tardis_icons revealed!

[kerravonsen]

Now that Challenge #20 is over for tardis_icons, I can reveal the icons I did; my success and failure.

	9th Doctor: You have got to be kidding! tardis_icons challenge #20 (screencaps) This one did surprisingly well, I think. The voting was very close in the screencaps section, there were two ties.
	Jack: Winsome Smile tardis_icons challenge #20 (screencaps) And this one did worse than I'd hoped. Well, I thought it was very pretty, but I was generally surprised about this section, none of the ones I voted for won. (want, take, comment, credit)
	Jack: Gizmo Power! tardis_icons challenge #20 (open challenge: Just Jack) I don't think this one got any votes, but it was just supposed to be silly fun, so I'm not surprised. (want, take, comment, credit)
	Jack: Anachronism tardis_icons challenge #20 (open challenge: Just Jack) Came THIRD place in the "overall" sub-section! (squee) (unlike the other sub-sections, there is an official second and third place) The voting was very close for the "best overall" sub-section, with a tie for 2nd place. It was also very close in the "most creative/unique" sub-section (5 votes versus 6). I voted for the one that won, it was a nifty idea. This one also came second in the "best of theme" (3 votes to 4), that one was even more close, the votes were more split. But I think I also voted for the one that won! I think this is probably the best icon I've ever done. Done at the same time, from the same sources, I did two larger digital art versions of the same thing, not exactly the same, but very similar: Anachronism and the same plus "note" (which is more like the icon). I'm not sure which one I like better, so I put both up.

Comments

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I can see why the anachronism one did well and the screencap one too.

The 'gizmo' one lacks a strong image - it looks like a blurr at first glance, which is probably why it didn't do so well.

I thought the winsome smile one was rather good though.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I like those, especially the first two. Am currently attempting to talk myself out of snurching the Jack, as I already have a Jack icon, doggone it... :)

[kerravonsen]

Tnanks.

The 'gizmo' one lacks a strong image - it looks like a blurr at first glance, which is probably why it didn't do so well.


Yeah, I was trying to go overboard on the SFX. That version actually has less SFX than some of the ones along the way...

[kerravonsen]

Thank you!

Am currently attempting to talk myself out of snurching the Jack, as I already have a Jack icon, doggone it...

LOL! No reason not to have two, surely?

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Only that I'd then have to decide what to get rid of.

I may give in, anyway, though. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The last one is brilliant; no wonder it did well. How did you do it?

[kerravonsen]

Thanks! I got the inspiration for it sitting down at lunch in a busy food-court...

How did you do it?

Well, it was a combination of a few different images...

1. the sepia-toned photo was a cropped version of this picture of Jack, which I then rotated, made a copy of, and applied the "old photo" effect (in the Gimp). I then had to do some tricky messing around to actually get a cropped version of that back, because the effect unfortunately flattened the image. I also added a shadow layer to that, and did a duplicate of the photo layer with a few tweaks to get the photo a bit clearer.

2. The gun was taken from this image, which I carefully cut out to remove the white background and have a transparent background (though it could have done with a bit more tidying up). I put that in a layer, and carefully rotated that in relation to the photo part. I then made a shadow layer for that.

3. The paper with the word "Anachronism", I first did the text (trying out many different fonts as usual). Then I duplicated the text layer (so as to get something the same size) made it a little larger and filled it with a "crumpled paper" pattern. Then I duplicated that to make a shadow layer.
Then I made the paper and shadow layers the size of the image (which I initially didn't do, and got the jaggies). Then I rotated the text layer, making note of its rotation-centre. Then I rotated the paper and shadow layers, using the same centre of rotation so that they would still line up with the text.

4. The background was just a pattern fill. That's why the background of the full-size version is different -- the "wood" patterns looked pretty horrible at that size, they were too small.

[kerravonsen]

You could do it on a trial basis. 8-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm impressed!

I now have the GIMP and have been fiddling, but I'm aware that I'm driving a space ship like a car. It's so powerful, esp after the PS-for-Deltas Elements 2 I've been using, that I'll take ages to learn what you and others know. :-P

[kerravonsen]

Thank you.

I'll take ages to learn what you and others know.

Ages or lots of practice. I've learned an awful lot in the past couple of months, with doing the tardis_icons challenges amongst other things.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Well, in the end, I simply couldn't resist that smile. :)

Taken with credit and thanks!

[kerravonsen]

Whee!
I think you're the first person to use one of my icons that I haven't made specifically for someone on request.

[kerravonsen]

Well, in the end, I simply couldn't resist that smile.

It's a lovely smile, isn't it?

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Really? But you make such lovely icons! I'm pretty sure Jack's not the first one I've been tempted by, just the first one I've succumbed to. (It's that smile! Look at that smile! :))

[kerravonsen]

Well, as Avon said, the test of a trap is not whether you are suspicious, but whether you are caught.
The corollory therefore is: the test of an icon is not whether it is tempting, but whether it is used...

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

Hiya, saw your great Anachronism on tardis_icons and came visiting to ask where you got the gun from and found you had very kindly already posted a link to it. *thanks*

Just off to find a bunch of bananas - I'm feeling a creation coming on.

[kerravonsen]

Oooh, sounds interesting. 8-)

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

I couldn't get my idea to work but I haven't given up on it.
You know I think I actually like the other Anachronism (with the woven background) even more than the one you entered.

[kerravonsen]

Thanks. The background-changing was a matter of what looked better at different sizes.