36. icon progression meme 2011
Well I've seen this so many times now I thought I'd give it a go. I'd made some icons in 2010 but not very many, so it was actually only really this year that I started properly. I thought it would be quite interesting to compare where I was this time last year to where I am now, and I'm hoping you'll agree there's a bit of a difference! =D
2010
Too much contrast, illegible text, although I do like the colours in the Keeley one and the golden Marian one.
January 2011
Overloaded on the brightness control, most of this month had several icons using the same base where all I changed was the brightness/contrast levels
February
Some pretty colours in the N&S batch (total fluke), unsuccessful text-only icons, experimentation with cropping and profile
March
First 20in20 entry, first attempt at texture overlay, downloaded some new fonts and tried with them a bit, but mostly was just trying to find my feet. I think this was the first time I tried cutting figures out of the screencaps and pasting them in front of a new background though, and I do like the 3rd and 4th ones
April
More experimentation with fonts, more (rather more careful) colour adjustment, experimentation with altering images (i.e. extending the stripes so it’s a square cap rather than rectangular), playing with duplicating images
May
More playing around with text only, first instance where I try to mix greyscale with colour, icons using my own photos, trialling faceless caps, developing a love of silhouettes, trying to make some in the style of other users on RHFC because their work always seems to go down well
June
Colour splash first tries, don’t know how I got the colouring in the Amy icon but I like it, some more careful texture overlays, some sloppy ones, tiny text experiments, the hbic20in20 had some very specific themes - some which worked for me, some which didn’t - but I still always fell back on the rainbow AC set which really didn’t work here, a bit of experimentation on colour/greyscale
July
This was the month of the many 20in20s (not to mention my A-Levels), and as a result a lot of them were very rushed indeed. First requested icons some was proud of some not, more attempts at cutting figures out of screencaps - not always successful, Narnia 20in20 set was a mixture of ones I was proud of and ones where I completely overdid it on the texture overlay, some attempts at softer colouring and less contrast and more careful text-work, also the beginning of my b&w love and my love of blue/green, and I’m still very proud of the last one
August
Silhouettes!, a lot more consideration given to colouring cropping and composition, beginning of my b&w&r love, use of shapes through which the main body of the icon can be seen, and probably the first time I’ve really liked the effect of a texture overlay. IIRC, this was also the first month of the RHFC 20in20 contests, and probably my best entry to a 20in20 up to that point
September
Definitely another month for major icon-making and experimentation. Saturation levels, where have you been all my life?!?! The first one was done before Jammeke on RHFC pointed out to me that you could adjust the levels using Photobucket - before I was just fiddling with brightness/contrast in PowerPoint, but after that I was off! Also started playing around more with cutting out images and playing them in front of new backgrounds, use of circles (some better than others), I made a texture that meant I could give a bit of a light/glow effect on icons, plus found the colour-splash tool on Photobucket. Further love of contrasting colours, and I was very proud of my Marian entry for the 20in20
October
Didn’t make very many this month because I moved to uni and had a lot of settling in to do. Picked a rather difficult claim for 20in20 (a pairing of two people who I only had 17 screencaps of them together in), but some of them turned out okay. And then there was THAT vid of Peter Firth and Nicola Walker which I simply HAD to icon...
November
GIMP!!! After months of deliberating whether I should re-install it or not, I finally got around to it and all I can say is YAY!!!! Being able to blend the background, not having to go online every time I wanted to alter the saturation levels/make a colour splash - bliss =P Had a first attempt at blocking which I ruined by putting a texture over the top of it, but I was rather pleased with my profile and cut-outs icons. Had some more practice with subtle image manipulations - such as in the 7th icons I extended the sides so it would be square and the people would be positioned where I wanted them to be, as well as subtler colouring like on the Ros icon, and some more considered attempts at using text.
December
Uhh, yeah, the colour splash came back in full force when I saw the Michelle Dockery & Dan Stevens photoshoot... Started experimenting more with Gimp by reading some tutorials and trying out different features - such as using multiple layers to pick out the blue of Lucrezia’s dress and alter the colour. Also tried a bit more adventurous cropping, positioning and colouring, and the discovery of the ‘screen’ feature meant I finally got to do that twinkly effect I’ve seen around and have always wanted to be able to do! Also meant I could use flames properly for the first time (the flames and the twinkle both being textures I made from my own photos of bonfire/fireworks night), although the text on that one still left something to be desired.
