[Napsys]

what it issssssss.
so last night i had this great idea to learn a bit more about photoshop.
and i watched a tutorial about sigs and so after it i tried one of my own with a few techniques shown in the tut.






here goes nothing, could you give me some advice on how to improve, eventhough youve only got 1 image to judge for now =]



BOOM revised :



:$

This post has been edited by Napsys: Jan 23, 2013 - 8:02 PM

[Aery]

It's quite good for your first sig.

I have some advices for you but everyone has his own style :)
~ Tutorials are great to improve. Even if you learn only a single thing you can use it anytime tutorials
~ Try to integrate the render a bit more in the background and set a focus. (As an example you can darken the rest a little bit)
~ I personally wouldn't use a render with a low quality. Look for render with a high resolution. Then you can play with the size without worrying about the outcome ^^
~ You can use brushes and stocks (other pictures you can use for effects or background) - later C4D when you have a bit more practice.
~ practice, practice, practice :)
~ Some sigs look better with a border.

[Napsys]

Awesome response Aery, im still pretty low on my resources but im getting there, thanks for the links.

When i have more time i shall follow a few tutorials from the site.

i showed my friend and he also said my Natsu wasnt good quality, but i believe i messed it up myself with overusing the sharpentool but im not sure.

for a long time i was looking for something productive to do, and finally decided that ill put my mind into drawings and photoshop 'art'.
ill practise alot when im free from schoolwork!

[shayryu]

Congratulations on your first sig, you're on your way to become a full fledged artist. \o/
I'm not that good at Photoshop at all, and Aery basically said all you need to know.

Just a few points:
- Try to use some blurring and smudging to blend your render more into the background.
- Perhaps it's just me, but I'm not a real fan of placing the render completely on the right/left side, but that's just me....(different style perhaps ^^)

That being said....It's really well done for the first time, keep practicing. \o/

[Napsys]

Allright guys, i already decided to revise it a bit with your advices, hope i didnt go too crazy on the effects :

[Aery]

Yes it's better.
Maybe a bit much but definitely better ^^

[Vile Samael]

Is the render sharpened a lot or something? It's really grainy-looking. You gotta be careful with sharpen.

This post has been edited by Vile Samael: Jan 21, 2013 - 4:09 PM

[Mickey]

Aery what Photoshop application do you use I think i want to try when i have time,looks fun

[Aery]

Yes it's fun indeed.
I use CS4 student version but it's still quite expensive. I think Adobe recently offered CS2 for free. This version is perfectly fine for sigs.

I have another tip for your sharpentool: Just copy your render, sharpen it and then set the layer on a lower visibility.

This post has been edited by Aery: Jan 22, 2013 - 4:05 AM

[Napsys]

sounds indeed quite logically, ill try some more stuff, really dont have much time but it got me pretty interested and motivated now.

Boom


calling in your help again, feel like im making them too simple =/

(uhhh yeah, i dragged in the render and totally forgot to give it the right size for a sig, i noticed this when i was almost done, haha ahwell decided to just finish it)

This post has been edited by Napsys: Jan 22, 2013 - 3:46 PM

[Aery]

Ah first of all I'm sorry if what I say sounds a bit harsh but I don't intend to be mean o.o" wah I'm so sorry >.<

Imo this render is perfectly fine for a picture of this size but it's difficult for a sig.
Try to avoid showing the whole body in a signature cause it's almost always too big for it.
Look for an interesting part like a face, a smile, eyes or a whole body part etc. and focus on it.

I marked some parts you can improve (just in my opinion)



First the brush on the right side: You have a direction in your sig from the bottom left corner to the right upper corner, so why this brush brakes ranks?
There's such a pretty flow in your sig ^^
In addition you have to beware of visible borders (two circles). Try to smudge or hide it.
I don't know how the original render looks like but the light is too hard for me. The white colour of her face is very hard and makes her really pale.
If you want to lighten something use a soft brush with a softer colour than white.
But I like how you used the diffuser scrim combined with the other brushes to create motion.

[Napsys]

haha aery dont scare me like that, i dont think its harsh at all, infact i love your analysis



heres the original render.

indeed i had a nice point and flow from down left to (upper) right, but somehow i imagined down in the left corner there would be this lightsource, so i kind of made some lasers on the left side trying to go in depth.

and youre right on the 2 circles indeed.

gimme a minute ill edit some things

here ya go




kept it a little more subtle with the lightning beams n shit :P

This post has been edited by Napsys: Jan 22, 2013 - 4:21 PM

[Aery]

Just wanted to make sure I'm not here to bully you :D

You did quite well with the red cloak but if you use the same effect on the face it gets a white wall. The reder is already quite bright.

I found an example for softer light. It's a sig I made (and wasn't quite happy with) but it's just a sample.

[Mickey]

Aery, on Jan 22, 2013 - 4:19 PM, said:

Just wanted to make sure I'm not here to bully you :D

You did quite well with the red cloak but if you use the same effect on the face it gets a white wall. The reder is already quite bright.

I found an example for softer light. It's a sig I made (and wasn't quite happy with) but it's just a sample.

I need to find a free photoshop for recreation.
Is gimpshop any good?

This post has been edited by Stacked Ares: Jan 22, 2013 - 4:31 PM

[Aery]

You can also work with gimp but since I'm used to ps I absolutely fail with gimp.

It's better but the faces are still too pale. But it's very difficult with this render.
I tried it too and it doesn't work quite well so it's fine ^^

[Mickey]

You know a legit alternative photo shop site or gimp download site?

[Napsys]

I planned on practising before posting again but i just made this and i dont know.. i like the evil energy its providing and i like how it reminds me a little of final getsuga tenshou.




mind reviewing this aery?

@stacked ares, im sorry, my stepbrother installed my photoshop so i cant help you =[
try looking for a ''portable photoshop'' they should be available.

[Aery]

Sry I'm a bit busy atm ~ I have my first exam tomorrow Q.Q *nervous*

Your sigs get better but they are still quite chaotic.
The second one is slightly better than the one in black and white.
You tried to highlight the eyes but the other effects are very distracting.
Sometimes less is more ^^
Try to make the effects a little more inobstrusive like they belong in this picture and aren't crying "Here I am Look at me Look Look!"

[Napsys]

yeah i understand what you mean, i didnt quite know how to properly implement c4d's without disturbing the colour of the whole sig.
Also i often feel like i need to fill up the whole space ive got, ill try to hold back a bit hehe

[Aery]

There are ways to change the colors.
~ Press Ctrl + U.
~ Adding a Gradient or a Gradient Map might also help.
~ Selective Color is an option to change only one dye.

You can find the options here: