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LoN's Signature School

:D. You used my Rayn! I should probably huck those into here... meh later. Thanks LoN! The others are great too. And I would use/download Chaoscope, but my dad wants to take all the stuff off and get some viruses off the computer so maybe after all that's said and done.​
 
hrm, I can't transfer my chaoscope design to gimp...
Did you save it as an image yet?

On an unrelated note, happy you all like said gifts :D



More Gift Art!

*Flings Signatures around*

For Jirachi-

giftartjirachiexplosion.png


Code:
[IMG]http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x290/LoN_Colossus/Avatars%20and%20Signatures/giftartjirachiexplosion.png[/IMG]

For Aura, this is now tied with Dani's for my favourite :p

giftartauraenergyfist.png


Code:
[IMG]http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x290/LoN_Colossus/Avatars%20and%20Signatures/giftartauraenergyfist.png[/IMG]



Enjoy all! Still a few more in the works too ;)
 
This is exactly what I did:

Then, click Attractor, then search. Once it's done, play around with the Attractor and View toolboxes, and once you're ready to save, click Attractor->Render.

Then File->Save Image As.

And I assume you followed that, right?

If you did, I have no idea what your problem is. Only discovered it a few days ago so can't be of much help :(

If you didn't follow that, give it a go :p



Edit: Gift again! :D Kalseng this time.

giftartkalsenganimeblokey.png


Code:
[img]http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x290/LoN_Colossus/Avatars%20and%20Signatures/giftartkalsenganimeblokey.png[/img]
 
giftartforsilvermagpiemanectric4.png


Code:
[IMG]http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x290/LoN_Colossus/Avatars%20and%20Signatures/giftartforsilvermagpiemanectric4.png[/IMG]

Final gift, for Silver Magpie! For being so nice in my shop, always giving good comments and some constructive criticism :)

Something says it needs a little more though... suggestions welcome.

Sticking it here with the rest of the gifts though :p
 
Glad you like it, home made lightning, believe it or not :)

Oh, and I just tried to download your video, and it wouldn't download. I'm not sure if it's my Mac being annoying, or whether something just isn't working for me... I'll try again later.
Well, if we had some other comments about it then I might be able to decipher whether its you that has the problem or me :p

[/subtle bomb dropping hint to the rest of ya :o]
 
What I would do to improve this is, try to keep your focal point (what draws the attention - eyes, weapons, symbols, etc) clear.

I'd erase the explosion over at least one of the Soras to add some depth and keep the focal clear.

Asides from that, and maybe a gradient map or two, looking nice! I see you paid attention to what Rayn said about her sparky text too :)
 
Thanks LoN. I liked Rayns Spark Thing. I'm going to redo it after I do my HW Because you can hardly see Anti-Sora.

Edit: Redid. Turned out kinda cool XD
sorasig.png
 
I'd try to avoid the sharp edges you have there, on the shrunken image. Try erase around the edge some, with a soft or sparks brush and make it blend :)
 
I got back into sig making for a bit... so yeah.
nevermour.png

This one's for my brother, but I haven't showed it to him yet...^^;
luxray.png

This one came out cool, but I didn't want to put text on it... so it's gonna stay like this. It almost looks like a holographic card.
luxavi.png

And a little Avie of it. It'll probably be my new one.
I tried to watch your movie, but I got a little demotivated without any sound with it... I'll try again later XD.​
 

Magpie

Feathered Overseer
Staff member
Moderator
Woah, everyone's doing some really awesome signatures! Nice work! I'm really liking the Luxray one by Rayn, which is saying a lot since I'm not a fan of Luxray ^^

I updated my computer, LoN, and managed to download your video. It was a good vid, with the only problem being the silence, like Rayn mentioned. After a while it became hard to focus as much. I know it's because you don't like to speak in public/on camera, I'd never be able to do it. So, maybe next time you could have some music playing or something.

Other than that, I liked your typing commentary. You type quickly :p
And it was very helpful seeing what you were doing. I know I don't take these lessons, but I remember learning how to use Photoshop - a video would have helped so much just to find all the features.
 
