First sig I've done in a while

[Pheesh]

So I started getting back into Photoshop again (my old web graphic job pretty much destroyed any of the fun I used to find in it), and the result was a lot better than what I used to do. So here it is:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/rikusig1copy-1.jpg

My only concern is that it's a little bit busy (which is why I left an absence of any writing). But I was having fun rediscovering some old brushes and filters, and even more fun learning some new ones. So the end result may be a bit cluttered, but overall I like.

Thoughts, comments or constructive criticism is welcome. :)

EDIT: Here is a new one:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/jthmsigcopy.jpg

[Kanshisha]

Not so bad for a "get back into it" set of sigs :)
You made the right choice for the top one. Having writing placed onto it would overload the sig. The sizes for your sigs are good for what you are doing.

I hope to see more of your work. Good work and keep at it.

[Pheesh]

Yeah, I much prefer small, thin sigs, they're just more aesthetically pleasing to me. The exception obviously being the sig I use...but I like that one for other reasons. XD

[Pheesh]

Hey all, I'm actually looking for some help with this next one. I'm very happy with how it turned out, although I'm still up in the air about the bevelled edge as a border. It definitely worked better than any form of strokes that I used, but I might think of something better for it later.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/tekkensig2.jpg

Comments and ideas for improvement would be appreciated.

[Fonzie]

Hmm, which edition of photoshop do you use?

[Pheesh]

CS3

[Fonzie]

Hmm, I don't see why you want your focal point so blurry and distorted. It seems a little on the boring side as well colour-wise.

Good start though.

[Pheesh]

Ah k, noted. It was more about trying to get the effect to look like the image of asuka was fully blended in with the background, it worked well except for the hands.

I'll make my next one colourful though. ;D

[Fonzie]

Ah k, noted. It was more about trying to get the effect to look like the image of asuka was fully blended in with the background, it worked well except for the hands.

I'll make my next one colourful though. ;D

Well, you want your render to pop-out, so to speak, a little bit. If anything you over blended it into the background. Do you use gradient filters?

[Pheesh]

Yeah, normally I will have a set render in the sig that I will have in the foreground, the above sig was an exception to rule purely to try something different.

Well I didn't use any on that sig, I actually rarely use a gradient filter, except for when I used to work with photos. The above sig mainly has some guassian and motion blur, and smudge stick. The rest was done with blending effects.

[Fonzie]

Yeah, normally I will have a set render in the sig that I will have in the foreground, the above sig was an exception to rule purely to try something different.

Well I didn't use any on that sig, I actually rarely use a gradient filter, except for when I used to work with photos. The above sig mainly has some guassian and motion blur, and smudge stick. The rest was done with blending effects.

Usually the background is smudged, not so much the render. Also, try using more gradient filters along with differing opacities. Screen setting is also always good to use.

[Pheesh]

I'm so proud of my boys atm, so I made a sig in commemoration ^_^

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/rajonsigcopy.jpg

And here is a new one that I did just because she's gorgeous.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/Lizzysigcopy.jpg

Speaking of gorgeous....

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/carinasig2copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/cassiesigcopy.jpg

[Lawr]

These are really good, Mr. Gir! :monster:


http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/rajonsigcopy.jpg

I tried changing the stroke to white just to see what it'd look like...

http://i46.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/33xizw8.jpg


http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/Lizzysigcopy.jpg

This one looks nice but I think the girl could use more emphasis. I'd go with Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise to get a really clear picture (like, all-the-details-in-her-eye-lashes clear) and then using soft light for more color contrast.



Good stuff ee. I like your backgrounds.
One thing I suggest though is that you save your images as PNG instead of JPG so you don't have artifacts all over your sigs!

[Pheesh]

Thank you for the tips (:

I'll try to give them all a shot, and I always figured that JPG wasn't the best format to be saving my images in, but it was just a case of "go with what you know". I'll save them as PNG in future.

[grado]

so cool, I like the slow motion signature.

[Pheesh]

:bigsmile: Thank you.

[Pheesh]

Figured I may as well add the sigs that I've done for other members on this site, considering I like how some of them turned out;

This one was for xXsarahXx
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/sarahjurisigcopy.png

And these two were for Depression Moon
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/dmgunsigcopy-1.png

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/D-moonsigcopy.jpg

[Zeldy]

And these two were for Depression Moon
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/dmgunsigcopy-1.png


I like this. Personally I wouldn't have done it so big, but that's just personal preference. It's simple, and that's why I like it. I like the background, good work :D

[Pheesh]

Thanks Zeldy ^_^

The stock I was working from on that sig was a fairly large size, and it probably would have started to look a bit messy if I shrunk it down any further. Thanks again :D

[Pheesh]

Here's the sig I'm currently sporting (and the first thing I've done since I moved to CS5).

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/ramonasig.png

PS. OMGAH HOW FRAKKING GOOD IS SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD!?!?!

[Depression Moon]

I do really appreciate that sig you made for me. I hope you're not mad that I'm not still wearing it.

