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It has come to my attention that it's been a year since I made this my icon/graphics journal
therefore it's time for a special post...
NOVEMBER 07 / OCTOBER 08
My love for Christopher Eccleston (c/o Doctor Who) inspires me to begin making icons and I had a lot of...ideas...lol, I guess it could be more embarrassing and I wish I knew then the techniques I know now--like layer masks (ie. sorry for making you green, Alain.) I really love the idea behind that first icon, I should try to make something like that again.
NOVEMBER 09
It took 2 attempts before I decided to make icons "seriously" mainly because my love for certain TV shows made me want to be more active in their fandoms. I started pouring through tutorials and discovered blending modes, lighten and multiply especially. I made my first attempt at a silhouette icon and almost everything was basically texture heavy.
DECEMBER 09
The beginning of my 20in20 addiction. I just love having prompts to work on. I'm a lazy thinker that way, lol. I discovered the use of hard light (#2) and played around with luminosity (#10) though I'm still trying to figure out how to really use it properly. haha. I was also way too in love with text textures. I'm glad I'm over that.
JANUARY 10
I got a bit more adventurous with composition and texture use. I remember being so frustrated with coloring though, especially because I wanted to make icons like motorized and lemonpunch. Also, looking at these (and even the icons of months before) I may have been a little bit too in love with pinks and purples which is funny because I never really thought of myself as a pink sort of person. (I am however, an unabashed purple person. lol)
FEBRUARY 10
I was rushing through most of icons in this period because I signed up for too many 20in20 challenges (5! never again) so yeah, I'm not really happy with most of the icons I made that month. Honestly, going through them I went ugh a lot of times. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for some of the blends I did. I wish I could redo #7 because that hyphen totally ruins it for me. And I still love what I did in #9 except for that text texture. Anyway, I think this was when I got comfortable with light blobs.
MARCH-APRIL 10
Also known as the fanmix months. Not one icon. lol. So here are two of my favorite fanmixes I made. The first, I think, got the mood of In the Mood for Love perfectly and I think it's the best fanmix I made in terms of having that smooth transition from song to song. I remember I started making it at 10pm and finished it at 10am the next morning. I just couldn't stop. The 2nd was made for whedonland and I just love the idea of a fairy-tale themed fanmix and it just fits Dollhouse perfectly. It's also probably the best fanmix cover I ever made. At least I think so. Click on the covers to download.
MAY-JUNE 10
I started making cleaner icons. maybe I was just too lazy to open my textures folder. haha. but I actually used a lot of textures in these, though mostly just for coloring instead. like in #9, it took me forever to be happy with that. And I still love #6 even though it's weird and no one else seemed to like it. I think this may have been the turning point because I got more confident in what I was doing after this. I also started using textures by innocent_lexys a lot because, well, they rock.
JULY-AUGUST 10
...aaaand I went back making complex icons because it's really what I enjoy doing most.
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 10
The Bright Star one (#4) is probably my favorite icon I've ever done. I also love the idea behind what I did in #9 even though it could have been better executed. And I feel that I finally got coloring right in general, though, it's always a struggle. I only have Photoshop CS so I don't have vibrance layers and I'm basically trying to find a way to replicate that. (I'm not sure I'm succeeding. haha. I may have to give up and upgrade soon.) I also began to make larger graphics like edited caps and picspams. Which reminds me, I haven't really had a chance to promote this community:
tvcappy tvcappy tvcappy tvcappy tvcappy
I also have a tumblr though I mostly just repost the stuff I do for landcomm challenges.
NOVEMBER 10
so here's a preview of my next icon post (which will be up as soon as I finish my sherlock20in20 batch. haha) I'm trying my hand at multiply and soft and glowy (a la takethewords, emmahyphenjane and letsey_x. what do you think? concrit is always welcome here. haha. as usual, though, the actual batch seems to be suffering from multiple personality disorder. which brings me to the second part of this anniversary post...
REQUEST SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!
a psd/tutorial
I keep most of my psd files (though trust me, they're mostly a mess. haha.) so if you're curious about any icons I've made, or about a technique/style I do, just ask!
fanmix/icons
comment with your fandom/tv show/movie and a specific character/ship. caps would be nice but a prompt is just fine.
here are my tags for a more detailed look at my interests but my current obsessions are:
Doctor Who, Community, Sherlock, Vampire Diaries, Veronica Mars, The Good Wife, Period Dramas and [the upcoming] Game of Thrones
yay!! ^^