(Untitled)

[silawen]

I am still very new to icon making, so all comments are very much appreciated! I'm always ready to learn, so whatever constructive feedback you can give me would be great.

Thank you in advance.

Comments

[ladybubblegum]

The positive: Your black and white icons are very pretty! Especially that last one. For someone who's new to this, you're very good at placement and text. I remember some of my first icons; they didn't look half as good as these. With a little practice, I think you could be really good at this!

The negative: You should let up on the brushes. Sometimes, brushes really do enhance an icon (like in that last one), but a lot of times, they're not needed at all, like the leaf brushes in the yellow icon. Whenever you think about using a brush, ask yourself if it's really necessary, or if you just think the icon "looks empty" and you want to fill it with something.

The same goes for textures. Not every icon needs one. In fact, sometimes an icon looks better with just really nice coloring. Try to focus more on coloring and less on brushes and textures.

[silawen]

Hee, thank you for the feedback!

The negative: You're right. I enjoy brushes a bit too much. I have been trying to work on just my colouring. Part of me prefers using textures because it's a crutch of mine, the other part does it because most of the pictures I use have a solid black background and it tends to get a bit monotonous. But, yes, definitely something I have to work on. I'm just hesitant at messing with the colouring too much, because it's difficult and I'm afraid of ending up on ugly_icons with them. XD

Sorry, I'm rambling. In short, you're right, I'm too brush/texture happy and should try to improve my colouring. Thanks!

[ladybubblegum]

I was brush-addicted when I first started, too. You're so not alone. XD

Just try experimenting with your program. Yeah, you might make bad icons at first, but you'll get the hang of it. Remember, you don't have to post everything you make. ^.^

icon_tutorial has lots of guides to coloring. Browse the entries or take a look in the memories. You're bound to find something you like. Just don't get caught in the .psd trap.

And if you end up on ugly_icons, so what? You're a beginner. Everyone makes a couple bad icons when they're first starting out. Look at it as a learning experience.

[silawen]

*grin* I just love them. Little pieces of brilliance. XD

I have been trudging through all the tutorials on icon_tutorial. There are some really awesome guides there and some of the answered questions have really helped me out. The problem is that I use PSP9 and most of the tutorials include selective colouring. I'm not confident enough in my PSP skills - I still find new buttons everywhere, heh - to translate them properly. I'm going through them one by one, though, trying to achieve similar results without it. It's very good practice.

Thank you so much for the help. You don't know how awesome it is to get this in-depth feedback.

[six_two_four]

Hopefully this won't end up "splitting the vote" and making both our feedbacks unusable, but I have to disagree with the above poster and tell you not to let up with the brushes and textures, but just to work on honing them. I think you are really, really good with brushes and textures and that you just need to work a little on making them fit and flatter the icons a bit more. Nothing should be added just to fill space. Everything you add should somehow frame, complement, or say something about the subject of the icon. Like in the sixth one, the brush/texture nicely frames and draws the attention to the girl. But, in contrast, the bow in third icon really doesn't do anything for this icon, because it's not really saying that she's a wrapped-up present, and it's not bringing the attention to the girl, it's just there in the background being slightly distracting. The fifth icon is the best one in my opinion; it really jumps out (probably because the yellow is lovely, and it really complements the coloring on her face). I actually kind

[silawen]

My apologies for replying so late. I never got the comment notification, otherwise I would have replied sooner. LJ has the tendency to mess up on occasion, I suppose. ;)

I am slightly amused by the contradicting opinions, however I think both of you have a point and I should work on both. I enjoy working with textures and brushes a lot, but I also need to learn how to work without them. So I've been doing a bit of both.

And you're right, I was going for a poison ivy like set-up, as her character is extremely cocky and somewhat biting.

I'll take your comments into account. Thank you so much for taking the time in helping me! It's much appreciated and very nice of you.