[Pheesh]

Of course not, I actually enjoy making signatures, and I was able to teach myself a whole bunch of new techniques for backgrounds when I was making yours. So I should thank you ^_^

[Pheesh]

This is the second Ramona sig out of three that I'm going to do (pink, green, blue). I'm even going to give coding a shot to make them alternate in some way, don't know how yet though.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/ramonagreen1.png

[Pheesh]

Aaand, here's baby blue. Now I just have to learn how to code them or something. If worst comes to worst then maybe I'll just animate them together (which I can do), but I had another idea in mind.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/ramonablue.png

[Pheesh]

I'm really enjoying doing these sigs and whatnot (CS5 is awesome to work with), and I'm starting to get a bit of a niche going, so it occurs to me that if anyone likes the sig style I'm doing and would like me to make them one feel free to PM me and I'll do my best.

[Pheesh]

Various old ones that I've done; ranging from decent to 'omg all i know how to use is copy+paste'. But it's interesting to look at how much more comfortable I've gotten with photoshop.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/kurosig2copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/eesig5copy.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/girsig10copy.gif

[abdulqayyum981]

Hmm, which edition of photoshop do you use?

[TrollHunter]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/jthmsigcopy.jpg

Oh my god I remember reading that. Johnny is a good man.

Nice work by the way.

[Pheesh]

Thank you, as you can kinda tell I'm in love with everything Jhonen Vasquez. I might make a few more JTHM sigs (*cough*nailbunny*cough*) when I reinstall CS5.

[TrollHunter]

Thank you, as you can kinda tell I'm in love with everything Jhonen Vasquez. I might make a few more JTHM sigs (*cough*nailbunny*cough*) when I reinstall CS5.

That would be pretty awesome. Now that you reminded me of JTHM ima have to read more of it now. :cool:

[sharkythesharkdogg]

Hey all, I'm actually looking for some help with this next one. I'm very happy with how it turned out, although I'm still up in the air about the bevelled edge as a border. It definitely worked better than any form of strokes that I used, but I might think of something better for it later.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/tekkensig2.jpg

Comments and ideas for improvement would be appreciated.


I'm automatically a fan 'cause you made a Tekken 6 sig. Your work looks nice to me, so this was an added bonus. King has been my main since the first Tekken.

Nice work!

[Lawr]

Dude make more sigs.

[Pheesh]

As you wish ^^

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/Carinasig3FINAL2.png

[TrollHunter]

I like~

[Pheesh]

Thank you muchly :jess:

[demondude]

Your new sig is my favourite one.

[Kanshisha]

please make sigs again! sigs need to make a comeback! >.<

[Pheesh]

I already have the idea for my next set, so I'll get started on that when I get back from my vacation.

[Pheesh]

Never has the title of this thread been more appropriate :p

Here's a newbie.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/dansig2_zps04813f2c.png

[Lawr]

At first my post started out simple but then all of a sudden I found myself with like three paragraphs so forgive me! :aimdumb:



As you wish ^^

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/Carinasig3FINAL2.png

I can't believe I didn't say anything about this one yet though. You did a nice job with the border! I know a lot of work goes into that kind of transparency and sometimes details like those go unnoticed to the general public but good job good job good job.


Never has the title of this thread been more appropriate :p

Here's a newbie.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/eternal_essence/dansig2_zps04813f2c.png


Maybe you already know this but a filter I like using on people (especially after I transform and shrink them) is Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise to make them look crisp and keep a lot of details. I keep the Strength at 10, Preserve Details at 100%, Reduce Color Noise at 0% always and just work with the Sharpen Details slider. It'll make the renders pop out a lot more and look sharp as long as you don't overdo it. Sometimes toggling the preview button on and off with the original file visible in the background helps too.


http://puu.sh/2O3Jt.png
This step is completely unnecessary sometimes but after sharpening the render I duplicate the same layer and set the Blending Option to maybe Soft Light or Overlay and reduce the opacity. There's great individuality with the opacity depending on the overall colors in the render, even with something as simple as the person's race or the color of their clothes.

The text is good but sometimes putting a 0px Size and 1px Distance drop shadow on text (with another color sometimes, not just black) can help it blend better with the rest of the image, or make it more legible. You did a good job though, I know it can be tricky trying to make that much text work with the image.

I give you a lot of props because generally your signatures are a lot larger than what I create, so you've gotta heavy burden making all that real estate appealing to the eye!

And cutting out hair is hell on Earth isn't it?

[Jinx]

Is that Justin Beiber? :confused:

[Pheesh]

Thanks Lawr. You've given me that advice about noise reduce before but it's just something I'm not used to doing so I'll just have to make myself remember next time and see the results. The sig itself is definitely too big. And I didn't notice that it was going to be too big until I was about 3/4 of the way done, and by that time laziness overtook perfection. That black space in the middle between the stock and the background image irks me and there's too much room between the text and the top left of the sig imo. All that said I'm still pretty happy with it and I wasn't expecting too much considering I haven't made a sig in so long.

Thanks for all the advice and kind words though!

TB, I will straight up murder you.