My entries for Round 1 of btvsats20in20, plus extras: (The not really-real) Buffy Summers

[red_satin_doll]

ETA: bangel_4e notified me that my original entries for NS+Mono and Artists Choice 1 were not qualified so I've switched them out. Let me know what you think.

My first-ever 20in20 entries for Round 1 of btvsats20in20 were inspired by the Jo Chen's Cover art for "The Chain"; so I decided to claim Buffy Summers as my subject (no surprise) but with a twist: the "not really-real" versions that populate the Buffyverse: impersonators, dopplegangers, alt universe versions; Buffy reimagined in her own and in other people's dreams.

All icons made by me in ipiccy and Photobucket. Many thanks to bangel_4e and spikesredqueen for their patient and tireless hand-holding.





    Teasers

10 Themes
Strong	Favorite Moment	NS+Monochrome	Comics	Blending
Earth Tones	Provided Texture	Ex.Close Crop	Smile	Focused
5 Category |BLACK AND WHITE
Cat 1	Cat 2	Cat 3	Cat 4	Cat 5
5 Artist's Choice
AC 1	AC 2	AC 3	AC 4	AC 5

Alts and extras to be posted separately.

WANT? TAKE, HAVE, ENJOY! - But give proper credit always!
DO NOT alter, claim as your own or repost to other websites without my permission.
If you snag an icon, letting me know is always appreciated. Feedback feeds the savage fan artist.

Comments

[debris4spike]

Amazing is all I can say!

Strong is great - even though you can't see Buffy's face you can feel that stake going in.

Wow - what a brilliant concept for the NS/Monochrome ... I love it.

I don't think I have even seen that fractured effect that you used in Comics ... the image itself shows a "fractured" Buffy, so well worked. I love the contrasting pink colour of the lines.

That's a great font |(and use of it) in Earth Tones. I love the 50:50 crop as well.

The texture image - wow, that looks as if it took forever to make, yet is very effective.

I love the cut highlight on the B&W of extreme crop ... beautiful cropping ... such a sad image of our heroine, but beautifully tackled.

I love the soft colouring you have achieved in Focus ... again it has a lovely crop.

In the Cat's I love 1, 3, 5 ... such a great range of tonal feelings, but I love the image you chose for #2


Wow, great AC's ... I really love 3, 4 & 5 ... the colouring is stupendous!! AC4 is an amazing image, that I keep going back to look at. AC5 has just an amazing quality to it - both in the choice of image and then the colouring ... such a soft overall glow to it.

They are great - I am so pleased you did them ... and think I might as well withdraw mine from voting!!

Well done.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

and think I might as well withdraw mine from voting!!

First things first - THERE WILL BE NO SUCH TALK IT WILL NOT DO *HUGS* (of course you're joking but still...*more hugs*)

When I asked for feedback I never imagined anything so wonderfully detailed as this THANK YOU so much sweetie! I have to go to work this weekend and don't have time to reply but I'm printing this out so I can read it during the day.

I love the comics one as well - so so much. Discovering the "photo collage" effect in ipiccy was like opening a door for me in terms of what I can do with icons.

I had to switch out AC1 and revised NS+Mono, I don't know if you've seen the new ones.
http://red-satin-doll.livejournal.com/43859.html

[debris4spike]

I don't know which of the NS ones I like, having now looked at the new version - they are great, both of them.

Well done - again!!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I don't know which of the NS ones I like, having now looked at the new version

Thank you so much! But I know for myself I prefer the old one. I wish I'd paid better attention to the rules of that catagory. The new one has more visual "oomph" with the rays but I liked the bricks in the old one so much. I miss that walll (ah well, for the extras!)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

My dear I promised to respond properly to your comments about my entries, please forgive the delay! Being out of sorts is no decent excuse. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

you can feel that stake going in.

Perfect description! I've learned a lot about the importance of maintaining physical connection between two characters in the image. I didn't realize until I read your comment that that icon is divided perfectly into thirds, with Buffy's arm crossing the divide. Nicolas' expression is just wonderful there. I kept going back and forth on entering this one and nearly rejected it but it kept insisting on staying. Not my decision *lol*

NS+Mono has been my second highest vote getter of my entries, which is funny, its not my favorite! But I had to remake it at the last minute and was in love with the brick wall, which the light effect obscures a bit. I'm not objective.

I don't think I have even seen that fractured effect that you used in Comics

I really am incredibly happy with how that came out. The person in the image is another Slayer pretending to be Buffy (the comics retconned TGIQ, so Buffy was never in Rome dancing with the Immortal, it was another girl meant to fool Buffy's enemies. That makes no sense to me but then neither does anything else in the comics so far.)

