Art SOTW collections and more.[Image Heavy]

[jigglyness]

[COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=1]Alrighty. It's been a while since I've posted any of my graphic works, but hopefully this thread won't die as fast as my past ones. So I've been doing many sotw's [Sig of the Week] on other forums and I just thought it would be fantabulous if the awesome people of otakuboards would be willing to critique my work or maybe just give me some feedback. :] Everyweek I will be updating this thread with new sigs. And if I make anything extra that I think is worthy, it might go in this thread too. :)

here are some of my past sotw entries.

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/jin.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/jin2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/bloodlust.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/sesshy-1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/heartache.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/bursts.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/amy.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/300.jpg[/img]

It would be awesome if Otakuboards had a SOTW. I would totally join in. :][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Aberinkula]

[COLOR=Blue]I like them all. I really like the Evanescence one the best. She is a cutie.[/COLOR]

[jigglyness]

Yeah I love her too. I forgot to mention that two of the sigs up there actually won contests. The "heartache" one won for Theme:Emotions and the "random bursts" one won for Theme: sprites. And the last one [or my current sig] is currently in for voting so I will know the results in a little less than a week.

[Cat]

My favorite would have to be the heartache one. I like the coloring and the words match the image. I think too it would be great to have SOTW. I would enter even if I'm not that good just for the fun. I have almost won one myself but then the Forum die or something. I hope you win your current contest.

[Boo]

[size=1]Whee, an art thread. We're getting somewhere. Go you! :P

- [b]Bliss[/b] -
The colours are awesome and the stock is too. Though I think the stock and the text are placed too far from each other and kind of mess with the focus on the banner. Maybe replacing the text to somewhere else would fix this issue.

- [b]Serenity[/b] -
I'm not liking the red cross.

- [b]Bloodlust[/b] -
Rather cool. The text for "Bloodlust" looks really good on it, though the subline "is it a sin or a blessing" is really hard to read. The colour of the text is okay, but I'd prefer it in a more readable size. The stock looks great, though the grey in it doesn't come back in the banner, which is a pity.

- [b]beautiful sin[/b] -
Eh... I'm really not digging this. It looks sort of cheap. The background seems to be just texturized. And why is there still a black line of a piece of cloth left of the big head?

- [b]heartache[/b] -
Lovely, just lovely. The only things I don't like are the side borders, left and right. I'd love to see the original stock. The pretty swirly things in the background fit in really well, along with the text, though it's kind of hard to read. Great job!

- [b]random[color=gray]burst[/color][/b] -
Not really a big fan of this one. The background is really soft, though the sprite is pixely - which seems to clash. The black and white of the text doesn't see mto come back in the rest of the banner, so I would have prefered to see a black (and white) border instead of this... original... purple one.

- [b]Sweet Sacrifice[/b] -
Good use of colours on this one. The text is cool too, though the spacing in "Sweet" is rather much. There are odd pixely things through the banner, which I don't really like, but the overall feeling is good.

- [b]Seduction[/b] -
I love the text and the colours that you've used for this banner. Maybe the whole thing could've been a little less sharp? Because now it looks a bit sharper than I think it should. Maybe it's the result of a texture or whatever else you used on it. The overall thing is awesome, though.[/size]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][B]Bliss[/B]
not bad this one. I like how her hair kind of melts into the background. I think you may have overused the fade-to-white on the left side at this poin, lol. It seems to be something you use a lot.

[B]Serenity[/B]
Is a red X on my screen >_<

[B]Bloodlust[/B]
this one is really cool. I love the dirty brown-red of the background and the lighting effect is cool. I especially like how after 'is it a sin or a blessing' there's that little ghostly question mark. nice lil detail.

[B]Beautiful Sin[/B]
Much as I absolutely hate Inuyasha, especially Sesshomaru, this isn't a bad look. The afterimage is pretty cool. My favorite thing is the border.

