Deadline on btvs20in20 has been extended to Friday the 7th!

[red_satin_doll]

You know the drill: I pleaded for an extension on Round 5 of btvsats20in20, and starry_night ever-so-kindly gave more than I asked for. Thank you very much! The deadline for entries is now Friday, November 7, midnight at your time zone.

It's worth pointing out that I'm not the only beneficiary of this extension: as always SIGN-UPS ARE OPEN THE ENTIRE ROUND.  So if you haven't signed out but are inspired by the rainbow theme and want to put a set together, you can still sign up and post through the remainder of the week. Just remember to sign up as a member of the comm if you haven't already, check out the rules and always ask if in doubt. starry_night is the moderator this round; she and bangel_4e always go far above and beyond the call of duty.

As usual, it's not that I don't have 20 icons - I have about, oh 130 - which includes multiple color variations but does not include all the banners I've made this last week inspired by the icons and vice-versa; but I don't have a cohesive set of 20.  It's difficult for me to see until I really lay them next to one another in the template and really see the gaps. And even at that? Not really what I'd consider a cohesive rainbow. I tend to be all over the map.

Which is NOT a case of me putting myself down - because I have LOVED working on these banners and icons and trying out new techniques and effects. I care about having a decent set but I also don't care, if that makes sense. The whole zen attitude thing, without even trying. It's also another confirmation of where my strengths and challenges are in terms of organization, etc.

OT: I was really surprised that #4 was the most beloved of the Robin/Barney icon set I posted the other day, but folks also loved the "BROtp" phrase, which I picked up from m'lady snogged, in the other icons. So for anyone interested, I've put the two together. You're welcome.

This icon is giving me all the feels all over again.

Comments

[kikimay]

I can't make a good icon for the life of me. XD But I'm so excited about seeing yours and I especially like the colors theme! Yay for colors!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

And I can't write a complete drabble for the life of me, never mind a multichapter work and NEVER MIND a video! I think I told you before I did a little film editing in college and loved it; I didn't like editing on vhs tape at all, but I think today digital editing would be much different, more fun.

I certainly enjoy digital editing of still images when I do art, so to be able to edit moving images and matching them to music (without or without vocals) is another level entirely - I imagine it's like flying a plane. (that metaphor makes sense in my head trust me.)

Yay for colors!

Right? I figured this would be my chance to indulge - so why are so many of my icons coming out sepia? (or sepia plus blue-violet?) I have done a couple of larger banners with some knockout colors (I think so anyway) but it's so much easier to work with large images.

The colors I'm having the hardest time with are green (a hard color to work with, ask my sweetie who paints in oils and encaustics) and indigo (how to differentiate it from blue and violet?)

[kikimay]

I love the symbolism about green and I think you can do a lovely job with it. I mean, look at your Amber Benson icon with the green background! It's gorgeous! I'm definetely very excited about the color challenge. As a contribute to your inspiration I'll use an icon with green in it.

And yes, I guess that we know different ways to support the fandom. I'm actually really excited about a new idea and maybe I will write again soon. :D (I'm so happy about writing. Don't mind me XD)

Indigo is hard.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thank you sweetie! I do love greens (jade, celadon, turquoise, seafoam, etc) but getting that yellow/blue balance right is tough.

I'm trying to remember how I got that shade of blueish-green on the icon. it's not part of the default texture in ipiccy. I think I when I added that texture to the left side of the icon I selected the desaturated option for b/w, then went to hue/saturation, selected a shade from her eyes with the "eyedropper" tool and painted that over the textured area.

Something like that. Her eye color isn't really accurate to the original cap anyway, but it turned out nicely.

As a contribute to your inspiration I'll use an icon with green in it.

Thank you! That shade of green is an interesting example of a very yellow-green, and a little bright for my taste, but if I were playing with the icon I'd turn down the exposure overall and desaturate the green a tiny bit to make Buffy's face really pop. OTOH - that icon wouldn't be as interesting if the background were a single color plain black, it's the bands of color that make it interesting.

Also? that image from SR gives me so many feels

I'm actually really excited about a new idea and maybe I will write again soon. :D

YAY!

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to see what you've created! I am always excited to see how you grow and flower.


Gabrielle

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thank you dear, I can't wait to show you! I've really got a backlog now I'm super-pleased with.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

Hee! I believe BROtp was coined during season 3 by several awesome members of the barneyrobin community so I can't claim rights to that name. I do love it though. It sums their relationship up nicely.

