Pyrophobic

Wow, that's an excellent effort - is it made out of balsa wood, by any chance? It's a brilliant work of precision to cut that smoothly against the grain without breaking the piece (assuming that you didn't - there doesn't look to be any rejoining). I love the way the cloud joins into the sun, the finess of the lines ... it looks like it'd make a great wall hanging. Good job, and I hope your sister enjoyed it too.

Here's thinking I should have reserved my "twenty questions" for that first PM I sent you, maladjusted. ^_^; I've had an idea for how I want to do my original character piece, but I was a bit unsure as to what format, if any in particular, it would be acceptable to submit it in. So, is it alright to submit, as opposed to the original character drawn once with a background, a series of quick, smaller drawings of that one same original character on a single sheet of paper? It was just a format that took my fancy - is it okay to do things that way?

Hrm, it occurs to me that you should look for better resolution images so that your banners are nice and sharp. The font choice for the first banner fits well with the tone of the image, but watch out where white overlaps onto white-blue. I wouldn't make the text any darker, but ... I don't know. Perhaps playing with its positioning without diminishing it too much in size As for the second one - this time the font seems a bit thin and it doesn't have enough of a punch - plus it's sort of stunted in its impact by being placed partly over the details of the image. Yup, borders'd be a good idea. I think the first banner's better and I'd certainly urge you to develop that one. Not bad for an early attempt, though. Hope you post another one soon. ^_^

TWO days? That's brilliant work for two days' worth. I really think the mixture of toon shading and a three dimensional body sets it off a treat - very video game-esque, actually. I would say that the trousers seem to bulge up a bit and sort of truncate the body, but other than that it's perfect. I agree with Boo - you ought to take this character somewhere. I can see an animation of sorts emerging from this.

Yeah, fantastic harmonisation of the fiery colours. The silhouette of Neo in the middle stands out well without forming a drastic contrast (heh, it kinda' looks like that image for The Sixth Sense). The fading and layering of the larger images is well done - almost like different angles of that central image. Sharp yet smooth. Well done!

I adore the first two banners. I think the fonts in those are terrific (although on the second one, the 'N' looks a tad cut off at the bottom) and the minimalist feel of the white suits them well - it certainly focuses the eye on those atttractive images you've picked. I guess to round my comments on those, the second banner could do with centering the girl in the middle. And maybe you could shrink Ashurei a little so that she matches the proportions of the guy on the left (at least, I assume he's a guy - he has muscles, at any rate!) Onto the second two. Congrats on the white border ^_^ I only just realised that a border of any sort looks best on a banner within a signature (*slaps hand to forehead*) I agree - the background's great (incidentally, how did you do it? I'd love to be able to conjure up something like that.) I agree with Haze that there's a white border about parts of the image (which I know are hard to get rid of, particularly with hair). I think the text takes up a bit too much space - it ought to be subtle and slight, so maybe you could pick a particularly poignant line from the song. Cool lyric, though. ^_^ I'd keep hold of that background and the idea behind the lyrics and experiment with what works best with those details. As the fourth banner, I like the gradient on the border very much, but the background and the foreground do have something of a discordant relationship. I also wouldn't put the gold of the image on the right beside the creams of the other two images - though the other two go fine together. The gold image makes a superb avatar, though. I really think there are aspects of all of them (and a great deal in the first two particularly - I think the second one is my favourite overall) that can fantastic. I'm no banner expert, but they're very sharp and striking generally. Good stuff!

Bwaah, the terrible secret of my name - partly disclosed! [Well, it isn't anything like Heathcliff unless y'all were wondering. Though I do have a certain penchant for charging around marshes] Thankies for the comment, though, Boo. ^_^ Much appreciated. Uhm, my signature's looking a little threadbare - so I don't want to make a big thing of this, but I must upload a banner. So here it is. I'll be back soon with some art for this thread (when I've had my fun with Maladjusted's contest ^_^).

Heh, don't worry Megumi, I hate copying pictures too. Hence the colour scheme for mine is off a bit, but I didn't have the best source. It's not laziness, I swear. I apologise for the size of the original [which I believe is the second image...] I couldn't find a better image anywhere. Incidentally, mine's an image from The Animatrix. If I may say so, these are all great images you other guys are posting, by the by. Well done everyone! ^_^ Oh - um, sorry if looking back on the thread it doesn't look like I applied. I was a late applicant via PM to Maladjusted - I didn't just jump in, to clear up any confusion.

