucifus; Mon, 04-26-2010 at 01:50 AM.
At first the lighter version feels better, simply because it's less difficult to make out the face and foreground. But then on closer inspection, the lightening effect reduces the apparent quality of Saber, kind of like when you oversharpen images, resulting in a grainy pic with too many white lines.
It's a hard pick for me, but I like both of them.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Ya, I hear ya there. I'm thinking I might take a look at her tomorrow and try to get the lighting in between.
I also did 'slighty' sharpen the entire image in the lighter version, and removed the sharpening by 50%. I felt it needed it, or rather, I wanted to see the outcome.
Still undecided. -_-
Anyway, heres another; I'm tring to get the text right for a project I want to undertake. I dont feel like its there yet.
Anything you guys might add to tell me whats giving me the 'wrong' feeling from this one?
Thus far, I can only imagine its because of the variation between the curvy G and straight dashed underlining. Contrasting too much? And the variation in the text?
Glad you liked it Luci. Even though it's not one of my most elaborate works, it has become one of my favourites. The style (since it's been a few days now and no one seems to have placed it) belonged to anime050. At least here. Back in my first days of PS, everyone pegged a50 as a God of PS because of that style, and his way with text. It was something I always admired, but couldn't figure out at the time. The text in this one is what motivated me to try and recreate the style. Before I had the sig, I had the text, colours, and font choice already picked out. It was at that point I remembered his works.
Anyways, as for your sigs: Personally, I think they both have too much empty space. While the first (set) may be able to get away with it due to the render giving the feeling of being empty and alone, I think the second one could be much better cropped down. Her sword isn't that noticeable, so it's not like we really NEED to see it... if you understand what I mean.
With your first set, I like the first of the two better because it's less sharp, and I like the text better. Well, the Saber text. I think you're name could use a bit of work in relation to placement. Also, I'm not feeling the white border lines on top and bottom... they just don't seem to do anything except shorten the sig, without giving anything beneficial to it. If that makes any sense.
But anyways, a trick I learned going through some tutorials is, if you want the focal point to be a bit sharper (like her face, since Bill mentioned it was a lot easier to make out) is copy the original render layer (or if you touched it up a bit, that layer) and move it above the rest, then Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen, and then, with a soft round brush, erase everything but the focal point... that way you have the main focal sharpened a bit, but the rest doesn't look tacky because of it. Then, of course, play around with opacity and whatnot.
For the second sig, I suggest trying to smooth out the render, in addition to the cropping idea. Parts of her hair and shoulder look really jagged. The text... I don't think the swirly G is bad... I actually think all the text flows decently except for your name. Possibly using all lowercase like you usually do, and then adjusting the placement might make it fit better And thirdly, the white lines again. I think they would look better on a sig with a darker background, so it contrasts, and you can tell that's part of your style. With light backgrounds, you might want to try dark lines.
Phew... Walls of text for the lose. Despite all that criticism, I really like the sigs (mostly because I love Saber =P), and you are still amazing with text. Keep up the good work, and looking forward to seeing any revisions, and more works!
It's dangerous to go alone. Take Nep.
Double post for new sig.
Finally made an Angel sig. Didn't use a render since I haven't found any Angel renders, and I'm too lazy/inexperienced to cut it myself, so the "sky" type background is part of the actual image. I feel like the focal point should be more on her face, so this isn't one of my best sigs, but I liked the image, and I think I did a nice job with the effects. Hopefully I can find some better Angel pics/renders in the future though.
EDIT: Spent several minutes searching and finally found one Angel render. So promptly began making a sig with it, and this is the outcome.
I previewed this to a few people over IRC and they thought everything looked fine, but I'm afraid the text might be slightly difficult to make out. So I'm posting for comments and criticism to see if I can improve this any more.
Last edited by Alhuin; Sat, 05-01-2010 at 04:20 PM.
It's dangerous to go alone. Take Nep.
I don't mind the subtle text. It's not like it's camouflaged or anything.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Still not entirely happy with that second Angel sig, so I've been playing around. Might even start over from scratch. The render is just too cute/awesome for me to want to leave it half-assed.
Then again, my problem is that I always think something can be better than it is, regardless if how much time and effort I spent on it. Haha...
Anyways, new current, now that Retro Sig week is over. Sig is just an expanded/rebrushed version of the one I posted a few posts above, and the Ava is something to reflect the style. I tried an "out-of-image" text approach for the Ava this time... Doesn't look too bad I don't think.
It's dangerous to go alone. Take Nep.
So here's something i was working on
Any ideas or suggestions?
I already think it is great. I am not sure about the text content, but that is because I stopped reading one piece. If anything, the only thing I will change is the size of your name, just to further distinguish it from the main text.
Peace.
Honestly the text IS a spoiler, but a spoiler impossible recognize out of context so I'm thinking it's ok
I still think the left side is a tiny bit too empty though so i was thinking of some ways to add a little more to the text like black bars or something
Why not try a tribal partial border for the text or sig on that side? Something that matches the tattoo on his arm.
Peace.
I got bored with the Ace sig and figured i'd go ahead and make something to cheer up my pal Al
I'm thinking i should add some more contrast to the render. Thoughts?
Last edited by Archangel; Fri, 05-07-2010 at 09:25 PM.
Nice to see I'm thought about. =]
The sig looks amazing... the image is cute, the glow effect is a nice addition (if you did that), and the text looks awesome. The render itself (or, if you didn't render it, her figure in the image) could use some better blending around her hair (tiny blur) and then do the sharpening trick I mentioned to you on IRC around her face. I'm not really sure what else to say about it... the focal is her face, and that's the only part of the sig with those colours... the rest kind-of flow together. I dislike the white border, for personal taste.
The ava... the picture itself was much cuter, and at a bigger resolution, you could actually see the tears. However I disliked the picture initially because of the way they portrayed her bangs and facial features. It's not bad, but it can be better... possibly even a new image altogether for it. Maybe that other teary-eyed pic we found. =P
Good job though, keep up the good work!
It's dangerous to go alone. Take Nep.
She looks so sad...
I think i'll put the avatar on hold until some new fanarts or renders pop up on the internet