I don't think I've seen the effect used elsewhere either. It's called photo collage in ipiccy but it doesn't work well with very realistic photos, it goes best with ones that look more like drawings or are somewhat abstract. I had to color the frames, the images inside the frames and the background bits separately, then added a light leak atop for that hazy effect at the corners. A lot of fun to make!

The font on Earth Tones is Princess Sophia in PB. I used to think it too fancy but I'm getting better I hope with working with it. very regal and elegant, nice contrast to Buffy in her braids, she's such a little girl here and yet so elegant and regal in her own way, so determined.

that looks as if it took forever to make

Thanks! Actually the simpler ones like Earth Tones, Focused and AC5 were MUCH harder because I was trying to remove the pixilation from her face; Texture was easy by comparison: three effects in ipiccy laid atop each other (the texture, a light effect, and shine) plus bump up color and contrast. I wanted the feeling of something gone haywire. Poor Buffybot.

such a sad image of our heroine

Right? the sadness didn't come across as much until I downsized it and lightened the cap, and then it was striking. It's what's hiding beneath the attitude when she opens her mouth. The prompt was for detail and I took that very literally.

Focus took many many tries, I got it right at the last minute - I am becoming the worlds foremost expert on the tip of Sarah's nose *lol* The dark caps from seasons 1-3 are easier to work with and lighten better than those from s4-7. Cat 2 the Amends icon is proof.

You named all my favorites in Catagory. Poor #4, its my least favorite of all of my entries. The way the texture of her skin and the sheen of her hair in the Amends cap made me super-happy; I was going for the horror of the expression and yet it's so pretty.

And I'm glad you like AC4 another favorite of mine. It doesn't exactly fit my claim but her body is being taken over so it's kind of a cheat. I combined the texture and shine effect and really bumped up the color. I could not have planned for the way the purple goes straight into her eyes and traces her chin.

[debris4spike]

As i said in my last icon set, I have had a look at iPiccy and enjoyed playing a bit with it - thank you very much.

I love how you commented about "poor" Cat 4 ... I feel the same very often. The ones I am not happy with, and don't think are great are ones that others love.

That is the great thing about art ... it truly is in the eye of the beholder.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

ETA: I just saw that set! Thank you for the shout out, I left comments there.

So what did you think of ipiccy compared to gimp? I'm already frustrated with what I "can't" do but have no idea if it's because I'm experiencing the limits of what I know vs the limitations of what it can actually do.

I found a series of blogposts comparing different programs like ipiccy and pixlmator etc but a lot of what the gal says is already a bit over my head right now anyway http://busyteacher.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/photo-fun-part-iv-pixlr-express/

I'm "lahr-nin' " but slowly. :P

"poor" Cat 4

*hugs Cat 4* poor thing, with a face not even a mother could love. At least now it has my pity vote *lol*

The ones I am not happy with, and don't think are great are ones that others love.

I was saying the same to kikimay upthread - she loved and snagged an icon I called a failure, and that was a huge lesson to me. So has the voting for this round - except I'm not sure what the lesson is!

[debris4spike]

I still like GIMP - I think I could probably do most things with iPiccy, but I'm used to "my" programme. I tended to do most of the basics on GIMP and then a few extra's with iPiccy. I did like their colour boost ... much less than GIMP does, so that's handy to know for some icons.

I don't tend to work out most of the debates and helpful contrasts that anyone does!!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

What do think of ipiccy's text options compared to Gimp's? Did you try it? I still find PB easier to work with on that account, with exceptions (ipiccy has an old English font but otherwise a lot of their fonts are too fancy-shmancy for icons.)

one of my favorite effects to play with right now is Orton effect, which gives the entire image a soft "bloom".

I don't tend to work out most of the debates and helpful contrasts that anyone does!!

Sorry, dear, come again? i don't understand.

[debris4spike]

LOL - it took me a moment to work out that sentence as well! No wonder my English teacher thought I was a twit!

You commented about a link where someone was comparing 2 different products. I said that I usually found those sorts of links not very helpful ... and usually (as you said) too technical.

As to fonts, I have found that GIMP automatically updates any fonts I add to my pc, so presumed that PB would do similar.

Just going to do some Star Trek icons - so will see what I can use the iPiccy for *g* (Thank you)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks for the clarification sweetie - and your English teacher was the twit, not you!

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Ah, thanks for the clarification sweetie - and your English teacher was the twit, not you!

<As to fonts, I have found that GIMP automatically updates any fonts I add to my pc, so presumed that PB would do similar.</i>

Gimp updates fonts? Ooohhhh *glazed eyes*

PB doesn't because it's not a downloaded program to my computer, it's a separate site like ipiccy; Photoshop might have but my sweetie never used fonts in it and we don't have it now.

Looking forward to seeing your next set of masterpieces!