[B]Heartache[/B]
Absolutely beautiful. The color contrast is done exceedingly well.

[B]Random Bursts[/B]
The sprite looks really strange on the high-detail background, but I was thinking that was your intention. the border is really fugly >_<

[B]Sweet Sacrifice[/B]
Much as i don't like Amy Lee, this is a pretty banner. The colors are cool and those black markings on the wall are neeto. I mostly like the attention to detail in this. I agree with Boo about the text, though.

[B]Seduction[/B]
Looks like that scene from 300, which is conveniant becaous the art style looks like it could've been taken straight from the movie. simply wonderful and cool-looking.[/COLOR]

[jigglyness]

Sorry guys. I had the wrong like for the "Serene" piece. It's been fixed.

-For the sprite one, I'm horrible at sprites, I admit. Sprites aren't really my style at all so I was just REALLY surprised that I had won that week's SOTW. Most of the people that voted for it, only compared it to the other entries instead of critiquing on the piece itself. So I really appreciate the feedback on this one.

-Yes, the last piece is a scene from 300. I LOVE that movie. XD

Thank you all for the feedback so far. :]

[SaiyanPrincessX]

[SIZE=1]Awesome, finally so artness. Brings back some good times.

[b]Bliss[/b]
I like this one alot. The stock is great quakity, and the background is simple and but potent. I actually like the hair blending into the background, its soemthing I would do. I do see what Boo means with the text, and I agree. Its seems kind of awkwardly placed. Also, add a border. Unless you have a light colored one alreay there, I can't tell.

[b]Serenity[/b]
I love the colors and style. The weird little designs in the background match well with the cool little designs on his hat. The text is perfect in my opinion. However, his face does stand out a little too much, and it takes the focus off the rest of the banner.

[b]Bloodlust[/b]
I actually think the text is the best part. The subline looks awesome like that. The stock blends well with it untill it gets to the left, then it kind of fades weirdly..

[b]Beautiful sin[/b]
Eh, I'd have to agree with Boo on this. I really don't like anything about this, to be honest. I don't like Inuyasha either, so yeah.

[b]Heartache[/b]
I love the colors on the right, how it goes from dark to light with a greenish blue look to a kind of orangey-brown look, but I don't like the darkness of her face. It just seems a little [i]too[/i] dark. The border, thats a no no for me.

[b]Random Bursts[/b]
Not fond of this. Its not just the contrast between the sprite and the background..its the background itself. To me it looks..kind of cheap. It looks like you used the cloud effect, then did the smudging. The border doesn't really mesh well with the sprite. For sprites, generally a 1 pixel border looks best.

[b]Sweet Sacrifice[/b]
Hm, the only thing I really like in this one is the text. Too me it looks like an image, with multiple colors. :/

[b]Seduction[/b]
Great movie, though this was one of my least favorite parts, heh. Anyway, I love it. I think this really portrays the graphics splendor of the movie. The text looks great in that position, and color.

Overall, my favorites were 1, 2, 3, and 8. Great job jigglyness, I hope to see more of your work.[/size]

[Aberinkula]

[COLOR=Blue]I bet if I had the chance to use a banner made by you, I would. Your artwork is great. Now the Seduction banner is done up ciely. the colors and teh banner itself is easy to look at. I couldn't read the text on 'Bloodlust' that well, but I liked that one as well.[/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[size=1]Hey jigglyness, what up.

First of all, let me start off by staying your work is excellent. You've definitely got a great grasp of brushing and the techniques associated with it. Out of curiousity, did you use pre-made brushes or are those mostly self-done?

A few of your pieces lack depth (Bloodlust, beautiful sin, random bursts) or feel incomplete (heartache, sweet sacrifice). Additionally, I think you might want to consider making your text larger, more carefully done, and prominent in your pieces. In some of them (specifically Seduction), the text just gets lost amid your busy backgrounds, or it looks rather uninteresting (again, random bursts).