*Pyro returns to her thread after - rather a long absence* Thank-you all for the comments - about the Limbo Men image, I incidentally hadn't looked at it in quite the same way as you, Baron Samedi, so it's pretty cool to have someone draw something entirely different from it. ^_^ And I attempted to remove the white squares - the annoying thing is, my computer screen doesn't go up that high when it comes to brightness, so they weren't there intentionally and they were kinda' hard to scrub out. Anyways, I have indeed returned with a piece of fan art this time. I have recently submitted a version of this with a background to the fan art section of theotaku.com, and am waiting with baited breath to see if it's uploaded. Till then, I do have this basic sketch with the initial colouring that I added on PSP before having to render the image so that it fitted in with a dingy background. I personally think this sketch is the better version, but I had to sacrifice coolness for a background just for once to see how it looked. At any rate, I shall allow you to make your own judgements. The picture is of a "Cerberus", a zombified doggy from the game Resident Evil. I didn't want to draw it as a doberman as it is in the video game, in case any fans were wondering - rather, I used a dog with longer hair to give it a wilder appearance. Originally a biro creation, hence the highly linear construction. Oh, and please don't worry about the text - I just felt the picture was a bit bare without it. For some strange reason. *shrugs* So what do you all think? Thank-you in advance for any comments! [Heh, and don't worry about the file title - it has nothing to do with brains]

Excellente! I love the wet feel you've given the Alien's terrain - really suits that drooling mouth. To the same effect the juxtaposition of the curved planet face and the head work well too. It looks fantastic - very professional. I adore the textures on the "pipe"-like appendages and the claws. Very good work! Keep it up!

Hrm - I like it as it is. The use of minimal detail is good, since it really helps the zombie's face stare out at you - it matches the tonal extremes effectively. I agree with Baron Samedi that the text is well-done - very thin and eerie, and it continues the striking contrast with the black brilliantly. *shivers* Erk, I hate that bit in the first game where the zombie peers over its shoulder. I assume this is a bit of artwork from that first game? The style looks a bit different to some of the other work, but it's definitely familar. It works well in your avatar - I love the way parts of it are cropped in both avy and banner - it doesn't fit exactly, so it introduces insecurity in that respect. Well done!

Excellent use of tone and acute detail on the attire, which I should imagine with Jack Sparrow is quite hard to get exactly right - it's picture perfect! It's also a suitably bold image, so it fits well with the character ^_^ - the firm outline works to brilliant effect here. Yeah, I'd agree about the hand, but since it's tucked into the folds of his clothing, I understand how hard it is to be precise about how much in visible. Overall, amazing - well done!

Aww, I always thought Totodile was one of the cutest monsters in Pokemon - probably my crocodile obsession. The colours you've used are suitably harmonious and dreamy, but I have to agree there's not a great amount going on. The font might also look better sort of cartoony so that it matches the drawing style. I may be blind - and probably am - but I don't think the imageis so bad. When people said it was blurry I expected it to be totally incomprehensible, but it's far from that.

Awww, that's very sweet - and also somewhat disturbing, since I don't know what it's based on. Nice font you've used - very cute, blobby and cartoony - it suits the drawing style well.

I couldn't really tell it was fanart - very fine grasp of the features and manga colouring style. You should apply a soften and perhaps even a despeckle effect to it, methinks, so that the colours are flat and smooth. And yes, a few parts aren't filled with the background, so those should be sorted out. I also agree that the left arm is somewhat strange - it looks a bit like folded-up paper. If you don't change the shape of the fabric body, you should at least edit the tones so that they fit about the curve of the arm. The curves midway-down unfortunately make it look as if she has two elbows one-after-the-other. The fingers also look as if they are bending back on one another, so be careful with their spread and the angles of each. Other than that, there's a great grasp of shape and form here, and no problems with proportion for a manga character. I love those feet of hers - very stylised. Well done, and post more soon!

Excellent job! You've done particularly well in capturing the spiny forms of the grass and the hair - it looks like a Playstation game, sort of. They form a nice contrast with the smooth planes of his cloak. I think the stars definitely did the job - with the tonal range, they add a successful depth and a bizarre coldness to the image because they make the figure seem so open and exposed. I am intrigued by Haruno_Sakura's suggestion of using rain also - might be a nice experiment, and it certainly adds more layers to a piece of work. Very well done!

Wow, that looks so professional! I particularly like the last frame - it's a good angle to draw from. I see what people mean about the choppiness - it looks like the tones used in manga, but the 'dots' and textures need to be a little finer so they don't cut up the images as it were. Otherwise, I think it's brilliant - heh, direct me to the entire manga! Good luck with TokyoPop - looking great so far.

Ist banner: Beautiful background and a great font that you've done your name in. I agree that the "Shoot.This" part should be darkened a little, but I can see what you mean about deliberately making it subtle. It's a little like smoke issued after a shot - if that's the sort of thing you're going for. If it were describing the shot itself, you'd do better to have a deeper, more explosive tone. That's up to you, of course. Heh, I don't feel that it's missing anything - there's sufficient space, which is something you need so that it's not too cluttered. It's fantastic, despite you saying that you hate it (which you really shouldn't *whaps you*). 2nd banner: Absolutely adorable, and it's a complete change in tone to the first one, which is very impressive. Banner makers with range are the most admirable. Again, I love the background - it's nice, soft and subtle. Very dream-like, in general. It would be worried as to whether it's too long, but then I know nothing about banner sizes, so I doubt that's really an issue.