So there you have it! My first year of icon-making =D I've definitely become a lot more adventurous and less reliant on very very basic methods, although I know I'm still a long way off being a dab hand at it all. Still, hopefully 2012 will bring further improvement, and I can continue to attempt to aim there ;P
Happy New Year!
2010
Too much contrast, illegible text, although I do like the colours in the Keeley one and the golden Marian one.
January 2011
Overloaded on the brightness control, most of this month had several icons using the same base where all I changed was the brightness/contrast levels
February
Some pretty colours in the N&S batch (total fluke), unsuccessful text-only icons, experimentation with cropping and profile
March
First 20in20 entry, first attempt at texture overlay, downloaded some new fonts and tried with them a bit, but mostly was just trying to find my feet. I think this was the first time I tried cutting figures out of the screencaps and pasting them in front of a new background though, and I do like the 3rd and 4th ones
April
More experimentation with fonts, more (rather more careful) colour adjustment, experimentation with altering images (i.e. extending the stripes so it’s a square cap rather than rectangular), playing with duplicating images
May
More playing around with text only, first instance where I try to mix greyscale with colour, icons using my own photos, trialling faceless caps, developing a love of silhouettes, trying to make some in the style of other users on RHFC because their work always seems to go down well
June
Colour splash first tries, don’t know how I got the colouring in the Amy icon but I like it, some more careful texture overlays, some sloppy ones, tiny text experiments, the hbic20in20 had some very specific themes - some which worked for me, some which didn’t - but I still always fell back on the rainbow AC set which really didn’t work here, a bit of experimentation on colour/greyscale
July
This was the month of the many 20in20s (not to mention my A-Levels), and as a result a lot of them were very rushed indeed. First requested icons some was proud of some not, more attempts at cutting figures out of screencaps - not always successful, Narnia 20in20 set was a mixture of ones I was proud of and ones where I completely overdid it on the texture overlay, some attempts at softer colouring and less contrast and more careful text-work, also the beginning of my b&w love and my love of blue/green, and I’m still very proud of the last one
August
Silhouettes!, a lot more consideration given to colouring cropping and composition, beginning of my b&w&r love, use of shapes through which the main body of the icon can be seen, and probably the first time I’ve really liked the effect of a texture overlay. IIRC, this was also the first month of the RHFC 20in20 contests, and probably my best entry to a 20in20 up to that point
September
Definitely another month for major icon-making and experimentation. Saturation levels, where have you been all my life?!?! The first one was done before Jammeke on RHFC pointed out to me that you could adjust the levels using Photobucket - before I was just fiddling with brightness/contrast in PowerPoint, but after that I was off! Also started playing around more with cutting out images and playing them in front of new backgrounds, use of circles (some better than others), I made a texture that meant I could give a bit of a light/glow effect on icons, plus found the colour-splash tool on Photobucket. Further love of contrasting colours, and I was very proud of my Marian entry for the 20in20
October
Didn’t make very many this month because I moved to uni and had a lot of settling in to do. Picked a rather difficult claim for 20in20 (a pairing of two people who I only had 17 screencaps of them together in), but some of them turned out okay. And then there was THAT vid of Peter Firth and Nicola Walker which I simply HAD to icon...
November
GIMP!!! After months of deliberating whether I should re-install it or not, I finally got around to it and all I can say is YAY!!!! Being able to blend the background, not having to go online every time I wanted to alter the saturation levels/make a colour splash - bliss =P Had a first attempt at blocking which I ruined by putting a texture over the top of it, but I was rather pleased with my profile and cut-outs icons. Had some more practice with subtle image manipulations - such as in the 7th icons I extended the sides so it would be square and the people would be positioned where I wanted them to be, as well as subtler colouring like on the Ros icon, and some more considered attempts at using text.
December
Uhh, yeah, the colour splash came back in full force when I saw the Michelle Dockery & Dan Stevens photoshoot... Started experimenting more with Gimp by reading some tutorials and trying out different features - such as using multiple layers to pick out the blue of Lucrezia’s dress and alter the colour. Also tried a bit more adventurous cropping, positioning and colouring, and the discovery of the ‘screen’ feature meant I finally got to do that twinkly effect I’ve seen around and have always wanted to be able to do! Also meant I could use flames properly for the first time (the flames and the twinkle both being textures I made from my own photos of bonfire/fireworks night), although the text on that one still left something to be desired.
So there you have it! My first year of icon-making =D I've definitely become a lot more adventurous and less reliant on very very basic methods, although I know I'm still a long way off being a dab hand at it all. Still, hopefully 2012 will bring further improvement, and I can continue to attempt to aim there ;P
Happy New Year!