Rayn, signatures are something you tend to drift in and out of, totally understandable that you stopped for a while. You might even notice that I'm currently on a down.

As for the creations, I think both are great but the Luxray one... wow, fantastic. What's the secret then? :p



Jirachi, I love the sandslash one you mad there too. The colours flow so well and I like your use of the vine brush :)



I updated my computer, LoN, and managed to download your video. It was a good vid, with the only problem being the silence, like Rayn mentioned. After a while it became hard to focus as much. I know it's because you don't like to speak in public/on camera, I'd never be able to do it. So, maybe next time you could have some music playing or something.
Yeah. I've made some VODs of Age of Empires III before, and added music. I added music to my videos until one time that it severely messed the timing up, and I haven't since :(

[quote author=Silver Magpie link=topic=5266.msg89545#msg89545 date=1233655882]
Other than that, I liked your typing commentary. You type quickly :p
[/quote]Well, I've been clocked at anywhere between 70 and 85 words a minute, with perfect grammar, on a good day. Usually it's at least 60.



I'm gonna use this time to point something out.

Sometimes, when you displace an image using your copied and flipped image, you can end up with some harsh lines on it.

For example, on the middle of the Sandslash signature by Jirachi, we have some of what I'm talking about. I'm not saying its a bad thing, but in my opinion these areas are what I would erase. This is because I think they draw the eye to them way too much, and without them the image flows easier.

Just my thoughts, consider them if you wish :)

Edit: Apologies for the wall of text :o
 
Well, Magpie did a really awesome team shot for me (go check it out in her thread) and I wanted to be able to see it more often than just when ever I went to that page. But I'm silly/stupid/weird and am not sure how to/don't want to shrink the image into my sig. So I made a wall paper! It's huge so I'm just gonna link it.
http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo8/Rayn_Shyu/deks.png

And with the Luxray one... I was seriously bored. The shiny spotty-ness you see is a layer of Sparks done at I-don't-remember-mode. I love it though. I really want to see if I can get a Pokemon card template and see what it'd look like...

Edit: A Delibird one! I figured out that I work better with brighter colors on sigs...
delib.png

:D Delibird!​
 
By Kalseng's request, I'm now thinking about making a tutorial for making sprite signatures.

A sprite signature is a totally different style, focuses much more on effects and colours than stock images, so it'll be a nice change for us all :)
 
Man, I'd love to learn how to do that, I've got a lotta sprites...
And I did a Refia sig last night...
refia.png

...Purple. I think I'm gonna use the Dilate filter thing more often...​
 
Dilate... thats the one that is paired with Erode isn't it? Emphasise the lighter areas or something?

Edit: Can I just say, the sprite signature tutorial is in the making :)
 
No longer in the making, in the made! :D I can double post this... because I'm the threads owner and its an update in the artworks thread, so away we go!



Well, as promised. Sprite signatures. :) I'll show you how I made this:

completeddeoxyssignature.png




Sprite signatures are a completely different style to that of what we've been doing recently.

Because of their small size, sprites usually have a smaller signature size. This is to keep the focus on the sprite and to not have lots of empty space.

Again, because sprites are so small, sprite signatures usually focus MUCH more on effects than that of a normal signature that we've been doing.

Once again, because sprites are so small, you don't want to use an image for your background. It'll draw your eyes away from the sprite itself, and as such is much easier to start off with a gradient.



First off, find your sprite. I'm using Deoxys today, no particular reason why.

386fr.png


Open up a new canvas, I'm using 350x100. Select the either the primary colour and secondary colour of your sprite (So, in the case of Deoxys, Orange and Green), or one of the colours and a different style of the same colour. I'm choosing option 2.

Get your gradient tool out, and sling a gradient in. Make sure it's set to FG to BG (RGB) and make a gradient. Be it linear or radial, or whatever. Any works. Pick what you like best.

01.png


You want to create some flow right from the get go. Decide where you want your sprite, see if it has any obvious flow and use the "Path" tool (Fountain pen, next to the colour picker) to draw a line. You can curve it and move it, just play around with the tool for a while until you have what you want. Once you have the path you want in the shape you want, click "Stroke Path" in the tool options Dialog. Use a similar colour to your background, but make the lines obvious. Maybe use more than one line at different widths, it's up to you.