Good luck narrowing down your 130 icons to 20! I can't wait to see your post.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

ETA: I switched out my B/R icon for the new one with text! In your honor, m'lady.

But I had never seen it until you used it on my journal so I can credit you with introducing me to it, which is really what I meant; so, attribution still accurate.

I like the double meaning - you can type it as BROtp or B/R-OTP (but BROtp looks better of course.)

You should know that a year ago I couldn't fathom the idea of making HIMYM fan art. :)

Good luck narrowing down your 130 icons to 20!

Well just this morning I noticed an S1 screen cap of Willow with an orange background and I need more orange so....might be more than 130 soon! (I'm also thinking, Cordy in her green dress from homecoming? because I am woefully lacking in green entries.)

[comlodge.livejournal.com]

Love those soft colours and the lighting over the face. I actually post things to my scrapbook, look at them and go, crap, because I see booboos that I did not/could not see on the desktop. I know. Same bloody desktop. It's why I started my Deviant Art account, lol.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I actually post things to my scrapbook, look at them and go, crap, because I see booboos that I did not/could not see on the desktop.

That happens to me all the time - I think something looks fine when it's finished in ipiccy or stored to PB and then - oops, why didn't I notice that little detail? (which will drive me mad until I forget it exists *lol*)

I think part of why I enjoy banners more besides more flexibility and a bigger scope for play, is that for some reason I tolerate flaws more in big works than tiny ones. It sounds counterintuitive but I think it's analogous to how every word must count and there is little room for error with a poem or drabble; whereas a larger story has more leeway - it's less about every single word and every sentence being a precise gem than the overall flow, structure and interplay of elements.

It's why I started my Deviant Art account, lol.

It helps you spot errors? Does Deviant art work as mainly storage and an online gallery, or does it have any built in editing suites?

ETA: Thank you for the compliment to my icons!

[comlodge.livejournal.com]

My problem is supreme impatience and lack of attention to detail. I'm so in awe of chasingdemons . Her pieces are so meticulous, the hours of work showing in the final product. Not that I don't spend hours myself, but I'm kinda more the slash and burn artist, I think. Love the shortcuts, love using blend modes and textures to composit, light rays and dodge and burn.

Deviant Art is just a storage, though one that you can organise and view images in a much better way than LJ. No, I meant I posted them to DA first so that I could look at them. I do not know what it is, but looking at a posted image, I can see things I missed staring at it in Photoshop. What I really am beating into myself is to let a piece sit a day or two and then come back and look at it, full screen and pick at it.

I do this when making a piece now. Photoshop lets you take snapshots along the way, which is brilliant because even leaving the layers in tact you sometimes can wander away from your original idea and need a way back without actually starting over, which when you got dozens of layers, is just a big pain. Snapshots, though, are only available for as long as you keep the file open.

It's like writing. You need to build in an 'edit' time for your image. :D

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I'm so in awe of chasingdemons .

Which reminds me, I need to find a fan awards site for Marvel fandom (or Thor/Loki) so I can nominate her superb Loki banners. I was stunned to see her base image for my favorite of her pieces was a shot of the actor at a comic con - wouldn't have guessed in a milliion years.

I'm kinda more the slash and burn artist, I think.

I love this description! I could stand to adapt some of that, to be quicker and less "plodding" I think - I get overfocused on whatever I'm working on and forget the whole. With a banner this isn't so bad but on a 20in20 icon set? It's why I end up with 100 images when I only need 20 and still don't have a cohesive set at the end. (Like this round - how could I have submitted that set and NOT noticed that I was all but missing green in the rainbow?)

Remember when you told me to master blending and I thought you meant the "blend" (smudge) tool in Photobucket? Oh my gosh I had no idea what you meant - or how much fun it would be! Dodge and burn OTOH are tools I haven't really learned yet much less mastered. Have you done a tutorial on those tools yet, or can you recommend a tutorial elsewhere? I'm not really using PSE on our computer yet but I know enough now in ipiccy that I can usually translate the information.

I do love me some light leaks - amazing how handy light leaks and textures are for covering all sorts of sins and stitching a piece together.

I do not know what it is, but looking at a posted image, I can see things I missed staring at it in Photoshop.

I have the same problem. I'll look at images in the slideshow function of PB, and sometimes pick up things that way, but there's always something I seem to miss. (And it always feels like something glaring to my eyes.) I'll check out DA, thank you, I hadn't thought of it before.

