Critique this sig in progress.

[ShunNakamura]

Hmm.. actually there shouldn't be any effects over the person... and I avoided putting effects under it too. Even if I remove all the effects the render is the same.The thing is the render is 'see through'. She is supposed to be a ghost. Anyways it was something I wasn't entirely happy with, but that was mostly because I couldn't get the text the way I wanted it.

And of course if I am posting it probably means I have another entry.

The stock was VERY quickly and rudely cut, so if you see jagged edges that is why. They were from a manga(b&w, which usually isn't my strong suit I believe). Oddly for a quick job with little thought, it is one of the few 'recent' ones I have made that I am pretty much happy with(the other being the Sakurahana one currently in my signature).

[Polaris]

wow this one rocks Really really enjoyed it

[ShunNakamura]

wow this one rocks Really really enjoyed it

Funnily it seems that sometimes the quick ones are the best! Of course the quick ones have also sowed some of the most embarrassing stuff ever created!

I rendered this-

to make this

And yes the left most image was so badly 'rendered' by me that I probably should be shot for it. Anyways another quicky meant purely to generate a laugh or two. Poor Rin, I love it when she is tormented!


Now all I need to do is find someway to use the below in a signature.

[Depression Moon]

You are quite talented there Ms.?
I can't make a sig in Gimp for the life of me! The colors seem to really pop out.

[Fonzie]

Go get Photoshop.

[Polaris]

The pop-out sig could be bigger! it's nice to have bigger to see the details
I said that one rocked because it was different it didn't have all that grungy stuff! It's cleaner ^^

[Depression Moon]

Go get Photoshop.

I don't want to risk another virus.

[ShunNakamura]

Well I saw an animated 'tag' as an entry in Sakurahana's signature competition. I was lazy this time around for the lucky star theme. So I went and did this .


My comment is as follows: He is awfully calm for a dead man .

[Polaris]

AWWWWW LUCKY CHANNEL! >.< so awesome!

[Fonzie]

Go get Photoshop.

I don't want to risk another virus.

Ergh, Torrent anyone?

[ShunNakamura]

Yay! Another update!

There is NO brushing or even C4D's involved in this. I wanted to see what I could do with layering, layer effects, and selective cropping alone. May not be done. If I can figure some brushing that would improve it I will do so.

Things I think I should try to do is selectively sharpen the building(s) somewhat. They blend a bit too much for my tastes currently. But I obviously don't want to overpower the scenery with it(the buildings are merely an addition to the scenery). The goal here was to create a landscape/scenery type deal. I think I succeeded well enough, though I don't see a focal point or true flow in the image(but I have trouble seeing focal points in the first place).

[Polaris]

I like it, I do think colors might need others like the red on the girl with bat wings. Color work will help you choosing a focal point

[ShunNakamura]

You mean getting rid of the red, like this? Or were you talking about something else?


The problem with focal points is even if I try to apply some of the focal point rules that I know; I don't know if it is working or not. The easiest example is "The Last Supper" painting. To my eyes there is no focal point in that painting. Once it is explained I can follow it easily enough. But I can't see it until it is spelled out for me.

The example here is that I placed the angel demon pair exactly on the division point of light and dark figuring that the contrast(and that the demon is in the dark and the angel on the light, more or less) would help act as a focal. Add that to the fact that the bg is fairly mild and the render decently strong. Shrug. In theory it should work. But I don't see a focal. And I have been told I often lack a focal in my work.

[Polaris]

Well the focal point is easier when you have someone in the middle! For an example here:



Even though there are two people: Tidus and Yuna, they are both in the middle and they also have a scenario behind it. Even though there are several colors, making the focal point in the middle and background not crowd is the best example how to be sucessful in creating a focal point.

Work more in colors, gradient maps, photoshop actions, color balance they are all very good

[ShunNakamura]

Hate to say this but my focus isn't focused on that image. Though that one is easy to know why. Shun = Text oriented. No matter what the image is if his initial scan spots anything resembling readable text he goes there first. So my eyes are bouncing all over that image. Though I am beginning to think I have been reading too much manga as of late. I am starting to naturally begin from right to left(it used to be the other way around).


Ah well, personally I want to focus on my backgrounds for the next few works(this also means less text which means I may be able to work a bit more on recognizing focals). I feel I have been cutting corners with backgrounds for ages now. Just brush, C4D, or the ilk and go. Boring. I would much rather work on the type of BG that this one has. It is just that when I started I used to put a lot of thought, if not skill/effort, into my backgrounds. But I don't feel as if I have done that in a while(well I did but a fair bit of effort into the Sakurahana one, but I was mostly just playing with what I could do with layering effects, so the result was non-intended).



Edit- Odd I just realized I never posted up the prior signature I made using the World War II image(the one I used to make the buildings in this most recent one. It is also what inspired the 'design' for another of the recent ones I did here... though oddly it seems imageshack bugged out on me again. Imageshack is really beginning to disappoint me ). Well here it is. I suppose it never got uploaded because I considered it a WIP. I didn't like it without the overlay effects. But the overlay is too much. I just could not find my happy place.

Oddly I personally have a focus on this one. Which is highly unusual. I almost never focus properly on an image.