02.png


I erased some of the bottom of my lines, and smudged them too.

03.png


You may wish to sling a C4D in this early, before we even have a sprite on it. Pick one that is relevantly coloured, or one that has your effects you want (desaturate it if its the wrong colour). Set it so it adds to your flow, and play with layer modes. (My URL for this is at the bottom)

04.png


I used Multiply, at 60%, which isn't actually what I normally use :) Hence why I say, play around with the layer modes yourself.

Now I've added in my sprite and erased some of its feet (shown in a later image :p):

05.png


I next added in a shadow. I made it mostly by hand. What I did was, Alpha to Selection the sprite (Layer, Transparency). I made a new layer, and filled the selection with Black. I used the "Perspective" tool (looks like a blue trapezium with a pair of arrows pointing outwards and down from the bottom, near the text tool) to drag this black silhouette to look like a shadow. I then set it on overlay.

06.png


I next added in a white to transparent radial gradient, for lighting. (To add to the whole shadow idea).

07.png


I copied the sprite layer and dragged it to the top. I made it's layer size the same as the image (thus not cutting the room for effects) by going Layer->Layer to Image Size. (I also did this to the original sprite layer so I don't have to do it in future when I add more duplicates.)

I then went to the Filters->Distorts->Ripple. I changed the "Period" to 16, left the rest how it was. I set it to Dodge at 50% and erased over his face and stuff.

I repeated the above, except did it Vertical.

08.png


Next, I duplicated the original sprite and smudged it so it'll appear in front of where his feet was. I had the settings set so that it'll appear very distorted and illegible :p

I set it to Grain Merge at 100%.

09.png


I added a layer of sparks and duplicated it, then displaced the same layer using itself, at the very bottom of the signature for Displacement purposes.

Next, I copied visible and pasted a new layer. I did a Filters->Noise->Pick (Settings at 50, 50) and displaced with the displaced sparks layer.

10-1.png


Next, I motion blurred a copy visible layer by 30, in an angle that goes with my flow. I then sharpened it by about 70 (so we get some defined lines). I set the layer on "Value" at 80% and erased the bad.

11-1.png


I next darkened the areas around the outside with a tint of blue, because I felt like it needed something.

12-1.png


I added a Blue->Orange gradient map at Overlay, 100%. I usually wouldn't use such a high level of opacity but I felt it looked good.

13-1.png


I then added a Black->White gradient map at Soft Light, 100%. Again, not what I'd usually do but it worked in this scenario.

14-1.png


I next did a Ripple at the same settings as it was, of a copy visible layer. I added it to Darken Only at 20% and erased the bad.

15-1.png


I did another copy visible, and added a Filter->Noise->Pick at the existing settings. I then added another Ripple at the same settings, and set it to Grain Merge at 30% and erased the bad.

16-1.png


I then repeated the ripple step that we first did to our sprite with some more sprite duplicates.

17-1.png


I did another copy visible/motion blur and rippled the result horizontally, then set that on lighten only to 50% and erased the left side of it.

18-1.png


I flipped the entire image, decided it looked best flipped and kept it flipped.

19-1.png


I added text using my special method I told you a few posts back.

20-1.png


Copy visibled, sharpened it, erased the bad. Blurred areas away from the focal.

21-1.png


I copy visibled again, and gaussian blurred it by 3. I set it to lighten only at 70% and erased the bad.

22-1.png


I added a border using my special method I also told you a few posts back, along with my text method. With the Cloud tutorial. I think :p If not, its in the video.

23-1.png


I closed the signature off with a final Black/White Gradient map on Soft Light at 30%.

24-1.png




And that is that! The completed signature is here, along with the URL to my C4D and sprite I used.

completeddeoxyssignature.png


http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x290/LoN_Colossus/HPNOTIQFractal2.png

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x290/LoN_Colossus/386fr.png



Hope this helps at least one person, then it's been worthwhile :) Happy sigging!
 