Keep up the hard work, you've got amazing potential.[/size]

[jigglyness]

[SIZE=1]Thank you all for the feedback. At least, now I know what not to do anymore in the future. ^^'

Retribution - I actually use pre-made brushes but I usually change the brush in some way or another. I have personally tried to make my own brushes to no avail. ^^' I don't think I'm at the level where I can make my own. But then again, I haven't been trying to for like the longest time. I haven't had a lot of time to experiment with photoshop as much as I did before. *shrug*

Also thanks for the awesome compliments. You guys are too nice. haha.
♥[/SIZE]

[b]EDIT[/b]--------------------------------

New banner for a sotw on a different forum

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/breath.jpg[/img]

[b]EDIT #2[/b]

Some of my newer stuff.
my god...it's been ages since I've responded to this. haha.

[no specific order]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/believe.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/dante.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/dream.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/yuna.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/shadows.jpg[/img]

C&C please. :]

[AmnesiacKaiten]

They are alll really plain... Nothing really ultra appealing to the eye. I would have to say that most of them are too flat, especially the Serene one.

Bliss is too white... Gah, I can't CnC them all :( but that's my input.

[jigglyness]

I kind of meant the newer ones. :]

edit-----

Here's a requests I did for another forum.

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/sesshofreako/forums/kazu.jpg[/img]

[Boo]

[size=1]While I'm busy commenting on art anyway, I'll finally post in your thread again too. :] Here we go.

- [b]Breath[/b] of life –
I like the stock and it's placement on this banner. Not too big of a fan of the kind of sharp-ish texture the whole banner seems to have. For example, like the pixels around the stock's neck. You might want to clean that up a little, at least at the centre of the stock, because now only her face seems to stick out, suddenly being cut off by a choker of pixels. And overall the grainy background doesn't seem to fit the stock very well, I think. The text works really well though, also where the B is just at the side of the burst, because it's obvious enough on it's own to not need the full burst as it's background.

- [b]Believe[/b] –
Blub, first thing to catch my eye is the stock, which ehm… isn’t quite great stock material. It’s a bit too rough and the eyes seem awkward. You made real good use of the iris’ colours though, and I love how the left side of the banner is that colours and the right side is more based upon the hair colour of the right side of the stock. The word ‘believe’ seems to blend in a lot, which isn’t too bad really, because you can still read it, but doesn’t take all the attention of the ‘spectator’. The left background seems a bit sharp though, as the colour you used easily does that (turn things sharp). Hm, but all in all, the banner is good as it really fits the stock well. It’s just a pity that the stock itself isn’t too great, as the banner resolves pretty much totally around it.

- [b]Fin[/b] –
Fancy stuff. I especially like the whole diagonal theme of the whole banner, where it comes back in the text, the lines and the stock itself. And then the background isn’t, which gives a cool effect. The stock doesn’t really seem to fit the lines in the corner, though, but I can’t seem to come up with some better as I like how you worked with the stock anyway. Hm, for some reason I can’t come up with much to say about this banner.

- [b]dream[/b] ‘till you can’t –
Good cropping and placing of the stock. And I really dig the green colour. The border is nice too and the text works with the stock. All in all only good points, but nothing that really stands out and makes me go ‘wow’. Maybe that’s also part of it’s beauty. It’s peaceful and soft on the eyes, and just all works together. Period.

- keep me in your [b]Memory[/b] –
‘… and leave out all the rest’. *Ahem* Pardon me. Anyway, the banner. I really love it. The text and the stock are lovely and really work extremely well with the nice soft colour in the background. But the colour is lively enough to make the banner appealing. The pixel art gives a nice touch to the whole thing. Can’t think of much to improve. Perhaps the border that I don’t really like right now, but if it were darker, it’d probably lose part of the soft effect that it has now.

- [b]shadows[/b] swallow[strike]s[/strike] us whole –
Hm, the stock has amazingly cool eyes, but for the most the banner isn’t really special. I like how the text ‘blocks’ go with the border, but I don’t know what the text has to do with the rest of the banner at all. It doesn’t seem to add anything to it’s feel. It’s a rather nice looking banner, but that’s it. It seems kind of empty without much thought or anything in it.

Don't really like commenting on requested banners that much for some reason. I'd be delighted to have gotten such a pretty banner for myself, that's all I know. :P

Okay, this is probably long enough, I should really go get lunch now.[/size]

[quote name='AmnesiacKaiten']They are alll really plain... Nothing really ultra appealing to the eye. I would have to say that most of them are too flat, especially the Serene one.

Bliss is too white... Gah, I can't CnC them all :( but that's my input.[/QUOTE][size=1]Speaking as an artist myself, I'd say that a bit more constructive criticism would've been nice and helpful so that, in this case, Jigglyness knows what she could improve on and what to do differently next time. Or at least to give her some ideas to toy around with. If you can't CnC on all of them, perhaps CnC'ing a bit deeper on one of them would've been a lot more helpful.[/size]

[boothten]

[size=1]Well, this is gonna take a while, haha.

[b]Bliss[/b]: I'm not a big fan of this one. I think there's too much white space on the left. Your blending looks really good thought, and the smoky look on the back of her hair to blend it into the background looks fantastic. Kudos on that. I think you could do without the smaller text that's in the middle of the larger text, or maybe even the other way around. I also think you should sharpen her face just a little bit more, it's a little too blurry. The depth in it is also pretty good, as is the flow. It's pretty monotoned, but I like it that way.

[b]Serene[/b]: The flow is lacking in this one, and it's a little messy. My eye can't really focus on anything for too long, including the intended focal, because it keeps getting attracted to those curves you made/brushed. The blending in this one could use a lot of work, and the depth is ok. Text is ok as well, but I think it would look nicer with an outer glow at maybe 50% opacity or so.

[b]Bloodlust[/b]: I really like the idea behind this one, but it needs a lot of work. There isn't any depth, nor is there any flow and that kind of just spoils it for me visually. The text looks pretty good, and so does the stock you used. The blending looks great, but the depth and flow! Gahh.. lol.

[b]Beautiful Sin[/b]: I don't like the border or the font you used, they don't really match with the sig. There's no flow, and depth is really lacking. The blending in this one could use work as well.

[b]Heartache[/b]: No flow, hardly any depth, but I love the colors you used. A small sharpening could do this some good. Not a big fan of the shapes you used underneath the text, the text itself, or the border, but this definitely has potential. The stock you used is gorgeous, and blending could be better, but I really like this one a lot.

[b]Random Bursts[/b]: To be honest, this is your worst one in my opinion. I can see you tried getting more of a flow, but I don't think it came out well. The blending is pretty bad, it looks like you just got some white over his legs then smudged it a little. You need to sharpen the focal on the sprite, especially when it comes to sprite sigs. The colors and font-choice look really good though.

[b]Sweet Sacrifice[/b]: I think her face is too blurry, sharpening that up would do it some good. I don't really like your font choice for "Sweet" though. The thing, whatever it is (I'm pretty sure it's a brush you used), behind "Sweet Sacrifice" ruins what would have been some nice flow. The depth looks pretty good, so does your blending.

[b]Seduction[/b]: Was everything on this banner's background smudged? If it is, then wow, lol. Those smudge settings look fantastic, I think they're the best part of the sig. The text gets lost in the background a little, I'd suggest putting the text on the bottom left or right corner. Your flow, blending, and depth look really good in this one. I think you over sharpened this one though.

[b]Breath of Life[/b]: The blending is good in this one, but I don't like the dot pattern thing or whatever that you used over her neck, it looks weird to me. Depth could use work, and I think you should up the opacity level on the stock. She looks see through almost, it doesn't really look good. Flow could use work.