Mmm, I like it generally - very moody. The emphasis on monochrome, except in the blue glow, of course, is suitably gothic and really compliments the atmosphere. I think two minor problems I would have with it would be the fade to white to the right - it's nicely done with the textured fringe, but I think the whole thing would look better completely black - heh, but I think that's probably relative, since I'm not perfectly sure it'd look better altered given that the site background is white. The second thing would be that it looks a little too sharp and pixelated around the images - I think it would be best to try to soften it, but be careful not to lose the fine definition on the creases of the character's clothing. All that aside, it's nice, though. ^_^

Hrm, yeah, I have to agree that the head's a bit big and the shoulders somewhat narrow considering there needs to be a concentration on perspective, but generally it's very cool - I love the tiger stripes and the fluffy tail and ears. The feet are also good, which I have to commend you for because I simply cannot draw feet myself. Heh, aren't scanners life-savers?

Hrm, yeah, you're right about the anatomy. Fortunately, there is a wonderful invention which will save the life of any artist of the human form - that being, a little wooden mannequin. I don't mean the clothes ones, I obviously mean the small artist's ones. Trust me, they're the most fantastic things for learning form and proportion after your own personal model. If you shop around, you can get one for the equivalent of 5-7 English pounds - you really shouldn't need to spend too much if you look for a cheap one. Here and now, a few pointers - firstly, make the feet larger so that they support the weight of the body better. The limbs need more muscle and curve to them. I'd also shorten the necks so that they appear to support the heads more. The attention to details like costume and so forth are great for the purpose of creating character individuality, though, and I can see a good grip of the relation between the animated character and their personality. The antagonist certainly looks suitably greasy ^_^. I think that once you get proportions correct (heh, I know I haven't, but it's worth knowing how limbs basically interrelate, which I believe you already have a light grasp of in some cases), you'll do some great work.

Oil pastels ... grr, writing 'easily blendable' on the pack of those things is just the company's idea of a cruel joke... Okay, I've never seen this character, so I'll just have to use your banner and avatar as references. To begin with, he doesn't look desperately cross-eyed to me - more like he's looking down at something very close to his feet. Compared to the pictures you have of him, there's a few matters of proportion. His face is rather elongated, as is his neck, so I'd shorten them a bit. His purple drape thingy ought to come down a bit more over his shoulders, too. After those more important things have been done, you could add a little more tonal contrast to give depth to the image and hence more detail. Other than that, it's good as a first attempt - good attention to the character generally. ^_^ Well done!

I like it - it's nice and bold ... and regardless of what you say, considering it's manga, I think the hair's fine as it is. As for the shading, that's well done, too. It blends very nicely with no sharp faults. You've done a particularly job around the nose, though I'm not sure about the interruption of the light line going down the bridge to the tip - it looks like the end of his nose is poking out from the general line of the nose when you do that, although it's not too dramatic. Beautiful image, save for two little things. Firstly, the black specks across his forehead down to his eyelid. I assume those are sketchlines. They have a nice oekaki-type(?) effect around his chin, but on his forehead they're a bit distracting. Secondly, I think his nostrils may be a bit uneven - one's slightly higher and at a different angle to the other. I'm also unsure of whether the mouth is supposed to be sort of smirking - if not, then that slopes a bit too in the opposite direction. That said, it's very good for a two minute sketch. ^_^ More importantly, I think you've got the grasp of Photoshop - *laughs* it doesn't look like you have little experience. Well done!

Alternatively, it could always be my monitor that's at fault. The brightness on it doesn't go as high as some monitors are in default mode. Heh, now I see where it comes from. Cool. I couldn't make a banner that fast ... wait, I couldn't even make a banner. I must have been hanging onto this old one in my siggy that I made for about a year now ... hrm. But five minutes? That's fantastic!

*meeps and puts up hand* Well, I like it a lot... For a blue background - this looks a bit like the northern lights, which is a nice touch - all the warm colours you use present a nice contrast and have this suitable heating effect, and I don't believe after the first editation that the stock illustration is too blurry - only that the wing folds are a bit ragged and sharp. I think that's actually part of the original picture, but I might soften them anyway - they look slightly pixelated and rough, which isn't the quality that the planes of his wings have. I like the way the fireflies fit around the image (cute curved tails!), and I certainly don't think you should dispose of that feature since they keep the stock picture from looking elevated and to all intents and purposes separated from the background you've created. Best of all I love the glow you've applied to everything, from the text to the logo to the snowflakes - it really works well with the red-orange tint you've given the stock image. If I had to say one little thing to improve it, I'd point to the website credit at the bottom. I think these look better when moved to either bottom corner. Otherwise they tend to distract. I hope that's of some help. Although Pyro is usually no good at giving advice. Good job! Oh - and the banner I love - nice experimentation with the blur and light effects. Maybe on the avatar there isn't enough definition on the lower face, but heh, I wouldn't change it. ^^