red_satin_doll

But first things first: The deadline for slayerstillness Challenge #35 "Least Favorite Eps" has been extended for one more week as only six entries have been received so far. So you still have a chance to spend quality time with an episode you dislike, hate, loath, and despise with the white-hot fury of a thousand Apocalypses - or at least feel a strong sense of indifference towards.

Second things second: THANK YOU to everyone who voted and gave me my very first "place" award at slayerstillness! (I'm still astonished by the win - but I'll take it, and thank you! And congratulations to tempertemper, teragramm, stepinsidelove and pickamix for your incredibly gorgeous entries. When I saw the caps starry_night provided as inspiration for this round I knew we were all in for a treat but even I didn't imagine how much so.

The rest of the banners and fantastic winning entries, including the full-size version of #3 can be seen here:

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More banners and icons inside the gallery:

Also thank you to the folks who voted for my other entry as "Most Creative" ! My inspiration was

mercurialdragon's brillant Xander icon for the Provided Texture category from Round 1 of

btvsats20in20:

My second entry and Xander Icon by mercurialdragon

Click images below for full-size:

Illyriabitchbanner3_ssround34_360high_zps6871ac55

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#1-2, & 5-7) The grunge textures in #1 are from a built-in setting in ipiccy; the bright light and pinkish coloring are from a photograph I took of a local sky/cloudscape that I used as a layer. I adjusted saturation and brightness on the original sky photo until it was a very artificial pink and blue; but lowered the opacity for the layer here to preserve the color and light but lose the actual details of the clouds and then adjusted the color temperature. (#5-7 below)

The font is "Condiment", three layers make up the award categories and artists' name; the two lines below have two layers each. This is the first time I put the date on the banners and I think I'll continue doing so in future if no one minds.

#4-5) #4 was the first Illyria fanart I've ever done;the icons came afterward. It's no derogation on my part when I say that I feel my best energy and creativity went into the banners. Most of the shades of blue, the detail of red on the swords and breastplate (happy accidents btw) and the brushstrokes are from a photograph I took of one of my sweetie's still-life paintings. I used a section of the painting and enlarged it over the banner as a layer. Then I used the "woodgrain" banner I made for Challenge 33 as the layer by turning it on it's side and stretching it out a great deal for the pale, almost pinkish vertical texture across the image (detail):

comlodge's stunning Illyria artwork, especially "To Destroy A God", was certainly the subconscious inspiration for many of the design elements.

The font is once again "Condiment"; there are four layers of font to Illyria's name: two set on invert then overlapping each other to get the golden outlines, then two overlay layers, white and ice blue, set inside the outlines and atop each other. #4 is lacking that last layer of ice blue font overlay and the text isn't as bright without it. There are only (hah) three font layers to the lines of text above and below the name. "Intergalatic diva bitch runway god" is a joke I made to

starry_night when I was looking at the provided screencaps: When you walked into the room / You had everbody's eyes on you... I've never seen her in AtS but even in the stills she comes off as the ultimate diva. Click banners below to see full-size: