tinny (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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icontalking2019-02-27 10:10 am
tinny) wrote in icontalking2019-02-27 10:10 am
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Iconmaker Friending Meme 2019
We haven't had a friending meme since this community first opened, and someone asked if we could have another one. Of course we can! Here we go:
Copy this code and tell us about yourself! (feel free to skip anything you don't want to tell)
Promote the meme using this code:
Copy this code and tell us about yourself! (feel free to skip anything you don't want to tell)
Promote the meme using this code:
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Name: Millie
Age: 30
Place: Australia
Where do you post your icons:
Share Your Interests!
Favorite Show: Doctor Who, Merlin, Call The Midwife, Killing Eve, Outlander, Poldark to name a few (I have so many)!
Favorite Movie: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Help, Spy, Bridesmaids, The Sound of Music and so on...
Favorite Character: God I hate to pick one or a few so I’ll say my all time favourite character is Elizabeth Bennet.
Favorite Pairing: Katniss/Peeta, Arthur/Gwen, Jamie/Claire plus a ton more.
Favorite Food: Pizza, pasta & cake!
LET'S GET TO ICONING!!
What are your personal picks for the top 5-10 icons that you've made in the last 12 months?
Show us five icons that you think best represent your iconing style See above :)
What has inspired you over the last 12 months? (techniques, subjects, challenges, other makers, etc.) Provide examples if you want. Mostly I tend to icon period dramas because I love the costumes and the look. I also love using vibrant colours, playing around with cropping and textures after seeing other icon makers do so.
What's your favorite show and/or movie to icon and why? As mentioned above I love iconing period dramas and I hate to pick a favourite, but if forced I’d say Merlin. Why? Because it’s one of the first shows I did icons for so I’m attached to it :)
Who's your favorite character to icon and why? God, I don’t want to pick one character. But I’d say Morgana and Gwen :)
Close crop or far-crop? Why? I like both but lean generally towards close cropping because... I don’t know I just do 🤷♀️
Vibrant or muted? Why? Vibrant because I love bright/pastel colours. They make me happy :)
Text or minimalistic? Why? I wish I rocked doing text, but sadly I’ve yet to master it, so I stick with minimalistic.
What's your current iconmaking goal? To make more icons than last year that are more complex.
Let's Ask Some Questions!!
List three questions that you would like to be answered by other icon makers: + How do you work out where to arrange the text on your icon?
+ How do you make more complex icons?
+ How do you create a negative space around your subject?
Any last words? I’m not doing so good with my icon making goal so far...
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Vibrant because I love bright/pastel colours. They make me happy :)
Same here, there's something so joyful about pretty bright colours!
How do you work out where to arrange the text on your icon?
Lots of trial and error? Sometimes it helps when I sketch it on a notebook before opening PS. Mostly I try to decide what the text is going to be before I work on the cap of the subject, so I can work on the size, fonts and placement of the text on an empty canvas. But that's because I tend to add text to negative space fake backgrounds. On a close crop, it's different, I tend to go for a few words only, and arrange it over the face in a way I think looks nice? I don't have a single technique to share, really, it's just trial and error and sometimes I get lucky, haha.
How do you make more complex icons?
I need to start with a concept. For instance, with this icon, I knew I wanted to explore the story progression of the episode, so I picked different caps, settled on a colour scheme, added quotes, etc. And I like the contrast between the bright colours and the sadness of the story. It helps if you have various caps of the same characters, or of the same scene etc, because you can colour them all at full size then make a complex icon with blocks, or blending, etc.
How do you create a negative space around your subject?
Assuming you're talking about fake background, I cut out the subject and paste it over my chosen fake background. I have several methods for cut-out : paint around the character (if they're in front of a nice clean blue wall for instance, and I want to use that blue for my background because I'm feeling lazy), use a layer mask and erase everything around the subject (what I do most of the time), use the pen tool to cut-out the subject on a full-size cap then drag it onto the canvas that has the fake background and resize it then... Sometimes even the magic wand works, though I don't really recommend it!
Good luck with your icon-making goals!
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The main things that I keep in mind are the following.
"Marry the colours in the icon---" Keep like colours together, or use some sort of exclusion layer to draw them in and add a sort of sameless (I am still a big fan of the dark blue exclusion layer and I definitely use it on almost all of my icons.
"Stick to the focal point" - designs are great but use them in a way that they accentuate the subject rather than try to crowd them out.
and most importantly..
"If you are not liking where the icon is going, back to the drawing board-- one picture, endless possibilities, throw it back in the sea, take a breather and then see what comes up when it pops back up! Sometimes when a complex icon won't work, it may be your brain saying "Enough already, take a break you cretin" (<-- example of my brain verbiage trufax.
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Maybe make an inspirational wall with a variety of complex icons? It can be super inspirational, and when you keep glancing over it again and again, I find your subconscious starts to soak it up.
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Okay, first of all, I hate text. But if I need/want text, I usually try to keep it short because the shorter the message the more room you have for it. But if I know I have to include text I usually crop the screencap with the text in mind. For instance, for this icon I made sure to crop the image so all of that text would fit. Same with this one - I placed Jenkins slightly to the side so the text wouldn't be sqished by lack of room. Also in this one, the text was the focus rather than the character. (He was just in it because he said it, tbh.) This one practically did the text placement without my having to plan for it. :p
+ How do you create a negative space around your subject?
The best negative space icons start with picking the right screencap. The best caps are the ones where the character is already in front of a single-colour background (like a wall or the sky or whatever). It's really helpful to have a clear outline, so pick your caps carefully. After I pick my cap, I go through the basics - cropping, resizing (although sometimes it can be helpful to resize after you've been over it with the eraser tool, basic colouring (sometimes just brightening it so I can have some more contrast). Once that's done, I zoom in and get started with the eraser tool. Erase the background around the person, use small strokes and a small size eraser around the face/hair or you'll have to correct more. It goes faster after some practice, but it can be really frustrating when you haven't used it much. One thing that helps me is to create a background layer in a contrasting colour to help me see if I need to erase more / undo my last eraser brush move. Also don't be afraid to 'alter' the character's hair a bit - hair can be a real pain, and not many people will notice if you 'cut off' a lock or two.
Oh, and one tip if you have a 'difficult' spot that just won't let itself be erased in a way that looks good - if you're creative with your fake background or textures you can sometimes hide those spots.
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+ How do you work out where to arrange the text on your icon?
First I type out the text and then move it every where to see where it's looking best ! :D
+ How do you make more complex icons?
I've a looonnnngggg way to go before I can say I've mastered the delicate art of making complex icons, but right now I'm consciously trying to make more complex icons. I go for blending 2 or more pics , use text and trying to find better textures to use. Also, trying blocking ! :3
+ How do you create a negative space around your subject?
I use the free form select tool to cut out the subject from the original background , then put a new layer beneath and fill it with a gradient or color using bucket tool , or simply use a suitable texture to act as bg.