Photoshop lets you take snapshots along the way, which is brilliant because even leaving the layers in tact you sometimes can wander away from your original idea and need a way back without actually starting over, which when you got dozens of layers, is just a big pain.

This I look forward to doing, it sound brilliant. I have a couple of pieces I'm working on now that I realize I made an error with, or want to redo slightly but didn't save copies in ipiccy at a particular step.

It's like writing. You need to build in an 'edit' time for your image. :D

Yes, that's it exactly!

[comlodge.livejournal.com]

You do know that when I say slash and burn it's because I generally spend no more than two to four hours on a piece. Having said that I've been known to spend a tad more than that. I really mean slash and burn as I rather like to find the shortcuts - I mostly do not spend the hour or more needed to have a perfectly cut out image for instance, instead I remove the bulk in a quick mask and use blends and textures to do the rest for me. I love my pixelated, over sharpened effects and contrast is my god, so I've been known to upset folk by presenting what looks like an unfinished piece. (Okay, when I started I knew no better and did present noisy, overblown work, that was ordinary, lol.)

But, I'm not advocating, for instance the poor cut out job on a piece of free clipart offered by a site that wants you to buy their stuff. The image was tiny, not much more than icon size and so of course i took it and blew it up to fit an 8 by 10 background then added a few adjustment layers for sharpness, lines, edges and colours, etc. You can add back a few pixels with a load of adjustment layers rather than applying an adjustment direct to an image.

It will still be noisy and perhaps a bit blurry but then I set to with the mixer brush to remove the pixelated effect, add back outline and definition and turn it into a painting. I was doing this to puss in boot, when I realised they'd done a true slash and burn on the original cutout and left a ton of artefact from the original background. Just sloppy work.
Sure does not make me want to invest in any of their work if they are happy to offer such sloppy stuff for free.

So I spent 3 hours on that one - painting is time consuming even when it is a kitten in a santa boot. I am yet to decide exactly what I want to do with it. I was really more annoyed that a freebie was so stingy and so wanted to turn it into a full blown piece on it's own. I think it looks okay.

So glad you discovered layers and the true art of blending. Whole new world isn't it? I love the smudge tool myself. It's great for adding a painted effect and chasingdemons nagged me until I found this out for myself. I almost always make a new layer above the image and use the smudge tool in that so that If I go bezerk I can just delete it and start again. Whenever I use brushes I make loads of little strokes so back tracking is usually not an easy option. The seperate layer lets me just start over.

I know what you are saying about overfocusing on the area you're working on. this is a problem no matter the size of your canvas. A banner will actually show your carelessness in for instance not getting the light correct over the whole image, incorrect perspectives of characters and props across the image, poor blending in one area, etc.

One really needs to go into soft proofing mode on full screen and study the project and then let it sit and come back. It's amazing what you thought looked all right will look crap on a revisit. I think that is why the uploading thing draws your attention. Some time has elapsed since you thought you were finished, the workspace of what ever program you use has been removed and your little ol image is left to fend for itself.

I think I might have done something with dodge and burn. I actually learnt a different way to get the effects of dodge and burn because they are two tools that you have to use direct on the layer you want the effect to be on. In other words you have to play with pixels in the image you aint getting back!

Light is wonderful. Who knew splashing white paint around could be that amazing! Have you found Bokeh textures? Amazing light effects with those. :D

Chasingdemons, and pickamix and I guess all the smart ladies make lots of copies throughout their work so that they always have an original to go back to. Chasingdemons in particular, uses groups extremely well and will have a group for each charachter and even for parts of their bodies if she is doing a lot of colouring work. I love her detailed and ordered procedure because, strangely, inside my disordered mind I crave order.

Continued in part two - wordy little minx that I am....

[comlodge.livejournal.com]

Part two

I'm just a tiny bit too lazy to get into it and also, I like to incorporate some of the adjustment layers into other adjustments. I will go back and forth in a piece from beginning layer to end when I'm finishing something. I will turn various layers on and off, as I sharpen, smudge, blur, dodge and burn to get a particular effect.

Mind you if you are going to have more than thirty or so layers, your really do need groups. I actually love to use groups so that I can turn different sections on and off to see if I'm going where I meant to and if 'm not that I at least like where I am going. Oh and, hopefully, lots of snapshots. Now that you are using layers, you must look at groups, if that is available to you.

One of the things I really love about Photoshop is that there is a million ways to do things. You do a few tutorials then just go off and do your own thing. Experiment like hell! :D