[b]Believe[/b]: Sharpen! Your font choice could be better, but the blending looks nice. Is that a brush or a C4D you used on the left side of the banner? Anyway, I really like the colors you used in this one. Flow is definitely lacking, as is the depth on the right side of the sig.

[b]Fin[/b]: I really like what you did with the text in this one, and the bars on the top-right look really good. Sharpen the focal, and whatever you used to colorize the face should be removed. It doesn't look good. Was it a photo filter, or was it a gradient map you used to colorize it? Or maybe something else, I dunno. The "J" looks really out of place there. Depth and flow could use work.

[b]Dream[/b]: The blending in this one is ok, but the flow just isn't there. The depth is ok though, and the text looks really nice. The colors look really good though, I like that it matches her eyes.

[b]Memory[/b]: Are the pixelated diamond shapes a brush, or did you use a clipping mask for that? Anyway, they add some nice flow, but the depth could use work. I also don't think that the black diamond things don't look good in there. I don't think the focal needs to be sharpened, it looks good without it.

[b]Shadows[/b]: The blending looks good, but the depth, the flow, and the shapes you used behind the text are pretty bad. The text isn't good either.

[b]Kazuko[/b]: The blending looks good, but there isn't any flow and I think the text would look better somewhere else. The depth is ok, and I think the colors look great.

Overall, I think the banners look really nice but there are still some parts your missing. In a great majority of them, you aren't sharpening your focal, which (in my opinion anyway) doesn't look very good. Sharpening your focal makes it stand out more, and doesn't just make it look like another thing in your background.

Depth is also lacking, and your flow could use A LOT of work in almost all of them. I suggest you find some free effect C4Ds, in packs or not, and use them on banners to make for better flow. Set the layer style that they're on to either "Lighten," "Screen," or "Overlay" and erase some of the parts that are over the focal and that make the sig look bad. You don't use C4Ds, do you? It looks like your mainly using brushes and smudging.
I'm in love with your smudging by the way. I can never get my settings to look good, so I usually either try to avoid or I set to opacity to that layer I smudged on to a lower opacity so it isn't as noticeable.

Your lighting and lighting sources could also use some work. I suggest you make two layers early on in the making of a sig and set them both to soft light. On the first layer (the bottom of the two new layers you made), get out a soft brush and use black as your color. Brush over what isn't being hit directly by light. On your second layer, get out a white brush and brush over where the light hits directly on the stock/render you're using. As you're creating a banner, I think it's a good idea to use Black & White gradient maps every now and then and set the layer style on them to either "Soft Light" or "Luminosity," whichever you think looks better.

I know I'm no expert by any means, but those are some techniques that really helped me. I could send you some links to tutorials and what not, if you wanted them of course.
;D

And now I'll stop rambling, I've no doubt I probably bored you half to death with what I wrote, haha.[/size]

[jigglyness]

Thanks very much for the C&C so far. It has really helped me see what I need to work on [A LOT]. SO much critique I don't even know where to start. ^^"

[b]boothten[/b] - Yeah you got me. I mainly just brush and smudge. =.= I haven't got the time to be experimenting much with photoshop much so I don't really know a lot about PS [not even C4d's]. If you have links to tuts, it would be great to share the wealth ;] haha. I appreciate the help you're offering. If it's not too much trouble, I would love those tuts. :]

[AmnesiacKaiten]

[quote name='jigglyness']Thanks very much for the C&C so far. It has really helped me see what I need to work on [A LOT]. SO much critique I don't even know where to start. ^^"

[b]boothten[/b] - Yeah you got me. I mainly just brush and smudge. =.= I haven't got the time to be experimenting much with photoshop much so I don't really know a lot about PS [not even C4d's]. If you have links to tuts, it would be great to share the wealth ;] haha. I appreciate the help you're offering. If it's not too much trouble, I would love those tuts. :][/QUOTE]
I posted tutorials on this site ;)