Magpie

Feathered Overseer
Staff member
Moderator
Awesome Sprite signature tutorial, LoN!

Your example is really eye-catching, and I'm loving the colours. The background has a natural feel about it, which contrasts Deoxys in a visually interesting way. The font you used also fits in perfectly.

Great example ^^
 
Aha, just had a thought. If anyone wants the Deoxys Signature, gimme a shout and I might change the text to your name. Might. :p

Side note, gratz on the 600 posts Magpie :D
 
Edit: Back in order.

also:
Larvitarspritesig.png


To celebrate my first non legit shiny, a simple Greenish based Shiny Larvitar sig. The ripple effect hated me, but meh.
(Emphasis on the word "simple")
 
2 New Sigs:

Gengarspritesig.png

Hehe accidently got purple border. Also, the kind of yellow stuff is sparks. I forgot how I made them like that. I like Ripple ;)

Shinyvenemothsig.png

I got blue border. I rippled text. Also the wings are rippled. Thanks!
 
I might have just found a way to make an incredibly well blended background, using a very simple method.

I'll edit/repost this once I've got a working example, but it works really well :o



Basically, how it goes is this.

You get your background image and foreground image all sorted, be it one image or two or whatever.

Then you develop the background, erasing the focal point. Using whatever, as long as the background isn't overly developed.

Once you've got a basic start point ready, follow these steps:

Copy visible, new layer.
Filters->Noise->Pick

Set it to Randomize, 50 and 50.

Then, on the same layer, Filters->Enhance->GreyCStoration.

Set it to (going down the list, most are default):

70
0.7
0.3
0.7
1.1
0.8
30
NN
Enable
2

And set the ending layer to Lighten/Darken only, and erase. You tend to get something like this (from a half done sig a friend asked for, kinda stolen to use in this tutorial :p):

1-1.png


Then its a case of seeing what you want next in the image. From this stage I wanted her left arm to blend in with the background more, so I took another copy visible. Picked it again, same settings. I then smudged the white from her arm across to the left, using a Vine brush at Spacing 1.

Did another pick, and another GreyCStoration at the same settings. Lighten only (because of the white on her arm). This is the result, after a bit more of this style of development (tweaks etc):

2-1.png


After some more significant changes using exactly the same method (occasionally smudging and rotating to get colours where I want), I'm finally using these settings on the GreyC to round the image off:

90
0.7
1
0.7
1.1
0.8
30
NN
Enable
3

Which, using the same Lighten/Darken Only layer mode, gets me something like this:

3-1.png


Then you're ready to finish the sig off! (This was just flip, gradient maps, sharpen, blur, text, border)

4-1.png


To be honest, I doubt it'll work with sprite signatures, but hey, I only stumbled across it a few hours ago, so it bloomin' well could work :D

So, try it out some time :)
 
I've kinda ran out of ideas to make tutorials about now... so if anyone has any requests, shoot.

Be it criticism on a signature, diminished criticism or blunt criticism; maybe you want to know how I made a specific signature or how I did a certain effect in the form of a tutorial or video tutorial, ask away.



On a slightly related note, Gimp 2.6.5 has been released on the first day of the new year (just remembered to check :p), although I can't see where to download it easily. If anyone else has got it, fling the answer back in here :p



Also, I've found a really simple way to make a border.

Copy visible, paste a new layer. Select all, then Select->Shrink by 5 px. Delete, then Layer -> Transform -> Rotate 180. Then do what you want :p

You can also fill it black, or do whatever from there. A simple way to start a border.
 
Bump, but its relevant! :D





After quite the hiatus... I'm back, and I've realised that in the past I had completely forgotten a method of learning that works for some people.

So, I've gone and uploaded the .xcf file of the signature below to my filefront. If people want to use the ideas in that to make a new signature of their one, by all means :)

horatioforlon.png


The link to the .xcf file was here: Dead link :( Click meeee.

If I catch anyone ripping from that file, however... there'll be consequences. Its art theft and, put bluntly, 'Charms moderators WILL come down on you like a tonne of bricks.
 
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